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

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

CBS News [4/3/2026 10:16 PM, Joe Walsh, 51110K] reports President Trump on Friday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to find a way to pay "each and every employee" of the agency, which has faced an almost two-month-long shutdown due to a congressional impasse, leaving thousands without paychecks. The president’s memo directs DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to "use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS." It does not list out the specific funding sources that DHS plans to tap, or the exact legal justification for moving those funds around. "This callous treatment of DHS employees must end in order to ensure that America is not susceptible to security threats and maintains readiness to respond to emergencies," he wrote, blaming Democrats for the shutdown. "As President of the United States, I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security.” Mr. Trump previewed the move on Thursday, writing on social media that he will "soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security.” The memo estimates that over 35,000 DHS employees haven’t been paid, including civilian Coast Guard employees and staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency. Other DHS staff have received paychecks as the Trump administration has attempted to move money around, including Secret Service agents and active-duty Coast Guard personnel. Employees of two immigration-focused agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — have been paid through funding in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Last week, Mr. Trump directed Transportation Security Administration officers to be paid through similar means, after absences by TSA officers led to hourslong airport lines. DHS has been shut down since mid-February due to a dispute over immigration enforcement policy. Following the deadly shooting of two Americans by immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, congressional Democrats have opposed funding ICE and CBP without policy changes, but the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement on reforms. A path forward has emerged over the last week, after Senate Democrats and Republicans approved a bill to fund the bulk of DHS while carving out ICE and parts of CBP, allowing most of the agency to reopen. House Republicans initially rejected that plan, but earlier this week, GOP leadership in both chambers indicated they plan to pass most DHS funding through that route. Then, they plan to fund the rest of DHS — ICE and CBP — through the Senate’s reconciliation process, which allows spending bills to be passed with a simple majority without Democratic support. The House has not yet taken action on the Senate’s bill to fund most of DHS. The Hill [4/3/2026 10:39 PM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports that a majority of DHS’s nearly 272,000 employees are deemed essential and must continue working when the government shuts down, according to an agency contingency plan published in September. Although most Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have started receiving pay under Trump’s earlier executive order, employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Coast Guard and other agencies say they are still waiting. “Their families have suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal ‘Leaders,’ Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and Hakeem ‘High Tax’ Jeffries.” Trump wrote in a Thursday post on Truth Social. “Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” he added. The move eased pressure on airports, which had seen major backlogs at security checkpoints and lines stretching several hours at some of the nation’s busiest airports. But it also took some of the pressure off lawmakers, effectively erasing the outside nudge often needed to bring both sides to the negotiating table. With both chambers out for Easter recess, the shutdown is dragging on with little end in sight.

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New York Times [4/3/2026 10:55 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, 148038K]
New York Post [4/3/2026 7:09 PM, Victor Nava, 40934K]
Bloomberg [4/3/2026 6:08 PM, Hadriana Lowenkron, 18082K]
Reuters [4/3/2026 6:09 PM, Ismail Shakil and Douglas ​Gillison, 38315K]
Reuters [4/3/2026 6:24 PM, Staff, 3760K]
NBC News [4/3/2026 7:11 PM, Kyla Guilfoil, 42967K]
USA Today [4/3/2026 9:47 PM, Marc Ramirez, 70643K]
Univision [4/3/2026 9:11 PM, Staff, 4937K]

Bloomberg Industry Group Bloomberg Tax [4/3/2026 10:28 AM, Angélica Franganillo Diaz, 50K] reports the Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request proposes initial steps to privatize the Transportation Security Administration. The proposal includes a $52 million reduction for TSA tied to requiring smaller airports to enroll in the Screening Partnership Program, an existing system under which private contractors—paid by TSA—handle passenger screening. The administration said airports already using the program have demonstrated cost savings compared with federal screening operations. The budget request, which signals the administration’s priorities for the coming year, would accelerate a years-long push among some Republicans to reduce TSA’s federal footprint and rely more heavily on private operators, a model the White House and supporters argue improves efficiency. "The move would yield cost savings compared to Federal screening and begin reform of a troubled Federal agency," the budget proposal says.

New York Times [4/3/2026 2:08 PM, Annie Karni, 148038K] reports that in the year since the Justice Department charged her with assaulting immigration agents outside an ICE detention facility in Newark, Representative LaMonica McIver, Democrat of New Jersey, has tried to present an unflappable face. “This process has not stopped me from doing my job,” she told supporters outside a New Jersey courthouse in October. “It is not going to stop me from doing my job.” But the reality is that the case against her by the Trump administration — a test of executive power pitted against a first-term member of Congress who faces the possibility of a 17-year prison sentence — has made it very difficult for Ms. McIver, 39, to carry out her responsibilities. Her life has been consumed by a case, now playing out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, that most of her colleagues and the public have put in the rearview mirror. Yet its outcome could carry major legal implications. Ms. McIver, who was charged with “assaulting, resisting or impeding” federal officials after she was involved in the chaotic confrontation outside Delaney Hall in May, has refused to consider a plea deal. Instead, she is seeking to have the case against her thrown out, arguing that the Constitution’s “speech-or-debate clause,” which protects members of Congress from legal liability when they are conducting legislative business, protects her from prosecution. There is little legal precedent for such a claim. When members of Congress have been charged with crimes in the past, the allegations have generally involved corruption, bribery or sexual harassment. And legislative immunity has often been defined narrowly by the courts.

CBS News [4/3/2026 3:57 PM, Melissa Quinn, 51110K] reports officials from 23 Democratic states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to block President Trump’s latest executive order that aims to restrict mail voting, arguing the directive unconstitutionally attempts to interfere with states’ administration of elections. The lawsuit, led by California, was filed with the U.S. district court in Massachusetts. It asserts that neither the Constitution nor any federal law gives the president the power to mandate widespread changes to states’ electoral systems or voting procedures. The executive order at the center of the challenge was signed by Mr. Trump on Tuesday, months before the November midterm elections, and lays out new requirements related to mail voting. The directive calls for the Department of Homeland Security to compile "State Citizenship Lists" of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in federal elections and requires the U.S. Postal Service to send mail or absentee ballots only to voters on each state’s list. Mr. Trump’s measure also lays out specific requirements for mail ballot envelopes, including requiring them to bear a unique barcode for tracking. States and localities that don’t comply with the executive order are at risk of losing federal funding. The directive has already been challenged by a coalition of major Democratic groups, which accused Mr. Trump of attempting to rewrite election rules for partisan gain.

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Detroit Free Press [4/3/2026 1:26 PM, Paris Barraza, 4749K]

Washington Examiner [4/3/2026 3:37 PM, Rena Rowe, 1147K] reports Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is urging the Department of Homeland Security to increase security for the upcoming 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, citing heightened global tensions amid the war with Iran. The draft is scheduled to take place in the Steel City from April 23 to 25 and is expected to draw more than 700,000 fans, with over 50 million viewers projected to watch across television and digital platforms. In a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Fetterman called the draft "one of the most iconic sporting events held each year" and requested an elevated federal security posture. The request comes as the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran for more than a month, raising concerns about possible security risks for large public gatherings. Amid the escalation, Fetterman emphasized the need for increased federal support for the draft.

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FOX News [4/3/2026 3:51 PM, Jackson Thompson, 37576K]

The Washington Times [4/3/2026 12:00 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports that two people accused of being part of a plot to plant bombs at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida were born to illegal immigrants in the U.S., making them birthright citizenship babies, the Department of Homeland Security said. Alen Zheng is accused of trying to damage government property with a destructive device, and his sister Ann Mary Zheng is charged with being an accessory after the fact, stemming from a bomb plot last month. They are American citizens by dint of their birth on U.S. soil to parents who have been living in the U.S. illegally for decades, DHS said. The parents, Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, sneaked into the U.S. at some point and in 1993 requested asylum, but it was denied. They were ordered deported in 1998 but never left, despite multiple failed attempts to reopen their case. After the bomb plot, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took custody of the parents. The bomb was apparently planted on March 10 in an attempt to damage or destroy the base’s visitor center. The device wasn’t discovered until March 16. The siblings flew to China on March 12. Ann Mary Zheng was then arrested last month upon returning from China. Her brother is believed to still be in China. Prosecutors said they were attempting to secure his return. Ms. Zheng is being represented by the public defender’s office, which declined to comment. Breitbart [4/3/2026 12:35 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports federal investigators allege that on March 10, 2026, a bomb threat at MacDill Air Force Base was called into the police. Investigators said Alen Zheng made the call, though no IED was found at the time. Two days later, the Zhengs left the U.S. for China. On March 16, six days after the Zhengs allegedly planted the IED, an Air Force service member discovered the bomb. The following day, Ann Mary Zheng flew back to the United States from China and was arrested by authorities. Her brother, Alen Zheng, is believed to still be on the run in China. Alen and Ann Mary Zheng’s parents are Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, illegal aliens from China who were both ordered deported from the United States in 1998. The couple had their two children in the U.S., despite being illegal aliens, and therefore, their children were given birthright citizenship — anchoring their parents in the United States for decades. "Automatically granting citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. is based on a historically inaccurate interpretation of the Citizenship Clause and poses a major national security risk," DHS’s Lauren Bis said in a statement: “That reality became apparent last week when two U.S.-born children of Chinese illegal aliens were indicted for planting a potentially deadly explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. This incident underscores the severe national security threat that illegal immigration and birth right citizenship pose to the United States.”

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Daily Wire [4/3/2026 4:03 AM, Mary Margaret Olohan, 2314K]

FOX News [4/3/2026 3:34 PM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] reports the parents of the suspects connected to the foiled explosive attack outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida last month are illegal immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security announced, adding that the case underscores the dangers of birthright citizenship. ICE agents took the parents, identified as Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, into custody on March 18, days after their son, Alen Zheng, allegedly planted an explosive device outside the base. Officials said the parents illegally entered the United States and applied for asylum in 1993, but an immigration judge denied those claims and ordered both Zheng and Zou removed from the U.S. in 1998. The Board of Immigration Appeals denied multiple attempts by the pair to reopen their case, but they remained in the U.S. for decades despite the removal order. The arrests add a new dimension to the case, as the Trump administration argues it underscores national security risks tied to birthright citizenship, an issue now before the Supreme Court. Their children — Alen Zheng and his sister, Ann Mary Zheng — were both born in the U.S. and are citizens. Federal authorities allege Alen Zheng planted an improvised explosive device outside the MacDill Air Force Base visitor center in Tampa on March 10, while his sister later helped cover up the crime. Prosecutors said Ann Mary Zheng "assisted after the fact" and tampered with evidence to hinder her brother’s arrest. Federal investigators believe Alen Zheng fled to China and remains there. His sister was arrested after returning to the U.S. through Detroit. The explosive device, described by officials as potentially "very deadly," failed to detonate and was discovered six days later by an Air Force airman.

FOX 13 Tampa Bay [4/3/2026 1:47 PM, Lindsey Gimbert, 37576K] reports the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the arrest of the undocumented immigrant parents of the MacDill bomb plot suspects. According to the DHS, Immigration and Customs enforcement arrested Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, the parents of Ann Mary Zheng and Alen Zheng. The siblings are accused of planting an IED at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa on March 10, selling the car they used to transport it there, then fleeing to China. Ann Zheng was taken into custody when she returned to America, accused of aiding her brother in his escape. Authorities believe her brother, Alen Zheng, is still in China. ICE apprehended both parents on March 18, and remain in custody, accused of illegally entering the U.S. at an unknown place. Due to birthright citizenship laws, the siblings were granted U.S. Citizenship due to them being born in the U.S. "Automatically granting citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. is based on a historically inaccurate interpretation of the Citizenship Clause and poses a major national security risk. That reality became apparent last week when two U.S.-born children of Chinese illegal aliens were indicted for planting a potentially deadly explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida," said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. "This incident underscores the severe national security threat that illegal immigration and birthright citizenship pose to the United States," Bis said.

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Blaze [4/3/2026 5:30 PM, Rebeka Zeljko, 1556K]

FOX News [4/3/2026 3:27 PM, Preston Mizell, 37576K] reports Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is calling on Trump administration officials and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership to testify before a commission he created targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations conducted in the state. Pritzker sent a letter to White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, border czar Tom Homan, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, acting ICE director Todd Lyons, former DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, and Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott among others. The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital and signed by former Clinton-appointed Judge Rubén Castillo for U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and chairman of the Illinois Accountability Commission, calls on recipients to testify at public hearings on April 27 or April 28. The White House blasted Pritzker, telling Fox News Digital that the commission is nothing more than a "political stunt" for the Illinois governor to try to boost his name for a potential presidential run.

New York Times [4/4/2026 7:12 AM, Eileen Sullivan, Hamed Aleaziz, Megha Rajagopalan, and Pranav Baskar, 148038K] reports as President Trump searches the world for countries willing to accept thousands of migrants deported from the United States, he is finding that some of the most receptive leaders are strongmen, autocrats and human rights abusers. American diplomats are under such pressure from the White House to cut deals that they have put nearly everything on the negotiating table, records show: The United States will pay foreign security forces, ease visa restrictions or tariffs, finance public health services and even reconsider a country’s placement on U.S. watch lists. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office, in a February cable seen by The New York Times, coached diplomats on how to extract initial offers. “If you are willing to take more individuals, then we can potentially provide more support,” was one suggested line. “Without making any promises, what do you have in mind?” was another. The cable put no constraints on whom the United States could negotiate with. Regarding a list of unspecified “Countries of Concern,” American diplomats were told that accepting migrants “can help a country improve its relationship with the United States.” The negotiations show how Mr. Trump has turned mass deportation, one of his signature domestic initiatives, into a central part of American foreign policy.

USA Today [4/4/2026 5:05 AM, Eduardo Cuevas, 67103K] reports the deportation of a Guatemalan mother and daughter who were detained before boarding a flight raises new questions about how the Trump administration is using government databases for immigration enforcement. The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration reportedly notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her 9-year-old daughter, both of whom had final removal orders, had an upcoming March 22 domestic flight from San Francisco International Airport. That night, plainclothes ICE officers detained them at the California airport, seen in viral videos circulated on social media. Immigrant rights groups say the detention of Lopez-Jimenez, 41, and her daughter marks a new phase in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, which is relying in part on an array of government data to identify undocumented people it deems deportable. Critics worry the federal government is building surveillance systems that know too much about everyday people. “We have moved into an era in which the government can have total knowledge of every single individual,” said U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-California, who represents Contra Costa County where Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter lived. He pointed to the administration’s plans to use IRS tax data, along with Medicaid and Medicare rolls, to identify undocumented people. “They’re using those databases to identify individuals for, in this case, apprehension and to be deported, regardless of what they have done in the United States,” Garamendi said.

Federal News Network [4/3/2026 6:11 PM, Jory Heckman, 1297K] reports the Trump administration is once again pursuing deep spending cuts for most federal agencies. The White House’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal, released Friday, would cut discretionary spending at 10 Cabinet-level agencies and increase the discretionary budgets for the remaining five. Overall, the Trump administration is proposing a 10% cut to nondefense discretionary spending — a $73 billion reduction. The White House says it would prioritize programs for veterans, seniors and law enforcement, and target "woke, weaponized and wasteful programs.” A Republican-controlled Congress rejected most of the Trump administration’s plans for deep spending cuts in a comprehensive spending plan for fiscal 2026, settling instead on a more modest reduction in spending that reflected a shrinking federal workforce. According to the budget request, it will cost USDA more than $25 million to dispose of the South Building and consolidate employees to the nearby Jamie L. Whitten and Sidney R. Yates Federal Buildings. However, the Trump administration said relocating many of USDA’s headquarters employees to regional hubs "will bring USDA closer to the Americans it serves and eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic layers, honing in on the Administration’s priority to increase the efficiency of the federal government.” The White House proposes privatizing airport screening by the Transportation Security Administration at small airports. The FY 2027 budget plan would require small airports to enroll in the Screening Partnership Program. Under this program, TSA pays for private screeners at designated airports. These private security personnel have been paid on time throughout an ongoing partial government shutdown impacting the Department of Homeland Security, and airports in the program have not yet seen the surge in sick-outs and resignations that occurred when TSA employees were not getting paid on time.

FOX News [4/3/2026 2:30 PM, Madison Colombo, 37576K] reports that White House "border czar" Tom Homan said the administration will continue its immigration enforcement efforts despite Pam Bondi’s departure from the attorney general’s office. Homan joined "The Will Cain Show" Thursday following President Donald Trump’s announcement of Bondi’s firing to discuss the Cabinet shakeup, and how he expects her replacement won’t "skip a beat." "The president’s already set the priorities on immigration enforcement," Homan said. "You’re [going to] see arrests go up. You’re [going to] see more worksite enforcement operations coming. So you’re [going to] see a ramp-up in immigration enforcement in this country," he added. Trump confirmed Bondi’s exit Thursday on Truth Social, saying she would be "transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector." She had been a key figure in implementing the president’s agenda to remove illegal immigrants with criminal records. "I wish Pam Bondi the best, and I think Todd Blanche will step up. Won’t skip a beat. I think they’ll keep that train on the track. We’ll keep moving forward," he said of Blanche, now serving as acting attorney general. Homan said he was not "in the loop" on Bondi leaving, but said he has her personal cell phone number and that they speak "quite a bit."

The Washington Post [4/3/2026 8:58 PM, Natalie Allison, 24826K] reports that, after ousting two of his highest-profile Cabinet members from their posts, President Donald Trump is considering making more changes to his administration’s top leadership, according to advisers — a decision that would accelerate the once-slow pace of his second-term staff departures. But Trump, who sought to avoid high-profile departures during the first year back in the White House — often publicly standing by Cabinet members even as they faced scrutiny — is also reluctant to engage in a large-scale shake-up of his Cabinet, and in some cases has pushed to counter reporting that he has soured on certain officials. NBC News [4/3/2026 9:03 PM, Matt Dixon and Peter Nicholas, 42967K] reports that in less than a month, Trump removed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The shake-up has spurred the possibility that the president’s desire to project stability among his top appointees has passed, and more changes are coming in the near future. "I expect something in terms of the next several weeks, and the president is mulling both changes and reorganizations," said a person directly familiar with Trump’s thinking, who added that they didn’t know who could be next. Nothing, of course, is certain, and individuals who are in his favor may suddenly find themselves out, and vice versa. It’s a stark departure from Trump’s previous term. Among those who have been at the center of public controversies or missteps are Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, each of whom has received varying degrees of public backlash for personal scandal or decisions their agencies have made. Lutnick has been caught up in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, forced to explain why he appears multiple times in the late convicted sex offender’s files and why he visited his private island. Lutnick has said he "did not have any relationship with him.” "He’s been on the rocks off and on," a Trump adviser said of Lutnick’s standing. The adviser said he’s also fallen out of favor with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. "I don’t think she is a big fan," a second Trump ally familiar with the White House’s thinking said. "That can be a problem if the administration is in reset mode.” A White House spokesperson said that Trump continues to support his administration officials. "President Trump has the most talented cabinet and team in American history," White House spokesman Davis Ingle. "Patriots like DNI Gabbard, Secretary Lutnick, and Secretary Chavez-DeRemer are tirelessly implementing the President’s agenda and achieving tremendous results for the American people. They continue to have the President’s full confidence.”

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New York Times [4/3/2026 9:52 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Julian E. Barnes, 148038K]
FOX News [4/3/2026 11:39 AM, Paul Steinhauser and Patrick Ward, 37576K]

FOX News [4/3/2026 10:47 AM, Alex Miller, 37576K] Video: HERE reports President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Attorney General Pam Bondi tees up another whirlwind confirmation in the Senate, and some in the upper chamber are already drawing lines in the sand. The Senate confirmed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month after a sprint to elevate him from lawmaker to Cabinet official following Kristi Noem’s firing. Lawmakers will again be tasked with confirming Bondi’s replacement in the coming weeks. While Trump has selected Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) on an interim basis, speculation is swirling over who he will tap as the next attorney general. Whoever he picks will have to go through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in an interview with CNN that the next nominee must align with his views on the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. "The threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they say one thing that excused the events of January 6," Tillis said. "I’ve been very clear on that. So I hope whoever they have in mind to follow General Bondi is very clear-eyed about my position on January 6." "That’s why I didn’t support two other nominees who were coming through the Judiciary Committee, and I won’t support any nominee who thinks any element of January 6 was excusable," he continued. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [4/3/2026 6:18 PM, Justine McDaniel, 12718K] reports President Trump is requesting $152 million from Congress to begin "rebuilding" the prison on Alcatraz Island for operational use, though his administration appears to have taken few steps toward advancing the project. The request, in the president’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, resurrects Trump’s attention-grabbing concept of converting the crumbling site — which has stood as a piece of history for more than 60 years — into a working federal prison. But the Bureau of Prisons on Friday said it had no new information to share about the potential project and no updates about whether assessments that the agency had said it launched last year had been completed. A spokesperson said the bureau was "moving forward, evaluating, and formulating the actions necessary" and pointed to a May 2025 statement from bureau director William K. Marshall pledging to "vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda.” The funding request was included in Trump’s budget proposal, which provides Congress with a look at the administration’s priorities ahead of the next fiscal year. Congress makes the ultimate funding decisions for the government. Creating a working prison on the San Francisco Bay island would be extremely costly, the administration’s critics say, and would raise questions about its fate as a historic site that draws more than a million tourists a year. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said Friday she would attempt to block Trump’s proposal in Congress by any means possible, calling it "a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars.” "Alcatraz is a historic museum that belongs to the public, and San Franciscans will not stand for Washington turning one of our most iconic landmarks into a political prop," she said in a statement.

USA Today [4/4/2026 6:02 AM, Alaina Jackson, 67103K] reports President Donald Trump attempted to end birthright citizenship in his first week in office when he issued Executive Order 14160, targeting children born on American soil and challenging a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment since 1868. In doing so, he reopened a wound that many of us know all too well: the question of who deserves to belong. The executive order, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," takes aim at the very clause that granted formerly enslaved people, for the first time, full and equal citizenship. Although Trump’s executive order was quickly challenged and remains under injunction ‒ the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 1 ‒ its premise echoes a long lineage of exclusion, a lineage rooted in the belief that American belonging must be earned through the approval of those already in power. As a Black American whose citizenship is inherited through the legacy of slavery, I live within a paradox. My ancestors did not migrate here seeking the promise of America ‒ they were America’s coerced foundation. Their forced labor, survival and resistance are the soil from which my citizenship grows. I did not have to "qualify" for this country because this country was built on the backs of my ancestors. As a Black American whose citizenship is inherited through the legacy of slavery, I live within a paradox. My ancestors did not migrate here seeking the promise of America ‒ they were America’s coerced foundation. Their forced labor, survival and resistance are the soil from which my citizenship grows. I did not have to "qualify" for this country because this country was built on the backs of my ancestors. These systems persist today. The same culture of validity that once deemed enslaved Africans as property now manifests in policies that police belonging, drawing invisible lines around who counts and who doesn’t. In that sense, the current birthright citizenship debate is less about law – which clearly states that birthright citizenship is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution ‒ and more about memory: who America chooses to remember as its rightful heirs.

USA Today [4/4/2026 4:01 AM, Dace Potas, 70643K] reports that, on April 1, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Trump administration’s reinterpretation of birthright citizenship, and it became clear that the justices, per usual, would not be swayed by outside pressures. Every justice on the court expressed some level of skepticism about the administration’s position. In this case, some of the outside pressures came from inside the courthouse, in the form of President Donald Trump actually attending the oral arguments, becoming the first sitting president to attend an argument session at the nation’s highest court. Trump has been a vocal critic of many of the justices throughout his second term, particularly Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, two of his own appointees who ruled against him in the tariff case in February. The president’s attendance strikes me as another attempt to drive pressure on the justices. Supreme Court skeptical of Trump’s birthright citizenship argument. Trump’s frustrations with the Supreme Court come because they are not a branch he can pressure through his traditional avenues. They do not respond to his insults, threats or other forms of pressure, certainly not in the same way elected representatives do. At the outset of his second term, Trump attempted to reinterpret birthright citizenship to exclude both the children of undocumented immigrants and "birth tourists." Such a stance had few supporters, even among legal conservatives. In 2025, the matter of birthright citizenship was before the Supreme Court, but on a procedural question of whether lower courts could issue "nationwide injunctions" blocking the policy from taking effect anywhere in the country. The justices partially sided with the administration there but declined to address the policy’s merits. Almost a year later, the court has finally taken up the underlying policy, and Trump appears no more likely to succeed than he has at any point of the past year. Solicitor general John Sauer had a rough day at the office, receiving pointed questions from nearly all of the justices. Much of the discussion centered around the original public meaning of the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, and whether that was understood to include the children of undocumented immigrants or those temporarily present in the United States. "It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution," Chief Justice John Roberts quipped in response to Sauer’s arguments about the differences in the immigration landscape from the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868 and now.

FOX News [4/3/2026 8:52 AM, Preston Mizell, 37576K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has started the deportation process for an alleged MS-13 gang member from El Salvador who had been released into the United States a decade ago and was considered a "non-criminal" alien despite being wanted for a pastor’s murder in his home country. Danny Granados-Garcia was arrested by the FBI last month, and Fox News Digital has learned that he is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody facing imminent removal. "Thanks to ICE, this MS-13 gang member wanted for murdering a pastor in his home country is off Connecticut streets," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. "This is an example of an arrest the media counts as a ‘non-criminal’ because he lacks a rap sheet in the United States." "This is an insane categorization and just one example of the countless ‘non-criminals’ who are public safety threats that ICE is removing from our communities every single day," Bis added. "70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S." DHS says Granados-Garcia was released by the Obama administration in 2016 near the Rio Grande Valley, Texas Border Patrol Sector. The Salvadorian national attempted to enter the U.S. claiming he was an unaccompanied minor, despite being over the age of qualification for such status. ICE officers apprehended Granados-Garcia as part of a focused enforcement operation with multiple agencies conducted in Waterbury, Connecticut, on March 10. "Danny Antonio Granados-Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was in the U.S. with an active El Salvadorian arrest warrant for aggravated homicide — wanted for the alleged murder of a pastor," FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X following the arrest. DHS told Fox News Digital that the Salvadorian will remain in ICE custody until he is deported.

ABC News [4/3/2026 1:45 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports that an internal inspection report by Immigration and Customs Enforcement found dozens of safety and security violations at the country’s largest migrant detention center during a recent visit. Inspectors with ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight found 49 deficiencies at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, during a three-day visit. Of those, 22 violations involved "use of force and restraints," and included failing to document incidents, failing to provide medical exams after physical altercations, and failing to record incidents on video. The report, however, said that none of the 49 detainees inspectors randomly interviewed made allegations of discrimination, mistreatment, or abuse. The federal inspection of the facility, which opened in 2025, comes amid concerns from lawmakers and immigrant advocates about the treatment of detainees being held there as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Three people have died at the $1.2 billion facility, including a Cuban immigrant whose death was ruled a homicide by the local medical examiner. In a statement in January, the DHS said the detainee was pronounced dead after "experiencing medical distress." A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said that ICE has recently hired a new contractor and is "always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody."

Bloomberg [4/3/2026 12:14 PM, Patricia Hurtado and Alicia A. Caldwell, 18082K] reports wome of the undocumented immigrants who were separated from their family members during President Donald Trump’s first term in office have been detained again and are being held in violation of a 2023 federal court settlement, the ACLU said in a court filing. The American Civil Liberties Union asked a judge this week to order the release of seven people who have been taken into custody again and targeted for deportation after they were first incarcerated in 2018 during a widely condemned crackdown on crossings at the US southern border. The individuals have now been detained for periods ranging from a week to more than eight months, with most held for three or more months, said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU lawyer who is representing the immigrants. The ACLU said the government has provided weak justifications, or none at all, for holding the migrants. “Detaining these already-traumatized families is not only unlawful but shows a callous disregard for how the US government deliberately abused them in the past,” Gelernt said Thursday. Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had no immediate comment. The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Los Angeles Times [4/3/2026 10:56 AM, Tim Sullivan, 12718K] reports the Afghan man had fled the Taliban for refuge in upstate New York when U.S. immigration authorities ordered him deported to Uganda. The Cuban woman was working at a Texas Chick-fil-A when she was arrested after a minor traffic accident and told she was being sent to Ecuador. There’s the Mauritanian man living in Michigan told he’d have to go to Uganda, the Venezuelan mother in Ohio told she’d be sent to Ecuador and the Bolivians, Ecuadorians and so many others across the country ordered sent to Honduras. They are among more than 13,000 immigrants who were living legally in the U.S., waiting for rulings on asylum claims, when they suddenly faced so-called third-country deportation orders, destined for countries where most had no ties, according to the nonprofit group Mobile Pathways, which pushes for transparency in immigration proceedings. Yet few have been deported, even as the White House pushes for ever more immigrant expulsions. Thanks to unexplained changes in U.S. policy, many are now mired in immigration limbo, unable to argue their asylum claims in court and unsure if they’ll be shackled and put on a deportation flight to a country they’ve never seen. Some are in detention, though it’s unclear how many. All have lost permission to work legally, a right most had while pursuing their asylum claims, compounding the worry and dread that has rippled through immigrant communities. And that may be the point.

Washington Post [4/3/2026 5:00 AM, Emmanuel Martinez and Marianne LeVine, 24826K] reports federal immigration officers continued to target large numbers of immigrants with no criminal record in the weeks after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed in Minneapolis, newly released government data shows, despite statements from Trump administration leaders indicating they wanted to take a more targeted approach. White House border czar Tom Homan said in late January that “all operations will be targeted” and prioritize “criminal aliens, public safety threats and national security threats.” President Donald Trump said he wanted to see “a softer touch” following the unrest in Minneapolis. The shift in rhetoric came as polls indicated that a growing majority of Americans thought the administration had gone too far in deporting undocumented immigrants. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Deportation Data Project indicates that arrest numbers have dropped. ICE averaged about 7,000 arrests a week in the six weeks since Alex Pretti was shot and killed on Jan. 24 — down from 9,000 earlier in January. But a Washington Post analysis of the data shows that people with no criminal record still make up the largest share of those detained. In all, 42 percent of those detained in the six weeks after Pretti’s death had no criminal record. That is a slight drop from the six weeks that preceded his death, when that figure was 46 percent. Thirty percent had prior convictions and 29 percent had pending charges in the latter weeks.

USA Today [4/3/2026 2:03 PM, Ignacio Calderon, John Heasly, and Suhail Bhat, 70643K] reports all through 2025 and into the first weeks of this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that the number of immigrants it detained rose and rose. Then, the lights went out. ICE has delayed publication of key data that allowed the public to track many aspects of immigration detention since the partial government shutdown started over six weeks ago, defying a congressional mandate to release this data twice a month. The last time the agency updated the numbers was Feb. 12, just days before the partial shutdown began over the funding of its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. This puts it among the three longest delays between releases. After previous negotiations fell through, Congressional Republicans on April 1 announced a plan to end the partial shutdown by funding all of DHS, except for ICE and Border Patrol, but the deal had not been finalized as of April 2. DHS has not updated several dashboards since President Donald Trump took office in 2025. So, this data, ICE’s Detention Statistics, has become an important tool to see how the new immigration-enforcement policies are playing out. It shows how many people are held in detention, the facilities they are held in, and how long they stay in the system.

Breitbart [4/3/2026 2:18 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal alien MS-13 gang member, wanted for murdering a pastor in his native El Salvador, in the sanctuary state of Connecticut. On Friday, ICE agents announced the arrest of Danny Granados-Garcia, an illegal alien MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, on March 10 in Waterbury, Connecticut. Granados-Garcia is wanted for murder in his home country. "Thanks to ICE, this MS-13 gang member wanted for murdering a pastor in his home country is off Connecticut streets. This is an example of an arrest the media counts as a ‘non-criminal’ because he lacks a rap sheet in the United States," the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Lauren Bis said: “This is an insane categorization and just one example of the countless ‘non-criminals’ who are public safety threats that ICE is removing from our communities every single day. 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S.” Granados-Garcia sought to cross the United States-Mexico border on May 6, 2016, as an Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) near the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, but was apprehended by Border Patrol agents. Granados-Garcia was subsequently released into the United States interior. ICE officials said he will remain in their custody pending deportation.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [4/3/2026 8:52 AM, Preston Mizell, 37576K]

FOX News [4/3/2026 11:18 AM, Michael Ruiz, 37576K] reports that a suspected child rapist from Guatemala who could have been released without bail under New York law was instead sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in a move that skirted the state’s sanctuary policies while keeping him off the streets for months before prosecutors secured an indictment, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. "Two progressive reforms...had to be navigated deftly to hold the defendant responsible for his alleged horrific crimes," District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement. Due to the state’s controversial policies, prosecutors weren’t even allowed to ask the judge to set cash bail or bond on the initial charge of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the DA’s office. And because of the state’s 2020 "Protect Our Courts Act," ICE agents could be subject to prosecution if they arrested the suspect at the courthouse following his no-bail release. "Incredibly, up in Albany right now there are new sanctuary laws currently under consideration that would have prevented us from even talking to federal immigration authorities," Tierney said. "My message to our state legislators and governor is simple – stop protecting the rights of alleged child rapists at the expense of child victims." Carlos Aguilar Reynoso, 27, has now been indicted for the alleged rape of a 5-year-old girl he was supposed to be babysitting while her mother was at work on Feb. 1. Her injuries were severe enough to require surgery, according to prosecutors. Police arrested Reynoso the next day — before the crime lab finished testing the evidence. So he was initially only charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

FOX News [4/3/2026 2:24 PM, Michael Dorgan and Bill Melugin, 37576K] reports that two admitted murderers — including one who is an illegal immigrant — will serve just five years in prison each under a plea deal with a progressive Virginia prosecutor. Maldin Anibal Guzman and Wis Alonso Sorto-Portillo pleaded guilty to the 2024 mob killing of Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez, who was found dead with trauma to his body in Fairfax County, according to police. Both men pleaded guilty to second-degree murder by mob and were sentenced to 25 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, leaving five years to serve, Fox News has learned. A judge accepted the plea agreements. Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano secured the guilty pleas, reducing potential decades-long sentences in a case his office said lacked key physical evidence. Descano’s office defended the agreement, telling Fox News the deal was "the only way to ensure that the defendants were incarcerated." "There was no DNA or any physical evidence at the scene. All witnesses in this case were terrified to come forward or assist with prosecution," the office said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Guzman is an unlawfully present Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2019. ICE said it lodged multiple detainers against Guzman between 2022 and 2023, but the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center declined to honor them and released him from custody. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/3/2026 8:18 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports Virginia angel wife Marla Ingram reacts to Fairfax County murder suspects, including an illegal immigrant, receiving what some call a ‘controversial’ and ‘lenient’ plea deal. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [4/3/2026 4:09 PM, Suzanne Gamboa and Betsy Badell, 42967K] reports NBC News did not see ICE officers or agents at the graduation on Friday. Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Yarbrough, a public affairs officer at the base, said that due to safety protocols he couldn’t confirm from what agency the federal officers who assisted with security checks hailed from. He said federal officers have helped with security at other previous events. Earlier this week, NBC News reported that ICE would be stationed outside Marine Corps graduation events Thursday and Friday to check for undocumented family members. The news upended family plans, elicited national reaction and drew out some protesters, including Marine veterans. Because of the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran, the Marine Corps announced it was tightening security, requiring everyone — including all passengers in cars entering the base, not just the drivers, as is done when security measures are more relaxed — to present REAL IDs, U.S. passports or U.S. birth certificates to access any sites. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson previously told NBC News that any suggestion that ICE would make arrests was false. Still, the announcement drew immediate backlash, and the base tempered its warning to visitors, saying only that "federal law enforcement personnel will be present at installation access points." But by then, word had spread along with fear and concern among immigrant families and their advocates.

Reported similarly:
Telemundo [4/3/2026 8:06 PM, Suzanne Gamboa and Betsy Badell, 2524K]

Chicago Tribune [4/3/2026 7:30 AM, Staff, 5209K] reports with the wind whipping by over the hum of Lenten hymns, community members sat outside Broadview’s U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement Facility yesterday and had their feet washed. Inside the building, more than a dozen detainees did the same. Amid an ongoing court battle over clergy access to the west suburban ICE facility, Catholic ministers entered the building and, in the traditional Holy Thursday ritual, washed the feet of 14 detainees. The access comes after a federal judge earlier this week allowed clergy members from the Chicago area to minister to migrants in the facility during Holy Week and Easter. “This was a moment of light in a time of so much darkness,” the Rev. David Inczauskis, a priest with the Society of Jesus at Loyola University Chicago and one of the four ministers who provided pastoral care to detainees yesterday, said to reporters after entering the facility.

The Hill [4/3/2026 2:18 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service detained a mosque president from Milwaukee who advocated for Palestinian rights, causing local and religious leaders to accuse the agency of detaining him for political reasons. The Islamic Society of Milwaukee also confirmed that ICE detained the man, “our beloved community leader” Salah Sarsour, after he was pulled over while driving Monday. “He was taken out of state to a detention facility in Chicago before being transferred to a detention center in Indiana,” the mosque said in a LaunchGood fundraiser description posted on the mosque’s website. “His family was left scrambling to determine his whereabouts and his condition.” The mosque president’s lawyers have filed a petition seeking his release from the detention center. Sarsour has been a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for more than 30 years. He is Palestinian and was born in the West Bank, his lawyers told The Associated Press. They added that Sarsour’s wife and four adult children are all U.S. citizens. The mosque stated that Sarsour’s arrest was based on “his Palestinian and Muslim background, and his advocacy for Palestinian rights.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that Sarsour “lied” on his immigration forms and accused him of being a convicted criminal.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [4/3/2026 5:30 AM, Staff, 1147K]

New York Times [4/3/2026 9:35 PM, Jazmine Ulloa and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] reports that, months before the immigration arrest this week of a Wisconsin mosque leader, Secretary of State Marco Rubio found him to be a threat to the U.S. foreign policy interest of combating antisemitism, according to federal officials and government records. It appears to be the latest case in which the administration has sought to deport someone who was active in pro-Palestinian causes. Last year, the administration cited similar findings in its actions against two international students who were outspoken supporters of Palestinians. Homeland Security Department officials have described the mosque leader, Salah Sarsour, 53, as a national security threat with ties to terrorist groups and said he had been convicted of crimes by Israel before he was granted entry to the United States in 1993. The agency also said he had lied on his green card application. But Mr. Sarsour’s lawyer, Munjed Ahmad, said that his deportation paperwork said only that he was a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Mr. Ahmad said the government had not provided his client with a reason it had opened an investigation into his immigration application years after approving his lawful residency. He also said the government had not produced any evidence or information to back up its terrorism allegations. “It is all smoke and mirrors,” he said. “This is nothing but an attempt to silence pro-Palestinian voices.” The arrest of Mr. Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, drew immediate condemnation from mosque leaders and national Muslim advocacy groups, who saw it as part of a broader, politically motivated campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian voices in the United States. Mr. Sarsour, who has a green card and has no criminal record in the United States, had lived and worked in the country for more than three decades without incident. He is now being held at a detention facility in Indiana. “I can’t say if he did or did not commit green card fraud, but he has been here for 30 years with no problems — why are they looking now?” said Deborah Fleischaker, who worked in various roles at the Homeland Security Department under the Obama, Biden and first Trump administrations. “This kind of backward-looking assessment without some clear trigger for that assessment — it is not something that I am aware of being done previously.” Homeland Security officials have provided various explanations for Mr. Sarsour’s arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 30. In a statement on Thursday, Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said that Mr. Sarsour had been convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of members of the Israeli armed forces and of illegally trying to possess weapons and ammunition in the 1990s. On Friday, she added that Mr. Sarsour had “failed to disclose his criminal history on multiple immigration applications.” A D.H.S. news release also said he was “suspected of funding terror organizations.” D.H.S., the State Department and the Justice Department all declined to describe or provide any details about the allegations. A government document obtained by New York Times says Mr. Sarsour first submitted an application for an immigrant visa in 1992 at the American consulate in Jerusalem but was initially denied the ability to enter the United States based on his criminal convictions in Israel. He was admitted into the United States through Chicago a year later, as a conditional resident, and he obtained a green card in 1998, according to the document.

Reported similarly:
Daily Wire [4/3/2026 2:13 PM, Zach Jewell, 2314K]

New York Times [4/4/2026 3:21 AM, Jazmine Ulloa and Hamed Aleaziz, 330K] reports that, months before the immigration arrest this week of a Wisconsin mosque leader, Secretary of State Marco Rubio found him to be a threat to the U.S. foreign policy interest of combating antisemitism, according to federal officials and government records. It appears to be the latest case in which the administration has sought to deport someone who was active in pro-Palestinian causes. Last year, the administration cited similar findings in its actions against two international students who were outspoken supporters of Palestinians. Homeland Security Department officials have described the mosque leader, Salah Sarsour, 53, as a national security threat with ties to terrorist groups and said he had been convicted of crimes by Israel before he was granted entry to the United States in 1993. The agency also said he had lied on his green card application. But Mr. Sarsour’s lawyer, Munjed Ahmad, said that his deportation paperwork said only that he was a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Mr. Ahmad said the government had not provided his client with a reason it had opened an investigation into his immigration application years after approving his lawful residency. He also said the government had not produced any evidence or information to back up its terrorism allegations. “It is all smoke and mirrors,” he said. “This is nothing but an attempt to silence pro-Palestinian voices.” The arrest of Mr. Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, drew immediate condemnation from mosque leaders and national Muslim advocacy groups, who saw it as part of a broader, politically motivated campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian voices in the United States. Mr. Sarsour, who has a green card and has no criminal record in the United States, had lived and worked in the country for more than three decades without incident. He is now being held at a detention facility in Indiana. “I can’t say if he did or did not commit green card fraud, but he has been here for 30 years with no problems — why are they looking now?” said Deborah Fleischaker, who worked in various roles at the Homeland Security Department under the Obama, Biden and first Trump administrations. “This kind of backward-looking assessment without some clear trigger for that assessment — it is not something that I am aware of being done previously.” Homeland Security officials have provided various explanations for Mr. Sarsour’s arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 30. In a statement on Thursday, Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said that Mr. Sarsour had been convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of members of the Israeli armed forces and of illegally trying to possess weapons and ammunition in the 1990s. On Friday, she added that Mr. Sarsour had “failed to disclose his criminal history on multiple immigration applications.” A D.H.S. news release also said he was “suspected of funding terror organizations.”

FOX News [4/3/2026 11:31 AM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Brooke Taylor, 37576K] Video: HERE reports federal immigration authorities have detained the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, alleging he concealed a past conviction involving attacks on Israeli targets and lied on his U.S. immigration application. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Salah Salem Sarsour, a leader of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, in a targeted operation earlier this week, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In a statement released Thursday, DHS said Sarsour is a Jordanian national who was previously convicted in Israel for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and attempting to possess weapons and ammunition. The agency alleges he failed to disclose that history on immigration forms and improperly obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States. "Salah Salem Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces. This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the U.S.," said DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [4/3/2026 5:05 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1556K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has shut down a Democrat suggesting that an immigrant had been targeted over his skin color or religious beliefs. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin posted an article about the detention of the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest mosque in Wisconsin, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The report said Salah Sarsour was a legal permanent resident of the U.S. for more than three decades. Local activists accused the Trump administration of targeting pro-Palestinian voices. Atta added that Sarsour’s wife and six children are U.S. citizens. He also claimed that U.S. authorities had known about the arrest by Israeli authorities since Sarsour immigrated to the U.S. in 1993.

Breitbart [4/3/2026 12:54 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal alien–considered a "Palestinian community leader" in Wisconsin–accused of funding terrorist organizations and lying on immigration forms, who was previously convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli Armed Forces members. On Friday, ICE agents announced the arrest of Salah Salem Sarsour, an illegal alien from Jordan, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sarsour is suspected of funding terrorist organizations and lying on immigration forms to gain entry to the United States. Decades ago, Sarsour was denied an immigrant visa to the United States at the American consulate in Jerusalem, Israel, after he was convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli Armed Forces members. Sarsour was also convicted of illegally attempting to possess weapons and ammunition. "Salah Salem Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces," the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Lauren Bis said. "This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the U.S. Thanks to President Trump and ICE, this terrorist is out of American communities. This Administration will always put the safety of the American people first and make America safe again." Sarsour legally entered the United States in 1993 as a conditional resident. DHS officials say he then lied on his application and secured a green card in 1998.

Breitbart [4/4/2026 1:43 AM, Bob Price, 2238K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Texas issued a detainer to Dallas County officials, placing a hold on a Mexican illegal alien accused of slitting his newlywed wife’s throat with a pocketknife. The detainer asks Dallas County law enforcement to surrender the Mexican national to their custody if he is released on bond. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers issued the detainer this week, asking the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office to surrender 24-year-old Francisco Mendez Marin if he is scheduled to be released on bond. Mendez allegedly murdered his wife in Carrollton, Texas, on March 18 by slitting her throat with a pocketknife. The couple was reportedly married a few weeks earlier in February. "This depraved animal murdered his own wife just one month after they were married by brutally slitting her throat with a pocketknife. This illegal alien should have never been allowed into our country to commit this heinous murder," said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. "ICE requested authorities in Dallas to not release this cold-blooded killer onto the streets. Thankfully, Dallas politicians cooperate with ICE, so together we can ensure this murderer is NEVER loose in American communities.” Fox 4 News in Dallas reported that police responded to a domestic disturbance at an apartment in Carrollton at about 4:40 a.m. on March 18. Police officers found a woman, 20-year-old Karla Rangel, lying on the floor. She was not breathing and was bleeding from a knife wound to her throat. Police found Mendez, whose clothes were bloodstained, and another man who has not been publicly identified. Mendez was reportedly holding a bloody pocketknife, Fox 4 reported. The Mexican national reportedly told police, "I didn’t do anything bad." He added, "I was obligated to do it.” Police arrested Mendez and transported him to the Carrollton City Jail. He was later transferred to the Dallas County Jail. Mendez, described by ICE as an Illegal Alien, is charged with the murder of his wife. He is being held in the Dallas County jail without bond. It is not clear when or where the Mexican national illegally entered the United States.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [4/3/2026 2:37 PM, John Binder, 2238K]
FOX News [4/3/2026 4:46 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K]

New York Times [4/3/2026 8:18 PM, Jesus Jiménez, 148038K] reports an inspection in February of Camp East Montana in Texas, one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers, found dozens of violations of national standards, including instances that may have exposed detainees to illnesses and uses of force that were not documented, a new report found. The findings come after calls from lawmakers to close the detention facility, and after the Department of Homeland Security said in March that it was reviewing its contract for Camp East Montana amid reports of poor conditions at the facility, where at least three people have died in custody. The inspection, which was carried out by the agency over three days in February and included interviews with 49 detainees, found that there were at least 49 overall “deficiencies” from national standards at the camp. Of all the deficiencies, 22 involved use of force and restraints, and five involved issues related to medical care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement defines use of force as “physical actions” necessary to control or restrain a detainee when other “reasonable efforts” have failed. The findings at the detention center, which opened in August last year at the military base Fort Bliss in El Paso, were released online this week by ICE. Randall Kallinen, a lawyer representing the family of a detainee who died at Camp East Montana in January, said on Friday that the findings of the report were not particularly surprising, given the reports that have previously emerged about conditions. “Even though ICE was looking at ICE, they still found 49 deficiencies,” Mr. Kallinen said. Victor Manuel Diaz, whose family is represented by Mr. Kallinen, died on Jan. 14 after staff at the facility found him “unconscious and unresponsive in his room,” ICE said in a statement at the time. The agency said that Mr. Diaz, 36, died of “a presumed suicide,” but the official cause of death was still being investigated. In recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security has faced calls from lawmakers to shut down the camp entirely. In February, two dozen Democratic members of Congress wrote a letter to Kristi Noem, then the homeland security secretary, and Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, asking them to close the detention center. The lawmakers cited the deaths of at least three detainees at the facility, as well as reports of poor meals, sewage backups and a lack of regular access to legal help. The review of the facility was led by ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight. It was the first time that team had inspected the facility. In one instance, a detainee with symptoms resembling tuberculosis was not taken to an isolation room, a move that could have prevented the spread of illness, the report stated. Earlier this year, at least 13 cases of measles were reported at the facility, prompting those detainees to be quarantined. The report also found instances where workers at the facility used force on detainees and then failed to properly document those episodes.

CBS News [4/3/2026 7:18 PM, Marissa Armas, 51110K] Video: HERE reports it’s been a grueling seven months for Ella Salazar since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained her husband, Omar Salazar. "It was really hard," said Ella Salazar. "It felt, for a little bit, like I was just kind of in a panic attack 24-7.” Now, Ella Salazar is preparing to leave her life in Texas behind and move to Mexico to be with Omar. This week, an immigration judge denied Omar’s request to remain in the United States, ruling he did not meet the legal standard to avoid deportation, despite being married to a U.S. citizen. The couple married while Omar was detained. Ella Salazar said she had to break the news about the decision to Omar. "Obviously, it’s not the decision we wanted, but it was something that we knew was a possibility," Ella Salazar told CBS News Texas. "Kind of just needed a day to be sad, but today, it feels a lot more hopeful, a lot more at peace.” ICE detained the community leader and SMU alum during a traffic stop last August, after visiting Ella in Lubbock. He was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a child but didn’t qualify for asylum or DACA. His attorneys tell CBS News Texas that his case was complicated, having been transferred among three different judges, with a ruling delayed since February.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [4/3/2026 3:22 PM, Staff, 19K] reports a man faces the absence of his wife during one of the most important moments of their lives: the pregnancy of their first child. His wife is currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is experiencing pregnancy complications. Sucel Velázquez-Reygada, 26, is of Cuban origin and lived in San Antonio under political asylum. Her husband, Jorge, is a permanent resident of the United States. Velázquez-Reygada was arrested on October 21, 2025, during an appointment with ICE and it was at the detention center where she discovered she was pregnant. She is currently seven months pregnant, and her pregnancy is classified as high risk due to heart complications and other conditions, according to medical documents.

FOX News [4/3/2026 7:00 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports Attorneys in Colorado are claiming that the state’s court e-file system is requiring them to certify they won’t share personal information to assist ICE or federal immigration enforcement. Multiple attorneys on X reported an electronic notification citing the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act, a state law passed in 2025 that prohibits collection or disclosure of information pertaining to immigration status in health care, education and government. Covenant Law founder Ian Speir posted screenshots of an alleged electronic form that he was required to accept to access Colorado’s court filing system. The page in question is not public-facing and appeared to be only accessible by attorneys registered in Colorado, Fox News Digital’s review of the website revealed. "I certify under penalty of perjury that I will not use or disclose personal identifying information, as defined by [the act] obtained from this database for the purpose of investigating for, participating in, cooperating with, or assisting in federal immigration enforcement, including enforcement of civil immigration laws and 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1325 or 1326, unless required by federal or state law or to comply with a court-issued subpoena, warrant, or order," the message says, asking attorneys to "accept" or "decline.” "Colorado is now requiring lawyers in the state, as a condition of logging into its court e-filing system, to promise not to cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law," Speir said in response on X. Speir added he doesn’t practice immigration nor criminal law, and nothing in his cases would be relevant to the law. But he "cannot log into the state’s official e-filing system without saluting ‘The Resistance’.”

Univision [4/3/2026 7:10 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports they don’t know the country. They have no family there. And yet, the U.S. government has deported them to a destination that does not appear in its official documents, leaving thousands of undocumented immigrants in limbo. Such was the case of a Guatemalan woman who, next to her 4-year-old daughter, fled the extreme violence of her country. In an interview with the AP, she reported that in 2024, during her transit to the United States, she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a gang on the border with Mexico. Subsequently, she discovered that she was pregnant, sought refuge in the United States in the hope of rebuilding her life, but months later, in an immigration court in San Francisco, that hope became fear. A lawyer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not ask for his deportation to Guatemala, but to countries that are completely foreign to him: Ecuador, Honduras or even Uganda, places he had never heard of. His case illustrates an increasingly common practice in Donald Trump’s immigration policy: the possibility of sending asylum seekers to third countries unknown to them, leaving thousands of people in legal limbo. For thousands of asylum seekers, the possibility of being sent to a third country is a real order. There are dozens of cases, like an Afghan man who was sent to Uganda; a Cuban woman who worked at a restaurant in Texas was deported to Ecuador and dozens of stories that could be added to the list.

AP [4/3/2026 1:48 PM, Isabella Aldrete, 35287K] reports that the Trump administration reversed decades of immigration policy last summer when it determined that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must lock up everyone facing deportation, even if they’ve lived in the country for decades and have no criminal record. But on Tuesday, a federal court in Nevada ruled against the policy, saying it violates federal law and causes "irreparable harm" to those who are arrested. The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II, is the first time a class-action lawsuit in Nevada has overturned a Department of Homeland Security policy, and it could affect hundreds of people, allowing upward of 60 people per week to seek release in Nevada. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada, one of the petitioners in the case, said it could allow potentially thousands of immigration detainees to seek release on bail and applies to qualifying immigrants throughout the state. The ruling signals a massive success for immigration advocates in Nevada, who have been pushing back against increasing local government collaboration with ICE. Since President Donald Trump has stepped back into office, immigration arrests have skyrocketed in Nevada, and most of those arrested have not had a violent criminal past. The state is also home to one of the most over-capacity detention centers in the country.

FOX News [4/3/2026 10:55 AM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports that Montana’s attorney general is demanding a county reverse a policy whereby the state’s top cop denies Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to criminal justice data, warning the position is unlawful and undermines coordination with federal law enforcement, as a top local official pushed back. Montana banned sanctuary cities under Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s pen in 2021, and that policy also allows Attorney General Austin Knudsen to enforce compliance and investigate alleged aberrations under threat of civil action against any such state agency or local or county government. Knudsen notified Gallatin County — anchored by the city of Bozeman — that its policy stance is "legally incorrect" and that Big Sky Country is not Big Sur. "Let me be clear: Montana is not California. This state does not embrace policies that isolate law enforcement partners or undermine the enforcement of duly enacted federal law," Knudsen will write to Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell. When presented with the text of an email sent from her aide to county law enforcement stating the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office does "not legally recognize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a law enforcement agency entitled to receive Confidential Criminal Justice Information (CCJI)," Cromwell’s office responded several hours later with a lengthy release stating in part that "there is no blanket policy in Gallatin County prohibiting cooperation with ICE or any federal agency, nor is there a policy restricting the sharing of information."

Los Angeles Times [4/3/2026 7:25 PM, Ruben Vives, 12718K] reports three sisters in Big Bear Lake are bracing for the unimaginable — losing both parents. The girls’ mother has been battling Stage 4 brain cancer and is in hospice with only a short time left to live. And now, their 49-year-old father, Armando Gonzalez, a local handyman, is facing the threat of deportation after he was detained by federal immigration agents in Big Bear Lake this week. The Gonzalez sisters could not immediately be reached for comment, but they’ve explained their predicament on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe where they are trying to raise money to provide legal assistance to their father so that he can be home with his wife. "These last few months with her are precious, and we are terrified that his detention will prevent him from being by her side during this incredibly difficult time," the sisters wrote on the site. In an interview with Big Bear Television, two of the sisters, Adriana Gonzalez, 20, and Citlalli Montes, 26, said federal immigration agents detained their father on Big Bear Boulevard shortly before 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Adriana Gonzalez said she was asleep when she got the call that her father was being detained, prompting her to storm out of the house without shoes. She said her father’s truck was left abandoned and that he was nowhere to be found. The sisters told ABC7-TV that their father, who works as a handyman and house cleaner, is being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, which has been under scrutiny from lawmakers, immigrant rights organizations and the Mexican government amid allegations of inhumane conditions and mistreatment and death of immigrants. At least four Mexican nationals have died at the detention center. The sisters believe their father did not have a final removal order or a warrant for his arrest and that he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. In an email response to The Times, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Gonzalez was a "criminal illegal alien from Mexico convicted of public order crimes.” They said he entered the U.S. at an unknown date and will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings. "Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S." the statement read, referring to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

New York Times [4/4/2026 5:00 AM, Miriam Jordan, 148038K] reports one Nigerian doctor performed knee and hip replacement surgeries at a New York teaching hospital. A Venezuelan physician treated people with diabetes and hypertension in rural Texas. A U.S.-trained ophthalmologist from Iran can no longer perform eye surgeries in Arkansas. All three physicians have been forced to stop seeing patients after they were pushed out of their jobs because of a Trump administration policy that took effect in January and froze visa extensions, work permits and green cards for citizens of 39 countries as well as people with Palestinian Authority travel documents. The fallout of the move, which stemmed from a December travel ban, is expected to be most pronounced in rural areas that have long had a dearth of doctors, and in communities with large populations of older Americans coping with chronic conditions. The disruption comes amid a broader immigration crackdown as the Trump administration has detained undocumented people, reduced refugee admissions and tightened visa scrutiny, among other measures. “This was a big swipe at immigration without regard for particular categories of immigrants, like physicians, who are desperately needed,” said Andrew Wizner, a lawyer who represents medical institutions that hire foreign doctors. In response to questions, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement that decisions on cases involving immigrants from “high-risk countries” had been placed on hold “to ensure they are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

Blaze [4/3/2026 12:25 PM, Andrew Chapados, 1556K] reports that Oracle employees have been laid off as part of a "broader organizational change," with data revealing that the company has looked to hire thousands of foreign workers. The software company, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is going through a huge transition as it prepares to back its infrastructural push toward artificial intelligence — reportedly at the cost of thousands of jobs. Oracle cut thousands of jobs this week, a number that has not been narrowed since CNBC confirmed with insiders on Tuesday. The company may have already been looking ahead, however, as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data shows that Oracle has already filed thousands of petitions for H-1B visas in the past two years. According to immigration services, the H-1B program allows employers to "temporarily employ foreign workers" for specialized skills. The federal data hub shows that Oracle America Inc. filed for 2,690 visas for fiscal year 2025, which covers Oct. 1, 2024 to Sep. 30, 2025. At the same time, for fiscal year 2026, the company appears to have made 436 requests. If that number holds, the total through September 2026 will be 3,126. Immigration services says petitioners can file for H-1B visas "no more than six months before the employment start date.”

Los Angeles Times [4/4/2026 6:00 AM, Gustavo Arellano, 14672K] reports I’m the beneficiary of birthright citizenship three times over. My maternal grandmother, Marcela Fernández, was born in 1914 in an Arizona copper town to parents who fled the Mexican Revolution before returning to their mountain pueblo in Zacatecas. She relocated to the country of her birth in the early 1960s with my grandfather, José Miranda, after frost and drought ruined the family farm in their hometown of El Cargadero. My Mama Chela’s U.S. citizenship allowed all her children to come here legally. One of them was my mother, María de la Luz. As a permanent resident, Mami could easily travel back and forth between Anaheim and El Cargadero when others had to wait for years for visas or come into el Norte without papers. One of them was my father, Lorenzo Arellano. When my parents married in 1977, my mother legalized his status. They became U.S. citizens in the mid-1990s, joining my three siblings and me — all born in los Estados Unidos — as Americans in the eyes of the law. For my family, having kids who were U.S. citizens by birth was never about exploiting loopholes or taking advantage of taxpayers. It’s what naturally happens when immigrants seek a better life. It gave multiple generations the assurance that we couldn’t easily be deported, unlike others we knew who didn’t have the good fortune to be born here. That security allowed us to do everything immigrants and their children are supposed to do: buy homes, build careers, contribute to civic life and love this country. I’ve never once taken it for granted, especially as friends and family members have lived for decades in a terrible limbo over their legal status. Birthright citizenship immeasurably helped my family’s American dream. So, yeah, I’m especially offended that President Trump and his lackeys want it dead.

New York Times [4/3/2026 5:01 AM, Nailah Morgan, 148038K] reports the pathway to building a career in the United States for many highly educated and skilled foreign workers was once clear: Earn a degree from an American university or college, and then be recruited by a company willing to sponsor one of the 85,000 H-1B visas awarded annually to fill specialized roles and grant work status for up to six years. Now that reliable route is shifting as the Trump administration has made fundamental changes to the way the visas are granted. The New York Times spoke to three international workers caught in the middle: an Indian woman who, after receiving her master’s degree in biotechnology from Northwestern University, struggled to find a company that would sponsor her for temporary employment; a Chinese-Mongolian marketing analyst in New York who was laid off and is now hustling to find an employer to sponsor her visa; and a Taiwanese software engineer in Seattle who dealt with anxiety because of shifting immigration policies amid widespread tech layoffs. The H-1B program allows U.S. companies in major industries like technology and medicine to submit visa applications for foreign candidates, who are then entered into a lottery system. Though the visa program has been around since 1990, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began using a random selection process in 2013 to handle the surplus of applications. Since then, demand has continued to soar.

Telemundo Amarillo [4/3/2026 5:09 PM, Staff, 2K] reports five undocumented immigrants are detained in the Las Minas area of ​​Laredo, Texas. According to the Laredo sector Border Patrol, it all began as a routine check on a pickup truck in the Mines Road area by Border Patrol agents from west Laredo. Five undocumented immigrants were found hidden among clothes, according to the report. The driver, a U.S. citizen, was arrested.

USA Today [4/3/2026 1:59 PM, Dana Taylor, 67103K] reports in Big Bend, Texas, residents across party lines are voicing strong opposition to the Trump administration’s plans for a new border wall, arguing it would disrupt communities and threaten a beloved region along the Rio Grande. USA TODAY National News Reporter Lauren Villagran traveled to Big Bend and joins The Excerpt to share their concerns. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

San Diego Union Tribune [4/3/2026 4:27 PM, Noelle Harff, 1257K] reports a new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) surveillance towers from General Dynamics has been deployed along the stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego. General Dynamics uses AI software from PureTech Systems—a Phoenix-based company—which has been trained on years of recordings from previous systems. Using a combination of cameras and radar, these towers can distinguish a human from a cow, as well as a passerby from a potential smuggler. “It was trained to determine: ‘Okay, that person is carrying a long rifle on their back,’ or ‘That person is carrying a large backpack that could contain narcotics,’” explained Mike Wagner, vice president of biometrics, border security and transportation at General Dynamics Information Technology. GDIT is a major business unit of General Dynamics — a $95 billion company — that provides IT services, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence technology to the United States government. The towers are available in two sizes—120 and 180 feet—and can monitor between 6 and 10 miles of terrain, depending on the landscape. A new modular design makes upgrading easier and more cost-effective as technology evolves, Wagner noted. Operating using 5G technology and Starlink satellite communications, the towers can monitor the border 24 hours a day with minimal human supervision. This contrasts sharply with the current reality, in which a single agent sits in front of nearly a dozen monitors, watching over hundreds of miles of desert. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has not disclosed the exact locations or total number of towers; however, the Electronic Frontier Foundation — a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation — has counted at least 585 autonomous surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border. GDIT stated that, to date, it has deployed 203 of its own towers along both the northern and southern borders, covering a surveillance area of ​​566 miles. In San Diego, approximately two dozen autonomous towers are lined up along the border, from the Pacific coast to Rancho del Campo. “This technology automates surveillance, allowing agents to focus on law enforcement, interdiction, and humanitarian missions,” CBP wrote in an email to the Union-Tribune, adding that the towers improve “operational efficiency” and “mission effectiveness.” However, extensive documentation of government reports tells a more complex story, raising doubts about whether this high technology justifies the investment of public funds. “I’ve noticed a cycle,” said Dave Maass, director of research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Maass has been covering border surveillance technology for 25 years. “The Department of Homeland Security or CBP announces a program, gives it a catchy title—like the ‘America’s Shield Initiative’ or the ‘Secure Borders Initiative’—and a few years later, a report comes out from an inspector general, the House Oversight Committee, or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) stating that the whole project was a waste of money.”

Reuters [4/3/2026 5:50 PM, Staff, 38315K] reports President Donald Trump on Friday proposed to begin privatizing airport security operations handled by the Transportation Security Administration, in an effort to save money. The White House budget proposes cutting funding for the federal agency created after the September 11, 2001 attacks by $52 million and would require small airports to enroll in a program in which TSA pays for private screeners. TSA has about 50,000 federal employees who handle ⁠screening at nearly all U.S. airports. Budget documents released on Friday said airports currently using the privatization program have demonstrated savings compared to federal screening operations. In recent weeks, major U.S. airports suffered massive disruptions after TSA security officers went unpaid since mid-February after funding for the workers was halted in a budget dispute. The standoff in Congress led to daily absences of 10% or more of TSA workers and brought chaos and long security lines to U.S. airports. The agency said on Monday the absence rate fell to 8.6% after the security officers were finally paid. Privatization could help remove TSA from congressional funding fights.

CNN [4/4/2026 4:00 AM, Alexandra Skores, Tami Luhby, Rebekah Riess, 19874K] reports President Donald Trump wants the Transportation Security Administration to turn over more airport security screening to private companies, according to his new 2027 budget proposal released Friday. The issue gained traction in recent weeks as many airports across the country saw long lines at checkpoints due to the ongoing partial government shutdown that left TSA employees without paychecks. Trump’s latest push is part of an annual proposal submitted by the Office of Management and Budget to Congress and is a largely symbolic reflection of the president’s priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Friday’s budget proposal suggests the federal government should begin the process of privatizing TSA’s airport security screening. It would require small airports to enroll in TSA’s Screening Partnership Program, under which TSA pays for private screeners. The administration says the move would save $52 million and "begin reform of a troubled Federal agency.” Currently, 20 airports in the United States have private companies operating the security checkpoints under contracts supervised by the TSA. San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Orlando Sanford and 17 smaller airports participate. Privatizing airport security, some in the business argue, makes airport workers and travelers less vulnerable to becoming pawns in congressional fights over policy issues. In recent weeks, private companies were able to avoid the large-scale absences some airports that use TSA staff were struggling with as their employees went unpaid during the partial government shutdown. "These 20 airports are completely oblivious to the government shutdown," Sheldon Jacobson, a founder professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who analyzes data to improve aviation security, said in March. "All operations at the privatized airports are normal because we continue paying our employees during the shutdown," said Nat Carmack of BOS Security, which screens passengers at Tupelo Regional Airport in Mississippi. "Our employees have never missed a paycheck during any of the government shutdowns.” The idea of privatizing parts of the aviation system isn’t new. NAV CANADA has operated Canada’s air traffic control system since it privatized in 1996, and Canada and almost every European country uses private airport screeners. Any US airport also currently has the option to apply for private screening. If approved by TSA, a contract could be issued within a year. TSA would select the company that could take over within six months, according to BOS Security. While airports always have the choice to use private companies for screening, what happens at the checkpoint stays the same, no matter who is operating it, Keith Jeffries, the former TSA federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport and current vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, told CNN. The security screeners with private companies "receive the same type of training as TSA," Jeffries said.

FOX News [4/3/2026 3:20 PM, Ashley J. DiMella, 37576K] reports flight passengers are getting crafty as airports continue to tackle with the "wait gate" fallout from the DHS shutdown that resulted in a shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers. Robert Samuel, the owner of Same Ole Line Dudes, told The Washington Post he’s received a few requests for TSA wait lines. In Houston, Texas, a man began charging $65 an hour to stand in TSA lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. When asked for comment, the airport told FOX 26 it does not endorse any "for-hire" line-standing services. Travelers have been getting creative in trying times. Travelers have faced lines of up to five hours in recent weeks as TSA officers called out of work due to missed paychecks. Now, after working without pay since DHS funding lapsed on Valentine’s Day, officers have told Fox News they’ve begun getting paychecks after President Donald Trump issued an executive order for emergency pay recently.

CBS News [4/3/2026 6:15 AM, Sarah Ploss, Nicole Sganga, Kathryn Krupnik, and Kris Van Cleave, 51110K] reports a key senator is demanding the Transportation Security Administration reverse its decision to let travelers keep their shoes on their feet while passing through airport screening, a controversial policy at the center of a classified security warning — escalating pressure on the agency following months of scrutiny over airport security vulnerabilities. In a letter obtained exclusively by CBS News, Sen. Tammy Duckworth demanded that TSA immediately rescind its "shoes-on" policy, calling it a "reckless act" that may be placing the flying public at risk. The Illinois Democrat, who serves as ranking member of the Senate subcommittee overseeing aviation, warned that the policy was likely implemented "without meaningful consultation with TSA." She cited an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog that found it created a new security vulnerability in airport screening systems. Duckworth’s demand marks the first direct call from a lawmaker to reverse the policy, following CBS News’ reporting on a classified inspector general audit that used covert "red team" testing to identify serious vulnerabilities in TSA screening nationwide. The classified watchdog report found that TSA scanners are unable to effectively screen shoes, raising concerns that threat items could evade detection. But those findings were buried by DHS leadership, according to previous reporting by CBS News. Duckworth writes that the inspector general flagged the issue as urgent in a rare "Seven-Day Letter" to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — but no corrective action was taken. She called that failure "outrageous, unacceptable and dangerous to the flying public." The Guardian [4/3/2026 4:22 PM, Edward Helmore, 81400K] reports that in a letter to Ha Nguyen McNeill, deputy administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Duckworth cited news reports that some scanners can’t scan shoes. The new shoes-on policy was introduced by the former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, Kristi Noem, last July, ending a rule that came into effect after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes. Duckworth, who lost both legs and partial use of her right arm in 2004 when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by an RPG during the second Iraq war, said in a statement that Noem’s decision was a “reckless act” that was “likely without meaningful consultation with TSA”. The TSA and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

NewsMax [4/3/2026 1:28 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports that Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on Friday called on federal aviation officials to immediately reverse a policy allowing airline passengers to keep their shoes on during airport security screenings, citing newly disclosed findings that the change may have created a significant security vulnerability. Duckworth, the ranking member of the Senate subcommittee overseeing aviation, said the policy, implemented in July 2025 under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, was enacted without sufficient coordination and has since raised alarms within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). In a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) leadership, Duckworth said covert testing conducted by the OIG found that certain full-body scanners used at airport checkpoints are unable to effectively detect threats concealed in footwear. The watchdog agency concluded that allowing passengers to keep their shoes on "created a new security vulnerability," according to Duckworth’s letter. The long-standing requirement for passengers to remove their shoes during screening was introduced after the 2001 attempted "shoe bomber" attack, in which a passenger hid explosives in his footwear. Officials have long cited that incident as justification for stricter screening protocols.

CBS News [4/3/2026 7:20 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois on Friday demanded that TSA immediately rescind its "shoes-on" policy, calling it a "reckless act." Nicole Sganga has more details.

New York Post [4/3/2026 9:20 AM, Brooke Steinberg, 40934K] reports as security wait times at many airports return to normal, airports are urging travelers to stop arriving so early — and they warned that arriving too early can actually increase wait times. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have started receiving back pay for working during the government shutdown, but some airports are still seeing people arrive multiple hours before their flights, which they’re saying is no longer necessary. Multiple airports have told flyers to arrive only a few hours before their flights to allow for plenty of time to get through TSA lines. Arriving too early at the airports can ultimately make lines and wait times worse as circumstances are returning to normal, some airports have said. John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio issued a public service announcement on social media telling travelers that the "sweet spot" is arriving 90 minutes before departure. "Showing up too early creates those first-wave lines. Even when lines stretch to ticketing, waits are usually ~45 mins," the post said, adding that this will help "keep things moving." Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas recommended arriving 2.5 hours early for domestic flights and 3 hours for international flights to allow travelers "to go through security and take care of anything pre-security like parking and checking in bags.” "There is no need to line up more than 4 hours before your flight, as this causes congestion in the lines for those flying out sooner," the airport said in a post on X.

New York Post [4/3/2026 3:36 PM, Katie Jerkovich, 40934K] reports travelers flying out of one of Southern California’s fastest airports have been urged to arrive far earlier than they normally would for the next two months as road construction gets underway as part of the upgrade to the new passenger terminal. Hollywood Burbank Airport authorities have revealed that from Monday, travelers should show up at least two hours before their flight to allow from "potential traffic delays." Burbank travelers normally clear Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoints in as little as five minutes at the airport and frequently report curb to terminal taking under an hour. The airport has also avoided the worst of the long lines at other airports due to the partial government shutdown leading to fewer TSA agents turning up for work.

Washington Post [4/4/2026 5:00 AM, Jake Spring and Brianna Sacks, 24826K] reports the Trump administration on Friday outlined the most detailed plans yet for its new Wildland Fire Service, which would overhaul how the nation fights wildfires in the run up to what experts say could be one of the worst U.S. fire seasons in recent memory. As intense drought conditions turn the American West into a tinderbox, firefighters and fire policy experts argue a unified super agency will help the country confront a new era of megafires. But congressional Democrats and public lands advocates warn it could strip away even more employees from land management agencies weakened by the U.S. DOGE Service. The Interior Department launched the Wildland Fire Service in January, combining all firefighting operations previously overseen by the department’s Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Aviation Services and Office of Wildland Fire. On Friday, the administration elaborated how it would operate the new agency for fiscal year 2027, proposing a $4 billion budget and 4,500-person staff. The plan also would fund a new center for centralizing wildfire intelligence. “The legacy approach to Federal wildland fire risk mitigation and response is fractured and has led to significant coordination and cost inefficiencies, which endanger lives, infrastructure, and national treasures,” the budget proposal said. Some experts say the U.S. has entered an era of larger, faster-spreading fires that the old decentralized federal system is no longer equipped to handle. Climate change means fire seasons are growing longer and intensifying droughts, leaving more dried out vegetation that serves as fuel. This year’s extremely dry winter in the Western United States means that the snowpack — the main source of moisture — is at record lows in many places. States such as Arizona and Colorado are seeing major conflagrations unusually early this year, ahead of the normal fire season. That raises the stakes for the new agency.

USA Today [4/3/2026 11:41 AM, Dinah Voyles Pulver, 70643K] reports well above-normal wildfire activity and expanding drought conditions across the nation are fueling concerns about increasing fire danger in the weeks to come. The landscape is "primed for fire," the National Interagency Fire Center said in a recent update. The number of acres burned so far this year – 1,631,840 – is more than twice the 10-year average year-to-date. As of April 2, at least 17,568 wildfires have been reported, compared to an average of about 10,789. Extreme heat and dry conditions have left dead or dried grass and other ready-to-burn plant material across tens of millions of acres, able to support rapid, wind-driven fires, the fire center wrote in one update. Large fires have burned in Florida, North Carolina and Nebraska. One Nebraska fire became the largest in state history after burning along 70 miles, according to NASA. In the northern Plains, a "lack of snowfall and warmer temperatures dating back to October have put us in a precarious position," said Gannon Rush, climatologist at the High Plains Regional Climate Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "We’re now in a situation where we are heavily reliant on having a wet spring. If that doesn’t happen, then it could be a rough year.”

Breitbart [4/3/2026 9:05 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports an official in the Federal Emergency Management Agency reiterated on Friday that he has experienced teleportation multiple times, including to a Waffle House miles away from where he had been. Gregg Phillips, associate administrator for FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, posted on social media and repeated statements that he has teleported, that it really happened and that it is connected his religious beliefs, CNN and New York Times reported. Phillips had mentioned his history of teleportation on several podcasts, including one called "Onward," in which he said that "teleporting is no fun.” "God will not be mocked," Phillips posted on Truth Social. "People can debate me. Question me. Even ridicule what they don’t understand.” "But here’s the real question," he wrote. "What’s harder to believe? That God could move in a moment during a spiritual battle, or Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is coming again? I know what I’ve experienced. I know Who I serve.” The social media post comes after a previous CNN report about Phillips’ comment on a podcast that he had experienced teleportation multiple times. The examples included that his car was once flown through the air to a church and that he was teleported to a location of Waffle House in Rome, Ga., People Magazine reported. "I was with my boys one time and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House," Phillips said on a podcast in 2025. "I ended up at a Waffle House — this was in Georgia — and I end at a Waffle House like 50 miles away," he said. The Times reported that employees at three Waffle House locations within 50 miles of where Phillips was remember seeing him. Phillips said this week that the comments were taken out of context. Earlier this week, in another post on Truth Social, he said that "the word ‘teleportation’ was not mine" and that his comments had been taken out of context while he while discussing treatment for metastatic bone cancer that had spread from his prostate. The podcast episode, he said, was conducted during the "opening days of intensive treatment, heavily medicated, not thinking about future headlines.” "The word ‘teleportation’ was not mine. It was used by someone else in the conversation reaching for language to describe something with no easy name," he wrote. "The more accurate biblical terms are ‘translated’ or ‘transported’ — not new ideas for people of faith.” The Times, CNN and MSNOW also reported that Phillips has a history of spreading baseless conspiracy theories — including election fraud and the discredited "2000 mules" project — and has employed violent rhetoric about politicians and public officials with whom he disagrees. The New York Times [4/3/2026 4:00 PM, Richard Fausset, 148038K] reports that Shastoni Burge has worked for a decade as a Waffle House server in Rome, Ga., much of it on the night shift. She said she was once punched in the face by a customer. She saw someone overdose in the bathroom. One night, a man took all the steak knives and threatened the staff with them. But she has never seen anyone teleport to the place. “I’ve seen it all,” said Ms. Burge, 38. “But I’ve never seen that.” Nor, Ms. Burge said, has she ever laid eyes on Gregg Phillips, a top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who has generated numerous headlines and at least one biting late-night comedy segment for his claim that he once teleported to a Waffle House in Rome, a city of 39,000 people northwest of Atlanta. Indeed, among roughly two dozen workers and regulars interviewed this week at Rome’s three Waffle House locations, none said they were aware of anyone traveling to the 24-hour restaurants by paranormal means, despite their reputation as powerful magnets for the sort of idiosyncratic characters who tend to surf the psychic fringes of the American South. In December, Mr. Phillips, 65, a former top health official in Texas, was appointed to head FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery. The office, with more than 1,000 employees and a budget of nearly $300 million, is central to FEMA’s job of responding to disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and fires. Mr. Phillips was known, at the time, as a proponent of election fraud conspiracy theories, some of which were amplified by Mr. Trump.

AP [4/3/2026 11:51 PM, Staff] Video: HERE reports crews battled a smoky and fast-growing wildfire Friday in windy Southern California that forced some residents to evacuate and a community college to temporarily close its doors. The Springs Fire broke out around 11 a.m. Friday and by the evening had grown to about 6.5 square miles (16.8 square kilometers). The cause of the fire east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County is under investigation. It was not immediately known how many households were under evacuation warnings or orders. With hundreds of people battling the blaze — using helicopters, engines and water tenders — crews started to contain the blaze by Friday night. The fire was burning in a populated — but not densely so — unincorporated part of Riverside County in a recreational area near the city of Moreno Valley, which has a population of roughly 200,000. The city is 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Riverside and 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for San Bernardino and Riverside County valleys through Saturday afternoon, with gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) expected.

Telemundo [4/3/2026 11:46 PM, Staff, 2524K] reports a wildfire producing heavy smoke and spreading rapidly has triggered multiple evacuation orders and alerts this Friday in windy Southern California. The Springs Fire was reported around 11:00 a.m. (local time) on Friday and, by late afternoon, had spread to cover about 5.47 square miles. Fire crews had begun to contain it. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire is located east of Moreno Valley, in Riverside County. It was not immediately clear how many homes are under evacuation advisories or orders. The fire was raging through an unincorporated area of Riverside County, which is populated, though not densely. It has affected a recreational area near the city of Moreno Valley, which has a population of approximately 200,000. The city is located 10 miles southeast of Riverside and 64 miles east of Los Angeles. “It’s windy out there,” said Maggie Cline De La Rosa, public information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Riverside County. Alex Izaguirre, a spokesperson for Cal Fire in Riverside County, said that the wind is "spreading the smoke," which has prompted concerned calls from residents in neighboring towns who can see and smell it. The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the valleys of San Bernardino and Riverside counties through Saturday afternoon, with gusts expected to reach up to 50 miles per hour.

NPR [4/3/2026 1:58 PM, Rachel Treisman, 28764K] reports that President Trump’s dreams of a White House ballroom have highlighted what was once a relative secret: the construction of a military bunker beneath the now-demolished East Wing. The administration started knocking down the East Wing in October to make way for Trump’s long-desired White House ballroom, a project that will cost at least $300 million. The plan has drawn disapproval from members of the public and ire from architectural and conservation groups, one of which sued to block it back in December. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon sided with the National Trust for Historic Preservation this week, when he ruled that construction of the ballroom "must stop until Congress authorizes its completion." Yet, as the White House appeals the decision, Leon is allowing construction to continue for "the safety and security of the White House" — a nod to the administration’s argument that the renovation is about more than aesthetics. That’s backed up in court filings from the case, as well as Trump’s own public comments. "The military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed," Trump told reporters on Air Force One over the weekend.

ABC News [4/3/2026 7:39 PM, Staff, 34146K] Video: HERE reports dramatic images show the Coast Guard rescue five people, including three federal agents, after their boat capsized. The group suffered minor injuries.

NewsMax [4/3/2026 3:11 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports five people, including three federal agents, were rescued Tuesday night after two vessels capsized in rough seas off Isla de Cabras in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, authorities said. The incident occurred shortly after 9 p.m., when U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in San Juan received a report from Puerto Rico Police’s Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA) about a capsized vessel. An urgent marine broadcast alerted nearby boaters, and several agencies launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation. Responding units included a Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium, an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations unit, and a FURA helicopter. A good Samaritan reported spotting a 22-foot overturned vessel with two people clinging to it and gave information to rescuers. A FURA helicopter confirmed the location. As a CBP marine unit approached in seas of about 10 feet, its vessel also capsized, throwing three federal agents into the water. Coast Guard crews were initially unable to reach those in the water due to worsening conditions and the vessel’s position beyond a reef line. Helicopter crews ultimately carried out the rescue. All five were taken to Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport in San Juan, where they were treated for minor injuries. No one remains missing, officials said.

FOX News [4/3/2026 7:10 PM, Alexandra Koch Fox, 37576K] Video: HERE reports a U.S. Coast Guard rescue mission off Puerto Rico turned perilous Tuesday night when two boats capsized, leaving five people — including three federal agents — stranded in rough seas before all were safely rescued. Officials said all three agents and the two boaters are safe, and there are no other people missing. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan were notified by Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action about a capsized vessel off Isla de Cabras in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, prompting an urgent marine information broadcast (UMIB) alert to vessel traffic in the area, according to authorities. The Guard directed the launch of a Station San Juan 45-foot Response Boat Medium and a Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter to provide rescue assistance. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Caribbean Air and Marine Branch Marine Unit and a Puerto Rico Police Joint Force of Rapid Action (FURA) helicopter were also dispatched. A short time later, a good Samaritan reported seeing a 22-foot capsized vessel and two people holding onto the boat, officials said. He provided a position for response units, while a Puerto Rico police helicopter crew tracked down the capsized vessel. As the CBP marine unit approached the boaters in 10-foot swells to attempt the rescue, their vessel also capsized, throwing the three agents into the water. The Station San Juan boat crew tried to reach the agents and boaters but were unable due to the deteriorated sea state and the original capsized vessel being beyond the reef line. As the Coast Guard helicopter responded, the Puerto Rico police helicopter crew rescued one of the boaters and one of the CBP agents, taking them to Isla de Cabras.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [4/3/2026 2:24 PM, Kerry Breen, 51110K]

CyberScoop [4/3/2026 7:15 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget would slash the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s total by $707 million, according to a summary released Friday, which would deeply chop down an agency that already took a big hit in Trump’s first year. Another budget document suggests a smaller — but still substantial — hit of $361 million, with the discrepancy possibly due to the comparison points amid budget uncertainty for CISA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. DHS and CISA did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. “At the time the Budget was prepared, the 2026 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security was not enacted, and funding provided by the last continuing resolution it had been operating under (Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026, division A of Public Law 119-37, as amended by division H of Public Law 119-75) had lapsed,” the budget summary notes. “References to 2026 spending in the text and tables for programs and activities normally provided for in the full-year appropriations bill reflect the annualized level provided by the last continuing resolution.” By either measurement, the proposed budget would cut deeply into an agency that started the Trump administration at roughly $3 billion, and would be substantially below that if Congress enacts the latest blueprint. The budget appendix says CISA would end up with slightly more than $2 billion in discretionary funding under Trump’s plan. For fiscal 2026, appropriators sought to mitigate some of Trump’s proposed CISA reductions.

FOX News [4/3/2026 9:18 AM, Kurt Knutsson, 37576K] reports another major healthcare cyberattack has surfaced, and it involves a company most patients have never heard of. A health technology company that helps doctors verify insurance coverage has confirmed hackers stole personal and medical information belonging to more than 3.4 million people. The company, TriZetto, operates behind the scenes in the U.S. healthcare system, helping providers check patient insurance before treatments. The breach raises new questions about how long attackers can remain inside critical healthcare systems before anyone notices. TriZetto may not be a household name, but its technology plays a major role in everyday healthcare transactions. The company is owned by the multinational technology firm Cognizant and provides tools that healthcare providers use to verify insurance eligibility and process coverage checks before treatment. When a doctor’s office confirms whether your insurance will cover a visit or procedure, that request often travels through systems like TriZetto. According to the company, its services help support healthcare operations tied to about 200 million people through more than 875,000 providers across the United States. That scale also makes the company an attractive target for cybercriminals.

FedScoop [4/3/2026 6:15 PM, Lindsey Wilkinson, 56K] reports the Federal Aviation Administration is failing to implement baseline security controls for its high-impact IT systems that power the National Airspace System amid other governance gaps, according to an audit by the Department of Transportation’s inspector general office. The result of lagging controls is an overall weaker system and a higher risk of cyberattack. Between October 2024 and January 2026, the watchdog looked into the FAA’s 45 high-impact systems, reviewing documentation and interviewing officials. The OIG found that the DOT unit was, in some cases, adhering to outdated standards, lacking adequate documentation and failing to track and mitigate vulnerabilities. “FAA is not providing transparency to the rest of DOT,” the inspector general said in the report published this week. “Lack of transparency increases the risk that FAA and the Department may not be able to identify common threats and vulnerabilities or provide comprehensive IT weakness tracking and reporting.” The FAA said that the governance gaps stem from funding limitations, technical constraints and operational complexities. Many of the FAA’s existing systems would require significant technical modifications or entirely new procurements, the agency said, leading to cost overruns and timeline delays. “Nevertheless, not addressing the need for selecting, implementing, and sufficiently documenting all required high baseline security controls for these high-impact systems may affect FAA’s ability to maintain and protect these critical systems,” the IG said in the report. “As a result, these systems may be vulnerable to cyberattacks that could cause severe or catastrophic effects on the NAS.”

FOX News [4/3/2026 6:30 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel warned Wednesday that terror sleeper cell threats in the U.S. are "real," and Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., linked the danger to past border policies and accused Democrats of undermining homeland security in a funding fight. Considering flaring concerns over sleeper cell threats during the United States’ war on Iran, Fox News Digital asked the FBI director to revisit the Biden administration’s previous focus on White supremacy as the leading domestic threat. Patel pointed to recent attacks as evidence of growing danger from foreign-linked terrorism. "President Trump has prioritized defending the homeland and resources to do so. These two recent tragic examples (in Virginia and in Michigan) are an unfortunate, tragic reminder of what happens, specifically in Norfolk, when you let an actual convicted terrorist not finish his jail sentence," Patel said. McCormick and Patel spoke to Fox News Digital at the federal courthouse in the heart of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city, Allentown, on Wednesday after a roundtable focused on cracking down on fentanyl. The FBI director was referring to Mohamed Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone who entered a classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk last month and opened fire, killing one. Jalloh was convicted of supporting ISIS in 2017. Also in March, federal investigators said Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was radicalized by Iran-backed Hezbollah when he allegedly crashed his vehicle into a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, that was filled with more than 100 children. The Department of Homeland Security, which is separate but related to the work of the FBI, remains hamstrung by a Democrat-enabled appropriations freeze that has left TSA and other agencies without proper resources, including paychecks. Patel called the department the FBI’s largest law enforcement partner globally and cited crucial interagency task forces. "Every day and every time someone [in DHS] misses a paycheck, it’s yet another opportunity for the criminals to take advantage of a system that should be fixed easily," Patel said. "And thanks to Sen. Dave McCormick and the charge he’s leading, I believe DHS is going to be funded. And those that vote against funding DHS are literally voting against law enforcement, and, to me, it makes no sense."

Washington Post [4/3/2026 12:30 PM, Riley Beggin, 24826K] reports President Donald Trump on Friday officially requested $1.5 trillion in spending for the Pentagon next fiscal year, which would be the largest defense budget in U.S. history. Trump also outlined some $73 billion in cuts to nondefense federal spending, including cuts to health research, K-12 and higher education, renewable energy and climate grants, a low-income housing energy program, and community development block grants. The cuts to nondefense spending represent a 10 percent reduction from the current fiscal year. The request comes as Congress grapples with the ballooning costs of the war in Iran, a persistent shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and the midterm elections ahead. The White House’s 2027 fiscal year budget proposes a 44 percent increase in defense spending and asks Congress to approve another $350 billion for military weapons and an expansion of the “defense industrial base,” according to a summary of the request released Friday morning. The request invests “in the foundations of American military power — from defense industrial capacity to the readiness and health of the force” and ensures the “United States maintains the world’s most powerful and capable military,” the administration wrote in documents from the White House Office of Management and Budget announcing the proposal. The summary also urged Congress to approve a 13 percent increase, or $40.8 billion total, focused on the Justice Department’s efforts to “bring violent criminals to justice” related to immigration, gangs and drug cartels. The influx of funding for the Pentagon would include more money for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, a 7 percent pay raise for troops, tens of billions for shipbuilding and the development of new artificial intelligence capabilities in the military, according to the full budget released later Friday.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [4/3/2026 3:22 PM, Lindsay Ellis, Marcus Weisgerber, and Gavin Bade, 646K]

Telemundo [4/3/2026 9:16 PM, Staff, 2524K] reports the Cuban regime began releasing prisoners on Friday after announcing a pardon for 2,010 inmates in observance of Holy Week. The release comes as the Cuban regime faces intense pressure and a crippling oil embargo from the Trump administration, which has openly expressed its desire for regime change and the release of those detained for participating in anti-regime protests. So far, there is no confirmation that any of the prisoners released on Friday were among the 1,214 people who, according to activist groups, are imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba. The regime denies having political prisoners. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged on March 25 that former President Raúl Castro is participating in talks between Cuba and the United States. The talks, which, according to Díaz-Canel, are in an initial phase, come at a time of growing tensions between the two nations, with Cuba suffering from nationwide blackouts due to a crumbling power grid and an ongoing oil embargo imposed by President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on any country that supplies oil to Cuba. Trump recently stated that he would soon have “the honor of taking Cuba.” The talks are generally being managed collectively by the Cuban regime, Díaz-Canel explained to Spanish left-wing leader Pablo Iglesias in a video interview that lasted over an hour and was broadcast by state media. Although Díaz-Canel took the reins of power in 2018, the 94-year-old former leader—Fidel Castro’s brother—is still considered the most powerful person in the country. Katia Arias was brimming with hope this Friday morning as she waited outside a prison on the outskirts of Havana, alongside other families, for her loved ones to be released in one of the largest prisoner releases carried out by the Cuban regime in years. When her 20-year-old son, Emilio Alejandro Leyva, walked out of the detention center alongside dozens of other prisoners, carrying bags and a small release document in his hand, she embraced her son for the first time in years. The young man had been imprisoned for theft. “It has been very difficult, but today God has given me so much joy,” said Arias, 43, breaking down in tears. “Today I feel very happy. This is how all the mothers whose children are being released today should feel.”

Axios [4/3/2026 6:00 AM, Barak Ravid, 17364K] reports the State Department expelled Iran’s deputy ambassador to the UN last December, citing national security concerns, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the incident. The U.S. decision was kept discreet at the time. It was one of at least three expulsions of Iranian diplomats in New York over the last six months. In early December, the State Department sent an official note to the Iranian Mission to the UN in New York asking deputy ambassador Saadat Aghajani to leave the country immediately. The Iranian diplomat was asked to depart the U.S. under "section 13 procedures" — an internal State Department process to facilitate a quiet expulsion, rather than formally declaring someone "persona non grata." The State Department often uses section 13 expulsions for diplomats accused of espionage or acting contrary to U.S. interests or national security. No specific allegations have been lodged against Aghajani. In February, the State Department asked Aghajani’s children, who remained in New York after their father’s departure, to leave the country too, a U.S. official said. The New York Post [4/3/2026 12:12 PM, Josh Christenson, 40934K] reports several Iranian diplomats posted at the United Nations have been expelled from the US in the past six months, according to a State Department official. "We can confirm that the United States delivered a Note Verbale on December 4 regarding the status of certain Iranian personnel at the UN," the official said. "For privacy and security reasons, we do not comment on the specifics of diplomatic personnel actions." "This action occurred well before the protests in Iran and is unrelated to those events," the official added. Iran’s deputy ambassador Saadat Aghajani was told to depart in December, and two other members of the Iranian Mission to the UN were asked to leave the country two months before, Axios reported Friday. The Iranian deputy ambassador was removed under what’s known as "section 13 procedures," which allows for removal for national security reasons or alleged espionage efforts against the US. Aghajani’s children were also later forced to exit.

ABC News [4/3/2026 1:02 PM, Luis Martinez and Steven Beynon, 34146K] reports that a U.S. fighter jet appears to have been shot down by Iran over Iranian territory, American officials confirmed to ABC News, marking a new and potentially dangerous point in the conflict. One crew member aboard the downed two-seater F-15E has been rescued, according to a U.S. official. The status of the other crew member is unknown, according to the official. Combat search and rescue missions have become relatively rare for U.S. forces after more than a generation of near-total air dominance, with American aircraft typically operating with limited threats to aircraft in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The early indications that the U.S. fighter was brought down by enemy fire would mark the first time Iran has successfully downed a manned American aircraft in the war, which started in February. There are photos of the fighter that were released by Iranian state media and could not be independently verified by ABC News. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the matter, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The New York Times [4/3/2026 8:15 PM, Neil Vigdor, 148038K] reports the U.S. military lost its first fighter jet to enemy fire from Iran on Friday, U.S. and Israeli officials said, a setback for the Trump administration, which has repeatedly sought to project that American warplanes had established air supremacy in the five-week war. The jet, an F-15E Strike Eagle, was carrying a crew of two. U.S. military officials said they had ejected from the aircraft. One of the two airmen was rescued, while the second crew member had not been accounted for as of Friday afternoon. Separately, another Air Force combat plane, an A-10 Warthog, crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. They did not say what caused it to go down. Iran shot down the F-15E over the southwestern part of the country on Friday, two days after President Trump declared in an address to the nation Wednesday night that the United States was moving closer to achieving its military objectives. “Over the next two to three weeks, we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” Mr. Trump said, promising intense bombing. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, echoed the president’s words on social media. “Back to the Stone Age,” Mr. Hegseth wrote.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [4/3/2026 5:32 PM, Liz Webber, 646K]

Washington Examiner [4/3/2026 9:13 AM, Brady Knox, 1147K] reports the United Nations Security Council delayed a vote on using force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite pressure from the United States, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The vote was called on Thursday by Bahrain and scheduled to take place on Friday, but was called off at the last minute. Diplomatic sources told AFP that the delay was because the U.N. observes Good Friday as a public holiday, though this was known when the vote was scheduled. A new date for the vote hasn’t been given. The vote was set to be contentious. Aside from permanent members Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the U.N. Security Council is currently occupied by Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia. While the U.N. Security Council doesn’t need a unanimous vote to pass measures, the five permanent members all have veto power. Russia and China’s close relationship with Tehran means the effort to support military action against Iran would be a non-starter. Pakistan was also likely to object due to its role in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

FOX News [4/3/2026 1:04 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports that Chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin confirms to the ‘Outnumbered’ panel that one of the pilots in the F-15E that was downed in Iran has been rescued as the search continues for the second pilot. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/3/2026 9:27 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin says there were injuries for crew members aboard the helicopters but they managed to land safely on ‘Hannity.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX Business [4/3/2026 6:57 PM, Staff, 7946K] Video: HERE reports former deputy national security advisor Victoria Coates analyzes President Donald Trump’s Iran stance after a U.S. aircraft was found down in Iran on ‘The Bottom Line.’

NewsMax [4/3/2026 6:38 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports Iranian teams are rapidly repairing underground missile bunkers and silos hit by U.S. and Israeli strikes, often restoring them within hours, according to U.S. intelligence., reports the New York Times. The findings underscore doubts within American agencies about how close Washington is to achieving a central war aim: crippling Iran’s missile program. While officials lack a precise count of remaining launchers, they say Iran still retains enough ballistic missiles and operational platforms to strike Israel and other targets across the region. U.S. forces, for their part, say they deployed multiple 5,000-pound class GBU-72/B’s against hardened missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz in mid-March. The weapon is designed to burrow through reinforced concrete, rock or soil before exploding, making it effective against underground bunkers, command centers and fortified weapons storage facilities. The White House has repeatedly said Iran’s capabilities were decimated. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth earlier this week said Iran had launched fewer missiles and drones than in any previous 24-hour period since the U. S. and Israel started their war.

CBS News [4/3/2026 7:40 AM, Staff, 51110K] reports the United States recently repatriated a Chinese national suspected of drug trafficking, a "first" such return in recent years, Beijing’s public security ministry said on Friday. China is the primary origin of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, a highly potent opioid underpinning a deadly drug epidemic in the United States. Beijing says it is open to working with Washington on curbing the crisis, although the United States maintains an extra 10% tariff on Chinese goods it says is to limit fentanyl trade. "This is the first drug-related fugitive repatriated by the United States to China in recent years, marking a new achievement in China-U.S. cooperation on anti-drug law enforcement," Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on social media. U.S. immigration authorities followed "clues" shared by China’s narcotics control commission to repatriate a Chinese national surnamed Han, the ministry said. Han is suspected of "smuggling and trafficking drugs," the ministry said without elaborating, only saying the handover took place "days ago.” The Wall Street Journal [4/3/2026 11:42 PM, Brian Spegele, 646K] reports that disclosure of the case, and the positive tone from Beijing, adds to the evidence that bilateral ties between the U.S. and China are stabilizing ahead of Trump’s visit to Beijing. A priority for Chinese authorities today is ensuring that the planned summit between leader Xi Jinping and Trump goes smoothly. Trump had originally been expected to travel to Beijing from March 31 to April 2, but he delayed that trip until mid-May to focus on the war in Iran. At a summit between Trump and Xi in October in Busan, South Korea, the U.S. agreed to lower fentanyl-related tariffs in exchange for China committing to do more to fight the flow of precursor chemicals used to make the drug, setting the stage for the increased cooperation being seen today. In the latest case, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, acting on tips from Chinese authorities, was involved in sending the suspect back to China, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The fugitive, identified only by the surname Han, was suspected of drug smuggling and trafficking, according to Xinhua. ICE didn’t respond to a request for comment. A State Department spokesperson said the person repatriated had violated U.S. immigration law, adding that securing the U.S. border and ending the fentanyl scourge were top priorities. Chinese police said the repatriation took place recently but didn’t disclose when or provide details on the suspected crimes.

Washington Post [4/4/2026 5:00 AM, Cate Cadell and Lyric Li, 24826K] reports as the war in Iran erupted five weeks ago, social media sleuths across Western and Chinese platforms flagged a wave of viral posts detailing equipment at U.S. bases, the movements of American carrier groups and granular breakdowns of how military aircraft were assembling for strikes on Tehran. The intelligence came from a fast growing new market: Chinese firms — some with links to the People’s Liberation Army — marrying artificial intelligence with open-source data to market information they claim can “expose” the movements of U.S. forces. Beijing has sought to distance itself from any direct involvement in the Iran war, but the firms — many of which have emerged in the past five years as part of the government’s push to harness private AI for military use — are capitalizing on the conflict. U.S. officials and intelligence experts are divided over whether Chinese firms’ publicly marketed tools pose a genuine threat or are being credibly used by U.S. adversaries, but say the surge in private-sector offerings points to a growing security risk and reflects Beijing’s intent to project the strength of its intelligence capabilities. Beijing has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into supporting private firms developing AI with practical defense applications under its civil-military integration strategy, and last month announced plans to supercharge those efforts as part of a broader five-year national strategy. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to request for comment.

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