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 AP [9/25/2025 8:05 PM, Nicholas Riccardi, 2608K] reports President Donald Trump on Thursday directed his administration to crack down on backers of what he dubbed "left-wing terrorism," naming two top Democratic donors as he alleged without evidence a vast conspiracy to finance violent protests against the government. Trump’s directive put the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce in the lead and said the effort would span agencies across the administration, including the Treasury Department, "to identify and disrupt financial networks that fund domestic terrorism and political violence.". The pursuit of what the president said were the funders of "agitators and anarchists" is the latest instance of Trump using the power of his office to pursue his political rivals. When pressed by a reporter to name any possible targets, he suggested two of the Democratic Party’s top donors — billionaires George Soros and Reid Hoffman. "If they are funding these things, they’re going to have some problems," Trump said. Trump had threatened such an order after the assassination earlier this month of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a shooting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Dallas, killing one detainee and wounding two others. Authorities have identified the suspected gunmen in each case, but no information has been made public so far to suggest they were backed by a wider network. In a statement Thursday, before Trump’s announcement, Soros’ Open Society Foundation in a statement referred to previous accusations made by the Republican president, saying its activities are peaceful and lawful. The New York Times [9/25/2025 2:59 AM, Devlin Barrett, 143795K] reports that the White House announcement was attended by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, who indicated that the bureau’s joint terrorism task forces would be used to carry out the president’s directive. The memorandum ordered those task forces to provide regular updates to Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, who called the plan “an all-of-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism, to dismantle antifa.” The Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 6:42 PM, Mabinty Quarshie, 1563K] reports that, citing assassination attempts against himself, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and an attack at a Dallas, Texas, ICE facility, as well as riots in Los Angeles and Portland, the memorandum claims that "political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically.". "Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society," the memo reads. "This is a very historic and significant day. This is the first time in American history that there is an all-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism, to dismantle antifa, to dismantle the organizations that have been carrying out these acts of political violence and terrorism," said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff. The Washington Post [9/25/2025 9:58 PM, Jonathan Edwards, 29079K] reports White House officials previously presented their counterterrorism strategy in public as an effort to thwart international actors. But since the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on a college campus this month, the administration’s focus has shifted to homegrown political violence. Trump has blamed far-left groups for Kirk’s death and pledged to go after them, although no evidence has emerged to link the man charged with killing him to any organized group. On Monday, he signed an executive order designating “antifa,” a decentralized, leftist ideology adhered to by various individuals and groups, as a “domestic terrorist organization,” though the U.S. has no legal mechanism for such a designation. He described the memorandum Thursday as an expansion of efforts to investigate and dismantle groups that support domestic political violence. He and top administration officials alleged a sinister conspiracy of wealthy elites is funding a vast network of domestic terrorists wreaking havoc across the country. “These are not lone, isolated events. This is part of an organized campaign of radical left terrorism. It is structured, it is sophisticated, it is well funded, it is well planned,” Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said. Soros’s Open Society Foundations, a philanthropic organization founded in 1979 that has long supported liberal causes, has been a favored target of Trump officials. The group in a statement Thursday said it condemns and does not fund terrorism. A spokeswoman called the administration’s “accusations … politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech.”

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CNN [9/25/2025 6:20 PM, Adam Cancryn, 662K]
USA Today [9/25/2025 6:06 PM, Zac Anderson, 64151K]

Bloomberg News [9/25/2025 6:46 PM, Naomi Jagoda, 75K] reports President Donald Trump on Thursday directed the IRS to ensure tax-exempt organizations are refraining from financing what the administration deems "political violence or domestic terrorism.". "In addition, where applicable, the Commissioner shall ensure that the Internal Revenue Service refers such organizations, and the employees and officers of such organizations, to the Department of Justice for investigation and possible prosecution," Trump said in a memo. The directive to the IRS is part of a set of instructions to several agencies aimed at combating political violence following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It comes after administration officials vowed to revoke tax-exemption for groups promoting political violence. Tax-exempt status is generally only revoked after an audit, although it’s easier to revoke the exemption for terrorist organizations. It’s illegal for the president or vice president to instruct the IRS to audit a specific taxpayer. Trump’s memo also calls for the Treasury Department to "make available all resources, to the maximum extent permitted by law, to identify and disrupt financial networks that fund domestic terrorism and political violence.".

NewsMax [9/25/2025 9:59 AM, Staff, 4779K] reports Democrats’ increasingly hostile political rhetoric toward federal immigration enforcement is directly contributing to violent attacks against law enforcement officers, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin warned on Newsmax. McLaughlin condemned what she described as a campaign of "dehumanization and demonization" by anti-deportation politicians and activists, telling "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE" that it is emboldening extremists and putting agents’ lives at risk. "It is really sickening what happened at that facility down in Dallas," McLaughlin said, referring to a shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility that left one detainee dead and two others severely injured. "This monster began indiscriminately shooting at our facility and the ICE vehicle itself. "The dehumanization and the demonization has to stop, because we’re already seeing a 1,000% increase in assaults against them.". McLaughlin cited recent remarks by California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who introduced legislation she called unconstitutional and said likened federal law enforcement officers to "the Gestapo" and "slave patrols.". She warned that such comparisons risk normalizing violence. "What did Americans do to the Nazis in World War II? We fought them and we killed them," she told host Carl Higbie. "If you call law enforcement Nazis, you empower people to believe violence against them is justified.". McLaughlin said DHS is responding to the escalating threats by expanding its workforce, recruiting more than 151,000 applicants to bolster security and ensure officers have adequate backup in the field. "These are dangerous jobs, and because of these sanctuary politicians and media smears, they are becoming increasingly dangerous," she said. "If you don’t like the law, change it — don’t demonize the men and women enforcing it.".

FOX Business [9/25/2025 7:50 PM, Staff, 10702K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin discusses the attack on I.C.E., the alleged shooter’s motives and the rhetoric against law enforcement on ‘The Evening Edit.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Politico [9/25/2025 9:43 AM, Gregory Svirnovskiy, 2100K] reports the Department of Homeland Security plans to beef up security at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities all over the country in the wake of a deadly attack on a Dallas field office this week. “In light of today’s horrific shooting that was motivated by hatred for ICE and the other unprecedented acts of violence against ICE law enforcement, including bomb threats, cars being used [as] weapons, rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at officers, and doxing online of officers families, DHS will immediately begin increasing security at ICE facilities across the country,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them.” In a Wednesday social media post, President Donald Trump blamed rising political violence on “Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing law enforcement” and sought to tie the shooting to the assassination of conservative organizer Charlie Kirk, who was killed just over two weeks ago while speaking at a college campus in Utah. “The continuing violence from Radical Left Terrorists, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, must be stopped,” Trump wrote. “ICE Officers, and other Brave Members of Law Enforcement, are under grave threat.” DHS did not immediately respond to a request from POLITICO for more information on the security measures, and whether they are being paid for with funding from Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 1:05 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K]

New York Times [9/26/2025 3:35 AM, Madeleine Ngo and Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 330K] reports the shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas on Wednesday was the latest in a string of violent episodes directed at ICE facilities and officers, as the Trump administration ramps up its deportation campaign and adopts more confrontational tactics during arrests. Wednesday’s shooting was the second this year at an ICE facility in Texas. In July, a police officer was shot outside an ICE detention center less than 40 miles from the Dallas facility. Last month, federal officials said a suspect had been arrested after making a bomb threat against the same facility in Dallas. In recent months, demonstrations outside ICE facilities in Los Angeles, Illinois and New York led to confrontations with law enforcement officers and arrests. This month, an ICE officer fatally shot a man in the Chicago area whom immigration agents had tried to pull over. The Department of Homeland Security said that the man was resisting arrest during the stop and that he dragged the officer as he fled in his vehicle. Department officials have blamed such episodes on “hateful rhetoric,” calling in a statement last week for the “media, leftist groups and sanctuary politicians” to end the “demonization” of immigration enforcement officers. “We have to turn down the temperature before someone else is killed,” Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said in the statement. “This violence must end.” On Wednesday, a detainee was fatally shot when a gunman opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, injuring two others, investigators said. The authorities suggested that the gunman — who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound — was targeting immigration enforcement agents. The shooting was the culmination of months of rising tensions over the Trump administration’s immigration policies, as federal officers use increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics to bring in detainees and reach arrest targets. Anger in some cities has mounted as immigration authorities have conducted large-scale operations across the country, with Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff, saying this year the administration would strive to hit 3,000 arrests a day. ICE officers have arrested immigrants at immigration court hearings. Federal agents have swept through parking lots of big-box stores in the Los Angeles region. Videos of homeland security agents and officers breaking windows of cars belonging to targets have proliferated on social media. Protesters, including faith leaders, community groups and liberal organizations, have held vigils, sit-ins and peaceful rallies at detention centers — though some demonstrations have turned volatile. Federal officials also report a sharp rise in threats against officers.

New York Times [9/25/2025 5:26 PM, J. David Goodman and Christina Morales, 143795K] reports federal officials said Thursday that the gunman who shot three detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas had been aiming for immigration agents, pointing to notes that they said he left that showed a hatred of the federal government and a desire to cause immigration agents “real terror.” Nancy Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said at a news conference in Dallas that the actions of the gunman were the “very definition of terrorism.” Officials at the news conference tried to resolve what had been a lingering question of a motive behind the shooting on Wednesday, in which no law enforcement officers were hurt but one detainee was killed and two others were critically injured. The gunman, identified by the authorities as Joshua Jahn, 29, killed himself. Ms. Larson said that Mr. Jahn “very likely acted alone” and had left many notes, which investigators found while searching his home. One read, “‘Yes, it was just me,’” and another referred to ICE agents as “people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck,” according to Ms. Larson. Ms. Larson said that the notes indicated that he did not intend to harm or kill any detainees, saying that it was a “tragic irony” that only detainees were struck. Officials on Thursday said the detainees who were shot had been restrained in a transport van and could not escape the gunfire, though Marcos Charles, who leads enforcement and removal operations for ICE, hailed the agents at ICE and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their actions to save other detainees. The officials declined to identify the detainees who were struck in the shooting. One of the wounded who was hospitalized is a Mexican citizen, according to the government of Mexico. The gunman legally obtained the gun used in the shooting — an 8-millimeter bolt-action rifle — last month, according to Joseph Rothrock, the special agent in charge of the Dallas field office of the F.B.I. He said there was a “significant, high-degree of pre-attack planning.” Federal officials linked the shooting on Wednesday to what they called a pattern of violence against federal immigration officials, including two July shootings in Texas, at a detention center in Alvarado and at a border patrol facility in McAllen.

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Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 4:46 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K]

CBS News [9/25/2025 3:02 PM, Steven Rosenbaum, 45245K] reports that the alleged gunman who targeted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas on Wednesday conducted the deadly shooting with "a high degree of pre-attack planning," FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media Thursday morning. Patel posted a list of updates on X he said come from evidence the bureau has uncovered in the hours since the attack. The first update was that the suspected shooter had downloaded a document from the Dallas County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management "containing a list of DHS facilities." A similar document to what Patel described is posted on the county website listing the addresses for the ICE facility in Dallas and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Irving. The document appears to be a reference for people who come to the county for citizenship and immigration issues instead of the federal government. Patel also said the suspect’s devices had records of him searching for information about ballistics, video of Charlie Kirk being shot and apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents. Patel said agents found a handwritten note that read: "Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?" (AP could refer to armor-piercing or armor-penetrating rifle rounds.). "Further accumulated evidence to this point indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning," Patel said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The DailySignal [9/25/2025 12:04 PM, Virginia Allen, 668K] reports DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the attack is "part of a dangerous pattern." "People don’t write anti-ICE messages on ammunition and open fire on law enforcement facilities because they like ICE. This violence is directly fueled by hateful rhetoric. It must end now," Noem said. There has been a 1,000% increase in assaults against ICE agents since the Trump administration launched a large-scale apprehension and deportation effort. Over 2 million illegal aliens have either been removed or have chosen to self-deport since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, according to DHS.

CBS News [9/25/2025 4:33 PM, Steven Rosenbaum, 45245K] reports the shooter who attacked the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas was targeting ICE agents, federal officials said at a news conference Thursday. Nancy Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said a collection of notes found at Joshua Jahn’s residence showed an animus toward ICE agents and that he had been planning the attack for some time. Jahn legally purchased the 8mm bolt-action rifle used in the shooting last month, officials said. Larson said that early Wednesday morning, Jahn was seen driving his car with a long ladder. Officials believe he used the ladder to access the roof of an office building near the Dallas ICE facility, from where he started firing at about 6:30 a.m. Larson said he fired rounds the length of the building and intended to damage property, as well as hurt or kill ICE personnel. The three victims were detainees inside one of the vans Jahn targeted, Larson said. One of them died and the others are in critical condition. Officials did not provide any more specifics about the victims’ identities. Larson said law enforcement personnel from multiple federal agencies put themselves at risk to move other detainees who were in the vans to safety. Dallas ICE shooting suspect worked alone, authorities say. Another note found at the suspect’s residence said, "Yes, it was just me," Larson said. She and Joseph Rothrock, the FBI special agent in charge of the Dallas field office, both said all of the evidence indicates that Jahn acted alone. Larson also said there was no indication that Jahn was a member of any group.

Blaze [9/25/2025 11:55 AM, Cooper Williamson, 1559K] reports questions are still unanswered after a gunman opened fire at a Dallas ICE facility on Wednesday morning. Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spoke with Glenn Beck on "The Glenn Beck Program" Thursday morning to give an update on the investigation and to discuss the current milieu of violence in our country. Beck started the interview with a question about the rising tide of violence in the United States. Lyons told him, "I’ve never seen anything like this in my career." However, Lyons added that the violence "won’t deter us," noting that brave law enforcement officers continued their dangerous work on Thursday. While Lyons didn’t want to get ahead of the official investigation, he did dispel media rumors about the shooter’s motive after the three victims, two murdered and one injured, were determined to be immigration detainees. Lyons told Beck this was "a pure attack on ICE law enforcement and ICE’s mission.". "He didn’t know who was in the vehicle," Lyons added. It would be "dead wrong" to suggest any other motive other than "anti-ICE," as was written on the unspent shell and demonstrated by the nature of the shooting.

CBS News [9/25/2025 11:56 AM, Staff, 45245K] reports that Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, weighed in on the shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field facility in Dallas, Texas. This comes as more details emerge about the investigation into the suspect. CBS News’ Omar Villafranca reports. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [9/25/2025 9:02 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4779K] reports Wednesday morning’s deadly shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility hit home for acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, who later called the incident his "worst nightmare" and said he was placing the agency’s offices nationwide on higher alert. "Seeing the photos today, some of the bullets were in an office that I used to have there," said Lyons, who previously worked in the Dallas field office, in an interview with NBC News. "It’s just a horrible feeling. People always ask me what keeps me up at night. It’s the safety of the men and women of ICE." Three detainees were shot in the attack. One died at the scene, while two others were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. The shooter, identified as Joshua Jahn, fired from a nearby elevated position or rooftop into the field office’s sally port. He was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No ICE officers were injured.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that assaults on ICE officers have climbed more than 1,000%.

NewsMax [9/25/2025 11:26 AM, Eric Mack, 4779K] reports the assassin who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility Wednesday intended to kill federal officers, according to border czar Tom Homan, who has long warned hostile political rhetoric against immigration enforcement fuels violence. "I don’t think he shot at illegal aliens," Homan, who says he can no longer live at home due to constant threats on his life, told Newsmax’s "Finnerty." "The agents that we’re talking to, agents I’ve talked to, said he was shooting at the building. Shooting at a van. "The van had aliens inside. I think he meant to kill an officer. But the vans are dark. They’re tinted dark. So I think he was just shooting in the van hoping to kill an ICE officer. "He may not even know there’s aliens in the van, but he shot into the building.". The indiscriminate shooting into the ICE facility before the van shows he was not targeting aliens but government officials, according to Homan. FBI Director Kash Patel shared photos of "Anti-ICE" markings on the ammunition left at the scene by the suicide assassin. "Matter of fact, some of the bullets went into where the director sits," Homan continued. "He shot many rounds into the building. He went down the whole length of the building and he concentrated on the van. "He saw activity. He saw officers coming in and out of the van because what they’re doing is dropping off aliens and picking up. So I think he’s just firing at the van hoping to hit an ICE officer, but he didn’t. "And it’s tragic, and by the grace of God, an ICE officer was not hit or killed today.".

Daily Caller [9/25/2025 1:25 PM, Harold Hutchison, 985K] reports that Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News host Harris Faulkner on Thursday that he feared continued rhetoric targeting United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made it "a matter of time" until an agent was killed. At least one person was killed during a shooting at the ICE office in Dallas on Wednesday, with the gunman also taking his own life. Faulkner asked Homan about the shooting, noting that he had warned about it in a previous appearance in July. "I’ve been doing this since 1984. I got over four decades doing this, and I’ve seen this movie before. I’ve never seen it this bad," Homan told Faulker after she played the clip. "The rhetoric is what is causing all this hate, and it convinces that small percentage that hate ICE to take action. When you have a Congressman or someone that ran for Vice President of the United States comparing iICE to nazis, that gives some of these nuts, emboldens them to take action." "There’ve been three shootings in Texas alone. There was a gunman that showed up at a Border Patrol facility and started shooting at them," Homan continued. "He picked the wrong facility; he picked a SWAT facility. Those officers ended up taking his life. Then there was a shooting south of Dallas where they attacked an ICE facility, one officer was shot in the neck. Then this latest incident. This is based on hate, hate that is being fueled by the media and members of Congress and governors and mayors. You played it, you played it on your show. We have got to stop."

FOX News [9/25/2025 6:24 PM, Adam Sabes, 40019K] reports one ICE detainee was killed and two others were injured on Wednesday when a gunman opened fire on an agency facility in Dallas, according to officials. The FBI earlier said it’s investigating the shooting as a "targeted attack" against ICE, with the suspect being identified as Joshua Jahn. The shooting happened while ICE officers were taking detainees into the agency’s Dallas facility. Federal officials said the suspect, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, had anti-ICE messaging on rounds found near his body. The shooting happened while the detainees were inside a law enforcement van, ICE sources told Fox News. FBI Director Kash Patel said prior to the shooting, Jahn downloaded a document titled "Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management" which contained a list of DHS facilities. Jahn, 29, also conducted several searches of ballistics and the "Charlie Kirk Shot Video" from Sept. 23–24, Patel said, adding that between Aug. 19 and Aug. 24, the suspect "searched apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents.". Patel also revealed that Jahn had a handwritten note, reading, "Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?". Patel said evidence gathered thus far indicates a "high degree of pre-attack planning.". "FBI Dallas and FBI HQ have been working 24/7 to seize devices, exploit data and process writings obtained on location and in the subject’s person/residence/bedroom," Patel wrote on X. "One of the handwritten notes recovered read, ‘Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP [armor-piercing] rounds on that roof?’".

National Review [9/25/2025 12:07 PM, Haley Strack, 109K] reports the man who orchestrated a “targeted attack” on a Dallas, Texas, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility this week searched for apps that track ICE activity, and sought to cause “real terror” among agents, the FBI revealed. Joshua Jahn, 29, is suspected of shooting at an unmarked transport van driven by an ATF agent on Wednesday, killing one detainee and injuring two others. Jahn took his own life after the attack. Next to his body, authorities found shell casings with anti-ICE messages engraved on them. Authorities have described the shooting as “an attack on ICE law enforcement,” a description bolstered by new evidence that “indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday. On Jahn’s personal devices, the FBI found a document downloaded titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management,” which listed DHS facilities. Jahn also conducted multiple searches of ballistics, according to the FBI, and searched for “Charlie Kirk Shot Video” just one day before the Dallas shooting. A handwritten note recovered from Jahn read, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?’” Between September 19-24, Jahn also searched for apps that track ICE activity. Numerous apps that alert individuals to the presence of ICE agents in their area have been launched since President Donald Trump began his crackdown on illegal immigration. It is unclear which apps Jahn used. Anti-ICE tracking platforms are “no different than giving a hitman coordinates,” Acting Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations for ICE Marcos Charles said on Thursday.

USA Today [9/25/2025 5:34 PM, Nick Penzenstadler, 64151K] reports the alleged shooter who killed one detainee and injured two others at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Sept. 24 had previously used a popular app that flags sightings of immigration officers, authorities said. White House Press Secretary Leavitt criticized the app, ICEBlock, tying it to the "leftist lunatic shooter" in Dallas. FBI Director Kash Patel released details about the shooter’s Internet history, including using "apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents," without naming ICEBlock. ICEBlock’s developer, Joshua Allen, defended the service in an interview with USA TODAY the day after the shooting. He said the theory that reported sightings of ICE officers led directly to this week’s shooting was far flung. Allen said reported ICE activity sightings are purged every four hours and that no predictive analytics are performed to anticipate ICE movements. The app is anonymous and does not track logins. As of this month the app has 1.1 million active users, Allen said. He cited case law upholding the legality of the Waze app, which flags speeding enforcement by police. ICEBlock is a dangerous development for officers, said Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations at a press conference in Dallas Sept. 25.

Axios [9/25/2025 6:36 PM, Tasha Tsiaperas, 14595K] reports the gunman who attacked a Dallas immigration detention facility this week was targeting federal agents and left notes detailing his plan to cause "real terror" on immigration enforcement, officials said Thursday. One detainee was killed and two others were critically injured while they were restrained in a transport van, officials said at a Thursday briefing. Federal officials called the attack an act of terrorism. Federal officials have not identified the person who was killed nor the two others who remained hospitalized Thursday. The victims’ families were being contacted by their countries’ consulates, said Joe Rothrock, the special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI field office during Thursday’s briefing. The shooter, identified by authorities as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, did not have any membership or affiliation with any specific groups and "very likely acted alone," Nancy Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said during a Thursday briefing. Investigators searched the suspect’s home, car and devices and found a "collection" of notes about his hatred of ICE, Larson said. The Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 2:55 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K] reports that the shooter who carried out a "targeted" strike against federal law enforcement at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas this week put considerable planning into the attack, according to the FBI. FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed on Thursday, just a day after the attack, that the deceased suspect gunman, Joshua Jahn, had hoped the shooting would "give ICE agents real terror" and put a "high degree of pre-attack planning" into it. In a post, Patel outlined what police had uncovered as they worked through the night to trace Jahn’s digital footprint, as well as evidence left behind at his home and on his body about what he had planned to carry out on Wednesday morning. Jahn had downloaded a government document known as the "Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management," which listed all federal Department of Homeland Security facilities in the region, including those used by ICE, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A note left behind showed that Jahn hoped his attack would make ICE employees fearful. "One of the handwritten notes recovered read, ‘Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘ is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?"" Patel wrote in a post on X. The Department of Homeland Security is racing to expand security at all ICE facilities nationwide following recent attacks against personnel.

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CBS News [9/25/2025 10:27 PM, S.E. Jenkins, 45245K] reports new surveillance video of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas reveals ICE agents and detainees under fire and trying to escape from vans on Wednesday morning as a sniper targeted the facility. ICE agents are seen helping the detainees into the facility, while simultaneously searching for the shooter. With their arms and legs shackled in chains, the detainees are seen scrambling into the facility, some crawling on their knees and others bleeding, and being helped up and moved further inside by ICE agents. Then, more agents, some with body armor, move from inside the facility to the vans in the sallyport, ducking behind it for cover and searching the vans for victims. Dallas ICE facility shooting leaves 1 detainee dead, 2 wounded. Homeland Security officials said a sniper opened fire Wednesday morning from the roof of a nearby law office into a walled-off courtyard where immigration detainees were signing paperwork before being bused to detention centers. The three gunshot victims, identified only as immigration detainees, were taken to Parkland Hospital. One died from their injuries. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons identified the shooter as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn. FBI finds note, Google searches for Charlie Kirk shooting, ICE trackers. FBI Director Kash Patel said Jahn’s devices had records of him searching for information about ballistics, video of the assassination of Charlie Kirk and apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents. "Anti-ICE" messaging was found on shell casings at the scene after shots were fired "indiscriminately" at the facility and at a van in the sallyport, officials said. "Further accumulated evidence to this point indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning," Patel said. Patel also said that Jahn had downloaded a document from the Dallas County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management "containing a list of DHS facilities.” A similar document to what Patel described is posted on the county website, listing addresses for the ICE facility in Dallas and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Irving. The document appears to be a reference for people who come to the county for citizenship and immigration issues instead of the federal government. Dallas ICE facility shooting suspect was targeting ICE agents, officials say. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [9/25/2025 11:23 AM, Staff, 4779K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed new findings Thursday morning in the investigation of Wednesday’s deadly shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, emphasizing evidence that the suspect studied high-profile acts of violence in the days leading up to the attack. Patel said FBI offices in Dallas and Washington have been working around the clock to examine digital devices, writings, and other materials recovered from the gunman’s residence and personal belongings. Among the evidence, investigators found the suspect conducted multiple internet searches on Tuesday and Wednesday for ballistics and the "Charlie Kirk shot video." Patel noted the significance of those searches, which came just before the attack, in helping investigators assess motive and planning. Agents also determined that the suspect downloaded a document, "Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management," which included a list of Department of Homeland Security facilities. Between Aug. 19 and 24, he searched apps that tracked ICE agent activity. A handwritten note recovered by investigators read: "Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?’". "The accumulated evidence points to a high degree of pre-attack planning," Patel said. "We will continue to share timely updates without compromising the investigation.".

FOX News [9/25/2025 2:30 PM, Rachel Wolf, 40019K] reports President Donald Trump sent a warning to the "radical left" Democrats on Thursday in the wake of the attack on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas, Texas, this week. "Radical left rhetoric, the radical left is causing the problem," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office before singling out Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas. "I mean, I look at Crockett, I look at some of these people, they’re very low IQ people, actually.". His remarks also came in the wake of the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in Utah earlier this month. Trump and Crockett have a history of butting heads, with the congresswoman referring to the president as "wannabe Hitler" in July 2025. She later defended the remark during an appearance on "The Breakfast Club" and said that it was actually Trump who has fostered a culture of political violence. Trump on Thursday went on to say, "Bad things happen when they play these games," though he did not elaborate on what he meant. Trump warned that the "right is a lot tougher than the left," while also stressing that he does not want to see people on either side of the aisle "energized" by violence. "But the radical left is causing this, radical left Democrats are causing this problem, and it’s — it gets worse, it gets worse, and it’ll be a point where other people won’t take it anymore," Trump said. "And that will not be good for the radical left. And we don’t want that.".

FOX News [9/25/2025 4:00 PM, Peter Pinedo, 40019K] reports a federal special agent who works on deportations slammed a "dangerous" trend of Democratic politicians and candidates vilifying law enforcement and using anti-ICE protests as campaign backdrops to gain attention and notoriety. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the agent criticized Democrats for using ICE agents as campaign props, especially in light of a deadly gunman’s attack at an ICE facility in Dallas on Wednesday. This danger was on full display on Wednesday when a gunman carrying rounds with anti-ICE messages opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, killing one detainee and injuring two others. Sources familiar with the investigation identified the alleged attacker as Joshua Jahn, 29. Jahn fired "indiscriminately" at the ICE building, as well as at a van in the sally port where the victims were shot, the Department of Homeland Security said. The three detainees were in an unmarked transport van when they were shot, before Jahn took his own life at around 7 a.m., according to the sources. In light of the shooting, DHS and President Donald Trump called on Democrats to tone down their anti-ICE rhetoric.

Washington Times [9/25/2025 12:46 PM, Stephen Dinan, 964K] reports for immigrant rights groups, the anti-ICE shooting in Texas was worthy of condemnation — but some took pains to say the deportation agency bore at least part of the blame for a “climate of violence” that led to the incident. One migrant died in the shooting and two others were critically wounded. Immigration groups in Texas extended their condolences, but in a joint press release, quickly pivoted to demanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement change its policies to head off more attacks. “The increasingly hostile anti-immigrant rhetoric and posture of federal and state authorities only contributes to the climate of violence we saw today. The dehumanization that allows people to be locked in ICE detention centers is the same dehumanization that allowed for today’s violence to occur,” said the 13 groups, which include the Texas Civil Rights Project, the Frontera Federation and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. The groups also blamed ICE for “failures in anticipating threats” that led to the migrants being shot. They called for the immediate release of all migrants being detained in the Dallas area, where the shooting took place. They demanded an end to “hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric” they tied to the incident. Suggesting ICE contributed to the shooting by carrying out its deportation duties was “shocking,” said Jonathan Fahey, a former federal prosecutor who served as the acting director of ICE at the end of the first Trump administration. “That’s a stunning quote,” he said of the immigration groups’ statement. “It essentially is blaming ICE agents for being attacked.” “It’s grossly insensitive, considering what just happened,” Mr. Fahey added. Wednesday’s shooting saw a sniper fire from a nearby building at ICE’s Dallas office, hitting migrants being shuttled in a van. Investigators recovered a clip of bullets at the scene with “Anti ICE” written on the side of one casing. FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that they have determined the shooter, identified in media reports as Joshua Jahn, used apps that tracked the presence of ICE personnel and downloaded a document containing a list of Homeland Security facilities in Dallas.

New York Post [9/25/2025 4:15 PM, Caitlin Doornbos and Ronny Reyes, 43962K] reports the anti-ICE gunman who killed one person and wounded two others at a Dallas ICE facility appears to have used a variant of a Nazi battle rifle in the attack, multiple firearms experts tell The Post. Joshua Jahn, 29, used an antique 8mm Mauser rifle when he opened fire on a bus that was unloading at the federal building, the FBI confirmed on Thursday. Authorities say he obtained the rifle in August. Jahn left behind a stripper clip of 8mm Mauser ammo, with one bullet inscribed with the words ANTI ICE. Jahn’s brother, Noah, said the gunman knew how to use a rifle, but claimed his sibling wasn’t a very good shot. Officials said Jahn "fired indiscriminately" at a bus that was unloading detainees at a sallyport, striking three migrants. No ICE officers were injured in the shooting. Jahn died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.

Free Beacon [9/25/2025 6:13 PM, Jessica Costescu, 500K] reports the 29-year-old man who opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, Joshua Jahn, wrote "ANTI-ICE" on one of his bullets, as the FBI announced soon after the "politically motivated" attack. Law enforcement officials later revealed that Jahn left a note saying he hoped the attack would "give ICE agents real terror" and inflict "maximum lethality against ICE personnel.". Mainstream media outlets nonetheless portrayed Jahn’s motive as "unclear" and criticized Republicans, namely President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, who said otherwise in the wake of the shooting. Here’s a roundup of how those outlets covered the attack. "President Donald Trump wrote on TruthSocial that he had been briefed on the shooting and vowed to crack down on ‘deranged radical leftists,’ though officials have not revealed the shooter’s motive. "Like other administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump framed law enforcement as the victims of the Dallas attack.". "On Wednesday, Mr. Vance and others leaned on a post by F.B.I Director Kash Patel that showed a clip of rifle-caliber ammunition, with one casing having a message on it that read ‘ANTI-ICE’ in what appeared to be blue writing. The actual motivation behind messages written on the bullets in both Mr. Kirk’s assassination and Wednesday’s killing are still not known, and The Times has not confirmed details shedding light on the ammunition casing in Dallas.". "Authorities haven’t indicated any specific motive. But they did release a picture of five unspent bullet casings found at the scene, and one had the words anti-ICE.". "Immigration and immigrants have been at the center of the political divide, often portrayed in a negative light. And yesterday, some immigrants became victims of this political rhetoric.". "FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on social media showing a bullet found at the scene with ‘ANTI-ICE’ written on it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered more security at ICE facilities across the U.S., according to a post by the DHS on the social platform X.

Breitbart [9/25/2025 12:40 PM, Jeff Poor, 2608K] reports during Wednesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s "The Ingraham Angle," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized media outlets for the coverage of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. Noem reacted to a now-corrected NBC News report alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents held an autistic girl in custody to carry out a deportation raid. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [9/25/2025 6:58 AM, Staff, 40019K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin joined ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the latest on the investigation into a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas and an NBC report falsely claiming ICE used an autistic girl as bait to arrest her dad. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Federalist [9/25/2025 1:26 PM, Brianna Lyman, 982K] reports that MSNBC analyst Christopher O’Leary threatened that violence against the right will continue until violent leftists are given what they want. O’Leary made this threat while discussing a Wednesday shooting in which one individual was killed and two others were injured after a gunman opened fire on an ICE transportation vehicle in Dallas. Investigators announced that rounds found near the shooter — who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound — were inscribed with anti-ICE messaging. Notably, there was a bomb threat at the same facility last month, according to DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, as The Federalist previously reported. O’Leary blamed the violence on "conditions" that result in people "acting out," arguing these perpetrators believe they have no other "recourse." "Politically motivated [terrorism], it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens because conditions have been set that people start acting out against." O’Leary then lists the "conditions" as "the wealth gap, oppressive policies… the militarization of ICE and other federal law enforcement, the wearing of the masks, the aggressive tactics. So, the people who are starting to act out against this feel it’s their only recourse. Again, this is predictable. We see this happening throughout our history and in other places as well." "So, you know, we can tone down the rhetoric, and that’s the right message," he continued. "But you also have to start looking at what policies you’ve implemented and what tactics you’re using, because, if you tone down the rhetoric, but you leave those other pieces in place, nothing’s going to change."

Washington Post [9/25/2025 12:58 PM, Peter Whoriskey and Ellie Silverman, 29079K] reports the nature of domestic terrorism has undergone a striking reversal this year, new research indicates: For the first time in more than 30 years, left-wing attacks are outnumbering those from the far right. The reason that left-wing incidents this year have outpaced right-wing incidents is twofold, the researchers said. First, the number of incidents of right-wing terror plummeted this year to levels not seen during the study period. In seeking to explain the drop in right-wing incidents, researchers speculated that, because of the Trump administration policies on immigration and diversity programs, “it is probable that at least some extremists do not feel the need to act violently.” While the number of right-wing incidents dropped, the researchers said, the number of left-wing incidents rose. “What our data shows us is that indeed left-wing violence has risen in the last 10 years and that 2025 marks the first time left-wing incidents have outnumbered those from the violent far right,” said Riley McCabe, an associate fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan think tank, and co-author of the research. As political polarization has deepened across the United States in recent years, social scientists have been tallying and categorizing incidents of domestic terror, informing a debate that itself has become political: Which side spawns more violence? This month’s killing of Charlie Kirk, the conservative speaker, has inflamed that debate. On Monday, in the wake of the Kirk memorial, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating “antifa” — the decentralized, leftist movement — as a “domestic terrorist organization.” Then, on Wednesday, a fatal shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility spurred Trump and Vice President JD Vance to take aim again at Democrats, with Trump identifying “radical leftists” as the cause. Other researchers in the field cautioned that such analyses depend on definitions of “terrorism,” and some questioned whether it was possible to categorize incidents as “left-wing” and “right-wing.” The CSIS report defines terrorism as the use or threat of premeditated violence by non-state actors “with the intent to achieve political goals by creating a broad psychological impact.” Events categorized as left wing included those motivated by support for environmental causes, black nationalism, LGBTQ+ rights, anti-fascist rhetoric or opposition to capitalism, imperialism or colonialism. Events categorized as right wing included those motivated by notions of racial or ethnic supremacy, opposition to government authority, opposition to abortion, the QAnon conspiracy theory and hatred based on sexuality or gender identity. They also said that “extreme-right” and “extreme-left” do not correspond to mainstream political parties in the United States, such as the Republican and Democratic parties. In all, they compiled a dataset of 750 terrorist attacks and plots in the United States from January 1994 through July 4, 2025, drawing from academic databases, federal law enforcement press releases and news accounts. This year, however, the researchers said that left-wing incidents are on track to exceed any levels seen in the past 30 years, continuing a “noticeable” rise that they date to the 2016 election of Trump.

Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 2:39 PM, Mia Cathell, 1563K] reports that Antifa agitators are calling for further attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, as ICE agents already face an unprecedented wave of left-wing violence. AnarchistNews.org, an anarcho-communist propaganda site popular among antifa militants, issued a call this week instructing “all anarchists across the country” to converge in the streets and “wage a carnival of war against ICE.” "Every fist that hurls a piece of concrete through a bank or an ICE agent’s car window has the potential to ignite a wildfire," reads the call-to-action. Citing mass deportations under President Donald Trump, the message outlines the revolutionary Left’s strategy of exploiting civil unrest to incite political violence, topple institutions, and stoke widespread chaos in furtherance of "becoming ungovernable." "[C]hannel hopelessness into a frenzy of outbursts," the communiqué says, listing off accelerant acts, such as "nocturnal smash and grabs or spontaneous attacks on institutions," to bring about a state of lawlessness. "With the ammunition of love and rage, we reclaim our lives with every momentary rupture against a world that can never be voted away." The anonymously authored edict, titled "A Call for Anarchist Action in America: Occupy and Disrupt ICE Facilities in Every City," was published one day before a rooftop sniper, identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, shot up a Dallas immigration detention center on Wednesday in an apparent anti-ICE attack.

Washington Examiner [9/26/2025 5:00 AM, Mia Cathell, 1563K] reports a serial arsonist with antifa ties was sentenced Tuesday to nearly two decades in federal prison for firebombing a California police patrol car and attempting to torch a federal courthouse. The 19-year prison sentence marks the longest one to date for an antifa-associated federal defendant. This comes as the Trump administration continues to crack down on criminal antifa activity, now deemed domestic terrorism amid mounting political violence concerns. Casey Robert Goonan, the “nonbinary” co-founder of True Leap Press, a radical-left publishing collective pushing anarcho-communist propaganda, pled guilty in January to malicious property destruction by means of fire or an explosive. Goonan, who said he was inspired by the Hamas terrorists attacking Israel, confessed to carrying out a string of arson attacks last summer in support of Palestine. According to investigators in the FBI’s domestic terrorism unit, he had posted pictures of his pro-Palestine handiwork on an anarchist blog, urging others to join the “student intifada” and commit similar acts “for Palestine” on Bay Area college campuses. Antifa militants often pseudonymously post on such websites to claim responsibility for terrorist attacks targeting law enforcement and government property.

Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 7:56 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1563K] reports a southern Virginia man has been arrested after he threatened to kill Republican Virginia state Del. Kim Taylor. Michael Strawmeyer reportedly responded to a text from Taylor’s campaign with the statement, "I plan on killing Kim Taylor since I received this shit, you are ruining this country.” Strawmeyer was arrested around 2:15 p.m. by the Dinwiddie Sheriff’s Department after the campaign called Capitol Police and the sheriff. He had a criminal record with two DUIs in the past five years. In a statement posted to social media, Taylor’s campaign said she was doing well after law enforcement apprehended the man. "Earlier today, Delegate Kim Taylor received a politically motivated death threat by text message to her campaign. Our campaign takes every threat seriously, and this was no exception. Thanks to the swift response of the Dinwiddie Sheriff’s Department and law enforcement partners, the individual responsible is already in custody," they wrote. "Delegate Taylor is doing safe and doing well. She is grateful for the decisive action of law enforcement and remains focused on serving her constituents. No threat will distract her from the work she was elected to do," the campaign added. Taylor represents Virginia’s 82nd House of Delegates district near Virginia Beach. This fall, she’s running for reelection against Democrat Kimberly Pope Adams. Reactions poured in from Republicans and Democrats alike, condemning political violence. "Thank you to our law enforcement officers for your quick action and support for @KimTaylor_VA. I’m glad she is safe and doing well. Praying for her and her entire family," Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears posted on X. Democratic candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger said she was "horrified" to hear of the threat and said "she’s thinking of Delegate Taylor and her family.” The threat comes as political violence is a chief issue. Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s assassination earlier this month catalyzed the conversation in a tense political time. Earlier this year, two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot in their homes. Melissa Hortman, the former Speaker of the Minnesota House, died along with her husband. State lawmaker John Hoffman and his wife survived the shooting. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Thursday cracking down on alleged "domestic terrorism" and "organized political violence.”

AP [9/26/2025 1:32 AM, Staff, 20690K] reports a federal judge in Arizona on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from immediately deporting dozens of Guatemalan and Honduran children who came to the U.S. alone. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez in Tucson granted a preliminary injunction, citing concerns about the steps the government had taken to prepare to deport the children. "The foundation of Defendants’ argument for their authority to transport Plaintiffs out of the United States is that Defendants are reuniting Plaintiff Children with parents abroad, but counsel could not identify a single instance of coordination between a parent and any government—American or Guatemalan," she wrote. The ruling extends the protection for the children living in shelters or foster care after Márquez issued a temporary restraining order over Labor Day weekend. The order was meant to keep the children from being removed until at least Sept. 26. The lawsuit was filed by the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project on behalf of 57 Guatemalan children and another 12 from Honduras between the ages 3 and 17. The White House did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment. This lawsuit and a related one in Washington were filed in response to the Trump administration’s work to quickly deport Guatemalan migrant children. Last month, the administration notified shelters — where migrant children traveling alone initially live after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border — that they were going to take them back to Guatemala and that they must be ready in a matter of hours. Many children got as far as boarding planes in Texas on the morning of Aug. 31 and were set to depart to Guatemala. The Arizona lawsuit is asking for the government to give the children the chance to present their cases and have access to legal counsel. It also wants the children placed in the least restrictive setting that is in their best interest. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pushed back, saying it is trying to reunite the children with their families, which is in the kids’ best interest and at the behest of the Guatemalan government.

Los Angeles Times [9/25/2025 2:54 PM, Cerys Davies, 12715K] reports the company behind the popular Pokémon franchise says it doesn’t want its characters used for propaganda. The Department of Homeland Security uploaded a Pokémon-themed montage of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids to social media earlier this week. The connection to the franchise was clear, as the recognizable theme song played, the original animation appeared and its signature blue and yellow text materialized. The video angered many fans. The Japanese gaming company said the federal agency was not authorized to use its original content. "We are aware of a recent video posted by the Department of Homeland Security that includes imagery and language associated with our brand," Pokémon Company International wrote in a statement to The Times. "Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property.". The Pokémon-inspired video remains on the agency’s X account. The posted video included the anime theme song, with the lyrics "Gotta catch ‘em all," playing over segments of federal agents handcuffing people and imagery of a Pokémon character and the Pokéballs used to capture monsters in the game. It concluded with several mock-ups of Pokémon playing cards with photographs of detainees, which included their full names, crimes they have committed and details about their convictions and sentencing. The Department Homeland Security’s social media feeds are full of provocative imagery and videos that borrow from popular media. It used Jay-Z’s "Public Service Announcement" last month. It reportedly received a copyright violation complaint and had to be taken down. Comedian Theo Von recently complained about being used in one of these videos. Homeland Security used a video of him saying, "Heard you got deported, dude," as he nods his head in disappointment, in one of their video edits. On Tuesday, he posted on X, saying, "And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos. When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are a lot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!". The video has since been taken down.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [9/25/2025 5:02 PM, Filip Timotija, 12414K]
USA Today [9/25/2025 11:15 AM, Melina Khan, 64151K]

New York Post [9/25/2025 7:54 PM, Shane Galvin, 43962K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is not backing down after the owners of Pokémon pushed back against the Trump administration’s use of the song "Gotta Catch ‘Em All" in social media posts promoting ICE deportations. "To arrest them is our real test. To deport them is our cause," a DHS spokesperson told The Post on Thursday, a play on words referencing the chorus of the immortalized theme song. The trolling reply came after the parent company of the Japanese company issued a statement denouncing the use of the children’s song in a video promoting arrests and deportations of illegal migrants. "We are aware of a recent video posted by the Department of Homeland Security that includes imagery and language associated with our brand," Pokémon Company International told New York Times. "Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property," the statement concluded. Both the official White House TikTok account and the Department of Homeland Security X account shared a one-minute video on Monday that spliced together live arrest footage with the main opening theme of the popular animated Pokémon show. Footage of explosions, raids, and arrests conducted by ICE are edited together with clips of Pokémon protagonist Ash Ketchum from the iconic ‘90s theme song. The video ends with several mock-up Pokémon cards that showed photos of criminal illegal aliens and listed out their felonious crimes. Charges against the deportees included murder, human smuggling, child molestation, pedophilia, and child endangerment. Those arrest cards were also featured in several individual posts on the DHS X account. Both videos remain up on their respective platforms. Pokémon Company International is a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, and manages the property outside of Asia including the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, and home entertainment, according to the company’s website. Another video promoting deportations got the Department of Homeland Security in hot water earlier this week. Comedian and podcaster Theo Von called out the agency for using one of his viral clips in which he said, "Heard you got deported dude. Bye," The Hill reported. The agency took that video down at Von’s request, according to that outlet.

The Hill [9/25/2025 10:36 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12414K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appeared to delete a video featuring internet personality Theo Von from its social media page after the podcast host objected to being included in the post without his consent. In the video, posted Tuesday, Von was seen looking into the camera and saying, "I heard you got deported, dude. Bye.". The short clip then shows footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials detaining and deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally and telling others to "leave now.". Von, seen as an ally of the Trump administration, publicly pushed back on his inclusion in the footage, insisting his own position on immigration is more nuanced than what was presented by the department. "Yooo DHS i didnt approve to be used in this," Von wrote in a social media post responding to the video. "I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos.". "When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are a lot more nuanced than this video allows," he continued. "Bye!". In a subsequent post, the comedian suggested he feared for his own safety. "[It’s] crazy to me that they would think this is OK. What if someone attacks me tomorrow because they think I’m some final boss of [deportations] or somethin," Von wrote on the social platform X.

NBC News [9/25/2025 12:25 PM, Julie Tsirkin, 43603K] reports Democrats in Washington are ramping up efforts to investigate White House border czar Tom Homan over allegations that he accepted $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents last year. In a letter obtained first by NBC News, Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee urged Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday to "immediately" release documents related to the probe that the Justice Department reportedly closed. Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during President Donald Trump’s first term, owned a private consulting business at the time. "The fact that the incoming Trump Administration reportedly closed this investigation prematurely raises further concerns that the Administration is weaponizing our system of justice to protect the president’s friends and to persecute his political foes," the letter, led by Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said. In an operation last year, first reported by MSNBC, citing multiple sources familiar with the investigation and internal documents, FBI agents posing as business executives allegedly recorded Homan accepting a bag of cash after indicating he could help them with future federal contracts if he became the nation’s top immigration official during Trump’s second term. Trump appointees officially closed the investigation in recent weeks, MSNBC reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. In the letter, co-signed by Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Democrats asked FBI Director Kash Patel to turn over documents and files, including any audio and videotapes of the transaction between Homan and the FBI agents. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied reports that Homan took the money, telling reporters this week, "This was another example of the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice against one of President Trump’s strongest and most vocal supporters in the midst of a presidential campaign.". She accused President Joe Biden’s FBI of "going undercover to try and entrap one of the president’s top allies and supporters, someone who they knew very well would be taking a government position months later" and reiterated that "Mr. Homan did absolutely nothing wrong.".

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 2:26 PM, David Zimmermann, 1563K]

Washington Post [9/25/2025 4:44 PM, Staff, 29079K] reports President Donald Trump wants to dramatically change a visa program for high-skilled workers, but he faces legal uncertainty and limited options when acting alone. Though everyone knows he is no fan of working with Congress, the extra effort could improve his plans — and make them stick. The H-1B visa program brings 85,000 high-wage, specialized workers to the United States each year. Trump has been inconsistent on legal immigration, and some of his businesses have used visa programs to hire guest workers. Many MAGA allies, however, are unhappy with this system. Immigration restrictionists have long argued that the H-1B program leads to lower wages for high-skilled American workers. This led the administration to announce last week that it would add a $100,000 annual fee for all H-1B visas — up from $215 currently — and change the rules of the lottery that issues visas to prioritize higher-paid workers. In response to backlash from business leaders, the White House said it would be a one-time $100,000 charge for new visa holders. Some business leaders are warming to the idea, but beware of big companies that welcome new regulations or taxes. A large fee, the argument goes, would eliminate the need for the lottery, which has long been abused by outsourcing firms that submit petitions and farm out visa winners to other companies. While the higher fee would make it much harder for employers to game the system, it would also primarily benefit established companies able to afford it. That would put scrappy start-ups at an even bigger disadvantage as they try to displace incumbents. And for rural or community hospitals already operating on narrow margins, it could be financially devastating. (The Post employs a number of H-1B holders.) A large fee, the argument goes, would eliminate the need for the lottery, which has long been abused by outsourcing firms that submit petitions and farm out visa winners to other companies. While the higher fee would make it much harder for employers to game the system, it would also primarily benefit established companies able to afford it. That would put scrappy start-ups at an even bigger disadvantage as they try to displace incumbents. And for rural or community hospitals already operating on narrow margins, it could be financially devastating. (The Post employs a number of H-1B holders.) Such visa holders boost the number of patents issued for new inventions and fill labor shortages in crucial industries such as health care. One study estimates that the program is responsible for 30 to 50 percent of the country’s productivity growth between 1990 and 2010. The government doesn’t need to shut down this economic engine to stop companies from abusing it for the purpose of hiring cheaper IT contractors. There’s another problem: Trump probably doesn’t have the authority to implement the fee on his own. The H-1B system was established by Congress, and lawmakers have not granted the president any power to tax the visas. The executive order draws from a 1952 law that allows the president to “suspend the entry” of any immigrant who is “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” If that feels like a reach, it’s because it is.

Wall Street Journal [9/25/2025 6:04 PM, Staff, 646K] reports President Trump has succeeded in shutting down illegal immigration, but he can’t seem to make up his mind whether to eliminate legal immigration too. Witness his recent moves to put the H-1B skilled-worker program out of the reach of all but the richest companies. The President last Friday issued an executive order that requires employers to pay the government $100,000 for each foreign worker they bring into the country on an H-1B visa. The Department of Homeland Security this week separately proposed overhauling its annual H-1B lottery to give priority to the highest-wage foreign workers. The $100,000 fee is a de facto tax on hiring skilled foreign workers in the U.S., and the transparent goal is to price them out of the market. Companies hire foreigners because there aren’t enough Americans graduating from U.S. colleges with the right technical skills. International students account for 71% of the full-time graduate students in computer and information sciences. Tesla filed 658 visa applications for manufacturing engineers in 2024, a skill set that isn’t taught at many elite U.S. colleges. The order claims that companies abuse the H-1B program to hire cheap foreign workers who take the jobs of U.S.-born workers and suppress their wages. But Congress has restricted H-1B visas to 85,000 a year, and demand has exceeded the quota for the last 20 years. Employers filed 442,000 applications this year, five times the limit, and a lottery is held each year to allocate the visas. Some 30,000 employers were approved last year for at least one new H-1B visa, which shows the broad demand. There’s scant evidence that foreign workers are taking U.S. jobs.

FOX News [9/25/2025 1:34 PM, Marc Short and Michael Sobolik, 40019K] reports that in 2020, the Trump administration accepted the unanimous determination by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) that TikTok is spyware disguised as entertainment and propaganda masquerading as news — an addictive, highly manipulative platform ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Congress recognized this danger and, in 2024, passed bipartisan legislation requiring TikTok to be sold to American owners or banned outright. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court upheld the law. The mandate could not have been clearer: divestiture or ban. There is no third option. Yet the Trump administration now offers a "framework deal" that falls short of what the law requires. Instead of a clean break, the proposal would allow ByteDance to retain a board seat while leasing its algorithm to a group of American investors. This may sound like a compromise, but it is in fact a capitulation. Licensing is not ownership and monitoring is not control. As long as ByteDance retains the ability to alter the algorithm from Beijing, the CCP will preserve one of its most powerful tools for influencing American minds and waging psychological warfare against the West. The administration implicitly concedes the deal’s weakness by touting Oracle’s ability to "fully inspect" the algorithm. What the administration cannot quite bring itself to say is that those inspections will be searching for evidence of ByteDance’s ongoing manipulation of the platform.

NewsMax [9/25/2025 10:08 AM, Staff, 4779K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported a surge of applications for employment despite escalating violence against its officers, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Newsmax on Thursday. "This is a dangerous job, what our law enforcement does every single day," McLaughlin said on "Wake Up America." "But what we’ve seen, and it’s been pretty inspiring, is 151,000 applications to join ICE, even though we’re only recruiting 10,000.". She added that this is due to "the men and women of this country seeing the danger, but they also have real patriotism and want to serve their country.". Her comments came a day after a gunman opened fire from a rooftop near an ICE facility in Dallas, hitting vans that carried detainees. One detainee was killed and two others were seriously injured before the attacker, identified as Joshua Jahn, turned the gun on himself. McLaughlin said shell casings found at the scene and marked "anti-ICE" made the shooter’s motive clear. "He fired indiscriminately, killing one detainee and injuring two others," she said. "We pray for their families today. And we’re grateful our law enforcement was safe, but they put their lives on the line every day," she said. She also warned that heated rhetoric is fueling violence, pointing to recent remarks by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, comparing ICE agents to Nazis or slave patrols. "This is incredibly dangerous rhetoric," McLaughlin said. "You are giving a permission slip to these lunatics, to people like this gunman, to take matters into their own hands.".

USA Today [9/25/2025 4:56 PM, Rick Jervis, Nick Penzenstadler, Lauren Villagran, 64151K] reports a sniper opened fire Sept. 24 on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, killing one detainee and injuring two others. It was the latest in a string of violent attacks on the nation’s immigration system that are raising serious security concerns for ICE agents, attorneys, judges and migrants themselves. Across the country, raucous protests at ICE facilities, aggressive tactics by masked agents in the field and heated political rhetoric on both sides have become a dangerous new backdrop to what for years had been the quiet, mundane work of immigration enforcement. The day after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to beef up security at ICE facilities. Federal investigators said the Dallas shooter, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, intended to target ICE agents – not the migrants caught in his crosshairs. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blasted the rising violence against ICE agents and said the shooting "was motivated by hatred for ICE." In a statement, she told USA TODAY that in light of the shooting and "other unprecedented acts of violence against ICE law enforcement, including bomb threats, cars being used as weapons, rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at officers, and doxing online of officers’ families, DHS will immediately begin increasing security at ICE facilities across the country." Joe Rothrock, FBI Dallas special agent in charge, called the shooting a "targeted, ambush-style attack on law enforcement." The shooter wanted "to cause terror" for ICE agents across the country, and his plot was months in the making, Rothrock said during a Thursday, Sept. 25, news conference. With threats and attacks on the rise, Patel said ICE now needs to consider outsider threats on agents, and on those who are part of the U.S. immigration system who could be vulnerable – migrants included.

Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 6:33 PM, Byron York, 1563K] reports the violent resistance to enforcing immigration law. One troubling subset of the political violence coming from the Left these days is violence directed at federal immigration enforcement officers. There is a group of people in this country who so vehemently oppose the enforcement of federal immigration law that they will take up arms against it. They might be called the armed extremist wing of sanctuary Democrats, who in big cities across the country have put in place measures designed to frustrate the enforcement of federal immigration law. Those sanctuary laws are the basis of legal battles, as the Trump administration pushes to enforce the law against migrants in the United States illegally. But beyond the legal battle are the armed extremists. The latest example of violence targeting immigration enforcement came on Wednesday in Dallas. We now know enough to say that a shooter, 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, fired a number of rifle rounds from a rooftop into an ICE facility. With Jahn "firing indiscriminately" at the ICE building, as described by an ICE press release, several rounds hit the structure and others hit a van used to move detainees. Shots that Jahn fired to kill ICE officials ended up instead killing one detainee and wounding two others in the van. No law enforcement officials were hurt. A short time later, Jahn killed himself. In the moments after the attack, there was some confusion about Jahn’s motive. But later Wednesday, FBI officials put out a photo of some unused shells on one of which Jahn had written "ANTI ICE." On Thursday, FBI director Kash Patel released several other pieces of evidence that pointed to the fact that Jahn was very specifically attacking ICE. It was the most serious anti-ICE attack up to that point. Now, an attacker has killed someone. The victim was, ironically, one of the detainees on whose behalf the shooter apparently thought he was acting. But someone is dead.

FOX News [9/25/2025 4:00 PM, Peter Pinedo, 40019K] reports a federal special agent who works on deportations slammed a "dangerous" trend of Democratic politicians and candidates vilifying law enforcement and using anti-ICE protests as campaign backdrops to gain attention and notoriety. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the agent criticized Democrats for using ICE agents as campaign props, especially in light of a deadly gunman’s attack at an ICE facility in Dallas on Wednesday. The agent said that third-party bystanders who "have been riled up to believe that I’m kidnapping somebody" present a significant danger to not only the operation but also the agents, the immigrants involved and the public. This danger was on full display on Wednesday when a gunman carrying rounds with anti-ICE messages opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, killing one detainee and injuring two others. Sources familiar with the investigation identified the alleged attacker as Joshua Jahn, 29. Jahn fired "indiscriminately" at the ICE building, as well as at a van in the sally port where the victims were shot, the Department of Homeland Security said. The three detainees were in an unmarked transport van when they were shot, before Jahn took his own life at around 7 a.m., according to the sources. In light of the shooting, DHS and President Donald Trump called on Democrats to tone down their anti-ICE rhetoric.

Wall Street Journal [9/25/2025 9:00 PM, Anthony DeBarros, Kara Dapena, and Michelle Hackman, 646K] reports President Trump has a goal of deporting one million people in his first year in office, and his administration announced Monday it has deported 400,000 people so far amid a surge of arrests. A senior Department of Homeland Security official recently described the effort as “just the beginning.” But a series of federal data releases this year provide details only for a smaller and varying number of deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, making it difficult to verify the government’s top-line claims. The government hasn’t supplied data that backs up the 400,000 deportations figure and has paused publication of a comprehensive monthly data set of enforcement actions. Data that ICE released in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit shows the agency deported roughly 158,000 people in the first seven months of the year, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. That is smaller than the overall number supplied by DHS—which likely includes deportations by Customs and Border Protection. An administration official familiar with the operations said the figure of ICE deportations is close to 220,000 through early September. The latest ICE data also differs from prior data the agency released in response to the lawsuit filed by the Deportation Data Project—a group of academics and lawyers—on behalf of the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy. The latest data, for example, records about 15,000 fewer deportations in the first five months of the year than found in a data set released in June.

FOX News [9/25/2025 9:46 AM, Taylor Penley, 40019K] Video: HERE reports DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin set the record straight Thursday after a recent NBC News report claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used a 5-year-old girl with autism to pressure her father, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, to surrender. "This is a disgusting smear," she said on "Fox & Friends." McLaughlin said the reporter informed her of the allegations against ICE, which she immediately rejected and urged him to hold until official information was available. She also warned against spreading misinformation that vilifies law enforcement. "The truth… is that this individual who was a target of our law enforcement operation had past criminal convictions for domestic violence and strangulation. He was pulled over by our ICE law enforcement officers in a proper stop. He went off to flee from the vehicle, giving the double bird to our law enforcement and stranding his 5-year-old daughter," she said. "Our law enforcement conducted themselves with total professionalism. They stayed with that 5-year-old daughter to make sure she was okay until she was in proper care.". McLaughlin continued: "Keep in mind, these men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, and they are sons and daughters. These are people who just want to go home to their families at night and serve our great nation." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [9/25/2025 11:56 AM, Elizabeth Elkind and Greg Wehner, 40019K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has remained silent after her criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over a story that NBC News was forced to correct earlier this week. Omar’s remarks came in response to an article the outlet originally posted on X with the caption, "ICE agents held a 5-year-old autistic girl outside her Massachusetts home to pressure her father to surrender to authorities last week, according to the girl’s family.". "This is vile and beyond cruel. Abolish ICE," Omar posted in response on Tuesday. That X post by NBC News has since been deleted, however, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied the account. A subsequent post by the outlet read, "Video shows ICE with 5-year-old girl while agents attempt to arrest her father. Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the activities of ICE agents in the video. The article has been updated.". Omar’s post remained as-is, however, and is still up as of Thursday morning. Fox News Digital reached out to her congressional office and her campaign to ask for comment and whether she planned on amending the post, but no response was given. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded to Omar on X, calling the progressive’s words "cruel." "ICE agents NEVER used a 5-year-old girl as ‘bait.’ The criminal illegal alien target – with previous arrests for domestic abuse and strangulation, among other charges – ABANDONED his own child in a car," McLaughlin wrote. "The target, Edwards Hip Mejia, ignored law enforcement emergency lights to pull over and drove back to his house. He fled from the car, gave officers the double middle finger, and darted inside his house. He abandoned his 5-year-old daughter in the car. Officers helped rescue the child and called local police to report the abandonment."

New York Post [9/25/2025 2:16 PM, Craig McCarthy and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, 43962K] reports that city correction brass violated the Big Apple’s controversial "sanctuary city" rules by allowing a department investigator to tip off the feds about illegal immigrant inmates, a scathing new report said. The Department of Correction dropped the ball when it let the staffer, who was not identified, tell US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that illegal immigrants were being released, allowing the feds to nab them for deportation, a Department of Investigation report said Thursday. The move — which officials said was done "unwittingly" — violated city law that bars cooperation with ICE on civil deportation cases. "New York City law and DOC policy do not allow city resources to be used for the purpose of facilitating the enforcement of federal immigration law, and that prohibition includes the sharing of information with our federal enforcement partners for that purpose," DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said. "DOC found that in at least two instances a DOC investigator unwittingly violated the law and DOC policy and that DOC failed to provide proper guidance and training," Strauber said. The report did not explain how the improper help to the feds was given "unwittingly." According to the 68-page report, the correction investigator, assigned to a joint federal task force, first told the feds in November that illegal immigrant Pedro Mujica Villa Nueva, who was charged with assault and grand larceny in Queens, was being held at Rikers Island. In December, the investigator provided Homeland Security Investigations with a screen shot of Villa Nueva’s correction report with his photo, court information and other details, the report said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [9/25/2025 2:20 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 143795K]
Politico [9/25/2025 1:23 PM, Emily Ngo, 2100K]

Washington Post [9/25/2025 11:44 AM, Teo Armus, 29079K] reports four D.C. residents and the Maryland-based immigrant rights’ organization CASA sued the Trump administration Thursday, alleging that federal officials violated immigration law by systematically arresting people in the District whom they perceived to be Latino without warrants or probable cause. The lawsuit follows a sharp surge in immigration arrests across the nation’s capital since President Donald Trump in August seized temporary control of the D.C. police department, mobilized the National Guard and ramped up federal law enforcement. Although Trump said he launched the surge to tamp down on violent crime, immigration enforcement became a highly visible focus. Federal officers, sometimes working alongside D.C. police, arrested hundreds of immigrants they said were in the United States illegally — as well as some with open asylum cases or other protections against being detained or immediately deported. The class-action lawsuit, filed in federal court in D.C., said ICE has been bypassing two requirements its officers must meet before making an immigration-related arrest without a warrant: probable cause that the person being arrested is in the U.S. illegally, and probable cause that they are likely to escape before law enforcement can obtain a warrant. “They’re not even doing the bare minimum as far as asking individual questions about a person’s immigration status,” said Ama Frimpong, legal director at CASA. Their actions, she added, have sent a chill through immigrant communities in and around D.C. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that the allegations made in the lawsuit were “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.” “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S. — NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” she said. “DHS law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests. There are no ‘indiscriminate stops’ being made.”

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 11:52 AM, Molly Parks, 1563K]

Telemundo Washington DC [9/25/2025 2:38 PM, Staff, 46K] reports a man accused of strangling his 8-month-old sister in Virginia last week has been ordered deported, authorities said. The 8-month-old girl was attacked on September 17 and died Tuesday, according to police. The girl was found with a white charging cable around her neck, authorities added. The baby’s brother, 22-year-old Alvaro Mejia Ayala, is in custody, and federal immigration authorities say he was in the country illegally. Mejia Ayala fled before officers arrived, according to police. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement indicating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued an immigration detainer for Mejía Ayala. Mejia Ayala has not yet been charged with homicide. The county prosecutor is reviewing the facts of the case, and new charges will be filed at a later date, Pirnat explained. Local police arrested him for reckless driving last year and released him before ICE could file a detainer, DHS said in a press release. However, the Loudoun sheriff says that’s not true. After Chapman contacted ICE to clarify the confusion, the initial press release was updated, dropping the mention of law enforcement but stating that Mejia Ayala has been in the country since 2016.

USA Today [9/25/2025 2:50 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, 64151K] reports that a Georgia-based journalist faces imminent deportation months after his arrest while livestreaming a protest, in what human rights and press freedom advocates say sends a "chilling message" for journalists. Mario Guevara, a 48-year-old Salvadoran national, ran MG News, a Spanish language news outlet in metropolitan Atlanta. When Guevara livestreamed a June "No Kings" protest against President Donald Trump, local police arrested him. He has been held in detention for more than three months. ICE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but has previously said Guevara is in the country illegally and thus subject to removal. An immigration board recently issued a final removal order, based on failing to pay an immigration bond 13 years ago. His lawyers deny the allegation, calling the board’s decision "erroneous" in a letter to a federal judge in Georgia and providing proof of payment and the bond’s subsequent cancellation. "(Immigration and Customs Enforcement) refuses to release me because I represent a headache for them; a rock in their shoe as I exposed the injustices that federal agents committed on the state’s streets against members of our vulnerable Latino community," he said in a message in Spanish. "My dedication to my work cost me my freedom." White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that Guevara’s case had "absolutely nothing to do with the First Amendment and any suggestion otherwise is laughable."

Univision [9/25/2025 3:54 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported the arrest of Haitian businessman Dimitri Vorbe in Miami. According to authorities, Vorbe was arrested in Miami following a joint investigation by several U.S. government agencies and is currently in ICE custody awaiting deportation proceedings. They also noted that the State Department determined that Vorbe’s presence or activities in the U.S. " could have serious consequences for U.S. foreign policy, justifying his deportation charges." According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records, Vorbe is being held at the Krome immigration detention center.

CBS Chicago [9/25/2025 10:39 PM, Sabrina Franza, 45245K] Video: HERE reports a woman selling tamales was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago. Witnesses captured a large ICE presence in the neighborhood on Thursday, as posted all over social media. Neighbors described what they saw as an early morning car caravan of federal vehicles. They reported multiple arrests; a show of force greater than the Back of the Yards community has seen during the ICE operation in Chicago so far. One by one, a witness recorded what they believe to be federal vehicles driving together near 47th and Western. Jaime Perez said he was on a video call with his girlfriend, Laura Murillo, at the time ICE agents took her into custody as she was selling tamales near 47th and Western. He watched it all play out before the phone line went dead. "She kept saying, ‘You’re hurting me. You’re hurting me,’ and then they snatched the phone from her, and the guy that was arresting her said, ‘Do you want the keys?’ And I go, ‘No, I want her,’" Perez said. The next time he heard from her, Murillo was at the ICE processing facility in west suburban Broadview. "She called me, and she’s in Broadview, and they only let her make that one phone call," Perez said. Murillo has two children, an 18-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old daughter who has special needs.

AP [9/25/2025 5:34 PM, Sophia Tareen] reports a boarded-up building in a small Chicago suburb has become the front line of a federal immigration crackdown, with growing accusations that the facility meant to process arrestees is a de facto detention center plagued by inhumane conditions. Relatives, lawyers and activists are concerned by immigrants’ accounts of what happens once they are inside the brick building in Broadview. Once routine protests outside the building have grown in recent weeks, with federal agents using chemical agents and physical force to push protesters back. Advocates say up to 200 people are being held there at a time, with some held up to five days in a space that doesn’t have showers or a cafeteria. Immigrants report they’re being given little food, water and limited access to medication. Communication, including with attorneys, is limited.

CBS Chicago [9/25/2025 12:19 PM, Darius Johnson, 45245K] Video: HERE reports video shows someone hitting a demonstrator with a pickup truck outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the west Chicago suburb of Broadview Wednesday night. Demonstrators have been gathering outside the facility for weeks. CBS News Chicago reporter Marissa Sulek was on the scene Wednesday night as the protester was struck. On Thursday morning, questions remained about who was behind the wheel of the pickup truck that hit the demonstrator. Protesters said it was an ICE agent behind the wheel, but CBS News Chicago has not been able to confirm that information. The person who was struck was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood and was expected to recover. Broadview police said they are treating what happened like a regular traffic accident. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [9/25/2025 6:00 AM, Olivia Olander, 5352K] reports since the administration of President Donald Trump launched an immigration crackdown in the Chicago area nearly three weeks ago, a nondescript industrial street in the western suburbs has become a flashpoint for protests against "Operation Midway Blitz" — and the place to be seen for candidates running in next spring’s primary elections. Protests have been a regular occurrence outside the two-story brick U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center on Beach Street in Broadview, with federal officials at times deploying chemical agents, shooting pepper balls and using physical force to disperse demonstrators who’ve blocked the street in front of the facility’s gate. Lately, though, a growing number of mostly Democratic politicians have joined the crowd. This past Friday, at least five Democrats campaigning for federal office made appearances at the facility, including an activist who for weeks has been promoting her presence at the spot, a north suburban mayor, a south suburban member of Congress and Illinois’ lieutenant governor. The candidates have shared their appearances on social media, and some have even used them in fundraising appeals, eliciting criticism from Republicans and, in one instance, from Broadview’s Democratic mayor. The use of the Broadview ICE facility as a campaign backdrop took a bipartisan turn on Wednesday when Republican candidate for governor Ted Dabrowski joined with family members of victims of crimes caused by immigrants without permanent legal status to announce his opposition to Illinois’ sanctuary law prohibiting local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement, which is a federal responsibility. But many of his remarks were drowned out by demonstrators who blew whistles and shouted slogans, including, "Refugees have rights!" For candidates, participating in protests or even just appearing outside the facility offers an opportunity to demonstrate their sincerely held opposition to immigration policies while also appealing to their party’s base voters, who are most likely to turn out for the March 17 primaries. But it’s a strategy that could prove politically perilous if not executed properly.

Wisconsin Public Radio [9/25/2025 5:00 AM, Steph Conquest-Ware, 592K] reports the Palmyra Police Department in Jefferson County could soon be authorized to make immigration arrests and conduct immigration investigations. It’s part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Task Force Model 287(g) program. Through ICE training, police officers become immigration agents who can stop, investigate, interrogate and arrest people strictly for immigration-related offenses. The police department’s application is still pending, according to a statement released by Palmyra’s Director of Public Safety and Interim Police Chief Paul Blount. He said he sees the program as a “tool, not a blanket immigration enforcement program.” Palmyra is also the only Wisconsin department that has applied for the Task Force Model. About a dozen sheriff’s offices around the state have signed on to aid ICE through a warrant service or jail enforcement models. Blount said the program would allow his officers to work with federal authorities and gain access to more databases and resources. He also believes it would help “combat serious crimes, such as narcotics trafficking and human trafficking.” “Our focus is on criminals who threaten public safety—not law-abiding residents,” Blount said. “The core mission of our department remains unchanged: responding to emergencies, enforcing traffic safety, and preventing crime in our community.”

The Hill [9/25/2025 11:32 AM, Dylan McKim, 12414K] reports one detainee is dead, and another two were critically injured early Wednesday morning outside of an Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Dallas police. Reactions from state leaders are pouring as the investigation continues. Governor Greg Abbott posted on X that Texas fully supports ICE. “We will offer ICE additional support to assist their operations,” the governor wrote. It’s not clear what additional support the state will provide, but Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard already support ICE in its operational efforts. Sen. Ted Cruz, R – Texas, was present at the news conference following the shooting. “This needs to stop,” Cruz said to reporters. “Politically motivated violence is wrong.” Cruz called on politicians to stop using rhetoric directed at immigration law enforcement. “This has very real consequences. In America, we disagree. That’s fine, that’s the democratic process, but your political opponents are not Nazis,” Cruz said. State Rep. Cassandra Hernandez, D – Farmers Branch, who represents a small portion of Dallas at the state legislature, said she is heartbroken by the shooting. She said both sides of the political aisle need to do their due diligence in bringing down the rhetoric.

Houston Chronicle [9/25/2025 4:16 PM, Julián Aguilar, 2356K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are increasing security measures in Houston in the aftermath of Wednesday’s deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas. The beefed-up vigilance in the Houston region is part of a nationwide security protocol, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday. "In light of yesterday’s horrific shooting that was motivated by hatred for ICE and the other unprecedented acts of violence against ICE law enforcement, including bomb threats, cars being used as weapons, rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at officers, and doxing online of officers’ families, DHS will immediately begin increasing security at ICE facilities across the country," Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said in a statement. A gunman with a rifle opened fire on the facility in Dallas as he was perched on a nearby roof, authorities said. One detainee was killed, and two others were injured. Authorities have not released their names. No law enforcement officers were injured in the attack and the shooter was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot, DHS said in a statement. The shooting prompted Republican lawmakers and other officials to criticize politicians who have spoken out against ICE’s tactics as they take part in what President Donald Trump has promised to be the largest deportation effort in the country’s history. Law enforcement agents identified the gunman as Joshua Jahn, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday afternoon. FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of a shell casing on X with the words "ANTI ICE" engraved. In a post on social media Thursday, Patel said the agency is working around the clock to analyze information about Jahn and his motives.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [9/25/2025 3:52 PM, Sam Barron, 4779K]

NPR [9/25/2025 3:40 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 34837K] Audio: HERE reports as the sun rose on Thursday, more and more immigrants showed up to the facility with their paperwork. Immigration agents did not appear to be on sight at the time, and the only official instructions came from Dallas Police Department officers directing people trying to enter the parking lot. Only one Dallas Police officer assisting with keeping the perimeter spoke Spanish, the most common language overheard among the people who showed up for their appointment. Patiently, he kept telling migrants to call their attorneys, or to call the phone number listed for the ICE facility, but he was quickly overwhelmed with questions.

FOX News [9/26/2025 5:00 AM, Peter Pinedo, 40019K] reports after a fatal anti-ICE shooting in Dallas this week, a special federal agent working on deportations revealed that their "biggest fear" is that they will be left stranded by sanctuary jurisdictions in the face of third-party rioters "who have been riled up to believe that I’m kidnapping somebody." In an interview with Fox News Digital, the agent, who works in New England, said that interference from protesters who have been radicalized by Democrats’ anti-ICE rhetoric has become a regular occurrence. Amid these interferences, the agent said that they receive very little support from local and state law enforcement, whose hands are tied due to Democratic-passed sanctuary policies. The result is an extremely tense situation, which the agent fears could get out of hand at any moment. "My biggest fear is third parties who have been riled up to believe that I’m kidnapping somebody, I’m taking away their rights, and I’m destroying somebody’s life for no reason, being present when this happens and trying to interfere with what we’re doing, because that gets dangerous, it really does," the agent explained. "One of our biggest fears," the agent went on, "is, let’s say we go and there’s 3 or 4 of us, and we stop a guy, and then crowds come out, and the crowds become violent, or they become really aggressive, they impede our jobs." According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE agents are facing a 1,000% increase in assaults. The danger is especially acute in sanctuary jurisdictions, the agent said, because there, "local police will not help us all the time." "It’s very dependent on where that ICE facility sits, how it’s going to be treated," they explained.

Breitbart [9/25/2025 5:23 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2608K] reports a Biden-era illegal migrant from India was arrested after he smashed his 18-wheeler into a pileup and crippled a 5-year-old girl in California. The grieving father is now speaking out while President Donald Trump’s deputies prepare to deport the migrant. The migrant, Indian national Partap Singh, got a truck driving license after he was caught and released by Biden’s deputies in 2024. The little girl — Dallilah — can no longer walk, talk, eat orally, or attend kindergarten as she had planned, according to her father. In an X post on September 25, the Department of Homeland Security said that little Dalilah Coleman’s life has been forever changed by the accident. Dalilah’s father adds that she was in a coma for three weeks and required six months of hospital treatment before her family could bring her home. While in the hospital, she had a craniectomy and was without half of her skull for four months. Dalilah experienced a broken femur, skull fractures, and has since been diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, and will need lifelong therapy, the family said. The accused truck driver illegally crossed the southern border in October 2022 — and was released right back into the country by the Biden administration. He was arrested by ICE on August 29 in Fresno, California, and remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

San Francisco Chronicle [9/25/2025 5:23 PM, Jessica Flores, 3790K] reports detained immigrants at the newly opened detention center in California City (Kern County) described the facility’s conditions as inhumane, saying many people do not have access to adequate medical care, clean drinking water or unclogged toilets, according to detainees and immigration attorneys. Detainees have reported being denied medication, basic care, essential hygiene items, access to the law library and the ability to pray at the CoreCivic California City Immigration Processing Center, according to the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. Some people have reportedly not received medical care until after passing out, said Priya Patel, supervising attorney for the Oakland-based immigration rights group with clients at the facility. Last Thursday, after more than 100 detainees held a sit-in and refused meals to demand improved conditions, guards retaliated against them by entering in riot gear, threatening use of force and placing detainees in a lockdown without access to showers and medicine, according to attorneys. At least four people were placed into solitary confinement, attorneys said.

Univision [9/25/2025 3:09 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called on the United States to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the death of Ismael Ayala, a Mexican immigrant who died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Adelanto, California, detention center. During her press conference, the president confirmed that Mexico had sent a diplomatic note to the United States requesting clarification of the events and sanctions for any human rights violations. "We have requested that all investigations be conducted," she stated. The case has sparked outrage in both Mexico and the United States. Lucía Ayala, the victim’s mother, said that after his arrest, he suffered a rapid physical deterioration. According to reports, Ismael suffered from a fever for two weeks and was only given Tylenol by the center’s medical staff. He was finally rushed to a hospital in Victorville, where he died early Monday morning. His father, Eusebio Ayala, hopes for justice. The death of Ismael Ayala is the first recorded in 2025 at the Adelanto detention center. Nationally, ICE has reported thirteen deaths in its custody so far this year, six of them after June 6, when a wave of immigration enforcement operations began across the country.

The AP [9/25/2025 4:01 PM, Farnoush Amiri and Elliot Spagat, 37974K] reports the Trump administration pitched several other countries Thursday on its view that the global system for seeking asylum, in effect since World War II, has been rampantly abused and urged them to join the United States in cracking down on such migration. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau led the discussion on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly alongside representatives from Kosovo, Bangladesh, Liberia and Panama. Landau’s gathering allowed American officials to gauge early support and interest for what could be a massive revamp of the asylum system. The U.S. said changes must, at a minimum, embrace asylum as a temporary status and dictate that those seeking protection should eventually return home. The Trump administration also emphasized that there is no right to receive asylum in a country of choice and that decisions are governed by individual nations, not multinational organizations. The Washington Post [9/25/2025 4:45 PM, Adam Taylor, 29079K] reports the Trump administration on Thursday unveiled a plan to radically reform the global system for asylum seekers and refugees, outlining a vision that critics warned could serve as a pass for governments to deport people to countries where they could face torture. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly here in New York, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau characterized the world’s asylum system as a “huge loophole in our migration laws,” and said reform was necessary lest it “serve as a mechanism to make mass illegal migration legal.” Landau outlined a number of proposed changes that the Trump administration said should be made, including that nations should have no obligation to open their borders to asylum seekers or consider for refugee status those who enter a country illegally. Additionally, he said, there should be “no right” for an individual to receive refugee or asylum in a country of their choice. The deputy secretary, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, said that refugee status must be “temporary, not permanent” and that sovereign states should be allowed to make decisions on when and where they can deport people.

Reported similarly:
ABC News [9/25/2025 7:09 PM, Mariam Khan, 27036K]

CNN [9/25/2025 5:01 PM, Jennifer Hansler] reports a top Trump administration official on Thursday called for changes to long-standing international asylum policies – a move that comes amid a sweeping US shift that has upended and restricted immigration policies at home. In remarks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau argued that the current international asylum system and frameworks, including the Refugee Convention, are outdated and have been abused, making "mass illegal migration legal." The top official at the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration said that "over the coming months, the United States will convene interested nations to develop and formalize new principles that reflect today’s realities." Landau, speaking to a conference room that included diplomats and foreign dignitaries as well as officials from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, emphasized the need for "sovereignty" and for refugee status to be temporary.

Reuters [9/25/2025 4:43 PM, Humeyra Pamuk and Ted Hesson, 45746K] reports top Trump administration officials urged other nations on Thursday to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections, a major shift that would seek to reshape the post-World War Two framework around humanitarian migration. At a side event during the United Nations annual gathering in New York City, U.S. officials said that the existing global asylum system was being exploited by economic migrants and criminal groups seeking to profit from illegal immigration. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau laid out the U.S. stance, saying migrants should seek asylum in the first country they enter, not a nation of their choosing. He said asylum should be temporary, with the host country deciding when conditions back home had improved enough for their return. In a combative speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump argued for lower levels of global migration and promoted his immigration approach as a model for other countries.

NewsNation [9/25/2025 3:28 PM, Safia Samee Ali, 6811K] reports the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be giving thousands of public housing authorities thirty days after a written request to hand over the citizenship status of all tenants or risk losing funding. But some experts say the agency’s demand appears to be aimed at immigration enforcement rather than housing policy. The directive from HUD, confirmed to NewsNation by the agency, will instruct over 3,000 public housing authorities to provide tenants’ immigration status, addresses and Social Security numbers, among other identifiers, within a month of their written request. The agency signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" with the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year, committing to data sharing. While it’s unclear if the agreement extends to helping with deportations, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said his agency would "leverage resources including technology and personnel to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing." HUD will give housing authorities 30 days to hand over citizenship information.

Bloomberg [9/25/2025 3:00 PM, Andy Mukherjee, 19085K] reports before the ink is dry on his chaotic plan to charge employers a fat fee for hiring foreigners, President Donald Trump may end up choking off the very pipeline through which young overseas students trickle into the American job market: College education. Last week’s hastily imposed Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers opened a new front in Washington’s increasingly ugly trade spat with New Delhi. Indian techies and doctors, who hold more than 70% of the existing visas under this category, read the move as an eviction notice from their careers and lives in the US. Or at least that’s how Trump’s proclamation was received, until the White House clarified that a one-time $100,000 fee on H-1B visas would only apply to employers of new applicants — and doctors may be exempt. That was last week. A separate proposal, announced Tuesday, seeks to overhaul the H-1B lottery itself by introducing a wage-based rule into what is currently a random process. The rejig goes way beyond targeting India, or for that matter, the $100,000 fee. Once implemented, it would dim the appeal of the F-1 student visa — a far more crucial source of America’s long-term competitiveness than the 85,000-a-year jobs quota. Although damaging the US university system isn’t the intended goal, that would be the unfortunate result. The Department of Homeland Security says it’s moving to a weighted selection process that would “favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher skilled and higher paid aliens.” So far, so good. But with demand for these visas exceeding supply each year for more than a decade, the catch lies in the complex manner in which the quota will be distributed. Currently, most of the approvals go to California because tech-industry employers, such as Amazon.com Inc. and India’s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the largest Indian outsourcing firm, seek them aggressively. Silicon Valley’s dominance might continue even under the new rules, as would the rampant gaming of the H-1B system by outsourcing firms. However, fresh, foreign-born STEM graduates may lose access to the one US talent market where their education and skills are the most valued.

Bloomberg [9/25/2025 12:04 PM, Liam Knox, 19085K] reports President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee for H-1B visas was a warning shot to Corporate America to toe the line on immigration. It also deals another financial blow to universities already battered by the administration’s crusade against top colleges. The White House’s attempt to overhaul the H-1B visa system has sowed chaos in tech and finance, with Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Citigroup Inc. among the biggest users of the program. But colleges across the US, from the Ivy League to state universities and dozens of medical schools, apply for thousands of visas annually to hire researchers and academic staff. Stanford, the largest employer of H-1B holders in the education sector, currently employs more than 500 staff and faculty on the high-skill visa. It has averaged roughly 270 new hires per year since 2023, according to data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. That means it would cost at least $27 million a year extra to fulfill these visas. Other top H-1B employer universities, such as Columbia, the University of Michigan, Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis, hire hundreds and would have to pay the government in the range of $10 million to $20 million a year under the new visa rules, if they maintain the same level of hiring. That additional charge could force universities to cut back on the visas or further strain finances that have already been squeezed by the Trump administration’s cuts to federal funding for research and attacks on international students. “No university is going to be willing to pay that,” said Ryan Allen, a professor of comparative and international education at Soka University of America in California. “It will change hiring and recruitment practices from here on out. The international talent pool for researchers and faculty — that’s turned off.”

Breitbart [9/25/2025 5:53 PM, Neil Munro, 2608K] reports American companies are importing mixed-skill migrants via the H-1B visa program to police Americans’ speech in their workplaces, says Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO). Schmitt sent a September 25 letter to Joe Edlow, chief of the immigration service division of the Department of Homeland Security, asking for explanations and data.

Reuters [9/25/2025 6:30 PM, Siddhi Mahatole, 45746K] reports the American Medical Association and 53 leading medical societies have urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to exempt physicians from the newly announced $100,000 H-1B visa application fee, the groups said on Thursday. In a letter to the DHS, the groups urged the agency to issue guidance exempting physicians, residents and fellows from the proposed fee, arguing they are essential to sustaining a robust healthcare workforce in the country. The American Medical Association said it is eager to collaborate with the administration to safeguard patient access to care. With the U.S. facing a projected shortage of up to 86,000 doctors by 2036, the groups warned that the new fee would worsen access to care and increase wait times for patients.

Chicago Tribune [9/25/2025 7:11 PM, Lisa Schencker, 5352K] reports Physicians should be exempt from a new $100,000 fee for workers from other countries who are in the U.S. on H-1B visas, the Chicago-based American Medical Association and 53 other medical societies told the federal government Thursday. The medical associations wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Thursday urging her to exempt all physicians — including residents, fellows and researchers — from the new fee. About one-fourth of licensed physicians in the U.S. were trained in other countries, according to the letter. "… There is a growing need for a larger physician workforce that the U.S. cannot fill on its own, in part because the U.S. does not have enough people in the younger generation to care for our aging country," according to the letter. "Accordingly, H-1B physicians play a critical role in filling this void, especially in areas of the U.S. with high-need populations.". Many foreign doctors in the U.S. practice in areas with higher rates of poverty and chronic disease, the letter said. In 2021, about 64% of foreign-trained physicians were practicing in areas with a shortage of medical care or health care professionals, according to the letter. The H-1B program is for employers who want to hire workers from other countries who have highly specialized knowledge. The idea behind the program is to help employers who can’t find the workers they need in the U.S. In the letter sent Thursday, the medical associations pointed to a part of the proclamation that says the new restriction won’t apply to a worker or industry if the secretary of Homeland Security determines that the hiring of the worker "is in National Interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States." The associations are asking Noem to clarify that physicians should be among exemptions.

Wall Street Journal [9/25/2025 4:16 PM, Anvee Bhutani, 646K] reports big U.S. companies are facing heightened scrutiny from Capitol Hill over their use of foreign employees on H-1B visas, with lawmakers raising concerns about layoffs and slumping job prospects for Americans. On Wednesday evening, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) sent letters to the country’s largest users of H-1B visas—including Amazon.com, Apple and JPMorgan Chase—asking them to explain why they continue to hire thousands of H-1B visa holders while also cutting other jobs. The senators asked for detailed information on how many H-1B workers the companies employ, what wages they are paid, and whether American workers have been displaced in the process. The letters cited reporting by The Wall Street Journal about the weak tech job market. The move comes less than a week after President Trump announced an overhaul of the H-1B program, including a new $100,000 fee for companies sponsoring foreign workers. That move caused panic for some companies worried they could retroactively be on the hook for fee payments. They mobilized human-resources teams and lawyers to address employee concerns and ensure compliance.

Bloomberg [9/25/2025 1:44 PM, Todd Gillespie, 19085K] reports Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Waldron criticized the growth of barriers to movement put up by countries around the world, amid rising concern among American firms about the Trump administration’s decision to charge $100,000 for a key type of visa. “We have a very big global footprint that we need and desire that talent all over the world — and I think the more barriers we put up around the world, the harder it is for companies like ours to do that,” Waldron said at an event hosted by the Financial Times in New York, in response to a question that cited US policy and that of countries globally. “I think it’s to be worried about, and I think in a world that is as complicated as this world, it would be much better if we could allow that talent to move around,” said Waldron, who didn’t specifically reference the H-1B charge. The executive’s comments follow those of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon earlier this week, when he said the move by President Donald Trump to hike the fee on H-1B visas “caught everyone off guard.” Goldman is one of the largest employers of H-1B workers in the US financial sector, according to US government data. Trump slapped the fee on new H-1B petitions last week as a condition of entry to the US. The lack of clarity around the new rules prompted some major technology firms to initially warn employees against foreign travel.

Daily Caller [9/25/2025 12:30 PM, Jason Hopkins, 985K] reports that the Trump administration is warning migrant sponsors to take financial responsibility for them or expect to be slapped with steep fines, lawsuits, or even prosecution. American citizens who sponsor migrants that end up using taxpayer-funded benefits like food stamps or housing assistance will be held financially liable and could even face criminal charges, according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The announcement, which is intended for all migrant sponsors across the country, marks the latest policy crackdown by the Trump administration. "It is crucial for sponsors and aliens to meet their fiscal obligations and not push financial burdens onto the American people," USCIS Spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement provided to the DCNF. "American taxpayers should not be on the hook to subsidize aliens when their financial sponsors have promised to do so," Tragesser continued. Most family-based immigrants are required to be sponsored by a citizen or lawful permanent resident when applying for a green card, according to USCIS. A sponsor agrees to take financial responsibility for them, ensuring that foreign nationals seeking resident status in the U.S. have adequate means of support and will not become dependent on public benefits.
It’s not just agencies that can sue. The memo also reminds sponsors that migrants themselves may sue them if they fail to provide sufficient financial support. "If fraud is suspected, cases may be referred to the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate for review and investigation," the USCIS memo states. "If a sponsor knowingly and willfully provides fraudulent or false information, USCIS will deem [the sponsorship affidavit] insufficient and may deny the intending immigrant’s application for adjustment of status."

CNN [9/25/2025 7:16 AM, Claire Calzonetti, 23245K] reports Palestinian Envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour speaks with Christiane Amanpour about the wave of European countries recognizing Palestinian statehood, and the US blocking visas for Palestinian leadership for the United Nations General Assembly. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 11:56 AM, Paul Bedard, 1563K] reports in another first, the Trump administration is expected to win the "operational control" of the U.S. border as soon as next year, fulfilling a campaign promise to seal the border from illegal crossings. A technical term for border security spelled out in the Secure Fence Act of 2006, no administration since has achieved the goal. But with extraordinary border initiatives and a complete reversal of former President Joe Biden’s open-door policy that let in millions of illegal migrants, President Donald Trump’s team is set to meet the requirement of no "unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.". Former immigration judge Andrew Arthur, now with the Center for Immigration Studies, said in an analysis of the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers that the southern border appears secure. "If current trends continue, FY 2025 will be the most secure year in history at the U.S.-Mexico line, and DHS will achieve complete ‘operational control’ of our borders in FY 2026," he wrote. Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies for the center, said that there are multiple reasons why the U.S. has beaten its illegal immigration challenges. "Trump has attacked the immigration problem on all fronts. He took care of the land borders first, to stop the influx, and now he is stemming the tide of visa program abusers with better vetting, stricter standards, and cutting off access to benefits," she told Secrets. And, she added, he has empowered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to kick out illegal immigrants inside the country. "The hardest part is the interior enforcement cleanup, but ICE and the local partners have made truly impressive progress," Vaughan said.

Chicago Tribune [9/25/2025 6:39 PM, Talia Soglin, Olivia Olander and Rebecca Johnson, 5352K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection boats have docked near the Chicago Harbor Lock on Thursday as part of a plan to stage marine vessels and vehicles at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility near Navy Pier, according to government communications reviewed by the Tribune. Four CBP boats were spotted traveling east on the Chicago River before they were docked just south of Navy Pier midday Thursday. Federal officials on the boats appeared to be armed. On Thursday morning, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks posted on social media that he had arrived in Chicago, as part of the performative announcements Homeland Security officials have been making over the past few weeks to trumpet their presence in Chicago. It was not immediately clear if his visit was related to any CBP activity at the Harbor Lock. It was also not clear how long CBP officials planned to dock at the Army Corps facility, nor what their purposes in doing so may be.

Breitbart [9/25/2025 11:30 AM, Randy Clark, 2608K] reports the United States Border Patrol will add four marine patrol vessels to augment President Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. The addition of the patrol boats will allow the agency to access inland areas along the Chicago River from Lake Michigan. According to the Border Patrol, the move will bolster the effort to apprehend the "worst of the worst" by allowing Border Patrol access to key transit areas within the Chicago River waterway. The deployment will provide support to other federal agencies assisting in the Midway Blitz immigration enforcement operation. The three patrol vessels will increase border security by allowing quick access to respond as needed to multiple areas within the city. Breitbart Texas spoke to Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino, who is currently on the ground in Chicago, about the augmentation. Bovino, who also commands CBP’s contingent of agents involved in California’s Operation At Large Immigration Enforcement Operation, says the move will improve his agency’s ability to move swiftly along the waterways of Chicago and respond to threats as they occur. Bovino told Breitbart Texas he has conducted informal outreach with community members in Chicago and is pleasantly surprised by the reactions he is receiving. "I am speaking to residents in and around the downtown area, and I am receiving excellent feedback. Residents are happy to see us in the area, and many have expressed frustration that we didn’t get here sooner," Bovino says. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented on the launch of the operation, saying: For years, Governor Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago’s streets—putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals. President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message: no city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.

Breitbart [9/25/2025 1:03 PM, Randy Clark, 2608K] reports that more than 200 Border Patrol agents descended on a Chicago Home Depot parking lot early Thursday morning in a sweeping immigration enforcement action under President Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz. The early morning sweep of the home improvement store parking lot was conducted like operations that have been underway in Los Angeles in recent months. Breitbart Texas spoke to Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino, who is currently on the ground in Chicago, about the early morning action and other developments in Chicago. Bovino, who, in addition to commanding the Border Patrol contingent in Chicago, also commands CBP’s contingent of agents involved in California’s Operation At Large Immigration Enforcement Operation. The chief says actions such as the one carried out on Thursday have netted criminal illegal aliens who otherwise have eluded authorities due to sanctuary city policies and the lack of proper vetting during the Biden Border Crisis. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented on the launch of the operation, saying: “For years, Governor Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago’s streets—putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals. President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message: no city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”

NewsNation [9/25/2025 7:22 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 6811K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection say they confiscated $13 million in methamphetamine concealed in a truck hauling a shipment of soft drinks. The agency says the haul was discovered Monday at the Roma International Bridge, when a tractor-trailer tried to cross into South Texas from Miguel Aleman, Mexico. The drugs allegedly were found inside the beverage shipment and totaled nearly 1,500 pounds, the agency said. "This large seizure of methamphetamine illustrates the seriousness of the drug threat we face every day and the resolve of our frontline officers to utilize technology and experience to prevent this poison from entering our country," Roma Port Director Andres Guerra said.

NewsNation [9/25/2025 7:24 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 6811K] Video: HERE reports Texas Department of Public Safety troopers say they stopped a box truck in rural Zapata County and found four Mexican migrants being smuggled inside a false compartment in the vehicle. Jasid Alejandro Ulloa-Corea, 24, of Honduras, was arrested and charged with felony smuggling after troopers stopped the truck he was driving Monday evening near the small border town of Falcon. DPS says he had four migrants who had crossed the border illegally hiding in a false compartment that had been cut behind the front seats of the vehicle’s cab area. He was driving a truck full of water tanks and had an expired license tag, troopers said on a video of the DPS arrest. DPS says Ulloa-Corea is illegally in the United States. He has been booked into the Zapata County Jail. DPS says Ulloa-Corea had a provisional driver’s license from Maryland and had previously been arrested in Ocean City, Maryland, on charges of assault and fraud.

FOX News [9/25/2025 2:46 PM, Staff, 40019K] reports U.S. Border Patrol agents are being hailed for saving the life of a seriously injured cyclist after he fell "more than 50 feet into the bottom" of a remote canyon in California. The dramatic rescue unfolded Saturday after San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents working near Otay Lakes County Park in Chula Vista "heard cries for help originating from a canyon adjacent to the Sweetwater Dam," U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced this week. "There is no doubt in my mind that these agents saved this man’s life," Jeffrey Stalnaker, San Diego Sector acting chief patrol agent, said in a statement. "I am truly thankful the agents were in the right place at the right time to make a difference.". The agency said the cyclist, who suffered "multiple serious injuries," was unable to move for hours and called out for help until he was discovered by the responding agents. "I see you have your helmet on, sir. Are you aware if you lost consciousness at all?" one of the CBP agents asked the cyclist in a body camera video of the rescue. The cyclist could be seen bleeding heavily from both legs. "We are going to try to straighten it out, put a splint on it or bandage it up," the agent told him.

Reuters [9/25/2025 4:39 PM, Leah Douglas and Cassandra Garrison, 45746K] reports U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday said Mexico has not adequately enacted protocols to curb the spread of New World screwworm, a sign of tension between the two countries as they navigate the northward march of the pest. Rollins blamed a recent screwworm detection less than 70 miles (113 km) from the U.S. border on Mexico’s failure to curb cattle movements and inadequate monitoring of fly traps meant to reduce the wild population of screwworm flies, which infest and can kill livestock if untreated. Screwworm has not yet crossed the U.S. border, according to officials, but poses a multibillion-dollar risk to the U.S. beef industry. The U.S. has kept its border mostly closed to Mexican cattle imports since May. The outbreak has heightened tensions between the countries ahead of a planned review of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and rattled their livestock and beef sectors. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on September 21 said it had learned of the case in Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas. Within hours, USDA had sent staff to the region, Rollins said on Thursday at the Ag Outlook Forum in Kansas City, Missouri. "Unfortunately, what we found is Mexico has failed to enforce proper cattle movement controls in infected regions and is not tending to fly traps daily as promised, which hinder our real-time detection capabilities. This is unacceptable," Rollins said.

Breitbart [9/25/2025 4:16 PM, Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, 2608K] reports the U.S. National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) revealed that a faction of Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, was murdering pregnant women to harvest their organs and sell their children to U.S. couples. The information first came to light earlier this month when Mexican authorities, acting on U.S.-based intelligence, arrested Martha Alicia "La Diabla" Mendez Aguilar, the alleged ringleader of a baby trafficking organization in Ciudad Juarez that is reportedly connected to the Juarez Cartel and CJNG. Earlier this year, the U.S. government labelled CJNG and five other cartels in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations and called for their eradication. According to information released this week by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, La Diabla’s organization would lure pregnant women in Mexico to perform clandestine C-sections, murder them, harvest their organs, and sell their children to U.S. couples for up to 250,000 pesos ($14,500 USD). Univision [9/25/2025 2:32 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports Mexican authorities, in collaboration with U.S. agencies, arrested a woman, a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, who led an organ and baby trafficking ring across the border from Juarez, Chihuahua, to Texas. Martha Alicia Méndez Aguilar, also known as “La Diabla,” was arrested in Juárez, Chihuahua, on Tuesday, September 2, according to a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The joint operation dismantled the gang led by "La Diabla," which deceived pregnant women living in marginalized rural communities by performing illegal cesarean sections on them. By carrying out these clandestine operations, Méndez Aguilar removed organs from pregnant women to sell them on the black market, and also sold newborn babies for 250,000 pesos to couples residing in the United States. The operation was led by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Women in Mexico and supported by the U.S. Marshals Service in El Paso; the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS); the FBI in El Paso; and CBP, with information and intelligence from the National Counterterrorism Center. NewsNation [9/25/2025 1:18 PM, Jeff Arnold, 6811K] reports that the arrest was made with the support of U.S. Marshals in El Paso, the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "This is one example of what terrorist cartels will do to diversify their revenue streams and finance operations," Joe Kent, NCTC director, said in a statement. "NCTC delivered critical intelligence on ‘La Diabla’s’ location and developed comprehensive analysis that enabled U.S. and Mexican law enforcement partners to take action."

Bloomberg [9/25/2025 10:31 AM, Brian K. Sullivan, 19085K] reports this year’s Atlantic hurricane season has so far lagged behind long-term trends, generated oddities and left seasoned forecasters scratching their heads. But now it’s finally shaking off the doldrums and spinning up storms. Tropical Storm Humberto formed Wednesday north of the Caribbean and will likely soon be joined by a second system to its west. In the meantime, Hurricane Gabrielle is barreling across the world’s second-largest ocean on a collision course with the Azores and possibly even Spain and Portugal, though as a hybrid storm. Across the Atlantic, eight storms have been named this season; just two have reached hurricane status. Ten storms typically form by now, four of which become hurricanes, with two of them becoming major systems that pack winds of 111 miles (179 kilometers) per hour or more. Forecasters had predicted an unusually active season. The ocean also passed the peak of its six-month season in early September with hardly a cloud across its tropical expanse. Seasonal changes and shifts in weather patterns have cracked open the door for a more active second half for the Atlantic season, which ends on Nov. 30. These will likely yield greater tropical activity, said Alex DaSilva, a meteorologist with commercial-forecaster AccuWeather Inc. “We will be catching up on some of those numbers in the next couple of weeks.” The scarcity of tropical threats has thus far spared US energy, agriculture, transportation, retail and insurance markets of shocks. It’s a stark change from last year, when Hurricanes Helene and Milton collectively killed at least 277 people and caused $113 billion in losses and damages. Hurricane Beryl, meanwhile, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in Texas, killed 69 people across the US and Caribbean and caused an additional $7 billion in losses. In contrast, recent powerful Typhoons have swept the western Pacific, including Ragasa, which hit Taiwan hard this week and raised alarms in Hong Kong.

Breitbart [9/25/2025 2:18 PM, John Binder, 2608K] reports that a federal judge is blocking President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from cutting off Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to sanctuary states that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In March, DHS issued new requirements for states seeking such FEMA funds, including making sure that state agencies cooperate with ICE rather than carrying out sanctuary policies to prevent agents from being able to take custody of criminal illegal aliens. Following the DHS memo, sanctuary states like Illinois, California, and Maryland, among others, banded together to sue the Trump administration over the requirements that would force them to end their sanctuary policies to secure FEMA funds. This week, District Judge William Smith, appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island by former President George W. Bush, sided with the sanctuary states in the case. "…the contested conditions are both arbitrary and capricious and unconstitutional," Smith wrote in his ruling: Second, Plaintiff States stand to suffer irreparable harm; the effect of the loss of emergency and disaster funds cannot be recovered later, and the downstream effect on disaster response and public safety are real and not compensable. Third, withholding disaster aid harms Plaintiff States and their residents directly, whereas injunctive relief is the status quo. The balance of equities clearly tips in favor of Plaintiff States. And finally, protecting access to disaster and emergency relief is squarely aligned with the public interest. The case is Illinois v. FEMA, No. 1:25-cv-00206 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

Reported similarly:
Daily Caller [9/25/2025 11:02 AM, Jason Hopkins, 985K]

Bloomberg [9/25/2025 2:38 PM, Stephen Lee, 75K] reports that the dismissal of a recent federal suit against FEMA undermines environmentalists’ goal of expanding renewable energy, even in seemingly easy situations like rebuilding storm-ravaged communities from scratch, attorneys say. Broadly, the outcome in the case—which seeks to compel FEMA to define key climate terms—is a setback for the rollout of resilient energy nationwide, said Andrew Whitehurst, water program director at the environmental group Healthy Gulf, one of the litigants. "The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been allowed to do less than Congress required it to do, and these statutory definitions could have been finalized years earlier," Whitehurst said. [Editorial note: consult extended commentary at source link]

AP [9/25/2025 9:02 AM, Allen G. Breed and Brittany Peterson, 37974K] reports bracing himself against the current in waist-deep water, Clancy Loorham wrestles a broken length of PVC pipe from the rocky bottom of the French Broad River and peers inside. "I got a catfish in the pipe," the 27-year-old with wispy beard and mustache shouted to fellow cleanup workers floating nearby in rafts, canoes and kayaks piled with plastic pipe and other human-made detritus. "He’s right here. I’m looking him in the eyes!" It’s been just a year since floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Helene washed these pipes out of a nearby factory with such force that some pieces ended up in Douglas Lake, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) away in Tennessee. But they’re already slick with algae and filled with river silt — and creatures. Helene killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage from Florida to the Carolinas. In the North Carolina mountains, rains of up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) turned gentle streams into torrents that swept away trees, boulders, homes and vehicles, shattered century-old flood records, and in some places carved out new channels. In the haste to rescue people and restore their lives to some semblance of normalcy, some fear the recovery efforts compounded Helene’s impact on the ecosystem. Contractors hired to remove vehicles, shipping containers, shattered houses and other large debris from waterways sometimes damaged sensitive habitat. "They were using the river almost as a highway in some situations," said Peter Raabe, Southeast regional director for the conservation group American Rivers. The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that debris removal missions "are often challenging" due to the large volume storms can leave behind across a wide area. The Corps said it trains its contractors to minimize disturbances to waterways and to prevent harm to wildlife. North Carolina Emergency Management said debris removal after Helene took into account safety and the environment, and that projects reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency met that agency’s standards for minimizing impact.

Washington Post [9/25/2025 8:09 PM, Kim Bellware and Gaya Gupta, 29079K] reports the parents of the child still missing after a deadly flood swept through Camp Mystic in Texas in July are calling on the camp’s leaders to immediately halt plans to reopen next summer — a move they decried as “unthinkable.” CiCi and Will Steward, whose 8-year-old daughter, Cile, was among the 27 campers and counselors killed at Camp Mystic, sent a letter Wednesday to the camp’s owners criticizing the plan to reopen and build an on-site memorial honoring the flood victims. The Stewards said they and other parents whose daughters died at the camp were “devastated” and were not consulted before leaders announced Tuesday their plans for the memorial and reopening. “We call on Camp Mystic to halt all discussion of reopening and memorials,” the letter shared with The Washington Post states. “Instead, Cile must be recovered, and you must fully confront and account for your role in the events and failures that caused the deaths of our daughters.” Camp Mystic, in a statement to The Post, said there is “strong interest” in its plans for next summer. The camp did not respond to questions about the Stewards’ letter, which said it was sent on behalf of other victims’ families, too. “Our decision to partially reopen areas of the camp is informed by our faith and our commitment to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually,” the statement from Camp Mystic said. “Search operations are ongoing at Camp Mystic. We continue to pray that Cile will be found and for the peace and comfort of the families of all the campers and counselors.” The camp announced its plan in two emails: one to families of the victims that made no mention of reopening and one to the broader camp community. In both, the Eastland family, which has owned Camp Mystic for decades, wrote that the Cypress Lake location would comply with new safety protocols passed in the Texas legislature. “We are not only rebuilding cabins and trails, but also a place where laughter, friendship and spiritual growth will continue to flourish,” the letter sent to the wider camp community states. “As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost.” Camp Mystic Guadalupe River, the section that sustained the most damage in July, will not reopen, the Eastlands wrote in their letter. Camp Mystic’s leadership team was evaluating plans with engineers and experts to rebuild that site, the letter said. The camp had successfully appealed to remove several of its structures from a FEMA flood zone designation, despite being located in a high-risk flood area.

The Hill [9/25/2025 6:08 PM, Max Rego, 12414K] reports an independent review found that Los Angeles County’s response to January’s devastating wildfires was marred by issues with alert and evacuation protocols. The review, conducted by consulting firm McChrystal Group and commissioned by county supervisors, found that “a series of weaknesses, including outdated policies, inconsistent practices, and communications vulnerabilities,” led to an ineffective response to the Palisades and Eaton fires. The wildfires, over three weeks, burned 37,000 acres, destroyed 16,251 buildings and resulted in 31 deaths. Together, they were the most destructive wildfires in the county’s history. The 133-page report outlined five areas of improvement for the county: evacuation protocols, emergency response training, resource management, coordination across different county agencies and community engagement. It noted that the speed of alerts and evacuations was hindered by communication failures stemming from “unreliable cellular connectivity, inconsistent field reporting methods, and the use of various unconnected platforms.” To remedy the issue, the report recommended the county restructure its Office of Emergency Management, boost staffing and establish an organized emergency response training program for law enforcement officials. The report also stressed the need for prior communication to the public on sources of information during a crisis. It also called for the county to establish a joint information center quicker during future wildfires.

USA Today [9/25/2025 7:14 PM, Christopher Cann, 64151K] reports outdated policies, gaps in communication, and staff shortages hampered the emergency response to a pair of deadly wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles County earlier this year, a report released by county officials found. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors published the findings on Sept. 25. The 133-page report, conducted independently by the consulting firm McChrystal Group, focused on public alerts, warnings, and evacuation efforts related to the Palisades and Eaton wildfires. The report outlined a "series of weaknesses" that impeded the county’s ability to properly warn residents of the fast-moving blazes. Those weaknesses included outdated and inconsistent standard operating procedures that "slowed coordination efforts," the report said. Investigators also spoke with law enforcement and emergency managers who reported "inconsistent training around wildfire evacuations.". The report said that shortages of personnel and equipment "were magnified under the extreme conditions of this incident." The staffing shortages included more than 900 vacancies at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, an agency tasked with managing fires and maintaining essential public safety services countywide, the report added.

NPR [9/25/2025 1:16 PM, Rachel Treisman, 34837K] reports President Trump is alleging "triple sabotage" of his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, demanding an investigation into back-to-back mishaps with an escalator, a teleprompter and a sound system — for which the U.N. is at least partially blaming the White House. "A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!" Trump wrote in a Wednesday Truth Social post. "This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves … No wonder the United Nations hasn’t been able to do the job that they were put in existence to do.". Trump visited the U.N.’s headquarters in New York City on Tuesday to speak to a room of world leaders. The trouble began pretty much the moment he stepped on the escalator, just behind first lady Melania Trump. The escalator stopped abruptly mere seconds into their ride, leaving the couple briefly stranded. Video of the incident, which some are calling "Escalatorgate," shows them walking up the rest of the stairs while holding onto the handrails. A short while later, as Trump took the podium to begin his remarks, he observed that his teleprompter wasn’t working. He said he didn’t mind, adding that "I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble," which drew laughs from the crowd. Trump took a moment to recount — and seemingly laugh off — the technical difficulties of the day. Afterward, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he believed his speech was "very well received," and that the teleprompter and escalator malfunctions "probably made the speech more interesting than it would have been otherwise.". But his tone quickly changed. By Wednesday, Trump was calling the escalator incident "absolutely sabotage" and calling for the arrest of those responsible. "It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first," Trump wrote. "It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster.". Trump said the Secret Service was investigating, and demanded that the U.N. open its own probe. On Wednesday night, Guterres spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric announced that the secretary-general had ordered a thorough investigation. The U.N. says a U.S. videographer likely accidentally froze the escalator. The U.N. is in a deepening financial struggle, due in large part to the decisions of what was once its largest funder, the U.S.; the Trump administration has stopped paying its portion of the U.N.’s budget and halted funding to specific U.N. programs.

NewsMax [9/25/2025 9:11 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4779K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard seized more than four tons of cocaine worth an estimated $64.5 million in the Caribbean Sea, officials said. The seized contraband, totaling more than five tons of narcotics overall, was a result of two interdictions in international waters by the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Diligence, the Coast Guard said in a press release Wednesday. Diligence, a 210-foot, Reliance-class medium endurance cutter, was deployed to the Coast Guard District Southeast area of responsibility in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S). "I am remarkably proud of the crew and appreciative of the efforts of JIATF-S and Coast Guard District Southeast," said Cmdr. Colin McKee, commanding officer of the Diligence. "This joint effort helped us prevent more than four tons of illegal drugs from entering the United States. While this offload marks another milestone in our efforts to counter narco-terrorism, the Coast Guard remains relentless in our operations to control, secure, and defend U.S. borders and maritime approaches." Diligence’s crew on Aug. 7 detected and boarded a suspicious go-fast vessel approximately 136 miles southwest of Negril, Jamaica. Diligence’s boarding team interdicted the vessel, seizing 1,500 pounds of marijuana.

ABC News [9/26/2025 2:44 AM, Jon Haworth, 27036K] reports authorities in Hawaii say they are looking for a 44-year-old diver who was last seen on Tuesday in the waters near Kauai in Hawaii. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu command center watchstanders received a notification at 7:36 p.m. on Wednesday from Kauai Fire Department personnel of a possible person in the water near Hanalei Bay, according to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday. The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies have identified the missing diver as Bryson Higashi, 44, who was last seen at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Hanalei area. "Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and coordinated the diversion of a Coast Guard Station Kauai 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point," authorities said. "The Coast Guard Cutter William Hart (WPC 1134) crew also diverted for the search.” Higashi is described as being 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds. His truck was discovered near Hanalei Bay after being left unattended for a full day, officials said. A multiagency search is now underway for Higashi and includes personnel from the Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, Coast Guard Station Kauai, Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Coast Guard Cutter William Hart, the Kauai Police and Fire Departments as well as Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources. The current on-scene weather conditions of the search, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, consist of 15 mph winds, 2- to 4-foot seas with occasional showers and reduced visibility. Anyone with information that may assist in search efforts has been asked to contact the Coast Guard immediately.

Federal News Network [9/25/2025 6:07 PM, Anastasia Obis, 1147K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an emergency directive on Thursday in response to a widespread campaign exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco firewall devices. While the emergency directive only applies to federal civilian executive branch agencies, CISA is strongly encouraging other government and private sector organizations to follow the same guidance. Under the emergency order, all civilian agencies are required to identify their Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances devices, collect forensic data and assess any compromises using CISA-provided procedures and tools. Affected agencies must also disconnect end-of-support devices and upgrade any systems that remain in service by the end of Friday. "The threat campaign is widespread and involves exploitation of both the running memory of the device using newly identified zero-day vulnerabilities, as well as exploitation of the read-only memory of the Cisco ASA, which enables the threat actor to persist through reboot and system upgrades, and this presents a significant risk to victim networks," Chris Butera, CISA’s acting deputy executive assistant director for cybersecurity, told reporters on Thursday. "CISA is directing federal agencies to take immediate action to reduce risk to federal systems upon which our American population depends… As soon as these vulnerabilities are released to the threat actor, we believe the threat actor will likely try to pivot and change tactics, so we think it’s really important for our organizations to try to detect that threat actor activity as quickly as possible… We stand ready to support agencies as they take these actions," he added. The emergency directive aims to help CISA assess the number of Cisco devices in use across federal agencies — and the full scope of the compromise.

Axios [9/25/2025 5:34 PM, Sam Sabin, 14595K] reports the top U.S. cyber defense agency is ordering all federal civilian agencies to patch vulnerable Cisco networking products that state-backed hackers are actively targeting. Federal cyber investigators have already found evidence of compromised devices, and the agency is aware of hundreds of potentially vulnerable Cisco devices across the federal government, a U.S. official told reporters. Cisco said Thursday that it has been working with "multiple government agencies" to investigate attacks on its firewalls that let hackers implant malware, execute command and possibly exfiltrate data from the devices they break into. The company also disclosed and released patches for three zero-day vulnerabilities in its Adaptive Security Appliances — although attackers have only been targeting two of them. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an emergency directive alongside the news, ordering agencies to disconnect compromised devices by noon on Friday and report the incidents to the agency. Agencies that have the affected Cisco devices, but haven’t been compromised, are ordered to report to CISA where they are using the products in their networks by Oct. 2. During its threat-hunting campaign, CISA uncovered evidence that some federal devices had already been compromised. Cisco attributed the attacks to ArcaneDoor, a hacking group that predominantly targets networking devices and has been active since 2023. Some researchers have linked the group to China-based hackers, but the U.S. has not formally attributed the attacks. A U.S. official told Cybersecurity Dive that at least 10 organizations worldwide have been breached, including multiple federal agencies. Cisco said it was first alerted to these attacks on government organizations in May, but the company and CISA only went public with their findings on Thursday.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [9/25/2025 5:25 PM, Raphael Satter, 45746K]

CNN [9/25/2025 6:14 PM, Sean Lyngaas, 23245K] reports US cyber officials issued an "emergency directive" Thursday ordering federal agencies to defend their networks against an "advanced" group of hackers that have breached at least one agency in an apparent espionage campaign. Government officials have not commented on who is behind the hacks, but private experts say they believe the hackers are state-backed and based in China. The hackers have been exploiting previously unknown flaws in software made by Cisco for several months. "We are aware of hundreds of these devices [running the affected Cisco software] being in the federal government," Chris Butera, a senior official at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters. The directive will help officials understand "the full scope of the compromise across federal agencies," Butera said. Unit 42, a division of cyber firm Palo Alto Networks, told CNN that they believe the hackers are based in China. But a slew of other hacking groups could try to exploit the vulnerabilities now that the issue is public and a software "patch," or fix, is available. "As we have seen before, now that patches are available, we can expect attacks to escalate as cybercriminal groups quickly figure out how to take advantage of these vulnerabilities," said Sam Rubin, a senior vice president at Unit 42. The directive will set off a scramble in Washington to detect the hackers and unplug any compromised devices before the hackers can do further damage. It gives civilian agencies until the end of Friday to update software and report any compromises. A Cisco spokesperson said the company investigated the hacks in May with "several" government agencies and has since discovered three new vulnerabilities that the hackers were exploiting. The company urged its customers to update their software in the face of the attacks.

CyberScoop [9/25/25 7:40 PM, Matt Kapko] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency acknowledged it’s yet to get a complete handle on the scope and impact of attacks involving Cisco zero-day vulnerabilities that prompted it to release an emergency directive Thursday. The attack timeline dates back almost a year, according to an investigation Cisco and federal authorities did behind the scenes to identify the root cause and then coordinate the issuance of patches to address software defects under active exploitation. “We observed initial activity that we believe was related back in November,” Chris Butera, acting deputy executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, said during a media briefing Thursday. “It started off as reconnaissance activity on these types of devices, and that’s what kicked off back in November." That malicious activity — read-only memory modification — “began as early as November 2024, if not earlier,” he said. CISA said it’s aware of hundreds of Cisco firewalls in use across the federal government that are potentially susceptible to exploitation. The mandated steps outlined in the emergency directive will help the agency understand the full scope of those devices and the extent of compromise across federal agencies, Butera said.

CyberScoop [9/25/2025 3:45 PM, Matt Kapko] reports federal cyber authorities sounded a rare alarm Thursday, issuing an emergency directive about an ongoing and widespread attack spree involving actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities affecting Cisco firewalls. Cisco said it began investigating attacks on multiple government agencies linked to the state-sponsored campaign in May. The vendor, which attributes the attacks to the same threat group behind an early 2024 campaign targeting Cisco devices it dubbed “ArcaneDoor,” said the new zero-days were exploited to “implant malware, execute commands, and potentially exfiltrate data from the compromised devices.” Cisco disclosed three vulnerabilities affecting its Adaptive Security Appliances — CVE-2025-20333, CVE-2025-20363 and CVE-2025-20362 — but said “evidence collected strongly indicates CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362 were used by the attacker in the current attack campaign.” The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said those two zero-days pose an “unacceptable risk” to federal agencies and require immediate action. Federal agencies are required to hunt for evidence of compromise, report findings and disconnect compromised devices by the end of Friday. Agencies running Cisco ASA firewalls are also required to apply Cisco’s patches or permanently disconnect end-of-life devices by the end of Friday. “CISA is directing federal agencies to take immediate action due to the alarming ease with which a threat actor can exploit these vulnerabilities, maintain persistence on the device, and gain access to a victim’s network,” CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala said in a statement.

CyberScoop [9/25/2025 3:45 PM, Greg Otto] reports Cisco Systems has issued security updates to address a critical vulnerability in its widely deployed IOS and IOS XE network operating systems, after confirming the flaw is being exploited in active attacks. Designated CVE-2025-20352, the vulnerability resides in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) subsystem of Cisco’s core network software. According to Cisco, the weakness stems from a stack-based buffer overflow and affects any device with SNMP enabled. The flaw allows authenticated, remote attackers with low privileges to force targeted systems to reload, causing denial of service. Higher-privileged attackers could execute arbitrary code with root-level permissions on affected Cisco IOS XE devices, effectively gaining complete control. Cisco disclosed that the vulnerability has been exploited in the wild. The company became aware of active attacks after the compromise of local administrator credentials. Attackers have leveraged the flaw by sending crafted SNMP packets over either IPv4 or IPv6 networks. “All devices that have SNMP enabled and have not explicitly excluded the affected object ID (OID) should be considered vulnerable,” Cisco wrote in a published advisory. The company noted the problem affects all versions of SNMP, including v1, v2c, and v3. Models such as the Meraki MS390 and Catalyst 9300 running Meraki CS 17 or earlier are impacted, with a fix arriving in a further IOS XE software release. No known workarounds exist beyond software updates. While organizations unable to immediately upgrade can mitigate some risk by limiting SNMP access to trusted users and network segments, Cisco advises that these are only temporary measures.

CyberScoop [9/25/2025 3:40 PM, Tim Starks] reports Department of Government Efficiency practices at three federal agencies “violate statutory requirements, creating unprecedented privacy and cybersecurity risks,” according to a report that Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Democrats published Thursday. The report — drawn from a mix of media reports, legal filings, whistleblower disclosures to the committee and staff visits to the agencies — concludes that the Elon Musk-created DOGE is “operating outside federal law, with unchecked access to Americans’ personal data.” It focuses on DOGE activity at the General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Social Security Administration (SSA). One previously unreported whistleblower claim is that at the SSA, a June internal risk assessment found that the chance of a data breach with “catastrophic adverse effect” stood between 35% and 65% after DOGE uploaded a computer database file known as Numident, containing personal sensitive information without additional protections against unauthorized access. The potential implications included “widespread PII [personally identifiable information] disclosure or loss of data” and “catastrophic damage to or loss of agency facilities and infrastructure with fatalities to individuals,” according to the assessment. “DOGE isn’t making government more efficient — it’s putting Americans’ sensitive information in the hands of completely unqualified and untrustworthy individuals,” Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a news release. “They are bypassing cybersecurity protections, evading oversight, and putting Americans’ personal data at risk. We cannot allow this shadow operation to continue operating unchecked while millions of people face the threat of identity theft, economic disruption, and permanent harm. The Trump Administration and agency leadership must immediately put a stop to these reckless actions that risk causing unprecedented chaos in Americans’ daily lives.” The report recommends stripping all DOGE access to sensitive personal information until agencies certify that the initiative is in compliance with federal security and privacy laws such as the Federal Information Security Management Act, and recommends that DOGE employees complete the same kind of cybersecurity training as other federal employees.

Washington Post [9/25/2025 7:38 PM, Joseph Menn, 29079K] reports federal agencies are racing to contain a new wave of sophisticated hacking by suspected Chinese attackers that took advantage of previously undiscovered flaws in widely used security software from networking company Cisco. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a rare emergency directive on Thursday, ordering all civilian agencies to test Cisco firewall equipment before midnight Friday to see if it had been breached. Agencies must immediately disconnect devices that have been compromised, the directive said. The CISA said that hundreds of potentially vulnerable devices were installed in federal networks and that some operated by private firms were used to protect critical infrastructure. Because firewall equipment polices traffic entering a computer network, hackers who control it can monitor, change or misdirect communications or allow additional unauthorized access. Cisco previously said the group involved behaved as if it were backed by a national government. Security experts warned that other spies and criminals now have enough information about the attack to use the same method, and would act quickly. CISA officials did not say who is behind the attacks, but security experts, including researchers at computer security firm Palo Alto Networks, said the hackers were based in China. The CISA did not dispute that conclusion. The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FOX News [9/25/2025 7:05 AM, Ashley Oliver, 40019K] reports a gunman who opened fire at a Dallas immigration facility Wednesday allegedly left behind a bullet casing inscribed with the phrase "anti-ICE," part of a recent trend of suspects in high-profile shootings signaling their possible motives through their ammunition. FBI Director Kash Patel shared a picture of the casings, saying one was engraved and "shows an ideological motive" behind the attack. The incident followed the accused killer of Charlie Kirk inscribing gamer-inspired antifascist messaging on bullet casings and Luigi Mangione using words on his casings linked to health insurance companies. The suspect in the Dallas incident, Joshua Jahn, 29, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing one detainee and critically injuring two others, the Department of Homeland Security said. While detainees were the victims, Jahn fired "indiscriminately" and was "motivated by a hatred for ICE," the DHS said.

AP [9/25/2025 1:59 PM, Patrick Whittle, 37974K] reports that the survivors and family members of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history have refiled their lawsuit against the U.S. government following a new U.S. Department of Defense watchdog report that faults the U.S. Army for a high rate of failure to report violent threats by service members. Eighteen people were killed in Lewiston in October 2023 when Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill. Dozens of survivors and relatives sued the federal government earlier this month on grounds that the U.S. Army could have stopped Card, a reservist, from carrying out the shootings. Lawyers for the group filed their amended lawsuit on Tuesday. It cites a report issued by the inspector general for the Defense Department this month that concludes the Army failed to make mandatory reports of violent threats almost half the time. Military law enforcement is required to report violent threats to the service’s military criminal investigative organization. The review found the Army did not consistently follow that policy in 32 of 67 violent threat investigations in 2023. The report specifically mentions Card, who died by suicide two days after the shootings. It says failure to consistently report violent threats "could increase the risk of additional violent incidents by service members, such as what occurred with SFC (Sgt. 1st Class) Card.". The longstanding pattern of unaddressed threats gives the Lewiston victims a stronger case, said Travis Brennan, an attorney for the group.

Blaze [9/25/2025 9:44 PM, Joseph M. Hanneman & Steve Baker, 1559K] reports the FBI has acknowledged it had 275 plainclothes agents in the massive crowds on Jan. 6, 2021, more than four and a half years after questions were first raised about the level of FBI involvement that day, Blaze News has learned. A senior congressional source said the number is not necessarily a surprise, since the FBI often embeds countersurveillance personnel at large events. But given the FBI’s until-now steadfast refusal to disclose the level of its presence at the Capitol, the figure might still be viewed with skepticism in some quarters. The news comes in the wake of claims by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General that the FBI had no undercover personnel in the Jan. 6 crowds. "We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6," the DOJ OIG said in an 88-page report released in December 2024. Depending how one reads "undercover" agents versus "plainclothes agents," both statements could be true. The same report disclosed that 26 FBI confidential human sources were in the Jan. 6 crowds, four of whom entered the Capitol. The DOJ inspector general said only three of the FBI informants had been assigned by the bureau to come to Washington and report on "domestic terrorism subjects who were possibly attending the event.” Of the 26 informants, four entered the Capitol during Jan. 6 protests and rioting, the OIG report said. None was authorized by the FBI to break the law or enter a restricted area, "nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6," the report said. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the chairman of the new House Jan. 6 Select Subcommittee, has also expressed determination to drill down on the FBI presence and roles of agents and informants on Jan. 6. "But with that many paid informants being in the crowd, we want to know how many were in the crowd, how many were in the building, but I also want to know, were they paid to inform or instigate?" Loudermilk said in a Sept. 23 appearance on "Just the News.” In a May 2024 court filing, former Jan. 6 defendant William Pope listed nearly 50 FBI agents and others working under the bureau’s auspices on Jan. 6 — such as officers from the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Army counterintelligence, and other agents who later wrote probable-cause affidavits for Jan. 6 arrest warrants. It is not clear whether those personnel would be part of the 275 employees disclosed to Congress by the FBI.

FOX News [9/25/2025 1:34 PM, Michael Ruiz, Stepheny Price and Alex Rego, 40019K] reports Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University earlier this month, "made contact" with a police officer near where investigators recovered the alleged murder weapon wrapped in a towel in the woods at the edge of campus, according to two law enforcement sources. Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, confirmed to Fox News that Robinson circled back to the campus to retrieve the rifle. "We have been able to confirm very recently that he did return to that campus and did make contact with an officer," Mason said. "The contents of that interaction we’re not prepared to reveal right now. That’s part of the investigation and part of gathering more information.". Mason said the interaction happened on Sept. 10, much later in the evening, after a sniper’s bullet struck Kirk in the neck as he was engaging the audience during a speaking event sponsored by the UVU chapter of his organization in Orem, Utah. The officer was guarding the perimeter after authorities placed the campus on lockdown, and the encounter appears to have thwarted the suspect’s attempt to recover the Mauser .30-06 rifle prosecutors allege was used to kill Kirk. Mason added that investigators have been able to track Robinson’s movements to local businesses and other places in and around the area. "We know he visited a restaurant eatery, or he made a purchase for food, just kind of a normal interaction," Mason said.

Washington Post [9/25/2025 5:30 PM, Tara Copp, et al., 29079K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year. The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. It was issued earlier this week, against the backdrop of a potential government shutdown, and as Hegseth’s overtly political moves have deepened a sense of distress among his opponents who fear that he is erasing the Defense Department’s status as a nonpartisan institution. In a statement Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell affirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” but he offered no additional details. Parnell, a senior adviser to the defense secretary, voiced no security concerns about The Washington Post reporting on the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia. It was not clear whether President Donald Trump will attend the meeting. He told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon that he will go “if they want me.” Despite the meeting’s size and secrecy, both Trump and Vice President JD Vance downplayed its significance, with Trump asking, “Why is that such a big deal?” Vance, appearing alongside Trump, said it is “not particularly unusual” that generals are speaking with Hegseth. “I think it’s odd that you guys have made it into such a big story,” he said. There are about 800 generals and admirals spread across the United States and dozens of other countries and time zones. Hegseth’s order, people familiar with the matter said, applies to all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above, or their Navy equivalent, serving in command positions and their top enlisted advisers. Typically, each of these officers oversees hundreds or thousands of rank-and-file troops. Top commanders in conflict zones and senior military leaders stationed throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region are among those expected to attend Hegseth’s meeting, said people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the issue. The order does not apply to top military officers who hold staff positions. “All general officers in command in grade O-7 through O-10 and their general officer senior enlisted advisers are directed to attend within operational constraints,” the order states, according to one person who saw a copy. O-7 through O-10 refers to the military’s classification for all generals and admirals. Each commander typically travels with his senior enlisted adviser and a few lower-ranking military aides, meaning the total group of people traveling for the summit could seemingly exceed 1,000. It’s unclear how the military will house them or transport them. None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns. Others expressed frustration that even many commanders stationed overseas will be required to attend Hegseth’s impromptu summit, with some questioning the wisdom in doing so.

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Washington Examiner [9/25/2025 12:42 PM, Mike Brest, 1563K]

NPR [9/25/2025 7:09 PM, Carrie Johnson, 34837K] reports the Justice Department has leveled charges against former FBI Director James Comey, after President Trump demanded prosecutors speed up their pace in an investigation targeting one of his most prominent critics. Comey faces one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee nearly five years ago. The move comes days after the top federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia cast doubt on the evidence, only to be forced out by the president and replaced with one of Trump’s former defense attorneys. "No one is above the law.," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X. "Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people.” Trump has long railed against Comey, blaming the former FBI leader for the appointment of a special prosecutor who probed contacts between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign through most of the president’s first term in office. The charges against Comey mark the latest escalation in a years-long war of words between Trump and Comey, who famously likened the president to a mob boss. This year the Secret Service interrogated the former FBI director after he posted a photo of seashells in the shape of the numbers "86 47." Comey later removed the post, saying he thought it was a restaurant-themed joke about removing Trump, the 47th president. But Trump’s son and cabinet members interpreted the message as an assassination threat. "Eighty-six" is a slang term that means "get rid of," and Trump is the 47th (and 45th) president of the United States. Comey once served as second in command at the Justice Department, under President George W. Bush. But he started his career as a federal prosecutor, working to some acclaim in the same office in Virginia that later moved to seek his indictment. DOJ fired his daughter, Maurene Comey, from a prominent job as an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan earlier this year, only hours after she said she had been asked to lead an important public corruption case. This month, Maurene Comey sued current Justice Department leaders, arguing she was fired without cause and in violation of the Constitution and federal statutes. Her lawsuit said she thought she was dismissed because of "her father’s protected speech, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both.”

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NBC News [9/25/2025 6:44 PM, Dan De Luce and Garrett Haake, 43603K] reports Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard may have undermined the Trump administration’s criminal investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan when she revoked the security clearances of current and former officials who could be called as potential witnesses in the case, two senior administration officials told NBC News. Gabbard on Aug. 19 stripped the security clearances of 37 former and current intelligence and national security officials whom she accused of manipulating or leaking intelligence or other misconduct. But her office did not properly coordinate the move with other agencies, and the Justice Department was blindsided, according to the two officials. Axios first reported on the issue. Some of the people targeted by Gabbard worked in the Obama administration at the same time as Brennan and could possibly be called as witnesses in the government’s probe. But now these potential witnesses have been labeled by the director of national intelligence as unreliable and traitorous, which will complicate efforts by prosecutors to build a case against Brennan, the officials and legal experts said. "How can they be reliable witnesses now?" said one senior administration official. "It’s reasonable to assume that these people would be less inclined to cooperate with prosecutors.". Asked about the effect of Gabbard’s decision, a Justice Department spokesperson said: "The Department of Justice is committed to collaborating with ODNI to end the weaponization of the intelligence community and justice system after years of abuse.". The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But another senior administration official rejected the idea that the removal of security clearances would create a problem for the Justice Department. The official said in an email that "the holding or not holding of a security clearance doesn’t impact at all conversations with DOJ (Department of Justice) about ongoing investigations.". The security clearance removal only prevents someone from seeing new classified material but doesn’t prevent a witness from talking about what they know, the official said. "If DOJ has the legal right to ask about what the interviewee knows, then the interviewee’s clearances status is irrelevant," the official added.

CBS News [9/25/2025 2:51 PM, Melissa Quinn, 45245K] reports that the Justice Department on Thursday sued six states for what it said was their refusal to turn over statewide voter registration lists sought by the attorney general. The suits were filed against the top election officials in California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and allege the moves not to provide the voter registration rolls violate federal law. "Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court." The suits, filed in federal courts in each state, seek to force the elections officials to provide all voter information contained in their registration rolls, including names, birth dates, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. The Justice Department claimed that failing to turn over the rolls prevents the attorney general from determining whether the states are following list maintenance requirements in a federal law known as the Help America Vote Act. It has already sued Oregon and Maine for failing to provide information on procedures for maintaining their voter lists and copies of statewide voter registration rolls. Bondi requested the information from states earlier this year to examine whether the states were complying with components of voting rights laws. But in some instances, the state officials expressed concern about handing over the voter registration lists and other information.

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Daily Caller [9/25/2025 4:34 PM, Jason Hopkins, 985K]

Breitbart [9/25/2025 12:18 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2608K] reports that U.S. fighter jets on Wednesday responded to intercept Russian warplanes reported near Alaska, according to an update from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The September 25 press release details the incident, noting that it "detected and tracked two Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)" on Wednesday, September, 24 2025. In turn, NORAD responded with "an E-3, four F-16s, and four KC-135 tankers to positively identify and intercept in the Alaskan ADIZ." However, the North American Aerospace Defense Command Public Affairs made it clear that the Russian aircraft did not technically enter U.S. or Canadian airspace and remained in international airspace. "This Russian activity in the Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat," it emphasized. The press release notes that ADIZ is in close proximity to sovereign airspace and "is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security." It should be noted that NORAD also detected Russian military aircraft flying close to the coast of Alaska in July as well, although it made clear that it was "not seen as a threat" either.

News Max [9/25/2025 12:12 PM, Theodore Bunker, 4779K] reports that a man with dual Israeli-American citizenship has been arrested for allegedly spying on former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, The Times of Israel reported. Police arrested 49-year-old Yaakov Perel this week after he allegedly spent the past year spying on behalf of Iran, driven by what police described as "his ideological belief that action must be taken against the state of Israel and Zionism." Perel, who has lived in Morocco for the past few years, reportedly attracted Iran’s attention after he published an article about the killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, following his funeral last January. "Following the publication of this article, he received a contact from an Iranian official who offered him cooperation, and Perel agreed," Israeli security service Shin Bet said in a statement to the Press Service of Israel. "Shortly after his arrival in Israel, he began carrying out a variety of security missions under the guidance of Iranian intelligence officials, while passing on information about Israeli public figures and citizens, including former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir," the statement said.

CNN [9/25/2025 9:20 PM, Samantha Waldenberg and Clare Duffy, 662K] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday clearing the way for the completion of a deal to sell TikTok’s US assets to a consortium of mostly American investors. The order marks an important procedural step toward finalizing the TikTok sale, but the deal is not yet complete. Although both US and Chinese officials have signaled they are aligned on the deal’s framework, it will still likely require regulatory approvals from both countries. The full list of investors participating in the deal has not yet been released. However, during the signing event, Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping had green-lit the deal and expressed confidence that it would be completed. "I had a very good talk with President Xi," Trump said, referring to a Friday phone call between the two leaders. "And we talked about TikTok and other things, but we talked about TikTok and he gave us the go-ahead" for the deal. Thursday’s executive order states that the deal constitutes a qualified divestiture as required by the ban-or-sale law that passed with strong bipartisan consensus last year. The US law, which went into effect in January, bans the app unless parent company ByteDance divests approximately 80% of its US assets to non-Chinese investors. Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law. "I have determined that the proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security," the order states. It adds that the deal to transfer control of TikTok’s US assets will also apply to ByteDance’s other popular platforms, Lemon8 and CapCut. The president is also expected to extend the pause on enforcing the law by another 120 days so that paperwork and regulatory approvals for the deal can be completed, a senior White House official said Monday. Trump recently extended the pause until December 16 — meaning that if the deal is completed, TikTok’s assets likely won’t be formally transferred until next year. ByteDance is also expected to sign an agreement laying out the framework of the deal with one or more of the new investors this week.

Daily Wire [9/25/2025 1:20 PM, Leif Le Mahieu, 3184K] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at ensuring TikTok becomes "American-operated all the way," he said. After months of delaying the enforcement of a law banning TikTok, Trump announced a new framework facilitated by his executive order, which would transfer ownership of the social media platform from China to a group of American investors. Congress passed a law in 2024 to either ban the Chinese-owned TikTok or force its sale due to national security and privacy concerns. "This is going to be American-operated all the way," Trump said as he signed the executive order. "I have great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China and the approval of China.". Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for agreeing to the deal. He said some of the investors in the project included Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, entrepreneur Michael Dell, and Rupert Murdoch. Vice President JD Vance played a key role in negotiating the framework. He said that the deal would allow Americans to use TikTok "with more confidence than they had in the past because their data is going to be secure, and it’s not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens.". Vance said that TikTok was valued at around $14 billion and that more details about the specific investors would be revealed in the coming days.

Daily Signal [9/25/2025 6:21 PM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 668K] reports President Donald Trump signed a deal to save TikTok, which Vice President JD Vance said values the business at $14 billion. "The company will be valued around $14 billion. We actually think this is a good deal for investors," Vance said, "but ultimately the investors are going to make the determination about what they want to invest in and what they think is proper value.". Enterprise tech giant Oracle, Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi-based MGX investment fund will be main investors in TikTok’s U.S. business, according to Trump. In response to a question from The Daily Signal, Trump confirmed that there will no operational relationship with Chinese entities or staff to execute the TikTok deal. ‘This is going to be American operated all the way," Trump said. "And great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China and the approval of China.". The White House has four-times extended the deadline to reach a deal with Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American-backed owner. Congress passed a law on April 24, 2024, requiring ByteDance to divest its stake in the U.S. assets of TikTok due to national security concerns. The deal ensures Americans control the algorithm, according to Vance. "We don’t want this used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government," Vance said. "We want to make sure that our people and our investors actually make these decisions based on what’s good for their business, as opposed to what’s good for another government’s propaganda arms.". The administration wants everyone to be able to safely access TikTok, Vance said. "As the president said, young people love this," Vance said. "We actually want everybody to access this, whether they’re MAGA or not. We just want it to be fair. We want it to be fair to everybody. And we think that’s what’s going to happen with this new arrangement.". Under the deal, "every group, every every philosophy, every policy, will be treated very fairly," Trump said. Trump said he did not believe TikTok being owned by China was a security threat "because the people that own it are not China centric.". "They’re USA centric, and they’re very smart people," he said.

DailySignal [9/25/2025 9:59 AM, Helen Raleigh, 668K] reports that a recent congressional hearing has highlighted the concerning role of the Chinese Communist Party in America’s drug supply chain. The House Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability organized the hearing on Sept. 18, titled "Invasion of the Homeland: How China is Using Illegal Marijuana to Build a Criminal Network Across America." The witnesses who testified included current and former law enforcement officials and a legal scholar. Witness testimonies reveal three crucial points. First, Chinese transnational criminal organizations have seized control of marijuana cultivation and distribution across the U.S., from California to Oklahoma to Maine. They exploit lax regulations and bypass residency requirements through fraud and straw man ownership. This surge in Chinese transnational organizations has not only fueled a troubling rise in violent crimes in those states, including human trafficking and money laundering, but it also poses significant national security risks, as some of these Chinese-operated marijuana facilities are situated near critical infrastructure and U.S. military installations. Second, Chinese nationals involved in illegal marijuana operations rely on WeChat for communication and financial transactions. WeChat is an encrypted Chinese messaging app, owned by Tencent—a company closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party. Chris Urben, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, warned lawmakers, "No other global crime network has access to a state-protected, trusted communications system like that. We must disrupt WeChat." Third, witnesses unanimously confirmed the troubling connection between Chinese transnational criminal organizations and the support they receive from the CCP.

Reuters [9/25/2025 1:25 PM, Staff, 45746K] reports that the United States on Thursday announced sanctions on a network it said generated revenue for North Korean weapons programs, including by procuring North Korean bombs and bomb guidance kits for Myanmar’s ruling military. The State Department said the move was aimed at cutting off funding for North Korea’s weapons programs and countering a trade that facilitated indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure by Myanmar’s military since it seized power in 2021. The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions targeted Myanmar-based arms procurement firm Royal Shune Lei Company Limited and key personnel, including a director, Aung Ko Ko Oo, as well as Kyaw Thu Myo Myint and Tin Myo Aung. The statement said Kim Yong Ju, Beijing-based deputy representative of North Korea’s Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), worked with the latter two men to coordinate sales of two types of aerial bomb guidance kits, bombs and airborne monitoring equipment for Myanmar’s air force. The State Department said KOMID, also known as the 221 General Bureau, serves as North Korea’s primary arms dealer and exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment. The statement said a fifth individual, Nam Chol Ung, a North Korean who had laundered foreign currency earnings through a network of businesses across Southeast Asia, was designated for belonging to Pyongyang’s main foreign intelligence agency, which is already under U.S. sanctions.

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