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.

Reuters [4/23/2026 4:15 AM, David Morgan, 38315K] reports U.S. Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to advance a $70 billion plan to fund ​the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agencies for the next three years, ignoring demands from Democrats for guardrails on immigration enforcement agents and ‌their operations. Lawmakers voted 50-48 in the predawn hours to adopt the non-binding budget resolution and send it to the U.S. House of Representatives, taking a crucial step forward in their effort to end a partial shutdown that has gripped the Department of Homeland Security since mid-February. Two Republicans - Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski - opposed the measure. If adopted by the House, the resolution will allow congressional committees to begin filling in the details on how the $70 billion would be spent in separate legislation that President Donald Trump would have to sign into law. The new funding would be expected to run through Trump’s presidency, which ends in January 2029. With Democrats adamantly opposed to the funding initiative, Republicans plan to employ a rarely used procedure ⁠known as budget reconciliation in the separate legislation, which allows some budget-related bills to bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate. Such measures require only a simple majority for passage in the 100-member chamber, instead of the usual supermajority of 60 votes or more. Republicans hold a 53-47 seat majority. Funding for most of DHS ran out more than nine weeks ago, as Democrats pressed Republicans and the White House to accept new constraints on ICE and Border Patrol, which operate under the direction of DHS. After two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Democrats insisted that ICE and Border Patrol be subject to the same operational rules as police forces across the United States, including a requirement that judicial warrants be obtained before agents can enter private homes. But weeks of negotiations ended in a stalemate. The Senate has since passed legislation to fund DHS operations other than ICE and Border Patrol. But the measure has stalled in the House, where hardline Republicans have demanded funding for those two entities as well. Last year, Republicans passed legislation providing around $130 billion in funding for these two agencies, separate from ‌their annual ⁠appropriations and the $70 billion now being advanced in Congress. The Senate action followed a nearly six-hour "vote-a-rama" session that began late on Wednesday, with votes on a series of proposed amendments. Eight months before the November midterm elections, which will determine which party controls Congress in the final years of Donald Trump’s presidency, Democrats sought to use the session to portray Republicans as out of step with American families and the challenges they face from soaring gasoline prices and healthcare costs. Republicans accused Democrats of wanting to "defund" crucial immigration and border security operations. Democrats offered a dozen amendments intended to lower out-of-pocket healthcare costs, restore food assistance for lower-income Americans, prevent the ⁠cancellation of health insurance coverage, increase funding for school meals and childcare, protect consumers from rising prices driven by tariffs and the war in Iran, and lower electricity costs for working people. NewsMax [4/22/2026 8:17 PM, David Morgan, 3760K] reports "Republicans want to shell out billions of dollars to Donald Trump’s private army without any common sense restraints or reforms," Senate ⁠Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told a press conference. At the same time, Republicans have accused Democrats of wanting to "defund" crucial ​immigration and Border Patrol operations. "Republicans are moving forward with a budget resolution that will allow us to fund critical ⁠functions that Democrats refuse to support: law enforcement, drug interdiction, border security, protecting children," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor. The Senate was expected to begin a marathon "vote-a-rama" session late on Wednesday, with multiple votes on proposed amendments expected ahead of a final vote ‌on passage before lawmakers leave Washington on Thursday. Senate passage would send the measure to the House of Representatives. "Republicans must stick ‌together and UNIFY to get this done," Trump said in a social media posting on Wednesday. Republicans hope to push the new funding for ICE and Border Patrol ‌through Congress with a rarely used procedure known as budget reconciliation, which allows some budget-related legislation to bypass Democratic opposition. Such measures require only a simple majority for passage in the 100-member Senate, instead of the usual ⁠supermajority of 60 votes or more. Republicans hold a ‌53-47 seat majority. If the budget resolution ⁠passes both the House and the Senate, congressional committees would begin filling in the details on how the $70 billion would be spent in separate ⁠legislation that Trump ⁠would have to sign into law. The new funding would be expected to run through Trump’s presidency. Funding for most of DHS ran out more than ‌nine weeks ago, as Democrats pressed Republicans and the White House to accept new constraints on ICE and Border Patrol, which operate under the direction of DHS. After two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Democrats insisted ‌that ICE and Border Patrol should be subject to ‌the same operational rules as police forces across the United States, including a requirement that judicial warrants be obtained before agents can enter private homes. But weeks of negotiations ended in a stalemate. The Senate has since passed legislation to fund DHS operations other than ICE and Border Patrol. But the measure has stalled in the House, where hard-line Republicans have demanded funding for those two entities as well.

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New York Times [4/23/2026 3:43 AM, Michael Gold and Megan Mineiro, 148038K] reports the Senate early Thursday morning adopted a Republican budget blueprint that would pave the way for a $70 billion increase for immigration enforcement and the eventual reopening of the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans pushed through the plan on a nearly party-line vote of 50-48. It came after an overnight marathon of rapid-fire votes, known as a vote-a-rama, in which the G.O.P. beat back a series of Democratic proposals aimed at addressing the high cost of health care, housing, food and energy. The debate put the two parties’ dueling messages on vivid display six months before the midterm elections. Republicans, who are using the budget plan to lay the groundwork to eventually push through a filibuster-proof bill providing a multiyear funding stream for President Trump’s immigration crackdown, used the all-night session to highlight their hard-line stance on border security, seeking to portray Democrats as unwilling to safeguard the country. Democrats tried and failed to add a series of changes aimed at addressing cost-of-living issues, seizing the opportunity to hammer Republicans as out of touch with and unwilling to act on the concerns of everyday Americans. The budget blueprint is a crucial piece of Republicans’ plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security and end a shutdown that has lasted for more than two months. After Democrats refused to fund immigration enforcement without new restrictions on agents’ tactics and conduct, the G.O.P. struck a deal with them to pass a spending bill that would fund everything but ICE and the Border Patrol. Republicans said they would fund those agencies through a special budget bill that Democrats could not block. “We can fix this with Republican votes, and we will,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the Budget Committee chairman. “Every Democrat has opposed money for the Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great peril.” In resorting to a new budget blueprint, Republicans laid the groundwork to deny Democrats a chance to stop the immigration enforcement funding. But they also submitted themselves to a vote-a-rama, in which any senator can propose unlimited changes to such a measure before it is adopted. The budget measure now goes to the House, which must adopt it before lawmakers in both chambers can draft the legislation funding immigration enforcement. That bill will provide yet another opportunity for a vote-a-rama even closer to the November election.

Politico [4/23/2026 3:37 AM, Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes, 21784K] reports Senate Republicans green-lit their party-line plan early Thursday morning to send tens of billions of dollars to immigration enforcement agencies in the coming years. Senators voted 50-48 to adopt a budget blueprint for legislation that could fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other agencies for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. The vote was almost entirely on party lines, with GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the only lawmakers to break ranks. The vote just after 3:30 a.m. completed the first step in the GOP’s plan to approve roughly $70 billion in additional funding without help from Democrats, who have refused to fund the immigration agencies without a slate of new restrictions on how they operate. “Our Democratic colleagues have refused to provide funding for the Border Patrol and ICE,” Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said ahead of the Senate’s late-night session. “This needs to be done.” As part of an hours-long overnight marathon of amendment votes, Republicans rejected Democratic attempts to broaden the budget framework to fund school meals, increase federal spending on child care and reverse cuts to SNAP food benefits Republicans enacted last summer in their tax-cuts-focused megabill. “Republicans could easily do this, but they’d rather spend our tax dollars on lawless immigration enforcement and illegal wars,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said on the Senate floor after offering the school meals amendment. “Budgets are about priorities.” The resolution still needs to clear the House, where some GOP lawmakers, including Budget Chair Jodey Arrington, are still dreaming of expanding the scope of the budget resolution to squeeze in other party priorities before the end of the year.

The Hill [4/23/2026 4:18 AM, Alexander Bolton, 18170K] reports Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) broke ranks Thursday morning and voted against a budget resolution that could set the stage for ending the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Murkowski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, opposed the budget resolution because it would lay the groundwork for passing a budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for three and a half years — effectively taking those two key agencies out of the annual congressional appropriations process. Murkowski supports funding those critical immigration enforcement agencies but she didn’t like that they would be largely removed from the congressional process of appropriating funds on an annual basis and conducting oversight. Paul voted against the budget resolution after raising concerns about spending another $70 billion on ICE and Border Patrol when those agencies are still sitting on more than $100 billion in unobligated funding enacted in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Paul offered an amendment to offset the cost of new funding for ICE by cutting $5 billion from refugee welfare programs, cutting $4 billion from the National Science Foundation and shrinking the Department of Education by 16 percent.

CNN [4/22/2026 1:55 AM, Staff, 19874K] reports long security lines could reappear at airports next month after the Department of Homeland Security secretary warned Tuesday the agency doesn’t have enough money to continue to pay its employees through May. DHS has been shut down since mid-February, and the resulting lapse in paychecks prompted many Transportation Security Administration officers not to come to work, causing several weeks of major disruptions at multiple US airports. Late last month, President Donald Trump directed DHS to use funds from the Republicans’ sweeping domestic policy package, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” to pay the TSA officers and other agency staffers. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday money would run out by early May. The agency is drawing on the $10 billion fund created by the bill, which as of April 19 has a little less than $1.4 billion remaining, according to Office of Management and Budget data. “That money is dried up, if I continue down this path, the first week of May, because my payroll at DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks,” Mullin said. After the next paycheck, which is scheduled for the end of this week, “there is no more emergency fund, so the president can’t do another executive order for us to use money, because there’s no more money there.” Congress, meanwhile, is struggling to find a way out. With Democrats’ uniformly opposed to fully reopening DHS without major changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Republicans have pivoted to trying to fund the department’s immigration enforcement operations separately – and then go back to funding the rest of DHS with Democrats help. But the actual funding measure remains stalled in Congress, with Democrats refusing to support any DHS bill with immigration enforcement money. That’s left Republicans scrambling to come up with an alternative plan – and still no timeline for when they’ll reopen DHS.

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CBS News [4/22/2026 6:33 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] reports over the past several weeks, CBS News has spoken with roughly two dozen Department of Homeland Security personnel spanning career civil servants, uniformed personnel and frontline staff about the institutional strain caused by the partial government shutdown, now in its 68th day. Their roles differ, but the sentiment is strikingly consistent: They feel forgotten, not just by Congress, but by a political system that in their view, has little understanding of how DHS functions in the daily lives of Americans. This is what happens when one of the federal government’s most sprawling and mission-critical agencies is told to stop working, to go without and to simply wait. "What we do only becomes visible when something breaks," one employee said. "And right now, we’ve reached a breaking point.". Inside DHS headquarters, the shutdown has produced a kind of bureaucratic improvisation not seen in decades. Adobe software and other subscriptions have lapsed, forcing employees into what one official described as "unique and humorously complex workarounds." Some offices have run out of paper clips. Others are reusing printer paper, flipping old documents over to print on the blank side. The Office of Public Affairs has resorted to using only three-hole punched paper because it’s the only stock left in supply closets. Elsewhere, staff roam hallways in search of toner cartridges and ink. Staples have become a scarce commodity. In a department built to respond to catastrophic threats, employees have been reduced to bartering for office supplies. It may sound trivial, but DHS employees point out that the office-supply struggle further undermines the morale of a department that leans heavily on contracts, subscriptions, and logistics. When funding stops, that infrastructure doesn’t degrade gracefully — it frays. A DHS spokesperson framed it more starkly, noting that even basic vendors — from cybersecurity firms to toilet paper suppliers — must now gamble on whether they will ever be paid. The result, the spokesperson said, is a department "being stretched to the breaking point.". For agents with the U.S. Secret Service, the burden is even more personal. Some within the president’s protective detail have paid out-of-pocket for travel tied to protective missions — and have gone unreimbursed for two months. Some relief has come after four-hour security checkpoint waits in some airports nationwide prompted a late-March presidential directive ensuring DHS employees — including TSA officers — receive backpay. Since then, absenteeism among frontline TSA employees has been reduced by 45%, but DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Tuesday that the money used to cover the $1.6 billion in DHS employee payroll twice a month will dry up during the first week of May. As the Secret Service looks ahead to an unusually demanding horizon: a presidential campaign cycle, the FIFA World Cup, and the 2028 Olympics, the shutdown has forced the suspension of all media training courses and slowed operational preparations, according to multiple DHS and Secret Service officials. While testifying on Capitol Hill, earlier this month, Secret Service Director Sean Curran said supply chain issues and funding constraints complicate efforts to modernize protective technology, even as the agency invests heavily to stay ahead of emerging threats like drone-based attacks.

NewsMax [4/22/2026 3:24 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 3760K] reports President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Senate Republicans to "stick together and UNIFY" as they move to use a special legislative procedure to obtain full funding for the Department of Homeland Security amid a months-long funding standoff. In a Truth Social post Wednesday afternoon, Trump praised Senate Republican leadership for advancing a reconciliation bill aimed at boosting resources for immigration enforcement. The push comes as the DHS funding fight remains unresolved on Capitol Hill, with Republicans warning that key border agencies are being caught in the middle of partisan gridlock. GOP lawmakers have argued that Democrats have blocked or watered down efforts to fully fund the department, prompting Republicans to turn to reconciliation as a way to get the job done without Democratic support. Trump framed the effort as critical to national security and as backing the agents on the front lines. He also warned that Democrats would try to use the amendment process to divide Republicans and stall the legislation. The coming Senate debate is expected to test whether Republicans can stay united as they push to resolve the funding fight and deliver more resources to border security.

FOX News [4/22/2026 2:28 PM, Alex Miller, 37576K] reports that Senate Republicans are worried that Democrats will force a government shutdown in the fall, and are eyeing ways to prevent government funding from being weaponized ever again. Republicans are in the early stages of funding federal immigration enforcement through the party-line budget reconciliation process — a maneuver that would cut Democrats out of the process altogether. The push comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains closed after Democrats more than 60 days ago refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unless Republicans agreed to stringent reforms, including warrant requirements and agents unmasking. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said "it was a great idea," and claims conversations were ongoing about how to include a measure in the reconciliation package that could survive the strict Senate rules dictating what can and can’t be done through the partisan process. He told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon that Republicans tried and failed during the government shutdown last year to pass legislation that would prevent future shutdowns. "If we could figure out a way to execute on that — anything that we can do that would ensure that the Democrats don’t decide once again to play partisan political games with the function of our government would be a good outcome," Thune said.

Daily Caller [4/22/2026 10:54 AM, Christine Sellers, 803K] reports an immigrant naturalized under former President Joe Biden’s administration allegedly shot and stabbed an off-duty Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employee — and he was reportedly found dead in his jail cell Tuesday night. Olaolukitan Adon Abel was found unresponsive in his jail cell at approximately 6:48 p.m., the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release shared with the Daily Caller. Staff notified medical personnel, and life-saving measures were performed until Abel was pronounced dead at 7:17 p.m., according to the same release. While his cause of death is unknown, foul play is not suspected, the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office also indicated it will conduct an internal review into Abel’s death. Abel’s official cause of death will be determined by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office. Abel allegedly shot and stabbed Lauren Bullis while she was walking her dog on April 13, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a post he shared on X. Abel was naturalized by the Biden administration in 2022, Mullin added. Abel, who is originally from the U.K., had been serving in the U.S. Navy, the New York Post reported. Besides allegedly killing Bullis, Abel was also accused of fatally shooting another woman and critically injuring a man during the violent April 13 spree, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The alleged attacks began just before 1 a.m. April 13, according to Channel 2 Action News.

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FOX News [4/22/2026 6:18 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports Fox News has learned a high-ranking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official is on administrative leave after an investigation was launched into the leader’s alleged "sugar daddy" relationship, lavish spending and drug use, according to a DHS official. The probe unfolded after a formal complaint was filed against Julia Varvaro, 29, the DHS deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism, the Daily Mail first reported. The man at the center of the allegations, described as a divorced father named "Robert," told the outlet he spent $40,000 on her during a three-month relationship that began on dating app Hinge before discovering she had a profile on a website called Seeking, which markets itself as "a space where love and luxury meet.". He alleged that her Seeking profile was under the name "Alessia" and sought "mutually beneficial" relationships with "masculine men." Varvaro firmly denied the claims when questioned by the Daily Mail. The outlet reported that, prior to the pair’s falling out, Robert took Varvaro on numerous posh getaways to Aruba, Italy and Switzerland, purchasing her a $3,500 Bottega handbag and taking her to the high-end jewelry store, Cartier. He added that, during their travels, Varvaro flexed her government position in TSA security lines and claimed she could get VIP access to the Winter Olympics, allegedly bragging, "ICE works for me.". In his formal complaint to the DHS Office of the Inspector General, which was reviewed by the Daily Mail, Robert said he believes Varvaro is "under financial stress" and that her actions pose a severe national security risk. He also told the outlet he witnessed her use marijuana on nearly a dozen occasions and take recreational Xanax. The scandal comes less than a month after photos were released of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s husband, Bryon, which appeared to show him cross-dressing in private messages to three different women.

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FOX News [4/22/2026 8:11 PM, Greg Wehner , Preston Mizell, 37576K] reports a Mexican national who voted illegally in U.S. elections and falsely claimed to be a citizen has been convicted and could face removal under federal immigration law. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital that Jose Ceballos-Armendariz, a lawful permanent resident who has held a green card since 1990, pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly election conduct following prosecution by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office. Officials said Ceballos-Armendariz unlawfully voted multiple times and falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on voter registration forms, including a 1999 application in which he affirmed he was a citizen of the United States. He later applied for U.S. citizenship in February 2025. DHS said he falsely stated on that application that he had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen. Under federal immigration law, false claims to U.S. citizenship can make a noncitizen removable, though DHS has not detailed any potential action in this case. "This alien has now been convicted of illegally voting in American elections, voting in American elections," DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. "The SAVE program is a critical tool for state and local governments to safeguard the integrity of elections across the country.". Records provided by DHS and reviewed by Fox News Digital show Ceballos-Armendariz checked "yes" when asked if he was a U.S. citizen on a Kansas voter registration form and signed to affirm the information was true. On his naturalization application, however, he marked "no" when asked whether he had ever claimed to be a U.S. citizen despite his prior voter registration. DHS said Ceballos-Armendariz also has a prior criminal conviction, having been found guilty of battery in 1995. President Donald Trump has made election integrity a central focus of his administration, with officials pointing to enforcement actions like this case as part of broader efforts to prevent noncitizens from participating in U.S. elections. Existing federal law — 18 U.S.C. § 611: "Voting by aliens" under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 — prohibits noncitizens, including lawful permanent residents, from voting in elections for all federal offices. "Nothing is more fundamental than the integrity and security of our elections," Bis said. "That’s why the Trump Administration has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, commonsense legislation that requires voters to present photo ID and implements other critical measures to protect federal elections from fraud. "Our elections belong to American citizens, not foreign citizens.".

New York Post [4/23/2026 1:06 AM, Victor Nava, 40934K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) touted a "critical tool" to prevent election fraud Wednesday after a Mexican national was convicted on charges related to his illegal participation in a US election. Jose Ceballos-Armendariz, the former mayor of a small town in Kansas, pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly election conduct earlier this week after being accused last November of unlawfully voting multiple times and falsely claiming US citizenship on voter registration forms. Ceballos-Armendariz has been a green card holder since 1990, according to DHS. "This alien has now been convicted of illegally voting in American elections, voting in American elections," DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News. "The SAVE program is a critical tool for state and local governments to safeguard the integrity of elections across the country," she added. The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program allows government agencies to verify a person’s immigration status by querying various federal databases. The Trump administration expanded the use of SAVE last May, allowing state election officials to use the program to determine an individual’s eligibility to vote. "I’m grateful that President Trump implemented the SAVE program to help states and to prevent situations like this," Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said after charges against Ceballos-Armendariz were filed last November. Ceballos-Armendariz, who was re-elected mayor of Coldwater, Kan., in the election he unlawfully participated in, resigned after charges were brought. He initially faced a slew of felonies, including election perjury and voting without being qualified. DHS had also threatened to place Ceballos-Armendariz in removal proceedings if convicted. Under federal immigration law, falsely claiming US citizenship – as Ceballos-Armendariz appears to have done on a voter registration form – can make a noncitizen removable. However, DHS has not detailed any potential action in light of the lesser charges. The misdemeanors should not impact Ceballos-Armendariz’s immigration or citizenship dealings, his attorney told local outlet KAKE. Rather than fearing removal, Ceballos-Armendariz said he was hopeful he may eventually be granted US citizenship and become mayor again. "With everything that happened today, I’m hoping that the government and immigration will see that I’m not a bad guy, I have a lot of supporters, and that maybe, someday, I can become a US citizen and therefore I can maybe re-run for office," he told KAKE. As part of his plea deal, Ceballos-Armendariz will pay $2,000 in fines and agreed to a six-month suspended sentence. He won’t serve any jail time if he abides by the terms of his probation.

The New York Times [4/22/2026 6:29 PM, Neil Vigdor, 148038K] reports the thief who snatched a Gucci handbag last year from Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary at the time, while she was dining with her family at a restaurant in Washington was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison in connection with the brazen robbery and two others. The man, Mario Bustamante Leiva, 60, a Chilean citizen who is in the United States illegally, made off with $3,000 in cash and Ms. Noem’s security badge and passport during the heist last Easter, federal authorities said. Mr. Bustamante Leiva pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree theft and three counts of wire fraud in November, according to prosecutors, who noted that all three victims in the case were women. He faces deportation once he completes his sentence, said Jeanine Pirro, the United States attorney for Washington, D.C. “He methodically targeted women at restaurants, stealing their purses and monetizing the stolen cards within minutes,” Ms. Pirro said in a statement on Wednesday. “His pattern of theft ends here.” Two federal public defenders for Mr. Bustamante Leiva did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. Neither did representatives for Ms. Noem, who was fired as the secretary of the Homeland Security Department in March by President Trump while facing a series of scandals at the agency that had brought unwanted headlines for the administration. Breitbart [4/22/2026 3:58 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports that prosecutors said that on April 20, Leiva and Montecino-Sanzana carried out a coordinated theft at Capital Burger, targeting Noem, whom they did not realize was the sitting DHS secretary. Surveillance cameras caught Leiva snatching Noem’s Gucci purse, which contained credit cards and about $3,000 in cash. In August 2021, Leiva entered the U.S. visa-free through Orlando International Airport in Florida thanks to the federal government’s Visa Waiver Program (VWP) which allows nationals of certain countries to enter the U.S. without first having to obtain a visa. Leiva was supposed to depart the U.S. by Nov. 13, 2021, but did not, making him an illegal alien. At the time of the theft, he had active warrants for his arrest in Utah and New York related to retail theft, credit card theft, and stolen property.

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The AP [4/22/2026 6:56 PM, Jaimie Ding, 56K] reports that a federal appeals court issued an order Wednesday blocking a California law requiring federal immigration agents to wear identification, another blow to the state’s attempts to limit the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement tactics. The Trump administration argued that it would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxing, and violence and that it violated the constitution because the state was directly seeking to regulate the federal government. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction pending appeal. It had earlier blocked the law from taking effect. The decision could have implications nationwide for other states that have pursued their own measures to place restrictions on immigration agents. The measure was one of two major pieces of legislation enacted last fall aimed at reining in federal immigration agents after a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration in Southern California in June. The other law would have banned most law enforcement officers from wearing masks, neck gaiters, and other facial coverings. Advocates have raised concerns about masked agents conducting workplace raids or arresting people on the street, often without showing identification. The Trump administration sued over both in November. FOX News [4/22/2026 5:09 PM, Ashley Oliver, 37576K] reports that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found California overstepped its authority by trying to regulate Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, marking the latest flashpoint in a broader fight between blue states and the federal government over immigration enforcement operations. The panel of judges, comprising two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee, found California’s No Vigilantes Act violated the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which says that when a state and federal law are in conflict, the latter wins out. The Daily Caller [4/22/2026 3:34 PM, Jesse Stiller, 803K] reports that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a section of California’s No Vigilantes Act, which required federal law enforcement agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to wear visible ID, violated the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. The bill passed both chambers of the California legislature and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law in September 2025.

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San Francisco Chronicle [4/22/2026 5:11 PM, Bob Egelko, 3833K]

Breitbart [4/22/2026 3:11 PM, Neil Munro, 2238K] reports California Governor Gavin Newsom covertly spent $1 billion importing 400,000 migrants from poor countries to serve the state’s Democratic political machine and elite-dominated economy, according to data provided by the Manhattan Institute in New York. The funding is in addition to California’s share of the massive federal funding directed by President Joe Biden’s pro-migration border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas. The state’s Democratic government also steered $110 million to the major Latino political machine, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

FOX News [4/22/2026 5:00 AM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports California Angel Mom Agnes Gibboney, who lost her son in an illegal alien-involved shooting, is blasting Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Democrats over a proposed bill that would use taxpayer dollars to fund legal defense for immigrants facing deportation. She urged voters to "stop this insanity.". State lawmakers are considering a proposal that would expand access to taxpayer-funded legal representation for immigrants facing deportation proceedings. The measure would build on existing state programs by creating a framework to provide attorneys to adults in immigration court, regardless of legal status, with priority given to those in detention. This comes as California, and other sanctuary states across the country, are facing increasing pressure and scrutiny from the Trump administration for allegedly prioritizing illegal aliens over citizens. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Gibboney, whose son, Ronald, was shot and killed by an illegal alien, ripped into Newsom and California Democrats over the bill. She claimed that it is further proof that they care for illegal immigrants more than citizens. "My son was murdered," she said. "Not one politician has ever contacted me. Not one politician said, ‘I’m so sorry that this previously deported criminal illegal alien shot and killed your son.’ Not one of them." Gibboney said that since losing her son in 2002, she sent Newsom "many, many emails," and "never once did I get a response, not even from his office, much less from Newsom." Newsom has not signaled whether he would sign the bill into law. He previously signed legislation that created and expanded a state-funded legal aid program to ensure legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children in deportation proceedings.

FOX News [4/22/2026 12:42 PM, Andrew Mark Miller and Peter D’Abrosca, 37576K] reports a chaotic situation unfolded on Tuesday night in Los Angeles as far-left activists and students disrupted and chastised a Department of Homeland Security attorney who was speaking to law students at a conservative group’s event at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The incident took place at a speech hosted by the Federalist Society’s UCLA chapter, where James Percival, general counsel of the DHS, was speaking to law students. Over 150 protesters gathered outside the event chanting criticisms of the Trump administration, including "No ICE, No KKK, No Fascist U.S.A.". Inside the event, students booed Percival throughout his talk, and many held profane signs while he spoke. One sign read, "F--- you loser." The students also set off different sounds on their phones as part of the disruption, and at different points, yelled out the word "Nazi." The event culminated in a question and answer session, for which most of the disruptors walked out in protest.

Wall Street Journal [4/22/2026 12:58 PM, Paul Kiernan and Drew An-Pham, 646K] reports more than a year into President Trump’s immigration crackdown, there’s little evidence of widespread disruptions in the labor market, or of meaningful benefits to American workers. Unemployment is up slightly for U.S.-born workers, and wage growth has slowed. Wage growth has also slowed in the blue-collar industries that tend to employ low-skilled migrants, a sign that widely feared labor shortages haven’t materialized, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department figures. The data provide early insight into a question that politicians and policymakers have debated for decades: What effect do immigrants have on wages in the countries that receive them, and what happens without the newcomers? Some challenges have emerged in key sectors. Home builders in South Texas have raised alarms about construction delays and higher prices after immigration crackdowns spooked workers. Some restaurants say they are having trouble finding enough dishwashers. The Trump administration made it easier for farmers to hire foreign workers to address labor shortfalls there. In an economic report last week, the White House said: “Record flows of illegal immigrants depressed wages for Americans, inflated the demand for housing, and drained the welfare system.” In response to questions from the Journal, White House spokesman Kush Desai pointed to higher wages after inflation, and strong labor-force participation among prime-age workers, as evidence that the administration’s policies are working.

The Hill [4/22/2026 1:29 PM, Lindsey Granger, 18170K] reports that the government is now on the hook to return roughly $166 billion in tariffs after the Supreme Court ruled those taxes were imposed improperly. That’s not a small clerical error. That’s a massive policy reversal with real money on the line for businesses, and possibly even us — the consumer. And yet, instead of focusing on his massive miscalculation and how to cleanly fix it, the president is sending a very different message. President Trump says it would be “brilliant” if companies don’t even ask for their money back. And then he added something that raises eyebrows: “If they don’t do that, I’ll remember them.” We’re talking about billions of dollars that companies are legally entitled to reclaim, with an expectation that the process is neutral, rules-based and fair. Not personal. Not political. Not dependent on whether you’re in the president’s good graces. For a refresher: The Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 decision, that the administration overstepped its authority when it used emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs. Now Customs and Border Protection has opened a portal for businesses to apply for refunds. We’re talking about more than 330,000 importers that were affected. So this isn’t hypothetical. This is real money owed back under the law.

The Hill [4/22/2026 12:00 PM, Nolan Rappaport, 18170K] reports that the Constitution requires the president to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” But many Americans do not want the Immigration and Nationality Act’s enforcement provisions to be faithfully executed. They prefer the policies of the previous administration. Instead of following the deportable alien provisions in the law, the Biden administration focused, to the exclusion of others, on aliens “who pose a threat to national security, public safety, and border security and thus threaten America’s well-being.” The current administration has rejected such guidelines in favor of executing the deportation provisions in the statute more broadly. This makes every immigrant present in the U.S. unlawfully subject to deportation, which, according to a recent poll, is only supported by 32 percent of adult Americans. It will never be possible to remove every immigrant who does not have lawful status. However, the size of the unlawful population can be reduced to a more manageable level that makes prompt removal proceedings and asylum hearings possible. No one really knows how big the unlawful population is, and the available estimates aren’t very reliable. But the consequences of having an excessively large unlawful population are well apparent.

Blaze [4/22/2026 8:00 AM, Matt O’Brien, 1556K] reports economist Thomas Sowell once noted, "Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them." The story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank and his illegal alien wife, Annie Ramos, is a perfect example of Sowell’s assertion. According to CBS News, Ramos — who is now 22 — was illegally brought to the United States by her family in 2005. Staff Sergeant Blank married Ramos, knowing full well that she was an illegal alien. He stated to New York Times, "I knew she didn’t have status. [But] we were doing everything the right way." Ramos was eventually arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a few days after the couple was married, at the military base where Blank was stationed. Of course, despite Blank’s assertions to the contrary, nothing was done "the right way" in this case. After entering the United States unlawfully, the Ramos family was scheduled for an appearance before the U.S. Immigration Court. They failed to appear. When a respondent in immigration proceedings defaults, the immigration judge is required pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5) to enter an in absentia order of removal. This is clearly conveyed to all illegal aliens placed in immigration proceedings, both verbally by the immigration officers handling their cases and in all written notices issued by the court.

New York Post [4/22/2026 11:00 AM, Christopher F. Rufo and Susan Crabtree, 40934K] reports Gavin Newsom has granted approximately $1 billion to an army of nonprofits that has encouraged unchecked numbers of migrants to enter the country. Former President Joe Biden oversaw an unprecedented wave of migration across the southwestern border of the United States. Some border states sought to stop the wave of illegal immigration on their own. California, on the other hand, welcomed the flood. Newsom funded groups that backed migration, fought deportation orders in the courts, and led street protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These groups often operate under the guise of "humanitarianism" or "immigration justice," but many are in fact left-wing activist groups that use propaganda, lawfare, and street protests to transform America’s demographics and build political power for California Democrats — all on the public dime. California saw more than 400,000 illegal immigrants between 2021 and 2023 alone. And under Newsom’s leadership, the nation’s largest "sanctuary" state granted hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofits that variously provided migrants with transportation assistance, shelter, social services, and legal protection. The expenditures have been enormous. According to our review of state funding records, under Newsom, California has granted massive contracts for migrant-related services: more than $250 million to Catholic Charities; $85 million to Jewish Family Services; $12 million to Centro Legal de la Raza; $23 million to the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area; and more. Many nonprofits benefiting from these funds are shockingly radical.

NewsMax [4/22/2026 9:29 PM, Staff, 3760K] reports Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pushed back Wednesday on claims the Trump administration has gone soft on mass deportations, telling Newsmax that agents are working aggressively to enforce immigration law after President Donald Trump "took the handcuffs off" the agency. "No, I can tell you, Rob, that the men and women of ICE are out there every day busting their humps, doing the job they signed up to do," Lyons, who announced his resignation effective May 31, said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight.". Lyons’ comments come amid criticism from some quarters that enforcement efforts have slowed following unrest tied to immigration operations over the past year. He rejected that characterization, saying ICE is now carrying out "interior enforcement the way it should be done.". "We’re actually enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act," Lyons said. "And if you just look at some of the worst of the worst that we’ve caught lately, these are people you do not want in your neighborhoods, much like these individuals right here.". Schmitt cited recent cases in Virginia involving illegal immigrants accused or convicted of violent crimes, including an 18-year-old Salvadoran national sentenced after groping multiple high school students and a Guatemalan national with a lengthy criminal record accused of attempted rape. Lyons said such cases underscore the need for cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local officials. "Until my last day in office, I’m going to make sure that we get the word out to every elected official, every local leader, that to make your community safe, you have to work with ICE," he said. Looking ahead, Lyons also pointed to the completion of the southern border wall as a crucial step in preventing future surges of illegal immigration. Schmitt referenced comments from former ICE official Tom Homan that the wall could be finished by the end of Trump’s term in 2028. "I do think so," Lyons said when asked if the wall would help secure the border long term. "I think the fact that having that physical barrier to keep people out is a key deterrent.". He added that enforcement depends not only on infrastructure but also on policy changes that allow agents to focus on security. "The key to this is twofold, to have the Border Patrol out there in full strength, which they have been, enforcing our border laws, and to have that wall along with technology to ensure we have that barrier to keep people out," Lyons said.

CBS News [4/22/2026 6:24 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51110K] reports the wife of an Army soldier who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an immigration appointment last week is not going to be released from federal custody after all, her family and attorney said Wednesday. The news came just hours after her husband, Sgt. First Class Jose Serrano, told CBS News she’d been informed she was being released. Serrano’s wife, El Salvador native Deisy Rivera Ortega, was arrested by ICE on April 14 during an appointment related to a pending application for an immigration program, known as Parole in Place, designed to protect military spouses and parents from deportation. Kozik said they spoke with her earlier Wednesday and she was "elated" that immigration officials had told her she’d be released by the end of the day from an ICE detention center in El Paso. However, he said, DHS/ICE officials then told him she would not be released into the U.S. but would be deported to Mexico. Kozik said he is preparing a court challenge to block her deportation. The Department of Homeland Security told CBS News at the time that Rivera Ortega had been arrested because of a deportation order dating back to 2019. DHS said she was convicted of entering the U.S. illegally, a federal misdemeanor. Because Rivera Ortega was granted legal protection in 2019 from being deported to El Salvador, Serrano said he was informed she could be sent to a third country, like Mexico, where she has no ties.

NBC News [4/22/2026 6:37 PM, Staff, 42967K] reports two Iranians who fled the country’s oppressive regime to seek asylum in the U.S. now sit in immigration detention — and may soon be deported back to danger. The guards told Masoud Janani’s mother that trying to hide him was pointless — they would eventually find him. Janani is still unsure exactly why Iran’s military was looking for him, but that was the moment he decided to flee for America. Four years later, he’s facing deportation back to a warzone.

Breitbart [4/22/2026 2:11 PM, John Nolte, 2238K] reports that boy, the liberal white women out protesting ICE for the sin of doing its job sure do choose their allies well. When those allies are not assaulting women or swinging dildos around, we learn that they are convicted murderers arrested for threatening to execute ICE agents (who are just doing their jobs). Homeland Security arrested Daniel Barber on April 10 for an email he allegedly sent last year to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons laced with violent threats. After an investigation, authorities say they traced the email back to Barber who, per the New York Post, has a "lengthy criminal history including a 1990 conviction for murder and robbery with the intent to cause bodily harm, and several arrests for burglary, battery and vehicle theft." DHS deputy assistant secretary Lauren Bis released a statement pointing out that "Comparing ICE day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and slave patrols has consequences. The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters," she added. "They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. Like everyone else, they just want to go home to their families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop."

NBC News [4/23/2026 5:00 AM, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler, 43603K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is quietly rolling back some of its controversial immigration enforcement policies, according to two senior DHS officials and two immigration attorneys who have seen the changes firsthand. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

FOX News [4/22/2026 11:10 AM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports Soros-backed Democratic prosecutor Steve Descano has been hit with a formal federal complaint alleging that his lenient policies led to the "preventable" murder of a woman who was stabbed to death by an illegal alien in Virginia’s most populous county. This comes as Descano, Fairfax County’s commonwealth attorney, faces mounting criticism and pressure over his handling of a spate of illegal immigrant crime in the area. Descano rose to power with heavy financial backing from the Soros family’s Justice and Public Safety PAC. Three of the four murders actively being investigated by authorities in Fairfax County were committed by illegal aliens, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The debate mirrors broader national scrutiny of how sanctuary leaders handle migrant crime in their jurisdictions. Victims Rights Reform Council (VRRC), an advocacy group for victims of violent crimes, filed a federal civil rights complaint against Descano this week on behalf of Cheryl Minter. Minter’s 41-year-old daughter, Stephanie Minter, was fatally stabbed at a bus stop earlier this year, allegedly by Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old illegal alien from Sierra Leone. Jalloh is now being held without bond and charged with second-degree murder. In a Tuesday statement, Minter remarked that her daughter "should be alive today," saying, "She was taken because the system chose to release a violent offender again and again."

Breitbart [4/22/2026 4:16 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2238K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an arrest detainer for an illegal alien from Mexico who has been charged with sexual misconduct and incest with a minor after the victim was found giving birth in a hospital parking lot in South Carolina. In an announcement released yesterday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said ICE filed the detainer Friday, the day after 43-year-old illegal alien Luis Armando Argueta Montejo was arrested by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest came just days after the mother was found giving birth in the parking lot of the Oconee Memorial Hospital in Seneca, South Carolina, a small city in the sparsely populated northern part of the state. According to a statement from the county sheriff, Montejo had allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim from the time she was 11 until she was 14 years old. Investigators are also still investigating to determine if Montejo is the father of the newborn. According to DHS, Montejo told ICE he first entered the country in 2006, which would have been under the Bush administration. He has no previous criminal history in the United States. The minor and her child were taken into protective custody, according to the sheriff. Under the detainer, Montejo will be released to federal custody after he is released or after his case makes its way through the local justice system. Montejo is being held on $80,000 bond.

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Daily Caller [4/22/2026 11:25 AM, Jesse Stiller, 803K]

CBS News [4/22/2026 5:26 PM, Emily McLeod, 51110K] reports officials in the small Georgia city of Oakwood are still preparing for the possibility of an ICE detention facility opening up within its city limits. Back in February, city officials became aware of the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to open a proposed ICE detention facility in Oakwood. Since then, those plans have seemingly been put on pause. Oakwood City Manager B.R. White said they never received official word that the facility was coming in the first place or that the program had been paused. Even with the pause, White said they’re still preparing as though the facility is still opening by investing in police and public works. On Wednesday, DHS told CBS Atlanta, "As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals." The agency also referred to a quote from Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing in which he said: "I will work with the community leaders and make sure that we are delivering for the American people what the President set out… We want to work with community leaders. We want to be good partners.’"

FOX News [4/23/2026 12:01 AM, Michael Sinkewicz , Bill Melugin, 37576K] reports a Louisiana man who pleaded guilty to raping and impregnating his 12-year-old relative is an illegal immigrant from Honduras, federal officials confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday. Jose Lopez-Montoya, 41, described by local media as a "Lake Charles man," faces up to 99 years in prison after repeatedly abusing the minor. The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Lopez-Montoya is a Honduran national who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011 under the Obama administration. "Once again, the media is running cover for a criminal illegal alien. This sicko pled guilty to incest. He raped and impregnated his 12-year-old relative. ICE is working with our Louisiana partners to ensure this monster is never loose in American communities again," the agency added. "This ‘Lake Charles Man’ is actually an illegal alien from Honduras who admitted to illegally entering the U.S. in 2011," DHS added. The victim later gave birth in July 2024 and Lopez-Montoya admitted the child was his, according to KPLC. Authorities said the abuse took place over a two-year period while Lopez-Montoya served as the girl’s guardian. Lopez-Montoya was arrested on two counts of first-degree rape and is also subject to an immigration detainer. He pleaded guilty this week to aggravated crimes against nature by incest and faces 25 to 99 years in prison, according to KPLC. His sentencing is scheduled for April 28. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Detroit Free Press [4/22/2026 1:38 PM, Dustin Dwyer, 4749K] reports for many immigrants detained in Michigan, getting an immigration judge to grant bond is one of a few ways to get released. It doesn’t take long for word to spread when someone locked up in the North Lake Processing Center gets denied bond. “It’s been a massive denial (of bond hearings),” said Luis Fernandez-Escalante, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who has spent nearly six months in the northern Michigan facility. “One day I witnessed at least 10 people get denied a bond, one after the other.” Several people detained inside North Lake, and some of their lawyers outside, are concerned the narrow path to freedom they thought they had through habeas corpus is closing. Throughout the end of 2025, “we tended to see pretty reasonable bond outcomes for individuals who were granted habeas,” said Ruby Robinson, a senior managing attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC). But, Robinson and other attorneys said, it seemed bond hearings were “almost being pre-ordained to be denied” earlier this year. Now, “when a bond is approved, I think that’s an exciting moment,” he said. “Obviously a lot of what’s going on is in the hopes that people will just give up and self-deport. And I hate to say that,” said Lawrence Burman, a self-described Republican and immigration judge who retired in December after nearly three decades on the bench. “There’s never been anything like what’s been going on in this administration.”

CBS Chicago [4/22/2026 5:45 PM, Chris Tye, 51110K] reports will Chicago see another surge in immigration raids like last year’s Operation Midway Blitz? That was a topic on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, as Chicagoans testified before the House Homeland Security Committee about their encounters with Border Patrol and ICE agents. Pastor David Black, of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago in Woodlawn, testified about his experience protesting outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview in September. Also testifying was Chicago teacher Marimar Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent last fall. Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Martinez five times in October. Federal authorities accused Martinez of ramming federal agents’ vehicles, but later admitted that did not happen. When Midway Blitz wrapped up last fall following the arrests of more than 4,000 people, a growing sense emerged that there would be a spring surge of immigration enforcement in Chicago. But with May little more than a week away, there have been no signs of another major immigration enforcement push in Chicago. Ramirez and other House Democrats wanted President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to testify before the committee, but they did not attend the hearing.

Breitbart [4/22/2026 4:45 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports Angel Parents Thomas and Jessica Gorman say their 18-year-old daughter, Sheridan Gorman, was killed in a “preventable murder” that would have never happened if the accused killer, an illegal alien, had been turned over to federal agents. As Breitbart News has chronicled, 25-year-old illegal alien Jose Medina-Medina of Venezuela was arrested by the Chicago Police Department and charged with murdering Sheridan Gorman in a random attack on a pier at Tobey Prinz Beach on March 19. In an interview with CBS News, the Gormans say Sheridan “was really an amazing person” whose life would not have been taken if state and local officials cooperated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Jessica Gorman said she “will never rest” in her pursuit of justice for her Sheridan. About a week ago, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee unveiled internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents showing that agency officials, under the direction of former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, were well aware that Medina-Medina had no valid asylum claim, did not have any form of identification, provided no United States contact or address, and made clear he did not fear being returned to Venezuela when he showed up at the southern border on May 9, 2023. Yet and still, former President Joe Biden’s DHS released Medina-Medina into the U.S., claiming there was not enough detention space, even while acknowledging he would be “likely to abscond” from immigration proceedings. Medina-Medina was arrested for Sheridan’s murder less than three years after he illegally entered the U.S. Just a month after his release into the U.S. by the Biden administration, Medina-Medina was arrested in Chicago for shoplifting but was not turned over to ICE agents due to the city’s sanctuary policy.

FOX News [4/22/2026 5:34 PM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports the Democrat-majority Houston City Council backed off a sanctuary-style policy limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to remove more than $110 million in state funding, forcing the city to reverse course under financial pressure. The Houston City Council voted earlier this month to pass a policy eliminating the requirement that police wait at least 30 minutes for ICE to arrive when a suspect has an immigration warrant. The move was condemned by Abbott, who accused the council of "trying to renege on their obligations" after signing onto a public safety agreement to receive state funding that required cooperation with immigration enforcement through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Abbott set a Wednesday deadline for the city to repeal its new policy or refund the state more than $110 million. On Wednesday, the city council, at the urging of Democrat Mayor John Whitmire, overwhelmingly voted to soften the policy. The city removed strict limits that barred officers from prolonging stops for ICE-related purposes. It also allows officers to extend detentions if they cited another legitimate law enforcement reason. The amended policy passed in a 13-4 vote after hours of tense debate among council members. This comes after Abbott said last week that city officials would face "extraordinarily difficult financial choices" if they did not back down.

CBS News [4/22/2026 8:01 PM, J.D. Miles, Doug Myers and Carter Brewer, 51110K] reports Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux says the department will comply with Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration‑enforcement directives as the city faces a Thursday deadline that could put millions in state public‑safety funds at risk. Comeaux, speaking in an interview with CBS News Texas on Wednesday, said his priority is public safety - not immigration enforcement. "We’re not immigration officers," Comeaux said. "However, we will be in compliance with the governor. He’s the governor of the state of Texas. We’re in the state of Texas. So we will be in compliance.". A Dallas police spokesperson said the department recently reviewed its general orders and adjusted wording to align more closely with the Texas criminal code. The goal, the spokesperson said, is to ensure that policies involving cooperation with other law‑enforcement agencies are compatible with state and federal guidelines. The department spokesperson emphasized, however, that Dallas officers will not adopt a policy of asking people about their immigration status when they are detained. Abbott has threatened to pull more than $30 million in grants - and potentially tens of millions more tied to 2026 World Cup security - unless Dallas reverses a police policy he says limits cooperation with ICE. In a letter obtained by CBS News Texas, the governor told Mayor Eric Johnson that a DPD policy allowing officers to decline cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement violates an agreement city leaders signed last year that could require the city to repay about $32 million in grant funding. When asked whether he was concerned about losing the funding, Comeaux said the department relies on state support but remains focused on residents.

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Univision [4/22/2026 5:21 PM, Staff, 4937K]

AP [4/22/2026 7:01 PM, Juan A. Lozano, 3833K] reports that a Houston city ordinance that limited police officers’ cooperation with federal immigration agents was amended on Wednesday after Texas’ governor threatened to take away millions of dollars in public safety grants. Houston, as well as Austin and Dallas — three of the state’s biggest cities and Democratic strongholds — are being confronted by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott with threats of losing public safety dollars over policies that dictate how law enforcement interacts with federal immigration authorities. The three cities are being threatened with the loss of about $200 million in public safety funding, including tens of millions expected to cover security at World Cup matches this summer in Dallas and Houston. Two weeks ago, Houston City Council passed the ordinance, which eliminated a requirement that Houston police officers wait 30 minutes for agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick up someone with a nonjudicial administrative warrant. If ICE agents didn’t show up in time, police officers took a detained person’s information and then released them. But Abbott warned city officials that the new ordinance and its limitation on cooperating with ICE agents violated the terms of $110 million in state grants Houston had received for police and security during the World Cup games the city is hosting in June. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had also filed a lawsuit against Mayor John Whitmire and members of the city council over the ordinance, accusing them of violating a 2017 state law that prevents cities from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of immigration laws and which also banned “sanctuary city” policies in the state.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [4/22/2026 2:35 PM, Joe Carroll, 18082K]
Breitbart [4/22/2026 1:48 PM, Bob Price, 2238K]

Houston Chronicle [4/22/2026 5:21 PM, Matt de Grood and Abby Church, 2493K] reports Houston City Council amended its recently approved policy limiting police officers’ interactions with federal immigration agents after Gov. Greg Abbott’s office threatened $114 million in city grants, despite some council members saying the changes will dilute the policy’s effectiveness. The 13-4 vote came amid a chaotic two weeks at City Hall that tested Mayor John Whitmire’s relationships with state leaders, drove dozens of residents to protest or address the council, saw Attorney General Ken Paxton sue the city – and which appeared to leave in doubt key questions about how exactly Houston police will implement the amended policy. The council’s original policy, passed 12-5 two weeks ago, eliminated a prior rule that officers wait 30 minutes for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrive when they encounter someone with a civil immigration warrant. Officers may temporarily detain someone "as long as reasonably necessary to complete the legitimate purpose of the initial stop or investigation," the initial policy said, in keeping with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The newly amended policy, which Whitmire’s staff negotiated with Abbott’s office, added "and for other legitimate purposes discovered during the detention” after that phrase. The changes deleted text stating that an ICE administrative warrant alone does not justify a stop or arrest, and that the person must be released if "reasonable suspicion" of another crime does not exist.

Telemundo Amarillo [4/22/2026 4:41 PM, Staff, 2K] reports a 19-year-old undocumented Venezuelan resident in Texas is accused of killing a coworker with a hammer, authorities said. According to local reports and court documents, Josué Abraham Chirino-Leonice is accused of killing Juan Antonio Salinas Leija by repeatedly striking him with a hammer. Salinas Leija worked as a carpenter and was found dead inside a house, where his sister discovered his body. Police arrested Chirino-Leonice on April 12 in Pasadena after finding him driving the victim’s vehicle. ICE requested his detention at the Harris County Jail the following day, according to authorities. According to ICE, Border Patrol officers encountered Chirino-Leonice in November 2023, when he arrived at the border as an unaccompanied minor, and allowed him to enter the United States.

AP [4/22/2026 11:17 AM, Morgan Lee, 35287K] reports the wife of a U.S. Army sergeant was being held Tuesday at an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, amid signs that the Trump administration is dialing back leniency toward immigrant family members of military personnel and veterans. Jose Serrano, an active duty soldier who served three tours in Afghanistan, said immigration agents arrested his wife April 14 as they attended an appointment with immigration services to take steps toward her permanent residency. “A person opened the door, escorted us through the hallway, and at the end of the hallway, my wife got arrested,” Serrano said. “Arrested without any order, any warrant ... They took away my wife. They don’t tell me anything.” Since then, El Salvador native Deisy Rivera Ortega has challenged her detention in U.S. District Court and requested an order to block her deportation to Mexico — where she does not have ties and visits by active duty U.S. troops are restricted. Attorney Matthew James Kozik said Rivera Ortega held a valid work permit and was previously granted a withholding of removal to El Salvador. The Department of Homeland Security said in an email that Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally in 2016 and that a judge issued a final order of removal in December 2019. “Work authorization does not confer any legal status to be in the country. Rivera-Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal,” the agency said. The agency did not address whether Rivera Ortega might be deported to Mexico.

Univision [4/22/2026 4:31 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Deisy Rivera Ortega, a Salvadoran woman and wife of Army Sergeant First Class José Serrano, who has been detained by ICE since April 14, will be released by immigration authorities, her husband told CBS News. Rivera has been in custody at an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas, and is expected to be released in the next few hours. Regarding his wife’s arrest, Serrano said that immigration agents arrested his wife on April 14 while they were attending an appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as part of their process to obtain permanent residency. Rivera Ortega challenged her detention in a federal district court and requested an order to block her deportation to Mexico—a country with which she has no ties and which restricts visits by active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces. Attorney Matthew James Kozik indicated that Rivera Ortega had a valid work permit and had previously been granted a stay of deportation to El Salvador. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated in an email that Rivera Ortega illegally entered the United States in 2016 and that a judge issued a final deportation order in December 2019. Rivera Ortega requested that her case and that of her husband be considered under the policy of "temporary stay permit in the country," which previously offered the possibility of an accelerated path to permanent residency for spouses of members of the armed forces. But last April, DHS eliminated a 2022 policy that considered the military service of an immediate family member as a "significant mitigating factor" when deciding whether to proceed with immigration enforcement. The new government policy states that "military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws."

ABC News [4/22/2026 10:03 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports an attorney representing the wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant said she was told Wednesday she would be released from immigration detention after more than a week in custody -- but instead she’s facing deportation to Mexico. Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega was taken into custody April 14 in El Paso while attending a routine immigration interview related to a "Parole in Place" application -- a program that can allow undocumented family members of U.S. military personnel to remain in the country legally. On Wednesday afternoon, her legal team said they received information that Rivera Ortega would be released. "Deisy was elated and informed us that she had been directed by immigration officials to gather her belongings, as she was to be released today," Matthew Kozik told ABC News. But after contacting officials with the Department of Homeland Security to verify details, Kozik said he was told Rivera Ortega would not be released and would instead be deported to Mexico. "DHS/ICE denied that she was being released back into the United States, but that Ms. Rivera-Ortega was informed that she would be released, but that her release was deported to Mexico," Kozik added. In response to a request for comment, DHS did not address the attorney’s allegations. Instead the agency released a statement reading: "On April 14, ICE arrested Deisy Fidelina Rivera-Ortega, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador. She was previously convicted for illegal entry—a federal offense. Rivera-Ortega entered the U.S. in 2016 near Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and was released on bond. She received full due process, and an immigration judge issued her a final order of removal on December 12, 2019. Work authorization does not confer any legal status to be in the country. Rivera-Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal.". Rivera Ortega -- who currently works for IHG Army Hotels at Fort Bliss -- has a valid work permit through 2030 and was previously granted withholding of removal from her home country, El Salvador, according to documents reviewed by ABC News. Kozik told ABC News his client is entitled to a credible fear interview, a screening conducted by a federal officer for individuals who express fear of deportation to certain countries. He also filed a habeas petition last week asking a judge to order Rivera Ortega’s release. "We are preparing a writ of mandamus to file with the 5th Circuit, requiring the court to take action," he said.

Telemundo [4/22/2026 6:44 PM, Staff, 19K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in El Paso again arrested Bertha Olga Gómez-Fong, a Mexican-born fugitive and wife of former Chihuahua governor Cesar Duarte, on April 15, after immigration authorities suspended bail that had allowed her to be released days earlier. According to an ICE spokesman, that same day, the Board of Immigration Appeals approved the Department of Homeland Security’s application to pause the decision of an immigration judge who had granted bail. In addition, the Department filed an appeal, which is still in the works. Days earlier, on April 8, an immigration judge in El Paso had granted him immigration bail. Gómez‐Fong paid bail on April 10 and was released, in addition to being enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program. However, after the suspension of that decision, ICE agents proceeded to arrest it again. According to authorities, Gomez-Fong last entered the United States in November 2016 at Newark Airport, New Jersey, using a B1/B2 tourist visa, which expired in May 2017. By staying in the country after that date, he violated the conditions of his visa.

Axios [4/22/2026 2:12 PM, Asher Price, 17364K] reports that Austin officials have until Thursday to confirm they will not restrict cooperation between city police and ICE — or they risk losing $2.5 million in grants, per a threat from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. Why it matters: Mayor Kirk Watson has called Abbott’s threat "political theater," but it revives questions about how much power locally elected officials have to steer city policy. Abbott’s threats extend to Dallas and Houston. Driving the news: Council members are scheduled to talk with city lawyers on Thursday about issues related to SB 4, a 2017 state law that requires local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities like ICE. An April 16 letter from the governor’s Public Safety Office (PSO) asked Watson "to confirm that the city will not enforce, and will act to repeal" a March update to its guidelines regarding cooperation with ICE. "Failure to do so may result in PSO exercising its sole discretion to terminate all such grants," says the letter. The city was awarded roughly $2.5 million in public safety grants in fiscal year 2026. If the grants are terminated, the city will be required to repay the entire amount, per the letter. Zoom out: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Houston city officials over the adoption of an ordinance designed to limit cooperation between local authorities and ICE, though the city council on Wednesday amended the ordinance to allow police to continue detaining immigrants with noncriminal ICE warrants without specific time constraints. Paxton has also opened an investigation into APD’s immigration policy.

New York Times [4/22/2026 1:01 PM, J. David Goodman, 148038K] reports Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has been engaged this month in a tense face-off with three of his state’s largest cities over how local police officers work with federal immigration agents. The governor gave the leaders of Houston, Dallas and Austin until Wednesday to amend their policies to his liking, or face losing more than $150 million total in public safety funding, including millions dedicated to providing security at World Cup matches this summer. Republican state leaders have frequently tried to control the policies of their state’s Democratic cities, often through legislation, and sometimes through lawsuits. But with Mr. Abbott using critical funding as leverage, some consider this an echo of the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics. “It’s a play out of President Trump’s playbook,” said Alejandra Salinas, a Houston councilwoman. “He thinks he can bully the city of Houston in the same way.” Legal experts said the issue at hand — whether officers on the street can hold a person longer than usually permitted if the person is wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — was not settled, and that Mr. Abbott could be testing the bounds of what support the police can provide federal immigration agents.

NewsMax [4/22/2026 4:37 PM, Sam Barron, 3760K] reports the wife and five children of an Egyptian man alleged to have thrown Molotov cocktails at a group of pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, were ordered released from federal custody Monday. The family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman had been detained for the last 10 months at a detention facility in Dilley, Texas. An attorney for the family said they remain in custody. The Department of Homeland Security originally ordered the family, which includes children aged 18, 16, 9, and 5-year-old twins, deported, but the order was blocked by a judge. Soliman is charged with murder and assault and has pleaded not guilty in the attack, carried out while he yelled "Free Palestine." The family emigrated to the United States in 2022. An 82-year-old Colorado woman died as a result of injuries she suffered in the attack. Prosecutors say 13 people were physically injured.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [4/22/2026 8:29 AM, Randy Clark, Bob Price, 2238K]

AP [4/22/2026 9:56 PM, Morgan Lee and Colleen Slevin, 34146K] reports the decision in Colorado to charge an immigration officer with assault after a protester was grabbed by the neck and pulled across a street could test the boundaries of immunity provisions for federal agents as states scrutinize the use of force under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. A Colorado prosecutor said Wednesday that the officer has been charged with third-degree assault and criminal mischief following an investigation into the treatment of a protester in October. Multiple videos show a masked federal agent seizing a 57-year-old woman, who says she was put in a chokehold, during the protest in Durango. Colorado is among several states to prohibit or severely limit the use of chokeholds and neck restraints by police officers. But immunity provisions under the U.S. Constitution and federal law limit the reach of local authorities in prosecuting federal agents. The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics have spurred an array of investigations by state and local authorities. Earlier this month, a federal immigration agent was charged with two counts of second-degree assault by a county prosecutor in Minnesota amid investigations into the actions of several officers during the immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. is accused of pointing his gun at occupants of a car after pulling alongside them on a Minneapolis-area highway. Investigators say Morgan said he feared for his safety after the vehicle swerved in front of him. Minnesota officials also have sued the administration for access to evidence for investigations into three shootings during the crackdown, including those that resulted in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Outside Chicago, an off-duty ICE agent has been charged with misdemeanor battery for throwing to the ground a 68-year-old protester who was filming him at a gas station in December. The Homeland Security Department that oversees ICE says the agent acted in self-defense. In California, the shooting death of 43-year-old Keith Porter by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year’s Eve has prompted protests and calls for an independent investigation. Federal law enforcement officers have broad legal protections when acting in the course of their official duties, and the Justice Department has taken a hard line against state efforts to arrest or prosecute federal agents. In a statement on the Colorado charges, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said states do not have the authority to investigate such cases. "Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies," the statement said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/22/2026 11:20 PM, Jack Healy, 148038K]

NewsMax [4/22/2026 5:10 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a California man accused of sending a death threat to the agency’s acting director, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. Daniel Barber, a U.S. citizen, was arrested April 10 by ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents in San Francisco, according to DHS. Authorities allege Barber sent a threatening email on June 6, 2025, targeting Todd Lyons, acting ICE director, and other agency personnel. In the email, Barber used explicit language and called for violence against ICE officers, writing that agents "deserve" to be executed, according to DHS. He also expressed hope that Americans would "start rising up" and carry out such attacks. Federal officials said the message prompted an investigation that identified Barber as the sender. He faces potential federal charges related to making threats against a federal official. DHS officials highlighted Barber’s criminal record, which includes a conviction for murder and robbery with intent to cause bodily harm in 1990, as well as arrests for burglary, battery, and vehicle theft. The arrest comes amid what DHS described as a sharp rise in threats and attacks against immigration enforcement personnel.

AP [4/22/2026 4:52 PM, Claudia Boyd-Barrett] reports California lawmakers alarmed by the treatment of people brought to hospitals by federal immigration agents want to strengthen protections for detained patients receiving care at medical facilities, including by making it easier for their families and attorneys to find them. Two bills moving through the state Senate seek to prevent immigration enforcement officers from isolating patients from their loved ones and interfering with their ability to get legal help. Analyses for both bills cite reporting by KFF Health News that found family members and attorneys have faced extreme difficulty locating and supporting patients hospitalized while in immigration custody. KFF Health News found that some hospitals have facilitated patient isolation through what are known as blackout policies, which can include registering people under pseudonyms, withholding their names from the hospital directory, and preventing staff from contacting patients’ relatives to let them know their location and condition. A bill by Democratic state Sen. Caroline Menjivar of the San Fernando Valley, SB 915, would largely prohibit the use of blackout policies for patients in immigration custody and ensure they retain the right to have their families and others notified of their whereabouts and condition. Blackout policies would be allowed when the health care provider determines the patient is a credible risk to themself or others and the risk is documented in the patient’s medical record. Patients would also be allowed to receive visitors. It seeks to address reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents guarding patients in their hospital rooms while they undergo medical exams or talk with doctors, interfering with medical decisions, and pushing for patients to be discharged prematurely to detention facilities ill-equipped to provide follow-up care. Under Menjivar’s proposal, agents would not be allowed into the rooms of patients they bring in for care unless they can show legal authorization to be there. If agents remain in the room, staff would be required to ask them to leave during medical exams and patient care discussions. If agents refuse, health care facility staff would need to document it. Both bills were passed by the Senate Health and Judiciary committees along party lines and will be heard next by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Los Angeles Times [4/22/2026 6:02 AM, Matt Kinsella-Walsh, 12718K] reports along the southern stretch of California’s Central Coast, President Trump’s crusade against immigrants has left a visceral mark. It seems these days that almost everyone there has seen or felt the aftermath of an immigration raid: cars with shattered windows left idling and businesses emptied of their usual employees and patrons. The human toll is stark. Raids around Christmas removed at least 100 people from our communities, leaving children without parents and families without primary earners — creating crises that cascade far beyond the moment of enforcement. The economic consequences of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are equally severe. Recent farmer surveys have shown that immigration raids and the fear they generate have caused farmworker shortages, particularly in labor-intensive crops such as strawberries — the region’s most valuable agricultural commodity — where fruit rots on the plant without the immigrant workers who pick it. Early research quantifying the economic impact of ICE raids in Oxnard estimates direct crop losses of $3 billion to $7 billion with significant spillover into other sectors of the economy. As families lose income to raids — whether through the direct loss of a working family member or in the form of lost business production or sales — they spend less in the local economy. The ripple effect means that the total economic impact of ICE raids is much greater than unpicked crops, with harm most concentrated among the most vulnerable: farmworkers. Recent changes to a foreign worker program threaten to deepen the wound.

Reuters [4/22/2026 3:41 PM, Ricardo Brito, 38315K] reports Brazil’s Federal Police revoked the credentials allowing ​a Brasilia-based U.S. immigration officer to exercise his official duties, the police head and the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, citing a similar move made by the U.S. government. Washington said on Monday it had asked Brazilian security attache Marcelo Ivo de Carvalho, who acted ​as a liaison with U.S. immigration enforcement and was based in Miami, ​to leave the country. Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues said in an ⁠interview with GloboNews that the attache returned to Brazil at his request, but ​was told that his working credentials were revoked, which prompted Brazil’s reaction. The standoff came after U.S. ​immigration agency ⁠ICE briefly detained former Brazilian lawmaker Alexandre Ramagem, who fled Brazil in September following his conviction for plotting a coup with ex-President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ⁠said ​on Tuesday that his government could reciprocate any perceived abuses ​by U.S. authorities in the case involving the Brazilian attache.

Washington Examiner [4/22/2026 4:20 PM, Jack Birle, 1147K] reports the Supreme Court weighed how much evidence immigration officers need to deny a legal permanent resident entry into the United States, if he or she has committed a crime, appearing skeptical over the high bar an immigrant’s lawyer pushed for at arguments on Wednesday. The high court heard arguments in Blanche v. Lau Wednesday morning over whether the federal government must prove it had clear and convincing evidence that a legal permanent resident, who was charged with a crime and later convicted, committed the crime that made him removable when immigration officers paroled him into the country, or if the government may present that evidence during subsequent removal proceedings in immigration court. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in Blanche v. Lau by the end of June. The high court will hear arguments in another immigration case next Wednesday, when the justices will hear a consolidated case over whether the Trump administration may end temporary protected status for Haiti and Syria. The ruling in that case, which is also expected by the end of June, will have wider ramifications for the administration’s bids to end TPS for various other countries.

FOX News [4/22/2026 9:49 AM, Alex Miller, 37576K] reports Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants to extend protections for Haitian migrants, and Republicans say it’s a perfect example of him putting the interests of illegal immigrants over Americans. Schumer fast-tracked a House-passed bill that would extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of Haitian migrants for three years earlier this week onto the Senate schedule. Whether it actually makes it to the floor is ultimately up to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. The top Senate Democrat’s desire to pass the legislation in the Senate comes at an inflection point for both the protected status of Haitian migrants and a funding battle started, in part, over immigration operations in the country. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who led negotiations for Senate Republicans to try to strike a compromise deal to end the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, told Fox News Digital, "I’m so glad that he is prioritizing people who are not American consistently." "What about the countless Americans that have died at the hands of illegal aliens? I mean, the fact that you’re literally trying to defund the organization that is tasked with keeping our streets safe, our borders secure, keeping Americans — allowing Americans to go home to their families at night," Britt said. "It’s just totally, his priorities are completely and totally off.". While Schumer is trying to extend the protected status of Haitian migrants, DHS is still shut down over disagreements on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [4/22/2026 8:00 AM, Jack Birle, 1147K]

Wall Street Journal [4/22/2026 5:30 AM, Joe Barrett and Michelle Hackman, 646K] reports federal officials have started prosecutions of two sprawling cases of alleged fraud in a program that provides foreign nationals with a document called a U visa. It gives a path to citizenship to victims of some crimes. In Louisiana, federal authorities in July announced the indictment of top local law enforcement officers and a businessman for allegedly faking reports of armed robberies to help foreign nationals secure U visas. Authorities say the fraud spanned from 2015 to 2025 in three small communities. Prosecutors say the businessman, himself a U visa recipient, acted as the go-between. He would connect people seeking a U visa with two then-police chiefs, a former police chief and an elected marshal, authorities say. As part of what the businessman collected from the foreign nationals, the officers would receive $5,000 per victim named in a report, according to the indictment. The officers would generate false crime reports and attest to a person’s status as a victim, authorities say. Foreign nationals could then submit that to DHS. Prosecutors say hundreds of people got U visas through this alleged scheme. A trial that was set to start in late March has been put on hold with no new trial date set. Two of the five defendants, all of whom had entered not-guilty pleas, recently scheduled plea-change hearings.

AP [4/23/2026 12:04 AM, Staff, 35287K] reports a change in the Canada’s citizenship laws has prompted a rush of Americans to explore their ancestry and file paperwork seeking dual citizenship. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [4/22/2026 6:00 AM, Neil Munro, 2238K] reports President Donald Trump and his MAGA voters saved the lives of more than 1,000 migrants who would otherwise have died en-route to a Democratic-run U.S. border in 2025, according to data from the United Nations. "In the Americas, deaths recorded during migration decreased dramatically in 2025, from 1,272 in 2024 to 408 in 2025," the International Organization for Migration reported April 21. The lifesaving "decrease is due in large part to a real decline in [migrant] movements along high-risk, irregular routes," said the group, which is headed by President Joe Biden’s nominee, Amy Pope. Deaths in the Caribbean — including deaths among Haitian migrants — also dropped as Trump blocked migrant arrivals in the United States: "Deaths also decreased with 130 recorded in 2025 compared to 302 in 2024 … [and] just 5 deaths were recorded on the route from Caribbean Islands to the United States, compared to 187 in 2024.". Meanwhile, the IOM report notes a record 3,500 migrants died en route to Europe, where multinational elites still use migration to dissolve the power of citizens and nations in a flood of chaotic diversity. The good news of 1,000 saved lives in the Americas is a bitter pill for the many progressives, gullible journalists, pro-migration advocates, and Democrats who insisted that Biden’s pro-migration border policies were humanitarian and would save lives. Thousands of migrants died as they bravely walked to the prize dangled by Biden’s pro-migration border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas. He zealously opened many legal cracks in the border — regardless of the strong public support for the nation’s immigration laws. And the deaths he encouraged were largely ignored by the establishment media, whose journalists churned out sympathy stories about migrants lining up for aid and housing in the United States. Mayorkas’ migrants died at sea, in rivers, in road accidents, in deserts, in robberies, and at unregulated worksites. So many migrants were killed on Panama’s Darien Gap jungle trails that Mayorkas negotiated a sea route for cartel-controlled Colombian water taxis to move many migrants closer to a bus station he created.

NewsNation [4/22/2026 4:34 PM, Ali Bradley, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports illegal border crossings may be down substantially under the Trump administration, but tens of thousands of migrants are still managing to enter the United States illegally without being apprehended by federal immigration agents and officers. Customs and Border Protection data sent to Congress shows that between 70,000 and 73,000 immigrants known as “gotaways” crossed into the U.S. illegally during fiscal year 2025. During the current fiscal year, which began in October, a total of 9,791 gotaways (an average of 48 per day) have been accounted for despite them not being in federal custody, NewsNation has confirmed. Although those migrants who avoided apprehension by federal agents represent only a small percentage of illegal border-crossers, officials say they represent vulnerabilities that exist within President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Former CBP officials told NewsNation on Wednesday that the figures released to Congress include known gotaways but do not account for tens of thousands of other unknown gotaways that likely entered the United States during FY 2025. That makes the gotaway issue, both known and unknown, a greater concern.

Bloomberg [4/22/2026 1:58 PM, Jordan Fischer, 763K] reports that the US Supreme Court wrestled with how much discretion immigration officers should have at the border to temporarily admit lawful permit residents under a status known as parole when agents suspect they engaged in criminal activity. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders are generally not viewed as seeking a new admission when they reenter they US after a temporary stay outside the country. While the government argues there is no legal difference to entry on a permanent versus temporary green card, outside briefs warned, as the administration acknowledged, there can be practical effects, such as employment difficulties. Under the INA, lawful permanent residents may be paroled into the country, rather than admitted on their normal status, under six exceptions, including commission of crimes of "moral turpitude" and certain other offenses. At oral arguments on Wednesday, the government said an immigration officer’s determination that a lawful permanent resident meets one of those exceptions isn’t reviewable by the courts. That includes situations when, as in the case before the court, the person hadn’t been convicted of a crime. Sopan Joshi, an assistant to the solicitor general, said the liberals’ hypothetical wasn’t the reality on the ground and that the Department of Homeland Security would have to be filled with "monsters and idiots" to pursue such a scheme. A decision was expected from the court by July. The case is Blanche v. Lau, U.S., No. 25-429, argued on 4/22/26.

CBS Chicago [4/22/2026 5:37 PM, Jeramie Bizzle, 51110K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers confiscated a monkey carcass along with 125 pounds of prohibited ruminant meat at O’Hare Airport earlier this month. According to the agency, on April 11, a passenger from Cameroon was subject to a secondary agriculture inspection by CBP officers. During an X-ray scan and search of the person’s luggage, they found the carcass inside, which was then seized and destroyed. The agency said that another passenger from Liberia tried to sneak in ruminant meat. An inspection of their luggage led to the findings of meat, bones, and hair that were concealed in dried seafood, to which the passenger admitted it was such. The agency said seafood is admitted, but ruminant meat from certain parts of the world is prohibited as it could contain disease, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy and foot and mouth disease. In addition to the monkey carcass and ruminant meat, CBP officers also seized one pound of prohibited fresh leaves, and four types of prohibited seeds for planting from the Liberian’s luggage.

Reported similarly:
NewsNation [4/22/2026 3:54 PM, Gabriel Castillo, 4464K]

Chicago Tribune [4/22/2026 5:52 PM, Madeline Buckley, 5209K] reports Marimar Martínez stood in front of members of Congress and took off her purple blazer, rolling up her sleeves to point to the spot where a bullet pierced her arm. She then pulled up her pant leg to show the scar left by another gunshot. Martínez, who has become a prominent voice against aggressive immigration enforcement since being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago in October, testified on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., before the Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security while it remains shuttered amid clashes over funding. Though Martínez has previously testified in the nation’s capital at a public forum, Wednesday’s appearance was her first in front of an official congressional committee hearing, during which House Democrats called for accountability measures for immigration agents who they said have committed violence against U.S. citizens in Chicago and other cities. The full committee hearing came as Chicago-area residents continue to grapple with the aftermath of Operation Midway Blitz, during which thousands of immigrants were detained and citizens frequently clashed with federal agents on the streets and outside the immigration processing facility in Broadview.

CBS Colorado [4/22/2026 2:06 PM, Austen Erblat, 51110K] reports that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent has been charged with assault almost six months after he allegedly shoved a woman to the ground at a protest in southwestern Colorado. Nicholas Rice, 47, has been issued a summons to appear in court on local charges of misdemeanor third-degree assault and criminal mischief over his alleged behavior at a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Durango early on the morning of Oct. 28, 2025. Video of a masked agent shoving a woman to the ground at the protest went viral across social media platforms in the days after. Protesters gathered after 45-year-old Fernando Jaramillo-Solano was taking his 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son to school, and they were arrested by ICE agents. Gregory Davies, a senior official with ICE’s Denver field office, testified in federal court days later that Jaramillo-Solano was "mistaken" for someone else the agency was looking for. The arrest of the family prompted an immediate protest outside the agency’s facility. A masked agent, now identified as Rice, was seen in multiple videos recorded by protesters grabbing a woman’s phone and throwing her to the ground. The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but said at the time that Jaramillo-Solano entered the U.S. illegally from Colombia on Dec. 22, 2024, near San Diego.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/22/2026 2:41 PM, Colleen Slevin and Morgan Lee, 3833K]
Reuters [4/22/2026 3:42 PM, Jasper Ward, 38315K]

FOX News [4/22/2026 3:28 PM, Leo Briceno, 37576K] reports what began as a routine inspection of a four-door Lexus crossing the U.S. border into Mexico escalated quickly Sunday when officers discovered a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher and dozens of additional weapons hidden in the vehicle. Tucked in a cavity under the seats, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials found the RPG tube, four rifles, an Avtomat Kalashnikova (AK-style) pistol, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips and other weapon parts in a vehicle attempting to cross the border at the Area Port of Nogales, near Tucson, Arizona. CBP confiscated the arsenal, which authorities said demonstrates the scale of weapons smuggling across the U.S. border and the volume that can be transported in a single vehicle. Officials said the seizure highlights ongoing concerns about cartel firepower and the flow of U.S.-sourced weapons into Mexico. The driver, a woman, is being charged with smuggling goods from the United States, a crime that could carry a penalty of up to 10 years behind bars. She was accompanied by three minors who were released to the custody of a family member, according to CBP.

AP [4/22/2026 2:03 PM, Seth Borenstein, 3833K] reports that more than 17 million people along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at the highest risk of being affected by flooding, with New York and New Orleans standing out, according to one of the most comprehensive studies ever of flood risk. Researchers at the University of Alabama used 16 different factors including the geographic hazards, the population and infrastructure exposed and the vulnerability of people living there. They then brought in past damages from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s database and applied three different artificial intelligence tools to figure out flood risks from Texas to Maine, calculating that 17.5 million people were at “very high” risk and an additional 17 million were at “high” risk, the next level. The authors looked at all sizes of flooding and examined separately what FEMA considers the most extreme, which are the top 1% of events. The study found 4.3 million people along the coasts to be at the highest level of risk of extreme flooding, but 20.5 million to be at high risk, the second highest level. They found a lot of vulnerability, highlighting eight different cities from Houston, which flooded in 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, to New York, which was inundated in 2012’s Superstorm Sandy. Wednesday’s study in the journal Science Advances found that New York City has 4.75 million people at the two highest risk levels for all flooding, with more than 200,000 buildings likely to be damaged. And while the number of people at risk in New Orleans is far lower, about 380,000, it involves 99% of the city’s population. That doesn’t mean 99% of the people will be affected in the next hurricane or nontropical flood, but that they might be depending on the storm’s individual path and rain pattern, said study co-author Wanyun Shao, a climate scientist at the University of Alabama.

AP [4/22/2026 8:50 PM, Russ Bynum and Jeff Martin, 1323K] reports huge plumes of smoke blanketed swaths of the Southeast on Wednesday as crews battled rapidly growing wildfires that destroyed more than 50 homes in Georgia and forced hundreds to flee the drought- and wind-fueled flames. Some of the biggest blazes were near Georgia’s coast, while others were popping up in northern Florida, a state facing one of its worst fire seasons in decades. It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but the bottom half of Georgia is perilously dry and the conditions prompted the state’s forestry commission to issue a burn ban for the first time in its history. Southeastern Georgia has seen just 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain since the beginning of September — almost 15 inches (38 centimeters) below normal, the National Weather Service said. The fires spread so quickly in that area that residents received no warnings or alerts. “I wish that I had knew something more,” said Brianna Elliott, who left home Tuesday only to find her route back blocked by the fires 90 minutes later. “I would have turned around in that moment and gone home and got my animals before anything.” In Florida, firefighters battled more than 130 wildfires that burned 39 square miles (101 square kilometers), mostly in the state’s northern half. “Florida has got one of the worst fire seasons in maybe the last 30 or 40 years, or it’s turning out to be that way,” state Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson said. “We’ve been in drought for 18 months now all across the state.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/22/2026 5:04 PM, Amy Graff and Aimee Ortiz, 148038K]

Axios [4/22/2026 3:28 PM, Kristal Dixon, 17364K] reports ninety-one counties are under a state of emergency as wildfires continue to burn in South Georgia. The state of emergency declared by Gov. Brian Kemp, which runs for 30 days, allows agencies to deploy resources to affected areas. Up to 150 Georgia National Guard troops will help with response and recovery. Affected counties are mostly in the southern half of the state, but do include central Georgia counties Bibb, Laurens and Peach. According to Kemp’s executive order, the Georgia Forestry Commission has responded to more than 90 wildfires since April 18. As of Wednesday, about 16,500 acres in Clinch and Echols counties have burned and only about 10% of the fire is contained, the executive order says. In Brantley County, a fire along Ga. 82 has scorched more than 5,000 acres and only 10% of the blaze is under control. FEMA approved the state’s request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant to fight both fires. Barrett said the commission counted more than 4,100 wildfires this fiscal year on state-protected lands: everything excluding national parks and military installations. Close to 50 homes have been destroyed in Georgia in the fires, which have also prompted school closures and evacuations, according to the Associated Press.

CBS News [4/22/2026 7:24 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports in Southeast Georgia, massive wildfires have transformed the sky into a fiery orange, burning homes and neighborhoods. Skyler Henry reports and Rob Marciano has the forecast.

Axios [4/22/2026 7:28 AM, Carrie Shepherd, 17364K] reports Illinois has seen more severe weather warnings than any state this year, but local and state officials say FEMA isn’t delivering aid as it has in the past. With climate change driving more frequent severe weather, federal disaster aid is often critical for recovery, but local officials warn that slower or reduced support places more of the burden on state and city governments. Seven tornadoes touched down in Northern Illinois late last week, according to the National Weather Service. Both the Des Plaines and Fox rivers are still under a flood warning. It’s peak season for severe weather in Illinois, clocking 80 tornado reports through April 19, almost twice as many as in Mississippi, the state with the second most reports (43). Natural disasters have cost more than a billion dollars over the last 40 years, up from an average of three disasters annually in the 1980s to 13 annually now, according to the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC).

CBS Chicago [4/22/2026 2:39 PM, Kylee Miller, 51110K] reports that severe weather season has been off to a very active start in Illinois, with everything from flooding, hail, and damaging winds – and more than 100 tornadoes statewide. As of April 22, the preliminary count for tornadoes across the state of Illinois stands at 101 and counting, easily leading the entire country by far. That’s nearly double the annual average of 54 tornadoes in Illinois. With our severe weather season just getting started and lasting through September, that number has the chance to go up. The typical count for tornadoes per year across Illinois is 54, so we already nearly doubled that. As of April 19, there have been at least 20 tornadoes in the National Weather Service Chicago forecast area, which includes parts of northwest Indiana. The typical number for that forecast area is between 10 to 20 tornadoes per year. As the climate warms, Illinois has seen a surge in tornado activity in the last few years. This is the fourth year in a row Illinois has surpassed 100 tornadoes statewide. Meteorologists have said, over the last 40 years, the number of tornadoes has gone down in states like Texas and Oklahoma, in what’s known as the nation’s Tornado Alley, while in areas further east, like Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois, have seen an increase in tornadoes. Other recent studies support that finding, showing Tornado Alley shifting into Illinois.

Houston Chronicle [4/22/2026 7:00 AM, Yilun ChengStaff, 2493K] reports families in Harris County’s low-income neighborhoods have long said the official floodplain maps do not match the chronic flooding they see on the ground. Now that the maps are finally getting updated, many worry that the first thing they will see is a pricey insurance bill, rather than additional protection. After prolonged delays, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in February released an early version of Harris County’s new flood maps. They incorporate higher rainfall estimates, updated land conditions and more advanced technologies that predict how water moves. When adopted, they will mark the first comprehensive update to the county’s floodplain boundaries in nearly two decades. Though the maps will be revised before they are finalized, the draft points to sweeping changes across the region’s flood zones. It shows Harris County’s 100-year floodplains — areas at high risk of flooding — swelling by about 130 square miles. The expansion would pull entire blocks and communities into what FEMA calls a special flood hazard area, which covers both the 100-year floodplain and a much smaller zone called the floodway, where the risk is highest. That designation can come with new rules, restrictions and costs for the people who live there.

FOX News [4/23/2026 2:32 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 37576K] reports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to push for wildfire relief funding, marking a rare moment of cooperation after months of clashes. Bass shared a photo on X showing her and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger meeting with Trump and senior administration officials in the Oval Office. Bass and Barger said the meeting included a "positive discussion" about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding and rebuilding efforts following last year’s Palisades and Eaton fires. "This afternoon we met with President Trump and Administration officials to advocate for families who lost everything," they said in a joint statement. "We had a very positive discussion about FEMA and other rebuilding funds as well as the support of the President to continue joining us in pressuring the insurance companies to pay what they owe – and for the big banks to step up to ease the financial pressure on L.A. families.". "Our job is to fight for our communities," they added. "When it comes to this recovery, our federal partners are essential, and we are grateful for the support of the President.". The meeting comes after a yearlong standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration over wildfire recovery funding and the federal government’s role in rebuilding efforts. The fires scorched more than 37,700 acres — which is larger than Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios combined — and destroyed more than 16,200 structures. The fires caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, and rebuilding efforts are ongoing as residents navigate insurance claims and rising costs. FEMA announced more than $3 billion in aid last June, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom later sought $33.9 billion in additional federal funding, according to the Los Angeles Times. More recently, Newsom criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over delays in releasing more than $500 million in FEMA funding tied to wildfire recovery. Bass, who has clashed with the Trump administration in recent months, including over immigration enforcement protests in Los Angeles, drew criticism from some online following the meeting. Reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, who is running for mayor, mocked Bass on social media, posting "MAGA KAREN" in response to the Oval Office photo and accusing her of aligning with Trump ahead of the election. He added, "Karen Bass sold her soul to Trump in a last-ditch desperation move ahead of the election LMAO.". [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [4/22/2026 1:32 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports searchers found the body of one of the six missing crew members from a cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon and were looking for the rest, hoping they might have made it to a life raft. U.S. Air Force divers used an underwater drone on Tuesday to search inside the overturned ship, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. Divers from Japan’s coast guard further examined the ship, called the Mariana, but didn’t find the other five, it said. “Coast Guard aircrews continue to search for the five missing crewmen and an orange 12-person life raft in the vicinity of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,” the news release said. The National Weather Service said Super Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest tropical cyclone this year, was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (241 kph) when it made landfall last week in the Northern Mariana Islands, which, like Guam to the south, are a U.S. territory. The Coast Guard and agencies from Guam, Japan and New Zealand have covered more than 99,000 square miles (256,000 square kilometers) in their search for the crew, the guard said this week. That’s an area roughly the size of Oregon. The ship notified the U.S. Coast Guard on April 15 that the U.S.-registered vessel lost its starboard engine during the typhoon and needed assistance. The guard said it lost contact with the ship the next day. “Our hearts are with the families of the Mariana crew members and the communities impacted by this tragic incident,” Cmdr. Preston Hieb, the search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard Oceania District, said in the statement.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [4/22/2026 1:22 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 70643K] r

DefenseScoop [4/22/2026 6:30 PM, Drew F. Lawrence, 150K] reports invoking the immortal words of Victorian-era scribe Charles Dickens, the Coast Guard’s top uniformed leader said Wednesday “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” for the service — a conflicting duality wrought by a lengthy legislative jam and unprecedented funding. Fueled by $25 billion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July, the single largest investment in the service’s history, the Coast Guard has “beg[u]n to emerge” from a “readiness crisis” that was decades in the making, commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said at the Sea-Air-Space symposium. Less than a year later, the service has already obligated more than one-third of that sum for new assets and plans to commit more than $22 billion by year’s end. Cutters, boats, aircraft, infrastructure and technology, such as unmanned tools in tandem with its nascent robotics rate, are teaming with cash amid the Coast Guard’s ambitious revamp known as Force Design 2028. The fiscal 2027 budget request calls for billions and billions more for the service. But amid the spring of subsidized hope, there is a cold-snap of congressional despair.

Federal News Network [4/22/2026 5:16 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports Sean Plankey, the pick to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is withdrawing from consideration after his nomination to be CISA director languished in the Senate for 13 months. In a letter to the White House Presidential Personnel Office today, Plankey asked to have his nomination withdrawn. President Donald Trump first nominated Plankey last March. The pick had broad support within the cybersecurity community. Following his confirmation hearing, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to advance Plankey’s nomination last July. But Plankey’s nomination ran into a series of holds in the Senate. Most recently, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) placed a hold on the nomination, reportedly over Plankey’s role as a senior advisor within the Coast Guard. Trump re-nominated Plankey early this year, but his nomination continued to face hurdles in the Senate through the spring. The agency has been without a permanent leader since the start of the second Trump administration. CISA is being led by acting director Nick Andersen, who joined the agency last fall to serve as executive assistant director for cybersecurity. CISA has also been operating under a partial government shutdown since Feb. 14. Roughly 60% of the agency’s staff was furloughed until Mullin recalled DHS employees to work earlier this month. CyberScoop [4/22/2026 4:15 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports Plankey’s request comes weeks after the Senate confirmed MarkWayne Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security, CISA’s parent agency. “The Nation and Department of Homeland Security Secretary MarkWayne Mullin requires a confirmed director of CISA without further delay,” Plankey wrote, adding thanks to Trump himself. “While I humbly request the removal of my nomination, I wholeheartedly support President Trump’s upcoming nomination for CISA and look forward to the continued success of the United States of America.” Plankey’s nomination was considered dead by most at the end of last year. His renomination this year caught many by surprise, with CBS reporting the paperwork filing was an accident. The White House denied that.

Reported similarly:
Politico [4/22/2026 3:36 PM, John Sakellariadis and Dana Nickel, 21784K]
NewsMax [4/22/2026 6:24 PM, Sam Barron, 3760K]

New York Times [4/22/2026 5:16 PM, Dustin Volz, 148038K] reports President Trump’s long-stalled pick to lead a key U.S. cybersecurity agency, Sean Plankey, withdrew his name from Senate consideration on Wednesday, saying it had become clear to him that lawmakers would not confirm him. In a letter sent to the White House, Mr. Plankey requested that President Trump remove his nomination to head the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. The move comes as CISA has endured steep cuts as part of the administration’s broader effort to downsize the federal government since Mr. Trump took office. CISA, part of the Department of Homeland Security, plays a central role in coordinating cybersecurity efforts between the government and the private sector. It has long struggled to attract talent, a problem that current and former officials have said has worsened because of the cuts and lack of certainty over who will lead the agency. Mr. Plankey’s nomination hit a series of roadblocks shortly after Mr. Trump first chose him early last year. Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, had placed a hold on Mr. Plankey, which people familiar with the issue have said was not related to cybersecurity issues.

New York Post [4/22/2026 5:24 PM, Ryan King and Priscilla DeGregory, 40934K] reports DC pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole Jr. appeared emotionless in court Wednesday as he pleaded not guilty to new terrorism charges. Cole, 30, showed up in federal court wearing tan jail clothes and glasses, as he was read a new indictment charging him with one count of attempt to use weapons of mass destruction and one count of an act of terrorism while armed — on top of the two bomb charges he previously faced. Prosecutors claim Cole, of Woodbridge, Va., planted two homemade explosives stashed in backpacks outside of the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in the nation’s capitol the night before the Jan. 6 riot. The bombs never went off. The new indictment alleges that Cole was attempting to "influence policy" and "intimidate and coerce a significant portion of the civilian population" with his bombing plan.

Washington Examiner [4/22/2026 8:00 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K] reports the man accused of planting pipe bombs near the headquarters of both major political parties ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protest pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to newly filed terrorism-related charges. Brian Cole Jr., 30, appeared in federal court wearing tan jail clothing and glasses, showing little emotion as he entered his plea. When asked how he pleaded, Cole responded, "Not guilty.". A superseding indictment by a grand jury charged Cole on April 15 with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and committing an act of terrorism while armed. Those charges are in addition to earlier counts alleging transportation of explosives across state lines with intent to kill or damage property and attempted destruction using explosive materials. The Justice Department says Cole, a resident of Woodbridge, Virginia, planted two homemade explosive devices in backpacks outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the night of Jan. 5, 2021. The devices did not detonate. According to the indictment, Cole’s alleged actions were intended to "influence policy" and "intimidate and coerce a significant portion of the civilian population," language that underpins the government’s terrorism charge. Cole was arrested roughly five years after the incident at his parents’ home. Authorities say he later admitted involvement during an interview with investigators, telling them he became "bewildered" by conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 presidential election and that he "snapped" after watching events unfold. If convicted on the most serious charge, Cole faces a possible life sentence. He remains in custody pending trial. Defense attorneys have pointed to Cole’s lack of criminal history and have said he has been diagnosed with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder. They have also mounted a broader legal challenge to the case. Last month, Cole’s lawyers filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges, arguing he should be covered under President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons issued to some individuals connected to Jan. 6-related offenses. That motion remains pending before the court. In the motion, Cole’s attorneys accused the Trump administration of targeting "a Black man" as one who will "go down in history as the only alleged, accused January 6-related individual to serve not only a jail sentence, but to serve the rest of his life in prison.". Meanwhile, Cole’s defense has floated a theory that another suspect may have planted the bombs centered on former Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff, arguing in court filings that she was investigated by the FBI as a person of interest during the same period the FBI began looking into Cole. An April 1 defense filing referenced investigative steps taken by agents, including interviews, surveillance, and a polygraph examination, and his lawyers are seeking to obtain related materials through subpoenas under Rule 17(c) as part of their trial preparation.

ABC News [4/22/2026 4:28 PM, Bill Hutchinson, 34146K] reports a 56-year-old Louisiana man is facing federal charges for allegedly supplying an assault-style pistol that Shamar Elkins is suspected of using to kill eight children, including seven of his own, in a shooting in Shreveport over the weekend, officials said. Charles Ford of Shreveport was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and making false statements about the firearm to federal agents assisting in the investigation of Sunday’s massacre, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana. He faces a total of up to 20 years in prison if convicted of both charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Elkins, 31, died after leading police on a chase following the mass shooting in Shreveport that also left two women hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Keller said investigators probing how Elkins obtained the weapon were led to Ford through information they obtained from the original purchaser of the weapon. According to a criminal complaint, the agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Shreveport police investigators traced the weapon to a woman whom they said originally purchased it. The woman, whose name was not released, told investigators that she gave the gun to Ford, according to the complaint. If convicted, Ford faces up to 20 years in prison: 15 years for allegedly being a felon in possession of a weapon, and five years for allegedly making false statements to investigators, according to the statement. The victims were identified by the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5. Smith said Elkins, a former member of the Louisiana Army National Guard, allegedly used the assault-style pistol to kill seven of his children and an eighth child related to him. A teenage boy and a woman were also injured when they jumped off the roof of a house to escape the shooting, police said. Smith said domestic violence is believed to be the primary motive behind the killings, but police are continuing to investigate what exactly drove Elkins to allegedly commit the massacre. The chief said two women, including the mother of seven of the children who were killed, were wounded. Smith said the second woman, who was found wounded in home on Harrison Street in Shreveport, was Elkins’ girlfriend. However, during Monday’s news conference, the chief said it remained unclear if the officers fatally shot Elkins or whether he died by suicide.

Bloomberg Government [4/22/2026 8:05 AM, Ken Tran, 111K] reports the House Appropriations Committee released a $47.3 billion to fund national security programs and the State Department Wednesday, as House lawmakers look to move quickly on their fiscal 2027 funding bills. The National Security-State bill is roughly a 6% decrease, or $2.7 billion, from fiscal 2026 levels, according to a House Republican summary. The House Appropriations National Security-State Subcommittee plans to mark up the bill Thursday, with a full committee markup Tuesday, April 28.

Los Angeles Times [4/22/2026 6:20 PM, Steve Fisher, 12718K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that her government was never informed that CIA agents would be participating in the raid of a clandestine drug lab, an incident that comes amid growing tension between the U.S. and Mexico on how to battle cartels. According to sources familiar with the operation, the incident involved four CIA agents, raising questions about the scope of the agency’s activity in Mexico. The Sunday raid was at least the third time this year that CIA operatives joined authorities in the northern border state of Chihuahua in an operation against a drug target, the sources said. The agents in Sunday’s raid were dressed in Chihuahua State Investigative Agency uniforms to blend in with Mexican officials, said people familiar with the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. A CIA spokesperson said the agency could not comment. U.S. agencies, including the CIA, regularly provide intelligence for Mexican police and the military, but participation in law enforcement operations by foreign agents is outlawed by the Mexican Constitution. President Trump has repeatedly suggested U.S. forces could take action against cartels in Mexico — even designating various cartels as foreign terrorist organizations — but Sheinbaum has strenuously rejected any intervention, saying it would violate Mexican sovereignty. The involvement of the CIA reflects the Trump administration’s increasing demands for results in the fight against cartels on Mexican soil, said the people familiar with the operation. Sheinbaum, citing the need for bilateral cooperation, said that "any relationship with the United States government" — especially issues regarding security — must be channeled through Mexico’s federal government, specifically the ministry of foreign affairs. But cooperation, she said, should not extend to foreign agents operating in Mexico. "This is a requirement enshrined in both the Constitution and the law," she said.

CBS News [4/22/2026 5:16 PM, Olivia Gazis, 51110K] reports that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that she is considering possible sanctions against the government of Chihuahua — a state bordering Texas — for allowing CIA agents to participate in an operation to dismantle drug laboratories because any security collaboration with the U.S. should be approved by Mexico’s federal government. Sheinbaum’s comments come after days of contradictions of several authorities following the death of two U.S. officials in a vehicle crash over the weekend as they returned from destroying a clandestine drug lab in northern Mexico. The two Americans killed in the crash were employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, multiple people familiar with the matter told CBS News. The CIA declined to comment. "There cannot be agents from any U.S. government institution operating in the Mexican field," the president stated during her morning news briefing. She noted that such activities are not part of the current security protocols or the formal understanding between the two nations. Sheinbaum said the federal government is still investigating a potential violation of national security laws in the still-murky incident. Two Mexican investigators also were killed in the crash, which Mexican authorities said occurred while the convoy was returning from an operation to destroy drug labs of criminal groups.

FOX News [4/22/2026 9:48 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 37576K] reports that Iran reportedly opened fire upon three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre noted that a container ship was fired upon by an IRGC gunboat near Oman Wednesday, causing "heavy damage to the bridge." "No fires or environmental impact reported. All Crew reported safe," the notice said. Another UKMTO warning said "an outbound cargo ship" west of Iran reported "having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water." The notice said the crew was safe and accounted for. "There is no reported damage to the vessel," it added. Iranian media said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was bringing two ships to Iran after seizing them in the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Associated Press. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) command claimed in an X post that the two vessels, the MSC-Francesca and Epaminodes, "had endangered maritime security by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems." It said the vessels "were seized by the IRGC Navy and escorted to Iran’s coast," according to a translation. "Disruption of order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is our red line," the command wrote. It also claimed the MSC-Francesca is "linked to the Zionist regime." Iranian media also reported that the IRGC attacked a third ship, identified as the Euphoria, according to the AP. The development comes after President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that the United States was extending a ceasefire. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [4/22/2026 8:21 AM, Staff, 2238K]

Los Angeles Times [4/22/2026 6:06 PM, Gavin J. Quinton, 12718K] reports Iranian forces attacked three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, stoking an already tense standoff in the Persian Gulf as a U.S. naval blockade strains Tehran’s economy and pressures its divided leadership to return to peace talks. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it seized two ships and damaged a third after the vessels "ignored repeated warnings." British maritime monitors confirmed the incidents, describing one cargo ship left disabled in the water and another that took heavy damage to its bridge. "Disrupting order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is considered a red line for Iran," the Iranian Navy Command said in a statement. Hours before, President Trump confirmed he would maintain the naval blockade in the gulf, but agreed to give Iranian leaders additional time to agree on a new peace proposal, he wrote in a Truth Social post. "Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal," Trump wrote Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was "departing the administration, effective immediately." Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will become acting secretary of the Navy, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said. No reason was given for Phelan’s sudden departure. More than a dozen American warships have prevented exports from leaving Iranian ports since peace talks in Islamabad failed earlier this month. The tactic has greatly constrained Iranian oil exports — about 90% of which flow through the Strait of Hormuz — contributing to rising inflationary pressure.

NewsMax [4/22/2026 10:24 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 3760K] reports that President Donald Trump signaled Wednesday that a second round of talks between the United States and Iran could take place as soon as Friday, as Pakistani officials pointed to ongoing mediation efforts aimed at restarting negotiations. "Good news" about renewed discussions may come within the next "36 to 72 hours," sources in Islamabad told the New York Post on Wednesday, citing what they described as positive diplomatic engagement with Tehran. Asked about the potential breakthrough, Trump responded in a text message to the newspaper that "It’s possible! President DJT." The update comes as Trump is giving Iran’s warring internal factions a short window to unify behind a coherent counteroffer or risk the collapse of the ceasefire he extended Tuesday, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Axios. U.S. negotiators believe a deal to end the war and address Iran’s remaining nuclear program is still achievable, but officials have growing concerns about whether anyone in Tehran has the authority to agree to terms. "We saw that there is an absolute fracture inside Iran between the negotiators and the military — with neither side having access to the supreme leader, who is not responsive," a U.S. official said. U.S. officials first identified those divisions after the initial round of talks in Islamabad, when it became clear that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi and his deputies had rejected key elements discussed by Iran’s civilian negotiators.

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