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

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

The New York Times [9/21/2025 12:48 PM, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Chris Hippensteel and Jack Healy, 143795K] reports an anticipated crowd of perhaps more than 100,000 people, including President Trump and several cabinet members, has made security a major focus in the planning for Charlie Kirk’s memorial on Sunday. The service in Glendale, Ariz., will be held at State Farm Stadium, home of the N.F.L.’s Arizona Cardinals, which can hold up to 73,000 people. A nearby hockey arena that holds about 19,000 people will serve as an overflow area if needed. The Department of Homeland Security designated the service as a top-level security event, akin to the Super Bowl or New York City Marathon. Jose Miguel Santiago, a spokesman for the police department in Glendale, said that setting up security measures for the event was an “all hands on deck” operation, similar to how agencies prepared for Super Bowl LVII that was held at the stadium in 2023. But a major difference between that event and the memorial on Sunday is that the police had years to prepare for the Super Bowl and just about a week to form a plan for Mr. Kirk’s service. Still, Mr. Santiago was confident that officials with his department — as well as the many federal and local agencies they are collaborating with — would be ready. Hundreds of police officers will be circling the stadium, Mr. Santiago said, in addition to drones in the air and metal detectors on the ground. He said the police department had access to more than 300 security cameras in locations around the stadium. “Every kind of security measure you can possibly think of will be in place,” he said. The Washington Post [9/21/2025 2:00 PM, Cat Zakrzewski, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Derek Hawkins, 143795K] reports that five hundred to 800 Secret Service officers have been deployed to the Phoenix area to help secure the event, according a local official briefed on the figure by law enforcement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security plans. The Department of Homeland Security has given the memorial its highest security designation, which is typically reserved for Super Bowls. “This designation is reserved for events of the highest national significance and enables the federal government to provide the full range of law enforcement and security resources necessary to support local officials in ensuring a safe and successful event,” said a DHS senior official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the security plans. Five hundred to 800 Secret Service officers have been deployed to the Phoenix area to help secure the event, according a local official briefed on the figure by law enforcement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security plans. The Department of Homeland Security has given the memorial its highest security designation, which is typically reserved for Super Bowls. Because the memorial involves nearly all of the top people the Secret Service protects, the event will require a surge of agents from protective details and the local field office, as well as other federal, state and local law enforcement officers. “It’s all hands on deck for something of this magnitude. You can’t shortchange it,” said Robert Johnson, a retired Secret Service agent who served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York. “It’s a very high-threat environment because of the political controversy and the division that we’ve had on social media the past few days,” said Johnson, who also worked on former president Bill Clinton’s detail. “Security needs to be planned at a presidential level.” Working on just days’ notice, agents have blocked off motorcade routes in the region, planned airport logistics, mapped possible evacuations and set up security checkpoints, according to service officials. Countersnipers have posted up in the area, and canine teams have swept for explosives. Intelligence experts will monitor online activity for threats and potential unrest. Adding to the pressure on security, Kirk’s memorial is taking place on the eve of the U.N. General Assembly in New York — one of the largest and most complex security events of the year. Planning for the U.N. meeting in Midtown Manhattan begins months in advance and draws hundreds of Secret Service personnel from around the country. ABC News [9/21/2025 1:44 PM, Staff, 27036K] reports local officials said they wouldn’t be surprised if more than 100,000 people gather for Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. Other high-profile figures who are scheduled to deliver remarks include Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Attendees have been asked to wear red, white or blue to the service.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [9/21/2025 11:54 AM, Eric Mack, 4779K]

Washington Examiner [9/21/2025 12:33 PM, Samantha-Jo Roth, 1563K] reports crowds of mourners stretched into long lines outside today’s memorial for Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist fatally shot at a Utah university earlier this month. Traffic was backed up for miles as throngs made their way to the stadium, many clad in red, white, and blue or wearing shirts and hats bearing Kirk’s image. With parking lots overwhelmed, countless attendees abandoned their cars and walked miles to the venue. Glendale police estimated that more than 200,000 people could attend the memorial service for Kirk, double the earlier projection of 100,000. The service will be held inside State Farm Stadium, which seats up to 73,000, with additional space reserved at the 19,000-seat Desert Diamond Arena for overflow. The service will also be broadcast live online and on television. The Department of Homeland Security has designated the memorial a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1, the same high-security tier as the Super Bowl. Security is extremely tight, with a strict no-bag policy in place. Members of the press reported it took hours to get inside, passing through multiple screening checkpoints. As he departed the White House for Arizona, Trump told reporters he planned to "celebrate the life of a great man" at Kirk’s memorial. Trump called the service "a time of healing," adding, "That something like this could have happened is not even believable, so we will have a very interesting day, a very tough day.”

CBS News [9/21/2025 1:06 PM, Kiki Intarasuwan, 45245K] reports Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called to protect the right to free speech at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, saying that "his words were his weapons." "Charlie lived what our founders envisioned, freedom, the right to speak even when we disagree," Gabbard said. "I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to defend to the very death of my very life your right to speak," she said. "Free speech is a foundation to our democratic republic. We must protect it at all costs because without it we’ll be lost. Charlie knew this."

Washington Examiner [9/21/2025 4:44 PM, Molly Parks, 1563K] reports Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said President Donald Trump is speaking his mind by publicly asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to target his political rivals, including former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump posted on Truth Social last night, directly addressing Bondi, saying, "Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’". The president added that "Justice must be served, now!". Mullin specifically spoke about Comey and Schiff, saying "their actions need to be looked into," in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. "I think what we know is, President Trump is very open and transparent with the American people, and he speaks his mind. And that’s what his supporters love about him, and that’s what America loves about him. I don’t think there’s any question that Comey should be looked at," Mullin said in response to Trump’s post. The Department of Homeland Security launched an investigation into Comey in May over an image he posted suggesting the "86"-ing of Trump. The FBI is also investigating Comey over his handling of the inquiry into possible ties between Trump and Russia. The Department of Justice is currently investigating Schiff, James, and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook for mortgage fraud.

Bloomberg [9/21/2025 11:00 AM, Myles Miller, 19085K] reports in the basement of the United Nations headquarters, a wall of glowing screens monitored every hallway and garage. Phones rang in quick bursts. A mechanical voice broke through the noise: “Card rejected.” Operators barely looked up as they cleared alarms and logged movements, part of the machinery that will carry New York through the most complex security operation it faces each year. The United Nations General Assembly, which opens Tuesday, brings more than 150 world leaders and their entourages into Midtown — a convergence that has been compared to hosting the Super Bowl every day for a week, across an entire neighborhood. The event has been designated a National Special Security Event, the same classification as a presidential inauguration that unleashes a whole-of-government mobilization. This year, the backdrop is especially tense. The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week, which the Secret Service studied closely for lessons, underscores the risks of political violence. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza are expected to dominate the speeches inside the chamber, raising the stakes outside it. The Secret Service leads the plan. “This is the biggest security event of the year for us,” said Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Service’s New York field office. With his glasses and square jaw, he has the look of Clark Kent. “Inauguration is another big one,” he said. “But here you have 150-plus countries, plus their spouses, all in one place. That scale makes it unique.” McCool said planning for the General Assembly runs year-round, with the most intensive work in the final four months. Subcommittees drill into the details of motorcades, hotels and screening protocols. Hundreds of armored SUVs and limousines are staged in warehouses on the city’s outskirts, waiting for the delegations. “It’s a huge logistical undertaking — hundreds of armored limos, thousands of hotel nights,” he said. “You have to see it from the inside to understand.” Thousands of New York police officers are reassigned. Federal air marshals, Coast Guard cutters and counter-sniper teams are deployed. Hundreds of armored black Chevrolet Suburbans are staged in warehouses, while the Secret Service books the equivalent of 30,000 hotel nights for its agents. For a week, Manhattan’s First Avenue and the streets around the UN will function less like city blocks than a fortified corridor for presidents, prime ministers and monarchs.

AP [9/21/2025 8:27 PM, Manuel Rueda, 27036K] reports authorities in the Dominican Republic said Sunday they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the U.S. Navy, as the Trump administration carries out a controversial anti-narcotics mission in the southern Caribbean. In a press conference, the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate for Drug Control said it recovered 377 packages of cocaine from the boat which was allegedly carrying 1,000 kilograms of the drug. Officials said the boat was destroyed about 80 nautical miles south of Isla Beata, a small island that belongs to the Dominican Republic. They said the Dominican’s Republic Navy worked in conjunction with U.S. authorities to locate the speedboat which was allegedly trying to dock in the Dominican Republic and use the nation as a "bridge" to transport cocaine to the United States. "This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean," the directorate said in a statement. In August, the U.S. sent eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean, in what the Trump administration has said was a mission to fight drug trafficking. The White House says the flotilla has destroyed three speedboats carrying drugs so far in separate strikes that have killed more than a dozen people aboard the vessels. Human rights groups have said the strikes on the boats amount to extra judicial killings, and on Friday two Democratic senators introduced a resolution in Congress that seeks to block the administration from carrying out further strikes. The Trump administration says at least two of the boats that have been sunk left from Venezuela, whose president is often described by White House officials as a drug trafficker and leader of a gang known as the Cartel of the Suns. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denies the charges and has described the U.S naval build up in the Caribbean as an attack on his country.

Daily Caller [9/21/2025 3:03 PM, Mark Tanos, 985K] reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull federal funding from Chicago and Boston’s transit systems if they don’t address rampant crime plaguing their stations and buses. Duffy sent letters to both cities’ transit authorities demanding written reports within 14 days that detail their plans to combat crime, stop fare evasion, and clean up their systems. The secretary called out local leaders for prioritizing criminals over law-abiding riders and workers, according to the Department of Transportation’s press release. "President Trump cares about our great cities and the hardworking Americans who inhabit them," Duffy said. "While local leaders seem intent on putting the needs of criminals first, we’re not waiting for the next Iryna.” The warning comes after violent attacks on both systems. A 27-year Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) veteran was recently punched and thrown onto the tracks after leaving his customer service booth in Chicago. In Boston, an elderly woman was shoved off an MBTA bus and seriously injured, while another incident saw a man remove his belt on a bus and assault riders, authorities said. The letters require both agencies to report on their security funding sources for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, including any Department of Homeland Security funds. Duffy previously sent similar warnings to transit authorities in Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles about safety failures and fare evasion.

DailySignal [9/21/2025 12:01 PM, Virginia Allen, 668K] reports Aaron Stevenson began to notice a disturbing trend early on in the Biden administration. As an intelligence analyst for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, it was his job to identify bad guys as well as emerging and novel threats to the U.S. In February 2021, a profile of an alien from Honduras with ties to the 18th Street Gang come across Stevenson’s desk. The profile of the man included language noting that he had applied to be an "unaccompanied child sponsor." At the time, Stevenson told The Daily Signal he had no idea what that was. A month later, he saw the same language on another file, this time for a woman from El Salvador with ties to MS-13. And in April, he again saw reference to an "unaccompanied child sponsor" on a profile for a Romanian man with ties to a Balkan crime group. "So that’s three gangs, three countries, all doing the same thing. So, naturally, I’m like, ‘That makes no sense,’" Stevenson said he recalls thinking. In April 2021, Stevenson began calling the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find out if anyone was tracking human-trafficking threats within the Unaccompanied Alien Children Program. "No" was essentially the answer Stevenson received. There was no formal tracking of child-trafficking threats within the U.S. program designed to place a child who crossed the border unaccompanied in the care of sponsor in the U.S., according to the analyst. Every one of the illegal aliens who had a gang affiliation and had applied to be a sponsor for an unaccompanied alien child had been "previously deported, and they [were] also going through [the] asylum screening process," Stevenson said. Among the 448,000 minors to enter the U.S. in recent years, ICE failed to issue more than 233,000 notices to appear in immigration court and more than 43,000 migrant children who were given a notice to appear in immigration court failed to do so, Joseph Cuffari, DHS inspector general, told members of Congress in July. "The Biden administration lost 450,000 unaccompanied children who were placed with unvetted sponsors or released into the country," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant DHS secretary, told The Daily Signal. Since Trump’s return to the White House, the administration has located 13,000 missing migrant children. Under the leadership of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, McLaughlin says the department is "leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited.”

Reuters [9/21/2025 2:25 PM, Sarah N. Lynch, 45746K] reports President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan accepted a $50,000 bag of cash from an undercover FBI agent last year in a since-closed U.S. Justice Department bribery investigation, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday. In the alleged scheme, Homan promised immigration-related government contracts when he joined the Trump administration in exchange for the money, the sources said, speaking anonymously to discuss nonpublic investigations. FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the investigation closed over the summer, one of the sources said. Homan could not be reached for comment. "This matter originated under the previous administration and was subjected to a full review by FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing," Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Sunday. "The Department’s resources must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed.” The probe into Homan started around August 2024 near the end of President Joe Biden’s administration and stemmed from a separate national security investigation, one of the sources told Reuters. In that unrelated probe, the target repeatedly brought up Homan, saying he was collecting bribes in exchange for future government contracts, the two sources told Reuters. An undercover sting operation was set up, and Homan was caught on a recording accepting a $50,000 bribe in a bag from the restaurant chain Cava, the sources said. Homan oversees the Trump administration’s campaign of mass deportations of people in the country illegally. The White House said he has not been involved in awarding any contracts. "He is a career law enforcement officer and lifelong public servant who is doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country," Abigail Jackson, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement.

Washington Examiner [9/21/2025 5:02 PM, Asher Notheis, 1563K] reports the Trump administration’s Justice Department shut down a bribery investigation into border czar Tom Homan earlier this year, citing "no credible evidence" for wrongdoing, according to multiple reports. A new MSNBC report on Saturday said the FBI recorded Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from agents posing as businessmen last year, in exchange for helping these agents win government contracts in a second Trump administration. This case stalled after President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, and was recently closed after FBI Director Kash Patel requested a status update on it. "This matter originated under the previous administration and was subjected to a full review by FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing," a statement from Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. "The Department’s resources must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed," the statement continued. White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson called the investigation "yet another example" of the Biden administration’s DOJ targeting Trump’s allies. She also said Homan hasn’t been involved in "any contract award decisions.”

Wall Street Journal [9/21/2025 4:15 PM, Samuel Gregg, 646K] reports once you let the economic-nationalist genie out of the bottle, it’s difficult to stop it from enveloping the entire economy. Since January, the Trump administration has pursued an aggressive tariff agenda, taken a 10% stake in Intel, and insisted that the U.S. government can tell Nippon Steel how U.S. Steel should run its operations. It was only a matter of time before the administration applied the same logic of economic intervention for ostensibly patriotic purposes to America’s labor market. This is what lies behind the administration’s decision to raise the application fee for new H-1B visas to $100,000 for every new applicant. The program, created by the 1990 Immigration Act, allows companies to bring high-skilled professionals into America to fill significant gaps in “specialty occupations” in the U.S. economy. Consider the arguments in President Trump’s Sept. 19 proclamation. American companies (especially tech businesses), it claims, have abused the H-1B visa program to “replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor” and exploited H-1B regulations “to artificially suppress wages.” The sheer number of foreign workers on H-1B visas, the proclamation insists, has made it harder for “college graduates trying to find IT jobs, allowing employers to hire foreign workers at a significant discount to American workers.” The theme underlying these claims is that the H-1B program—like trade liberalization and economic openness to the world generally—is hurting American workers. Consequently, the argument goes, the legal importation of foreign high-skilled workers into America via H-1B visas should be harder and more expensive. Missing from this picture is appreciation of how H-1B visas benefit the U.S. economy, particularly the American-born workforce.

New York Post [9/21/2025 12:02 PM, David Harsanyi, 43962K] reports in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Ilhan Omar tweeted out an Anti-Defamation League chart that purports to prove that right wingers perpetrate the majority of politically motivated murders in the United States. "Data isn’t vibes," she wrote. "If you need vibes, check out the hate filled comments the rightwing will leave on this post and all my posts.” This ADL graph is very popular with left wingers. The problem is that it’s based on one of the most dishonest reports you’ll ever read. Let’s begin with the ADL’s most recent "Murder and Extremism in the United States" survey. The group claims there were 13 murders motivated by extremism in the country last year. Eleven of them, the ADL contends, were committed by right-wingers. The ADL has long padded its "right-wing extremism" by including incidents of non-ideological criminality by perpetrators suspected of being white supremacists. This year, though, virtually none of the incidents listed by the ADL as having been committed by "white supremacists" or "far-right anti-government extremists" seem to have any political motivation. The list includes murders that occurred during attempted prison escapes, sex crimes, robberies and family squabbles, none of which has anything to do with furthering the tenets of white supremacy or any cause. In one of these supposedly "right-wing extremist" incidents, the police have yet to find a motive for the homicide.

USA Today [9/22/2025 5:01 AM, Larry Strauss, 75552K] reports like every other teacher I know, I’ve never refused a request to help a kid write something important, whether school related or not: a letter to a judge on behalf of a friend or relative in trouble, a cover letter for a job application or an appeal to an unfair boss, and, of course, essays for college admissions and scholarships. I have corresponded with former students in prison and sent them books to read and discuss. I’ve seen, over the years of their incarceration, growth in their writing and thinking skills and in their outlook on life. All of these teachable moments are a reminder of how much words matter and of the value of learning to express yourself. But I’m not so sure anymore. Recently, a student asked for help writing a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to plead for her cousin, who had been apprehended during a raid at a Home Depot about a mile from our school. Jenny sat nervously at my desk while I read her draft, which was simple and beautiful and tragic. And she wrote about how she and everyone else in their family believe that if they pray hard enough, their prayers will be answered and he will return to them. I told her what an excellent job she had done and then showed her a few ways she could make some of the sentences even clearer and stronger. We talked about what we English teachers call “audience” ‒ the target readers ‒ and how she might best appeal to them. I found myself swept away by her optimism about the project. I started to wonder if this letter was her own idea or if her family had turned to her, their 15-year-old English-speaking scholar, to represent the family’s despair and appeal, on behalf of all of them, to the humanity of those imprisoning her cousin. Thinking about that, I was stricken with the obvious question that should have immediately plagued me: Who, in any position to help, would actually ever read this emailed letter? And even if someone did, what were the chances that anyone responsible for his detention would give a damn about this child’s pain or the agony of her family ‒ or her detained cousin?

CBS’ Face The Nation [9/21/2025 11:51 AM, Staff, 8K] reports the president signed an executive order on Friday that I want to ask you about, because you have this role at IBM, and some insight into tech. The order is going to impose a $100,000 one-time fee for visas granted to foreign workers, highly skilled workers, H-1B visas. The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that this caused, like, a panic, because there wasn’t a lot of detail, at, like, Apple, and Google, and Microsoft. Did it cause a panic at IBM? "I think it caused a panic over the weekend because people weren’t sure what was going on with the existing H-1B visas. It’s been cleaned up over the weekend, so at- at this point, there’s not a panic in the system. Everyone who’s got an H-1B visa understands their status and understands how it- how it’s- how it’s going to work. I actually think this is a good idea. If you understand the H-1B visa program in the United States, historically, it has been a lottery system. So companies have turned in for these visas, and then the U.S. government lotteries them off. If you’re now telling a company, look, you need to spend $100,000 to get one of these visas, you’re not just going to ask for a visa and put a name in the lottery, unless that is a highly skilled person who you need, who you cannot hire in the United States. This visa program is meant for high skilled labor, where you cannot hire that person in the United States. So if that’s what it’s used for, ultimately we’re going to bring high skilled people in the United States. It’s going to help grow our economy, and that’s good for all of us." Gary Cohn states.

FOX News Sunday [9/21/2025 11:51 AM, Staff] reports Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., and Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., join ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss the heightened political rhetoric following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and discuss ways for Democrats and Republicans to unify.

CBS’ Face The Nation [9/21/2025 11:51 AM, Staff, 8K] reports most countries in the world recognize Palestinian statehood. It’s 147 of 193 countries at the UN, but France is going to be the first western UN Security Council member to do so. What conditions are there for this? "I think it was a necessity first to decide this recognition, and I will announce it on the 22nd of September at the United Nations, precisely because we are at the very moment where if we want peace and security for all in the region, we have to preserve the condition of a political perspective for everybody. So we will announce the recognition, but which is the beginning of a political process and a peace and security plan for everybody. So right after this recognition, we have a first phase, which is, I would say, the emergency phase, ceasefire, release of all hostages... and third, restoring the humanitarian roads and the stabilization of Gaza. We have a second package, which is the day after we will revert on that how to organize Gaza in terms of governance, security and reconstruction. And third package, the perspective of the two states. But recognizing the Palestinian state today is the only way to provide a political solution to a situation which has to stop." President Emmanuel Macron states. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this is a ‘reckless decision.’ That’s the word he used. He said it gives Hamas little incentive to actually start diplomacy to release the hostages. "So my first point is to say, I don’t answer the Hamas with that. I don’t meet the expectations of Hamas. Hamas is just obsessed by destroying Israel, but I recognize the legitimacy of so many Palestinian people who want a state, who are a people. They want a nation, they want a state, and we should not push them towards Hamas. If we don’t offer them a political perspective and such a recognition, the unique answer will be security, and they will be completely trapped by Hamas as a unique option." Macron states.

CBS’ Face The Nation [9/21/2025 11:51 AM, Staff, 8K] reports a year ago, if Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had tried to come to New York, he would have risked being arrested. The U.S. had a $10 million bounty on him because of his past connections to the Islamic State and al Qaeda. Al-Sharaa turned against those groups years ago. In December, he led the rebel forces that toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who used bombs and chemical weapons against his own people. He accused the Assad regime of destroying entire communities and displacing 14 million people. He said foreign investment is desperately needed to rebuild. In June, President Trump temporarily waived some economic sanctions to help Syria recover. But Congress, the U.N. and European nations would have to permanently lift more sanctions to draw long-term investment. On Capitol Hill and in foreign capitals, there are people who don’t trust Ahmed al-Sharaa. In New York, he hopes to reintroduce Syria to the world and perhaps spend more time with President Trump. Does he want to meet again with President Trump when you’re standing on U.S. soil? "President Trump took a big step towards Syria by lifting the sanctions with a quick, courageous and historic decision. He recognized that Syria should be safe, stable and unified. This is in the greatest interest for all countries of the world, not just Syria. I believe the answer is yes. We need to discuss a great many issues and mutual interests between Syria and the USA. We must restore relations in a good and direct way." President Al-Sharaa states. Many officials describe Al-Sharaa as a pragmatist. "I don’t entirely agree with the description of pragmatist, because, in Arabic, it has some negative connotations. The point is, let’s look at what’s happening now, regardless of what was said in the media. Today, we have really saved the people from the oppression that was being thrust on them by the criminal regime. And we have restored hope for the people who are refugees or internally displaced, so they can return to their homeland. We supported the people who were bombed with chemical weapons. We also confronted ISIS. We expelled the Iranian militias and Hezbollah from the region. All of these noble acts we took in Syria should have been the role of the international community. But the international community was unable to free a single prisoner or break the siege on a single town where people were starving to death." Al-Sharaa states.

Law Enforcement Today [9/21/2025 9:30 PM, Pat Droney, 92K] reports, another day, another criminal illegal alien committing unspeakable crimes in a sanctuary state, this time the "Constitution State" of Connecticut. A press release issued by the Department of Homeland Security said that on Sept. 11, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer against a criminal illegal alien, Ludvi Carias-Interiano, for aggravated sexual assault and unlawful restraint. He stands accused of raping a young jogger in New Haven, CT., on Aug. 9, 2025, while holding a box cutter to her throat. WFSB reported at the time that a woman told police she was jogging on a trail south of the Fort Hale Dog Park at around 7 a.m. when she was sexually assaulted. She described the man as Hispanic with cropped hair and a short beard, around 5’6" in his late 30s or early 40s. She said she was training for a marathon and had been running about 30 minutes when she was attacked. Chief Karl Jacobson of the New Haven Police Department told reporters that the department was reviewing video footage in the area. "We’re still reviewing footage, we still need tips. We’ve gotten some tips from the community, but whether you think it’s small or big, please call us with any kind of information," he said at the time. The brazen daytime sexual assault shook city residents, including Bria Stanfield of New Haven. "You should be able to go everywhere and be safe, wherever you are," she said. It’s sad; it’s a shame.” NBC Connecticut reported that Interiano, 34, a Guatemalan national, was arrested on Sept 12 by city police. He was being held on $750,000 bond. If he happens to make bond, Connecticut, as a sanctuary state, where the so-called "Trust Act" was recently reinforced by the liberals in Hartford, will not notify ICE, and he will have to be picked up on the street. "This criminal illegal alien should have NEVER been in our country in the first place to commit this heinous rape of a young woman jogging in the park. This violent criminal has prior charges for sexual assault of a minor and violent assault," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure this criminal illegal alien is not released on U.S. streets to terrorize more innocent women. Unfortunately, Connecticut is a Sanctuary state that protects predators like Carias-Interiano by refusing to work with ICE. These sanctuary politicians put American lives in danger.”

Univision [9/21/2025 10:51 AM, Staff, 4932K] reports a 42-year-old man arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) died Thursday at the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, Long Island. It is the first recorded death of an ICE detainee in local custody since the county opened its jails to the federal agency earlier this year. Authorities said the man was found unconscious in his cell around 6:30 a.m. Despite medical assistance attempts, he was pronounced dead at the scene by a Nassau police doctor. Subsequently, the body was transferred to the Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy. Nassau County Sheriff Anthony LaRocco said it was a “comprehensive and transparent” investigation to determine the cause of death. “The county takes its obligation to treat every prisoner with humanity very seriously,” he said. The New York State Attorney General’s Office, led by Letitia James, confirmed that her office is conducting a preliminary assessment of the case. The county homicide brigade also participates in the investigations. According to official data, at least 14 people have died in ICE custody so far in fiscal year 2025, which began in October 2024. During the same period, more than 58,000 migrants have been detained nationwide.

Univision [9/21/2025 10:59 AM, Staff, 4932K] reports the moment a Jefferson police officer hands over to ICE four immigrants detained for a traffic violation was captured on video. The reason behind the stop: The Slowpoke Act of Georgia. An officer’s body camera video shows the moment the agent approaches the vehicle and asks the driver for his license. The incident occurred on July 18 on Highway 129, in Jefferson, Georgia. After he explains that he is not licensed, he then proceeds to contact ICE agents. When one of them arrives at the site, it is heard that he stopped the van for “going at a slower speed on the road.” These considerations are part of the Slowpoke Act that applies in Georgia.

West Orlando News [9/21/2025 9:25 PM, Staff] reports ICE Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced 12 individuals, many with ties to Florida, were charged in an international conspiracy involving alien smuggling, asylum fraud and money laundering schemes that brought thousands of illegal aliens into the United States for profit. According to court documents, the defendants operated a prolific alien smuggling operation (ASO) that facilitated the unlawful entry of Cuban nationals into the United States by preparing visa applications, laundering millions of dollars in payment, and exploiting the immigration process. “This DOJ is investigating and prosecuting human smuggling more aggressively than ever before, and Joint Task Force Alpha is the tip of the spear,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “We will not rest until those who profit from the suffering of vulnerable people — including many unaccompanied children — face severe, comprehensive justice.” “This indictment exposes a criminal organization that smuggled people into the United States on a massive scale, and then fraudulently secured immigration benefits for them,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Posing as a legitimate immigration service, the defendants used social media promotions and false legal filings to attract new clients and perpetuate their fraud. The Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners will continue to dismantle these schemes, protect vulnerable people from exploitation, and safeguard the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.”

Chicago Tribune [9/21/2025 10:40 PM, Cam’ron Hardy, 5352K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is denying a media report suggesting the Trump Administration plans to leave a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview following protests at the site last week. A spokesman for Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson also said the village was unaware of any plans for immigration authorities to leave. In a story published Sunday afternoon, HuffPost reported that ICE planned to "evacuate" the building and move to another location, prompting several advocacy groups to proclaim victory in press releases and social media posts. In a statement to the Tribune, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant Secretary of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, denied that the holding facility will be closed. "Any allegations that ICE Broadview Processing Center is temporarily closing is FALSE," the statement said. "Since Friday, rioters and sanctuary politicians have obstructed and assaulted law enforcement. These rioters have thrown tear gas cans, rocks, bottles, and fireworks at law enforcement, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property.” Ten people were arrested during Friday’s protests. All have been released, according to Brad Thomson with the National Lawyer’s Guild of Chicago. McLaughlin chastised local law enforcement in her statement for not helping to quell the demonstrations. "Secretary (Kristi) Noem’s message to rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down," her statement said. "ICE will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The statement comes after a Friday morning protest against President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown, known as "Operation Midway Blitz." The initiative, which began in early September, has resulted in more than 500 arrests so far in the Chicago area, according to DHS officials.

Chicago Sun-Times [9/21/2025 10:33 PM, Violet Miller and Mary Norkol] reports among masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and fired-up protesters, Abraham Aguirre stood outside the ICE building in Broadview on Sunday with a red suitcase and dark duffel bag. He believed his cousin was inside. Aguirre knocked on the boarded-up windows and handed off the provisions: clothes, personal items, toiletries. “Not scared, not nervous, but I feel a deep sense of injustice,” Aguirre said in Spanish through a translator. Aguirre came to the ICE facility as protests against the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” and ramped-up immigration arrests stretch into their second week. Speculation brewed among protesters as HuffPost reported that ICE would be vacating the Broadview facility due to protests and some questioned whether the detainees believed to be on the buses were being transported elsewhere. HuffPost’s story was updated Sunday night to say DHS decided to keep the facility open and operational despite an initial plan to temporarily close it. Aguirre’s cousin was detained with two of his coworkers, and Aguirre believed they were all set to be deported — two to Mexico and one to Venezuela. Not long after Aguirre arrived, two buses left the gated parking lot of the ICE facility. Aguirre and other protesters believed they were carrying detainees. Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson told the Sun-Times on Sunday that she hadn’t been informed of any relocation plans for the ICE facility. In a statement to the Sun-Times on Sunday afternoon, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Broadview facility wouldn’t be closing, but she didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether operations there would be changing in response to the protests. McLaughlin also confirmed 16 protesters in total had been arrested at the Broadview facility this month. A state official told the Sun-Times that Broadview police and Cook County sheriff’s haven’t asked the Illinois State Police for help despite DHS claims to the contrary. Matt Hill, a spokesperson for Gov. JB Pritzker denied the state has received multiple calls for assistance and said the Trump administration shouldn’t be trusted “given their record of lies, lack of transparency, and failure to coordinate with the state and local law enforcement.”

NPR [9/21/2025 8:14 AM, Eric Westervelt and Jessica Pupovac, 34837K] Audio: HERE reports many protestors responding to "Operation Midway Blitz," the stepped-up immigration enforcement in Chicago, are politically active for the first time in their lives.

San Francisco Chronicle [9/21/2025 7:00 AM, Raheem Hosseini, 3790K] reports a few weeks after arriving at the immigrant detention center in Bakersfield, Angie Rodriguez felt sick to her stomach. It ached, her head throbbed, even her teeth hurt. Suspecting an infection, the 26-year-old asylum-seeker — who had been living in San Jose before her July arrest at San Francisco’s immigration court — used one of the tablets in the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center women’s dormitory to request medical attention. The next day, she said, she was seen by a medic who took a urine sample that proved an inconvenient miracle: Rodriguez was pregnant. She thanked God and questioned the moment. She and her husband wanted to start a family. But not yet. Not here. "It was something we longed to do, but not until we sorted out our immigration situation," Rodriguez told the Chronicle in Spanish. "That was not the moment I wanted to get the news that I was going to be a mother and that we were going to be parents.” In weeks, Rodriguez experienced a miscarriage, under circumstances that would disturb a federal judge and thrust the young woman to the forefront of a hidden problem inside U.S. detention centers — one that is testing President Donald Trump’s commitment to family values, his administration’s adherence to its own policies and the public’s appetite for his immigration crusade. Since Trump reclaimed the White House, the for-profit prison industry that the Mesa Verde detention center belongs to has enjoyed boom times from the president’s campaign to imprison and deport unauthorized and once-legal immigrants. Detention facilities in the U.S. have swelled with immigrants, the vast majority without criminal records and taken from the country’s interior, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. At the same time, Trump’s administration is making the operation of these facilities more opaque — halting reports to Congress, gutting monitoring agencies and keeping out the legal aid providers and human rights monitors previously allowed inside. This has prompted concerned politicians and advocacy organizations to conduct their own probes and to raise alarms about what they say is happening to women, children and everyone else in U.S. detention centers.

Bloomberg [9/22/2025 3:23 AM, Anup Roy and Subhadip Sircar, 19085K] reports US President Donald Trump’s steep hike in H-1B visa fees could hurt India’s services sector, curb remittance inflows, and weigh on the rupee, economists said. Last week, Trump ordered a sweeping overhaul of the H-1B visa program, mandating a $100,000 application fee aimed at deterring excessive use. India is especially vulnerable to these changes, as roughly 70% of H-1B visa holders in the US are Indian — many employed through Indian IT firms. Highly skilled Indian migrants in wealthy nations are a vital source of cash for the country, steadily increasing the money they send home over the years. The US alone provides nearly 28% of these inflows — roughly $35 billion a year, Citigroup Inc. economists, including India economist Samiran Chakraborty, estimated. “As the number of H-1B visa holders from India declines in future years, this will reduce the remittances back to India,” JP Morgan analyst Toshi Jain wrote in a client note. In a worst case scenario, if Indians applying for H-1B visas fell to zero, the annual remittances would decline by about $400 million, Jain added. The potential dent in remittances could put further pressure on the rupee, which has already been among Asia’s worst performers. The currency slipped 0.1% to 88.20 per dollar in early Monday trading. Economists also warned that the visa changes could disrupt India’s $280 billion IT services industry, which depends on the H-1B program to deploy engineers to overseas clients. Stocks of leading outsourcers, including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys Ltd., slid over 3% on Monday amid concerns the fee hike will complicate operations. The IT sector contributed over 7% to India’s gross domestic product and employs nearly six million professionals globally, according to National Association of Software and Service Companies, based in Bengaluru. The visa overhaul adds to tensions in India-US ties, as New Delhi grapples with the impact of 50% tariffs recently levied by Washington. India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in the US this week to resolve differences and move forward on a trade deal.

CNN [9/22/2025 3:33 AM, Rhea Mogul, John Liu, 23245K] reports a wave of panic and confusion has spread through Indian communities and the global tech industry, following US President Donald Trump’s surprise order imposing a $100,000 fee for the H-1B visa, impacting the largest group of beneficiaries of the skilled-worker program. The initial announcement on Friday ignited immediate and widespread confusion, culminating in chaotic scenes like the one aboard an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai. The plane was stuck on the tarmac for three hours as H-1B holders scrambled to understand if they would be able to re-enter the country. Video of the incident verified by CNN appears to show the captain attempting to calm the nerves of worried passengers on board. "Due to the current circumstances, obviously they’re unprecedented for us here at Emirates," he can be heard saying over the speaker of the plane as confused passengers check their phones. "We are aware that a number of passengers do not wish to travel with us. That’s perfectly fine.” CNN has contacted Emirates for a response. Masud Rana, who was on the flight and filmed the video, called the situation "complete chaos," in an Instagram post, adding it created "panic among many – particularly Indian passengers – who even chose to leave the aircraft.” Washington has justified its latest immigration crackdown as a necessary measure to curb what it describes as "systemic abuse" of the program and to encourage the hiring of American workers. The H-1B visa is a work visa that’s valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years. Economists have argued the program allows US companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business, creating more jobs in the US. But Trump’s new move is set to disproportionately impact skilled professionals from India, who have consistently accounted for the majority of approved applications in recent years, threatening to upend the career paths of hundreds of thousands of individuals and disrupt the business models of tech firms reliant on global talent. The H-1B visa fee "is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families," India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement Saturday, adding it hopes that the "disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US authorities.” The White House later clarified the $100,000 visa fee will apply only to new H-1B applications.

Reuters [9/21/2025 10:49 PM, Staff, 45746K] reports India’s $283 billion information technology sector will have to overhaul its decades-old strategy of rotating skilled talent into U.S. projects following U.S. President Donald Trump’s move, opens new tab to impose a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas from Sunday, according to tech veterans, analysts, lawyers and economists. The sector, which earns about 57% of its total revenue from the U.S. market, has long gained from U.S. work visa programs and the outsourcing of software and business services -- a contentious issue for many Americans who have lost jobs to cheaper workers in India. India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to U.S. government data. Trump’s move to reshape the H-1B program will force IT firms with clients such as Apple (AAPL.O), JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Walmart (WMT.N), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Meta (META.O), and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), Google to pause onshore rotations, accelerate offshore delivery, and ramp up hiring of U.S. citizens and green card holders, experts said. "The ‘American Dream’ for aspiring workers will be tough," Ganesh Natarajan, former CEO of IT outsourcer Zensar Technologies, said, adding that he expected firms to restrict cross-border travel and get more work done out of countries such as India, Mexico and the Philippines.

Univision [9/21/2025 1:50 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports President Donald Trump’s latest plan to reform the U.S. immigration system baffled some immigrant workers and big tech companies, so the White House tried to clarify this weekend that the new $100,000 tariff for skilled tech worker visas only applies to new applicants and not to current visa holders. On Friday, the president, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on his side, signed a proclamation that will impose the new tariff for what is known as H-1B visas, intended for highly skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to cover. “Those who already have H-1B visas and are currently out of the country will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in X. “This applies only to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders,” he added. The fare takes effect at 12:01 on Sunday (East time). It is expected to expire after a year, but could be extended if the government determines that keeping it favors the interests of the United States. In a social media post, the White House also sought to make it clear that the new rule “does not affect the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the United States.” Lutnick told reporters on Friday that the tariff would be an annual cost for companies. But a White House official said Saturday that it is a “one-time fee.” Asked if Lutnick’s comments sowed confusion, the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the new tariff “currently does not apply to renovations, but that policy is under discussion.”

Reuters [9/22/2025 12:03 AM, Una Galani and Shritama Bose, 45746K] reports what helps make some American companies exceptional is that they’re able to hire the best talent in the world. Donald Trump’s decision to slap a $100,000 fee on new applications for H-1B visas - used to bring highly skilled and talented workers into the country to work for Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Meta Platforms (META.O), Apple (AAPL.O) and others - poses a risk to that equation. But the U.S. president has allowed himself enough loopholes to avoid such an adverse outcome. The war on H-1B visas opens a new front in Washington’s anti-immigration push, but it is not a jolt from the blue. For years, Indian IT outsourcing companies operating in the U.S. have in particular come under fire for using the visas to hire lower-paid foreign technology engineers instead of hiring Americans. That has started to change, though. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS), the second-largest user of the program this year, has 5,505 employees on the visas, half its 2021 peak. Yet while Indian nationals hold 71% of H-1Bs, U.S. companies dominate the top 10 sponsors. The short-term financial impact will be limited, especially after the White House hastily clarified over the weekend that the fee only applies to new applications, not existing visas. Even if it were retroactive, the upfront cost for JPMorgan (JPM.N), for example, would be equivalent to 0.4% of its full-year profit. Spread the cost over three to five years of an employee’s term, and the $100,000 fee is a tolerable cost for hiring the best and brightest. For TCS, it would be up to 10%. In practice, companies are likely to respond to Trump’s order in two main ways. First, they will double down on offshoring work, where possible. Absent any move by Washington to tax outsourcing payments, India, the Philippines and Mexico could be top potential beneficiaries. Though companies need a minimum mass of talent in close proximity to their projects to execute them smoothly, there was a massive trend toward offshoring during the COVID-19 pandemic which busted myths about where people need to be to perform certain tasks. Second, companies will aggressively pull forward their adoption of artificial intelligence to optimise their workforce requirements. If a company was using 10 people with H-1B visas on a project, they might hire five and use the latest innovations in AI to see if they can make up for the lack of availability of talent. That would be the opposite outcome to Washington’s intention to prod employers to hire American science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates to tackle domestic unemployment among this cohort. Trump has taken different sides on H-1B visas over the years, siding at times with his tech advisers or with his Make American Great Again political champions. His own uncertainty may explain why the president’s order contains plenty of loopholes. He has allowed the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to grant fee exemptions if it is in National Interest, and the restrictions only apply for 12 months, unless the programme is extended. But the overarching threat remains. America has always relied on a mixture of local and overseas talent and will pay a heavy price if the anti-immigration push becomes permanent.

Washington Examiner [9/21/2025 1:48 PM, Staff, 1563K] reports foreign worker visa programs in the United States are not doing enough to spur economic growth and recruit native workers, according to a new report. The Economic Policy Institute released a report that says the H-2B visa program is bloated and stifles wage growth. "Expansion of H-2B should be avoided," the report summary reads. "What’s needed instead are new rules for H-2B and worker protections and a viable path to lawful permanent residence for the hundreds of thousands of workers who are employed in the United States through this program.” The H-2B visa program is used for nonagricultural temporary workers, primarily in landscaping, construction and hospitality industries. The Economic Policy Institute found that the H-2B program expanded to 169,177 people in 2024 despite having a statutory cap of 66,000 per year designated by Congress. The Department of Homeland Security can approve supplemental H-2B visas based on demand in a given year. The report found DHS approved 64,716 supplemental visas in addition to the statutory cap of 66,000. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also exempts workers from the cap who extend their stay or change employees. In 2024, EPI found the State Department offered 139,541 new visas for workers while 4,850 H-2B workers had their employment extended and 25,056 workers changed their employers. Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project, said programs like H-2B are taking jobs from American workers. "There are millions of young Americans, people who are in high school or in college who need entry-level jobs," Jenks said. "Those jobs are not available to Americans in a lot of places because we’re importing foreign workers to do them.”

USA Today [9/21/2025 7:02 AM, Eduardo Cuevas, 3744K] reports a special visa allowing specially skilled foreign workers into the U.S. that’s now facing a $100,000 fee by President Donald Trump is used in Michigan by hundreds of companies, including auto makers, medical supply companies and banks. On Sept. 19, Trump declared that the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program has been "deliberately exploited" to replace American workers with lower paid and less-skilled labor. To address the claim, Trump said he’s introducing a $100,000 application fee for companies applying for a H-1B visa, with discretion from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to exempt workers. Research shows visa workers complement American workers due to different skillsets. While Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said all of the "big companies are on board," H-1Bs are vital to the nation’s tech industry, and Trump’s fee will likely face legal challenges. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data from June 30, 2025, in fiscal 2025 1,346 Michigan employers submitted petitions to obtain H-1B visas for workers. The department approved 8,240 among 8,372 applications.

Houston Chronicle [9/21/2025 7:00 AM, Julián Aguilar, 2356K] reports a recent citizenship workshop drew one of the biggest crowds Vipin Kumar had ever seen at the India House community center in southwest Houston. For Kumar, the center’s executive director, it’s a sign immigrants are paying more attention to the changes coming down from the Trump administration. "I have people here who have been on a green card for 20 years, 25 years. They were not filing for citizenship," he said as he walked through India House, where about a dozen immigrants were attending a free citizenship workshop last week. "Today everybody wants to become a citizen because when they go out (of the country) and come back, everybody can be questioned and grilled if they are not a citizen," he added. The workshop is one of several the center conducts every year in conjunction with immigration attorneys, the Harris County Public Library and other volunteers. The attorneys are joined by accredited representatives — a Justice Department designation for non-attorneys who are qualified to give legal advice and represent immigrants in proceedings. The increased interest comes as national and local groups are urging legal permanent residents to apply for citizenship. Advocates say it’s the best form of protection from a heavy-handed federal government that has installed a series of changes to the legal immigration system. "The message is that if you haven’t done it, you probably should try to see if you can qualify to become a citizen now before the process becomes even more cumbersome," Nicole Melaku, the executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, told the Houston Chronicle. As part of its push to overhaul immigration, the Trump administration is putting more weight on whether an immigrant applying for citizenship meets a "good moral character" threshold. The White House has also reinstated neighborhood checks, where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers interview an applicant’s neighbors and co-workers in search of red flags.

NBC News [9/21/2025 2:53 PM, Doha Madani, 43603K] reports what started as a routine check at Tampa International Airport in Florida took a ghastly turn last week when customs agents found what appeared to be human remains in someone’s luggage. The traveler initially declared 10 cigars, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the airport discovered much more, according to Carlos Martel, director of field operations in the area. Martel wrote on X that agents found a skull and other remains wrapped in foil inside of a duffel bag. "The traveler claimed the items were for rituals, but due to serious health risks, the items were seized and destroyed," he wrote. "At @CBP, we never know what baggage may hold, but smugglers should know we’ll always have a bone to pick," Martel wrote. He also said agents found prohibited plants and other undeclared cigars. Representatives for Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the incident. According to the customs website, passengers traveling with remains meant for burial or cremation are required to bring death certificates. They are also required to do so in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements.

AP [9/21/2025 6:32 PM, Staff, 37974K] reports Hurricane Gabrielle formed Sunday in the open Atlantic southeast of Bermuda, while Tropical Storm Narda emerged well off southern Mexico’s Pacific coast. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Gabrielle became a Category 1 hurricane after its top sustained winds rose to 75 mph (120 kph). Gabrielle was centered some 320 miles (515 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda and was moving to the north-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph). The hurricane center said Gabrielle could become a major hurricane in the early part of this week as it is expected to undergo steady to rapid intensification over the next day or so. On the current forecast track, Gabrielle was expected to pass east of Bermuda on Monday. A hurricane hunter aircraft found the storm at hurricane strength and moving on a more north-northwest track. But the center said a more northerly course was expected Monday. No coastal watches or warnings are in effect, but meteorologists urged interests in Bermuda to keep close watch. Large ocean swells kicked up by Gabrielle are impacting Bermuda and are expected to reach the Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina northward into Atlantic Canada over the coming days. In the Pacific, Narda emerged well offshore of Mexico on Sunday afternoon and posed no threat to land. The hurricane center said Narda had top sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph) and was positioned about 240 miles (386 kilometers) south-southeast of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, while moving to the northwest at 10 mph (17 kph). The center says Narda could become a hurricane while heading further offshore.

AP [9/22/2025 12:01 AM, David Fischer, 2356K] reports Ryan Routh texted his three adult children and his fiancée separately to tell them he loved them, according to cell phone records, shortly before authorities say he was spotted by a U.S. Secret Service agent, who identified Routh as the man who tried to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course. Later that same day, Routh called his fiancée from the Palm Beach County jail to tell her about his arrest, but she already knew. "Everybody knows, it’s been hours," the woman can be heard saying on a recording of the call. "The whole world knows.” Routh is representing himself in federal court after being charged with trying kill Trump and is set to present his defense Monday, calling just three witnesses. Seasoned prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida rested their case Friday afternoon after spending seven days questioning 38 witnesses in an attempt to make sure Routh spends the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors have said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. He told U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday that he only needs half a day or so to present his defense. He has indicated that he plans to call a firearms expert and two character witnesses. He hasn’t said whether he plans to testify himself. Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself following two hearings in July. Routh told the judge that his court-appointed federal public defenders were diligent, but they didn’t listen to him and were afraid of him. Recounting the alleged attack at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified last week that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot, the agent said. Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who testified that he saw a person fleeing the area after hearing gunshots. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witness said he confirmed it was the person he had seen. Just nine weeks earlier, Trump had survived an attempt on his life while campaigning in Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.

Washington Examiner [9/21/2025 7:08 PM, Asher Notheis, 1563K] reports acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli referred an X statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) press office to the Secret Service on Saturday, saying there is "zero tolerance" for threats against government officials. The statement from Newsom’s press office on Saturday morning said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would "have a bad day today," adding, "You’re welcome, America." The post was published 10 days after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated, in what was the latest example of political violence in the United States. "We have zero tolerance for direct or implicit threats against government officials. I’ve referred this matter to @SecretService and requested a full threat assessment," Essayli posted on X. Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also rebuked the press office’s post, saying it "isn’t what America needs right now.” Newsom’s press office shared a screenshot of a post President Donald Trump sent on March 10, 2020, which said, "Going to be a BAD day for Crazy Bernie!" The press office wrote a statement nearly identical to Essayli’s post in sharing Trump’s statement. Newsom is one of many high-profile Democrats actively opposing the Trump administration, particularly its deportation efforts. As part of that resistance effort, the California governor signed a bill into law over the weekend that bans most federal, local, and out-of-state law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings.

Breitbart [9/21/2025 7:19 AM, Kurt Zindulka, 2608K] reports ISIS reportedly called upon Muslims to use any means necessary to kill "Christians and Jews" in the United States and Europe, with a specific focus on France, in an edition of its Arabic-language magazine. Although the so-called Islamic State has lost its physical Caliphate after it was defeated under the first Trump administration, ISIS radicals continue to advocate for their strict interpretation of the Islamic religion and seek to influence impressionable young Muslims in the West to commit acts of terror in its name. In a copy of its al-Naba obtained by the Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism (CAT) and shared with the French paper of record Le Figaro, ISIS wrote: "O monotheistic Muslims… Hit Jews and Christians, their crowds and convoys, in the streets and on the roads of America and Europe, and especially in France. Do not spare them, attack them, kill them by all means: by car, with a knife, a gun or by causing a fire.” "Know that every disbeliever you kill makes them suffer more than our strikes can do here… Hit them in solitary attacks like those we have seen before in Paris, Brussels and other places in the countries of the Crusader.” Despite the overtures from France and other European nations to back Palestinian statehood, the radical Islamist group urged Muslims to reject such offers, arguing that they are merely intended to "disarm Muslims and neutralise their jihad". The publication went on to claim that demands by some in the West for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas "only aim to save Jews from the threat of disappearance and collapse, after the blows dealt to them by the mujahideen.” Terrorism researcher Marc Hecker suggested that France is being singled out by ISIS and other Islamist radicals over its laws specifically mandating secularism, which he said are interpreted as "institutionalised Islamophobia". Such laws in France have been used to shut down Islamist institutions, such as the euphemistically named European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH), a school for Imams in rural Bourgogne. The allegedly Muslim Brotherhood-tied training centre was accused of promoting "armed jihad" in France. The researcher also noted that French military participation in coalitions fighting jihadist groups in the Sahel region of Africa and in the Levant is characterised as "armed struggle against Muslims.” "By often targeting France, with large or small attacks (the so-called ‘a thousand cuts’ strategy), terrorist organisations seek to slowly bleed the social body," Hecker said.

The Hill [9/21/2025 2:00 PM, Staff, 12414K] reports the Caribbean has once again become a theater of U.S. national security. Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela has been accused of working with criminal cartels that traffic drugs, weapons and money across the region. The Trump administration has responded with visible military deployments, including advanced aircraft and naval assets forward-based in Puerto Rico. During an unannounced visit to the USS Iwo Jima off our shores on Sept. 8, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told sailors and Marines that "this isn’t training" but a real mission to disrupt narco-terrorist networks. The Pentagon has also sent 10 F-35 fighters to the island to reinforce the campaign. On the same day, Maduro denounced the U.S. presence in Puerto Rico and criticized the island territory’s governor for participating in military operations. These moves have prompted dissent. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), who has a long history of opposing militarization of the island, recently called the reuse of former military facilities "a historic setback for Puerto Rico’s right to self-determination." Her words reflect a broader worry: that Puerto Rico will again be used as a staging ground for U.S. operations without adequate consultation or consent. That concern deserves respect. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and they should have a voice in shaping how their island participates in national defense. The fair question is whether Puerto Ricans themselves want to play this role. The answer came on Sept. 8, when Puerto Rico’s Senate approved Resolution 288, formally expressing President Trump’s actions against Maduro and narco-terrorism and aligning the island with the federal mission. This was not imposed from outside — it was debated and adopted by elected legislators in San Juan. That decision reflects more than a legislative vote. The sentiment among many Puerto Ricans is that this presence can be positive: it stimulates economic activity, enhances security on the island, affirms our role in fighting for the greater good, and even brings us closer to statehood by demonstrating Puerto Rico’s value to the nation. Our geography makes this role unavoidable. Puerto Rico sits across key sea and air corridors exploited by cartels that destabilize governments and threaten communities far beyond our shores. When those flows reach Miami, New York or Chicago, they directly affect American families. Interdicting them in the Caribbean is not abstract strategy — it is urgent homeland defense.

Washington Examiner [9/21/2025 1:42 PM, Molly Parks, 1563K] reports the Pentagon should not be in charge of what journalists can report on, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, in the wake of a new Pentagon ruling restricting reporters from sharing unauthorized information. The Pentagon released policy guidance Friday requiring reporters to pledge they will only report information that is explicitly authorized for release by Department of War officials. If reporters fail to follow the guidelines, the department could revoke their credentials. The guidance comes after recently announced restrictions on where reporters have access within the Pentagon. Trump struck a different tone Sunday when a White House reporter asked him if the Pentagon should play a role in deciding what information journalists can report. "No, I don’t think so," Trump said. "Nothing stops reporters. You know that.” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters in a memo released Friday that all Pentagon reporters will be required to read and sign a media form outlining the new policies. "DoW remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust. However, DoW information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified," the memo reads. The Pentagon pointed to the possible national security threat that any release of classified national security information or controlled unclassified information may pose in the memo. War Secretary Pete Hegseth touted the new guidelines restricting the media’s physical access in the Pentagon on his X account. The guidelines also require all reporters to wear a new, bright-red press badge. "The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home," Hegseth said. The Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement Saturday condemning the new "unconstitutional restrictions" on Pentagon reporters, saying they are "deeply alarmed" by the announcement.

Free Beacon [9/21/2025 4:00 PM, Adam Kredo, 500K] reports the United Nations Security Council has scheduled a critical meeting on the Gaza war for Tuesday afternoon—as the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah is in full swing. The move is meant to sideline Israeli officials who will be observing the holiday, sources familiar with the meeting told the Washington Free Beacon. The Security Council’s public calendar shows only that a "Middle East" briefing is slated for Tuesday—the first day of high-level debate at the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA)—in the council’s Turtle Bay chambers. Though the council did not disclose a specific topic, sources familiar with the meeting said that it will focus on the war in Gaza and that it was scheduled during Rosh Hashanah thanks to pressure from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the self-described "collective voice of the Muslim world" that maintains a permanent delegation to the U.N. and counts the likes of Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan as members. Another member, Algeria, was especially aggressive in pushing for the Gaza meeting to fall within Rosh Hashanah, the Free Beacon has learned. The Jewish holiday begins at sundown on Monday and concludes at nightfall on Wednesday. UNGA high-level debate does not end until five days later, leaving plenty of time for the Security Council to hold the Gaza meeting after Rosh Hashanah. South Korea, which holds the Security Council presidency, ultimately decided on the date and time, suggesting the country capitulated to the OIC’s demands. The meeting will come amid a larger push by Arab nations and European allies to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state during the UNGA, a move meant to increase pressure on Israel to end its war against Hamas with no conditions. One source familiar with the meeting said its schedule is "yet another example of how the U.N. is a fundamentally unserious institution.” "It’s a farce for the Security Council to schedule this meeting on Rosh Hashanah, knowing Israel can’t participate or respond to the anti-Semitic dogpile that will take place," the source told the Free Beacon.

Axios [9/21/2025 2:53 PM, Avery Lotz, 14595K] reports a wave of voices on the right condemned the formal recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, Canada and Australia on Sunday. The decision by the three nations has put President Trump — and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — at odds with close U.S. allies, as several other countries, including France, are expected to recognize the State of Palestine during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly. During a press conference alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week, Trump referenced that divide over the UK’s long-awaited move, saying, "I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score." Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley joined a group of voices on the right in condemning the decision, accusing the three countries of "caving to Hamas by pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state." She alleged the U.S. allies were "more concerned about pleasing Hamas than releasing the hostages and ending the war." House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said, "Recognition of a ‘State of Palestine’ is empty virtue signaling that only rewards the Hamas butchers and rapists." And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) accused the "so-called civilized world" of "rewarding modern day religious Nazis" with an arbitrary designation. Last week, more than two dozen of Graham and Mast’s Republican colleagues signed a letter to Starmer, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney framing their plans as "reckless."

NewsMax [9/21/2025 1:02 PM, Jim Mishler, 4779K] reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soundly rejected the U.K.’s recognition of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu denounced the British decision, posting his remarks Sunday just hours after U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed it. Netanyahu said the move is not only rejected by Israel, but he also challenged the premise underlying it. "I have a clear message for those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7: You are granting a huge reward to terrorism. And I have another message for you: It will not happen. There will be no Palestinian state west of the Jordan.” He added, "For years, I prevented the establishment of this terror state in the face of tremendous pressures, both domestic and international. We did so with determination, and we did so with political wisdom. Moreover, we doubled the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria — and we will continue on this path.” Netanyahu, who will address the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York, also said, "The response to the latest attempt to impose a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the USA. Wait.” The U.K. announced its potential recognition of a Palestinian state in late July following a similar move by France the week before. Canada and Australia have now mirrored that recognition.

Breitbart [9/21/2025 5:58 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected US allegations of being a drug trafficker and asked President Donald Trump for dialogue, according to a letter released Sunday by Caracas, as tensions soar between the two countries. The letter addressed to Trump is dated September 6 and was sent days after the United States deployed warships off the coast of Venezuela and carried out the first of several attacks on Venezuela-based boats alleged by Washington to be carrying drugs. That first attack left 11 people dead and two more strikes have followed, despite Maduro’s letter with his plea for peace. In the missive, Maduro — whose July 2024 reelection was seen by the opposition and much of the international community as fraudulent — rejected as "absolutely false" US allegations that he leads a drug cartel. "It is the worst fake news that has been launched against our country in an escalation in an armed conflict that would do catastrophic damage to the whole continent," the letter states. Maduro urged Trump to "keep the peace with dialogue and understanding in the entire hemisphere.” "President, I hope that together we can defeat this fake news that is filling with noise a relationship that should be historic and peaceful.” Maduro maintained that Venezuela was a "drug-free" country and that only five percent of the drugs produced in neighboring Colombia made their way onto Venezuelan territory. "A very relevant fact is that this year we have already neutralized and destroyed more than 70 percent of that small percentage that attempts to cross that extensive border, more than 2,200 kilometers (1,300 miles) long, that we share with Colombia," he said. Since the letter was sent, US forces in the Caribbean have attacked two more boats that Washington said were carrying drugs — one off Venezuela and one further north, off the coast of the Dominican Republic. This last attack was first announced Friday by Trump himself, without saying where it happened, and was confirmed Sunday by the drug enforcement agency of the Dominican Republic and the US embassy there. The attack left three people dead. The US military deployment has been widely denounced in Latin America, stoking fears that the United States is planning to attack Venezuela. It involves eight warships and a nuclear-powered submarine sent to the southern Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela and 10 fighter jets sent to nearby Puerto Rico. Venezuela has denounced the "military threat" against it following the deployment of the US ships. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lppez spoke of an "undeclared war" on Friday. The US deployment has also prompted debate over the legality of the killings, with drug trafficking itself not a capital offense under US law. The United States is attacking and destroying vessels rather than seizing them and arresting their crew, which is the normal procedure in anti-drug operations.

Reuters [9/22/2025 3:15 AM, Daren Butler, 45746K] reports Turkey said on Monday it had terminated retaliatory tariffs imposed in 2018 on U.S. imports ranging from passenger cars to fruit, in a sign of warming bilateral ties as President Tayyip Erdogan travels to the United States. Erdogan is due to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week ahead of a meeting at the White House on Thursday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he expected trade and military deals to be sealed during the visit. The cancellation of the tariffs, which, when they were introduced, had covered products including passenger cars, fruit, rice, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, solid fuels and chemical products, was announced in Turkey’s Official Gazette. Since returning to the White House earlier this year, Trump has employed sweeping tariffs in a bid to reshape global trade in Washington’s favour, targeting not only traditional rivals but also long-standing allies. The United States set the tariff rate on Turkish imports at 15% in August. Ankara has not retaliated against the move. Monday’s cancellations apply to levies imposed in 2018 in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium imports enacted during Trump’s first term in office. Erdogan last visited Trump at the White House in 2019, and the pair have had a checkered past. While they shared a close personal bond during Trump’s first term, it was also a period of strained bilateral relations due to disputes over Washington’s ties with Kurdish fighters in Syria and Ankara’s dealings with Moscow. Turkey angered the Trump administration in 2019 by purchasing Russian S-400 missile defence systems. In response, Washington cancelled a planned sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and ousted it from a joint production programme for the planes. Turkey’s trade ministry said the tariffs imposed in 2018 were subsequently updated based on the actions taken by the parties, but they remained in effect to a certain extent, without providing figures on the current scale of the levies. "The additional financial obligations imposed on imports of certain U.S.-origin products have been terminated," the ministry said, citing progress in negotiations with the United States. It said that Turkey will continue to work towards meeting an existing goal of $100 billion in annual two-way trade with the United States. Trade volumes between the two countries stood at roughly $30 billion last year. "We will continue to develop policies to increase trade relations for the benefit of both parties, diversify them by taking into account competitive conditions, and develop new areas of cooperation," it added. Separately, Turkey said on Monday it had imposed an additional 25% to 30% customs duty on passenger car imports, excluding those from the European Union and countries with which Turkey has free trade agreements.

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