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 [4/7/2026 5:40 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] reports Markwayne Mullin, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, promised Tuesday that DHS employees affected by the ongoing government shutdown can expect to receive paychecks by the end of the week. Mullin, who was traveling for his first official visit as DHS secretary, in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, said department employees who’ve been working without pay for the past six weeks would see the missing payments covering recent pay periods in their accounts soon. The secretary said the payments are being made possible through executive action and existing funding flexibility, but he warned that future payroll for DHS employees — outside of law enforcement officials — would depend entirely on Congress. Mullin pulled no punches in dressing down Democrats for the delay. Despite the funding lapse, Mullin said DHS operations remain active, crediting employees who have continued to report to work without the certainty of pay. When pressed by CBS News on the source of the appropriations, Mullin said the Trump administration is relying on a provision that gives the president limited the ability to move funds in emergencies. He described it as allowing DHS "a little bit of flexibility … with the dollars that were set up to allow us to do stuff just like this," but he emphasized the move required executive action and is not a long-term solution. The Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 5:52 PM, Emily Hallas, 1147K] reports FEMA workers have been among DHS employees whose pay has been affected by the 52-day partial government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history. Mullin referenced the debacle during a trip this week to North Carolina, where FEMA is continuing to oversee disaster relief efforts roughly 1 1/2 years after Hurricane Helene devastated the state, killing 107 people. Mullin’s trek to North Carolina marked the first visit of his tenure as newly christened DHS chief, setting the state apart as a priority for the Trump administration. Mullin said at the Lake Lure roundtable that President Donald Trump told him he wanted North Carolina to be his first stop as DHS chief, with the state still reeling from Helene after the storm ripped through in 2024. Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) likewise urged Mullin to visit and welcomed him to the state on Tuesday. Washington last week announced over $100 million more in FEMA funding to spur recovery efforts, saying, "Trump has made it clear that North Carolina will not be left to shoulder this recovery alone." Mullin said he is not in favor of eliminating FEMA, as Trump has floated in the past, but of reforming it to ensure aid flows more efficiently and effectively to residents. In one of his first acts as DHS secretary, Mullin last week axed a controversial policy governing large federal contracts enacted by his predecessor, Kristi Noem, which critics said slowed the flow of FEMA aid.

AP [4/7/2026 6:00 PM, Rebecca Santana and Gabriela Aoun Angueira, 35287K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday toured North Carolina areas devastated by Hurricane Helene in 2024, revealing plans to prioritize relief to disaster-impacted communities on his first official trip since replacing Kristi Noem, whose leadership cast uncertainty over federal disaster response. While the trip focused on emergency management, Mullin also weighed in on immigration enforcement, a centerpiece policy of the Trump administration, which his department also oversees. He suggested he might halt customs processing at airports serving cities whose local governments resist the administration’s immigration policies, a move that would align with his predecessor’s hardline approach. At his confirmation hearing last month, Mullin tried to project a softer tone on immigration enforcement, after a backlash over high-profile operations and the deaths of two Americans at the hands of federal officers. Mullin also signaled a different approach to the Federal Emergency Management Agency following criticism of Noem’s policies. At a roundtable discussion Tuesday, Mullin said FEMA was focused on catching up on past disaster work and clearing a backlog of needs that stacked up during his predecessor’s tenure ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1. “Disasters are happening constantly,” Mullin said, adding that he would brief President Donald Trump Tuesday on the 22 still pending major disaster declaration requests from states and tribes across the U.S. “We’re trying to push this stuff forward as fast as possible.” Mullin also said he “may have identified” a candidate for permanent administrator of FEMA, which is on its third temporary leader since Trump took office, but declined to name them. Asked if eliminating FEMA — which Trump has threatened to do — was still on the table, Mullin said “reforming FEMA would be a better term.” While Mullin has already made strides on disaster response, he has yet to set forth a clear vision for immigration enforcement, although he is expected to align with the president’s vision. That was apparent in his comments about removing Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in so-called “sanctuary cities.” Mullin gave no further details. But withdrawing CBP officers from airports could disrupt international travel and trade. CBP officers check all incoming travelers into the country as well as the billions of dollars of trade that enters through land crossings and airports.

NewsNation [4/7/2026 3:44 PM, Jordan Perkins and Ali Bradley, 4464K] reports newly appointed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was in North Carolina to highlight FEMA’s relief efforts. In a statement, DHS said Mullin will be in the city of Asheville, in the state’s western region, one of the places that was hit hard by Hurricane Helene in September of 2024. Just a year and a half later, residents are still reeling from the damage Helene left behind. Mullin said that was exactly why he made Asheville his first stop as the official DHS secretary. FEMA announced last week it would be giving North Carolina an additional $103 million in aid for recovery efforts. Mullin said under his leadership, he is committed to rebuilding. “I’ve talked to the president a lot about this, reforming FEMA would be a better term of what we’re trying to do,” Mullin said during a roundtable with local leaders. “The president said he wants to get the dollars to the state quicker, and not looking at FEMA as a first responder, but as support.” After Mullin, who was a senator from Oklahoma, was confirmed to become the next secretary after Kristi Noem was removed from the role, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein wrote a letter to Mullin, congratulating him and asking him to come visit western North Carolina. “Given your firsthand experience with disaster response and recovery in Oklahoma, I know you understand the long road communities face after the initial headlines fade,” Stein wrote.

CBS News [4/7/2026 9:32 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] reports that, from the well-worn interior of a fire department in Western North Carolina, Markwayne Mullin reassured local officials that as homeland security secretary, he intends to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency — not eliminate it. Mullin, on his first official visit in his new role, traveled to Chimney Rock, a tiny mountain town that was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September 2024 after 22.5 inches of rain devoured roughly half of all homes along the Rocky Broad River, carrying 1.2 million tons of sediment and wreckage to nearby Lake Lure — creating a 15 foot deep debris field. The lake will reopen in two weeks. It was this backdrop where Mullin told officials that his goal is to shift FEMA’s role away from being a primary responder and toward funding state and local governments. "We shouldn’t be the first ones in and the last ones out," Mullin said. "The state is much more equipped… but we can be there to get them past the first heavy lift.” It took several lifts to dig out Chimney Rock — a process local, state and federal officials told Mullin is still ongoing, 18 months later — challenged by some uniquely stubborn red tape afflicting the mountainous region that was not built to withstand major hurricanes. The discussion, led by GOP Sen. Ted Budd, brought together emergency responders, elected leaders and FEMA officials who talked about the scale of devastation in tens of millions of dollars and in years. Asked about delays and a backlog of FEMA projects, Mullin said the agency is working to accelerate approvals before the fast approaching hurricane season on June 1. "We’re trying to push this stuff forward as fast as possible … so we aren’t entering hurricane season behind," he said, noting FEMA is still managing 22 open and pending major disasters nationwide. The new secretary bounced a small, pink rubber ball — his signature quirk — as he shook hands with locals and acknowledged frustration from residents who feel forgotten, pointing to recent funding approvals as progress. His visit came one day after FEMA announced $26 million to buy out 75 homes in North Carolina — a move aimed at helping families relocate out of high-risk flood zones and clearing the way for long-term mitigation. Still, the fix comes as thousands of cases remain unresolved. "We got the first 75 out, but we’re looking at the other ones," he said, referring to housing assistance. "We’re honestly… working from the easiest to the hardest ones. We got to get the money flowing at some point. That’s part of the backlog.” Officials like Budd applauded Mullin’s decision to rescind a memo from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem last summer requiring her office’s approval on all DHS contracts and grants over $100,000 — including FEMA disaster relief. "That’s leadership," Budd offered pointedly.

(B) ABC 11 Eyewitness News at Noon [4/7/2026 12:08 PM, Staff] reports Markwayne Mullin, the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is meeting with lawmakers and traveling to western North Carolina. The trip is focused on hurricane relief efforts from Hurricane Helene. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have previously expressed frustration over the pace of recovery and flow of federal dollars. One major change already implemented by Secretary Mullin is removing a rule that required DHS expenditure to $100,000 be personally approved by his office.

Reuters [4/7/2026 2:42 PM, David Shepardson and Ted Hesson, 38315K] reports that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Tuesday that customs officials could stop processing international travelers at major U.S. airports in "sanctuary cities" that have declined to cooperate with the Trump administration’s hardline immigration crackdown, a move that could severely impact U.S. trade and tourism. The move could effectively halt international air travel and commerce at major airports in Democratic states, and have major ramifications for the FIFA World Cup that is set to start in early June. Mullin cited the ongoing refusal of Democrats to reach a deal ⁠to fund the Department of Homeland Security, including Customs and Border Protection, and said he anticipated speaking with Trump about the idea of pulling customs offices. "It’s an option," Mullin told reporters in North Carolina, adding no decision had been made. "If cities are going to sit there and say that ⁠they’re not going to enforce immigration policies, then I’ll repeat myself and say it doesn’t make any sense for us to process international travelers through that city." Mullin said pulling the customs officers ⁠was one of several options under consideration as Congress remains deadlocked over funding for DHS. "We’re going to start having those conversations. As I said, this is just something ⁠I’m thinking. This isn’t something that I’m necessarily going to do," he said. Mullin argued that state and city policies and laws limiting immigration enforcement were illegal because they contradicted federal immigration laws. NewsNation [4/7/2026 3:47 PM, Ali Bradley, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports that Trump announced last week that TSA workers would be paid after the shutdown caused nightmares for passengers traveling through the nation’s airports. However, in a new wrinkle, Mullin said he had floated the idea of targeting international airports in sanctuary cities with high-level conversations with Trump. He told NewsNation that those discussions would likely continue Tuesday. Mullin met with local officials in North Carolina to discuss FEMA’s ongoing rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Helene, which devastated the western part of the state in 2024 and killed more than 100 people in the region. Mullin said he will prioritize working with communities and states willing to cooperate with the federal government on immigration enforcement. Mullin, responding to a question from NewsNation, said that he would begin to have conversations with “sanctuary” city officials and that the idea of targeting airports in those cities is just something he is considering. Mullin did not definitively say that he will target airports in large cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles, but said that “it’s an option” and that “all options are on the table.” He said his goal is to streamline DHS operations and that, as part of that prioritization, cities and states that fall in line with the Trump administration’s stance on immigration enforcement would be considered ahead of those that do not. Mullin told reporters Tuesday that he did not want to play politics in the ongoing government shutdown, but said Democrats have created a sense of political theater in not working to end the shutdown. Mullin called on Democrats to change their thinking on federal immigration laws.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [4/7/2026 5:50 PM, Noe Padilla, 70643K]
Daily Wire [4/7/2026 3:42 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K]
(B) GMA3 [4/7/2026 3:27 PM, Staff]

The Wall Street Journal [4/7/2026 5:21 PM, Alyssa Lukpat, 646K] reports federal authorities said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot and injured an immigrant in Northern California on Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security said ICE fired defensive shots at Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez after he “weaponized his vehicle” during a targeted vehicle stop. He tried to run over an officer in Patterson, Calif., about 75 miles southeast of San Francisco, according to the agency. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Sacramento, Calif., said ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection were involved in the shooting. The FBI said it was investigating along with the local sheriff’s office. Homeland Security said the immigrant has a history of gang involvement and was wanted for questioning in El Salvador about a murder. He was taken to a local hospital. DHS didn’t say how many officers shot him or the extent of his injuries. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he was briefed on the situation and expected federal authorities to cooperate with state and local officials during the investigation. FOX News [4/7/2026 4:44 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports ICE Director Todd Lyons told Fox News the shooting unfolded after ICE agents conducted a targeted vehicle stop in Patterson, California, to arrest Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, a suspected 18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection with a murder. Mendoza Hernandez was allegedly flagged by the National Targeting Center, according to a senior federal law enforcement source. As agents approached the car, officials said Mendoza Hernandez allegedly weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an officer. Mendoza Hernandez was taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries and current condition have not yet been released. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s Sacramento field office said it is responding to the incident, which it said involved ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said it is assisting with the investigation. The department noted local law enforcement were not involved in the incident. The New York Times [4/7/2026 6:57 PM, Soumya Karlamangla and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] reports officers shot at Mr. Hernandez after he “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over,” Mr. Lyons said in a statement. “Our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents and the public.” The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post that the shooting did not involve any local law enforcement. Mr. Lyons said the F.B.I. was on the scene. The AP [4/8/2026 2:10 AM, Staff, 35287K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security said agents fired defensive shots at the suspect after he tried to run one of the agents over with his car. The Department of Homeland Security stated that the suspect, Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, is wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection with a homicide. Attorney Patrick Kolasinski, who represents Mendoza and his family, disputed this, asserting that authorities may have mistaken him for someone else with a similar name. Mendoza was injured and taken to a hospital, officials said. His family has not been allowed to see him at the hospital, but a social worker told them he is in stable condition, Kolasinski explained. Kolasinski stated that his client works as a construction worker, repairing fire damage. He added that his client has a two-year-old daughter and is engaged to a U.S. citizen. The shooting occurred in Patterson, a city about 74 miles (119.09 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. Vehicle camera footage obtained by KCRA-TV shows three officers standing around a vehicle stopped on the side of a road. One of the officers appears to be tapping on the driver’s side window as the car begins to reverse and spin, striking a vehicle behind it. At least two of the officers have their weapons drawn and are pointing them at the car. The driver then moves forward toward the officers and makes a sharp turn, going over the median. The video has no sound and it is unclear when the shots were fired or if any words were spoken. Stanislaus County police said they were not involved in the incident and that the FBI is leading the investigation.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [4/7/2026 5:01 PM, David Nakamura, 24826K]
New York Post [4/7/2026 5:56 PM, Ben Chapman, 40934K]
Los Angeles Times [4/7/2026 5:46 PM, Ruben Vives, 12718K]
Reuters [4/7/2026 4:43 PM, Daniel ​Trotta, 38315K]
ABC News [4/7/2026 3:52 PM, Armando Garcia, 34146K]
CNN [4/7/2026 5:17 PM, Lauren Mascarenhas, Danya Gainor, 19874K]
USA Today [4/7/2026 6:43 PM, Noe Padilla, Eduardo Cuevas, 70643K]
Telemundo [4/7/2026 1:23 PM, Staff, 2524K]
Univision [4/7/2026 4:29 PM, Staff, 4937K]
Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 2:09 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K]

CNN [4/8/2026 12:24 AM, Aria Chen, 19874K] reports CNN obtained dashcam footage of a shooting involving ICE agents in central California, where officers surrounded a vehicle after a collision. DHS has confirmed the suspect was taken to the hospital. ICE Director Todd Lyons said the suspect is an undocumented immigrant and gang member “wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [4/7/2026 9:48 PM, Katie Jerkovich, 40934K] reports bad news for global travelers out of San Francisco if the Department of Homeland Security follows through on a threat to remove Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in sanctuary cities. During an interview with Fox News on Monday the new secretary for DHS Markwayne Mullin said that the Trump administration is looking at ending customs processing services in cities who have refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. "Some of these cities have international airports — if they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?" Mullin said. "Seriously, If they’re a sanctuary city, and they’re receiving international flights, and we’re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out of the airport they’re not going to enforce immigration policy, maybe we need to have a really hard look at that because we need to focus on cities that want to work with us.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents operate at more than 300 ports of entry, including international airports, throughout the country. According to the CBP, numerous international hubs in CA would be affected. Here’s a few. If this threat did come to be, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that travel at places like SFO would "effectively halt" international travel. Removing these agents could cause horrendous lines for those trying to re-enter the U.S. or get into the country. Removing CBP from sanctuary city airports would be in-line with the Trump administration’s policy of terminating federal funding for jurisdictions that prevent local law enforcement and jails from working with federal immigration enforcement agents. "Starting February 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens," Trump said during a speech in Detroit. When the Trump administration deployed ICE agents to airports across the country to relieve the strain on the lack of TSA workers amid the partial government shutdown, SFO was not affected because it contracts its own TSA agents. The California Post reached out to LAX and SFO for further comment. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office took the opportunity to slam the administration’s plan. "If you thought the economy was bad with Trump’s war driving prices at the pump up … just wait until international travel is halted at some of the busiest airports in the world," a post on X from Newsom’s press office read. "Talk about a stupid idea (no wonder it’s being considered by the Trump Admin).” The Post reached out to Newsom’s office who said the post on social media speaks for itself.

AP [4/7/2026 2:28 PM, Mike Schneider, 3833K] reports environmental groups on Tuesday asked a federal appellate court panel to drop its temporary halt of a lower court’s order instructing state officials to close an immigration detention center in the heart of the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” The Everglades facility remains open, still holding detainees, because the appellate court in early September relied on arguments by Florida and the Trump administration that the state had not yet applied for federal reimbursement, and therefore wasn’t required to follow federal environmental law. State officials opened the detention center last summer to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Questions by the three appellate judges during oral arguments in a Miami courtroom focused on how much control the federal government had over the state-built facility and under what circumstances an environmental review was required to be in compliance with federal law. The judges did not indicate when they would rule. Jesse Panuccio, an attorney for the Florida Department of Emergency Management, told the judges federal funding and federal control of the facility were the two criteria for determining if the federal environmental law would apply and the federal agencies had no control over the state-run detention center. Florida was notified in late September that FEMA had approved $608 million in federal funding to support the center’s construction and operation. “You need both,” Panuccio said. “Even with funding, I don’t think that would follow because they don’t have federal control.”

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [4/7/2026 1:10 PM, Mike Schneider, 12718K]

AP [4/7/2026 8:59 PM, Jack Brook, 35287K] reports the wife of a U.S. soldier was released Tuesday from a federal immigration detention facility where she had spent nearly a week after being taken into custody on a Louisiana military base. The detention of 22-year-old Annie Ramos, the Honduran born-wife of a U.S. Army staff sergeant preparing to deploy, prompted public backlash from critics of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign who warned it demoralized troops during an ongoing war. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Ramos’ mother-in-law, Jen Rickling, confirmed her release to The Associated Press. The New York Times first reported Ramos’ release. Ramos, who married Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank in March, had been detained by federal immigration agents while attempting to register at his base to receive military benefits and ultimately obtain a green card. She had lived in the country since she was less than 2 years old. DHS said Ramos had been ordered removed by a federal immigration judge in 2005 after her family had failed to appear for a hearing. Ramos and her husband say she has been attempting to gain legal status, including by applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2020 though her application remained stalled amid legal battles to eliminate the program. “All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby,” Ramos said in a statement to the AP after her release. “I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community — just as my husband serves our country with honor.” A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, said that Kelly had called DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin regarding Ramos’ detention. Blank has family in Arizona. “I’m happy Annie is back with her husband and family where she belongs,” Kelly said in a statement. “They never should have gone through this painful process, but far too many families like theirs are because of this administration.” DHS told the AP that Ramos had been released with a GPS monitor “while she undergoes further removal proceedings.” “She will receive full due process,” DHS said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/7/2026 4:07 PM, Miriam Jordan, 148038K]
The Hill [4/7/2026 10:23 AM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K]
Reuters [4/7/2026 7:10 PM, Kanishka Singh, 38315K]
Telemundo [4/7/2026 6:18 PM, Staff, 2524K]

The Hill [4/7/2026 11:54 AM, Emily Brooks, 18170K] reports that the House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday called to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a GOP-only budget reconciliation bill, rejecting leadership’s two-step plan that appeared to have the backing of President Trump. That plan would fund the bulk of the DHS, including the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, through a bipartisan Senate bill and use budget reconciliation to bypass a Democratic filibuster and fund immigration enforcement. “We cannot leave ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] hanging with nothing but hopes and prayers that reconciliation 2.0 comes together. That’s why we must use reconciliation to fully fund ALL of the Department of Homeland Security!” the Freedom Caucus posted Tuesday on social platform X. The statement reflects the tricky task Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has in rallying House Republicans around a funding plan he had initially rejected as a “joke,” and it indicates that intraparty fighting could delay the path to reopening much of the DHS. Johnson last week joined with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Trump to publicly back the two-step plan that separates funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol over Democrats’ refusal to vote for such funding without reforms to immigration enforcement practices. Trump on Truth Social had called to “fund our incredible ICE Agents and Border Patrol through a process that doesn’t need Radical Left Democrat votes,” seemingly implying support for that two-step plan without explicitly saying he supported the Senate DHS bill that omitted funding for those.

FOX News [4/7/2026 12:12 PM, Chad Pergram, 37576K] reports that so Congress is now deep into week two of a 16-17 day recess for Easter and Passover. The Department of Homeland Security shutdown is approaching two months. There’s no obvious path to end the impasse. This is why some GOP lawmakers — and conservative activists — demanded President Donald Trump summon Congress back into session and fund DHS. Let’s do a deep dive on that. The president has the authority to call Congress into session under "extraordinary" circumstances. But that hardly compels legislative activity – let alone a legislative solution. However, it’s unclear if Trump would even have the power to strong-arm the House and Senate back into session under current parliamentary circumstances. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution states the following: "He may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper." American presidents have called special sessions of Congress 45 times. Twenty-seven instances involved a recall of both chambers. President George Washington was the first to order a special session of Congress in 1791. Washington wrote to Vice President John Adams – the president of the Senate – to convene the Senate to consider various nominations and to fill posts in Vermont, which was about to become the 14th state. Vermont was the first state following the original 13 colonies to enter statehood.

Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 12:48 PM, Lauren Green, 1147K] reports that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is unlikely to move legislation ending a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security until Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) kickstarts the party-line budget reconciliation process to pass another megabill. A source familiar told the Washington Examiner that Johnson wants to see progress on reconciliation before passing a deal Thune struck with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to fund everything at DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Thune and Johnson plan to move funding for the latter two agencies via reconciliation. President Donald Trump has given Congress a June 1 deadline by which to pass that narrow immigration funding package. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) has been meeting with Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to figure out the first steps for this bill. "I will work with my fellow Republican committee members to meet your request to have reconciliation done by June 1, fully funding ICE and Border Patrol," Graham said last week in a statement. Johnson’s delay comes as House Republicans are not keen on the Thune-Schumer deal to reopen DHS. Several House Republicans are frustrated that Johnson pushed through a rejection of the bill late last month over its exclusion of funding ICE and CBP. Instead, the House passed a short-term, 60-day funding patch for all of DHS with the support of three Democrats.

DailySignal [4/7/2026 2:05 PM, Fred Lucas, 474K] reports that opposition from the left is mounting against President Donald Trump’s mail-in ballot executive order, with two potential 2028 Democrat presidential candidates filing legal challenges before Democrat-appointed federal judges. At least five lawsuits, all filed in federal district courts for the District of Columbia and Massachusetts, aim to block the executive order that directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a federal citizenship list and directs the U.S. Postal Service to mail ballots to citizens on that list. Trump signed Executive Order 14399, "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections" on March 31. "President Trump is taking decisive action to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections and to protect the security of mail-in and absentee ballots," a White House press release said. Plaintiffs contend that only states and Congress set rules for elections, not the executive branch. In that brief time, 22 Democrat state attorneys general, joined by Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, filed one federal challenge in Massachusetts, while the Democratic National Committee, along with other party leaders, sued in D.C. Other private organizations have filed separate lawsuits. Judges appointed to all five cases were appointed by Democrat presidents, according to Court Listener, a website that tracks federal court data.

Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 1:24 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K] reports that
President Donald Trump’s new executive order on mail-in voting is offering the clearest explanation yet for why the Justice Department has spent months aggressively seeking access to state voter rolls, while also triggering a sweeping legal challenge from Democrat-led states. Twenty-three Democratic states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Friday, just days after Trump signed the order, in federal court in Massachusetts seeking to stop the Trump administration from implementing it, arguing it unconstitutionally interferes with states’ authority to run elections. The lawsuit, which is led by California, contends that neither the Constitution nor federal law gives the president power to mandate changes to state election systems. "The EO disregards States’ inherent sovereignty and attempts to arrogate to the President the States’ and Congress’s constitutional power to regulate federal elections," the states wrote, warning the directive violates "bedrock principles of federalism and separation of powers." Trump’s order laid out the clearest reasoning yet for why the DOJ has been fighting in courts for months to obtain voter roll data from states across the country. At its core, the order directs the federal government to build a citizenship verification system that would compare state voter registration lists against federal databases, according to a post about it on the White House webpage.

Breitbart [4/7/2026 10:15 AM, Staff, 2238K] reports President Donald Trump’s multipronged plan for ensuring only eligible citizens vote in elections leans on a system that experts say is flawed. Trump’s executive order announced last week directs election officials to use Social Security Administration records and the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE system, to assist in verifying voter eligibility. However, the Social Security Administration’s records, by its own admission, cannot reliably verify citizenship and the SAVE system has a history of misidentifying citizens as noncitizens. The president is meanwhile urging Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE Act — not to be confused with the aforementioned SAVE system — which would direct election officials to use the SAVE system and Social Security records to verify citizenship. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson told UPI in a statement that the SAVE system has identified more than 21,000 cases of potential noncitizens being included on voter rolls. "Those cases have been referred to [Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s] Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation," Matthew J. Tragesser, USCIS spokesman, told UPI in a statement.

USA Today [4/7/2026 7:02 PM, McKenna Mobley, 70643K] reports a federal court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to remove a 40-year-old court order protecting immigrant children’s rights. The ruling preserves safeguards for detained children, including the right to speak with a parent or attorney. Attorneys stated the government was using "coercive" advisements to pressure children into waiving their legal rights. A federal district court has rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate a 40-year-old court order protecting the due process rights of unaccompanied immigrant children in government custody. A press release from Public Counsel states that the ruling, presided over by Judge Michael Fitzgerald at the Los Angeles District Court, preserves critical safeguards for detained children — including the right to speak with a parent, relative or attorney before being pressured to sign forms waiving their legal rights. "Unaccompanied children in the United States today face immense pressure from the government to relinquish their claims to asylum and other forms of relief from removal," said Peter McGraw, deputy legal director at the National Immigration Law Center. "We look forward to defending this historic injunction and upholding the constitutional rights of unaccompanied children.” Public Council attorneys say they found that the original rights advisement was no longer being provided to children inside detention centers. In its place were warnings of prolonged detention and the potential criminal prosecution of the children’s parents if a child chose to seek legal representation, Public Counsel said in a written statement. The ruling found that immigration enforcement agents were using "coercive" advisement and rejected the Trump administration’s bid to strip immigrant children’s rights.

Bloomberg [4/7/2026 9:17 PM, Jordan Fischer, 50K] reports Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized a fellow member of the US Supreme Court for failing to grasp the real-world effects of an unsigned order last year that allowed immigration enforcement sweeps in Los Angeles to resume. "I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only temporary stops," Sotomayor said, referencing a concurrence written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, during an event Tuesday hosted by the University of Kansas School of Law. "This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.” In a Sept. 8 emergency order issued without any majority rationale, the justices paused lower court rulings temporarily barring immigration agents from targeting people based solely on their language, occupation, race or presence at locations such as car washes or bus stops. In a concurrence, Kavanaugh asserted that legal residents’ encounters with immigration agents are "typically brief" and impacted individuals "promptly go free.” Immigration lawyers said that’s at odds with the experiences of clients who have been tackled or detained by federal officers. Progressives have nicknamed such encounters "Kavanaugh stops.” Although Sotomayor didn’t name Kavanaugh during her remarks Tuesday, she suggested that the financial consequences of even short detentions can be significant, particularly for hourly workers. "Those hours that they took you away, nobody’s paying that person," she said. "And that makes a difference between a meal for him and his kids that night and maybe just cold supper.” During the Lawrence, Kansas event Tuesday, Sotomayor addressed questions about the responsibility she feels as the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court and what motivated her sharply worded dissent in the case decided last summer. "Life experiences teach you to think more broadly and to see things others may not," Sotomayor said. "And when I have a moment where I can express that on behalf of people who have no other voice, then I’m being given a very rare privilege.” The 71-year-old justice, who was elevated to the court in 2009 by President Barack Obama, has long been known for her dissents. In her September dissent in the immigration stops case, Sotomayor said Kavanaugh’s concurrence, "relegates the interests of U. S. citizens and individuals with legal status to a single sentence, positing that the Government will free these individuals as soon as they show they are legally in the United States.” "That blinks reality," Sotomayor wrote. Sotomayor said Tuesday she wrote her dissent "not as a Latina who’s insulted," but to try to convince Kavanaugh he was upending decades of court precedent. "I was not talking as a Latino justice," she said. "I was talking about a justice who respects precedent. And I was explaining why that precedent is being violated.”

New York Post [4/7/2026 11:54 PM, Titus Wu, 40934K] reports illegal immigrants in California could soon have their lawyers paid for by taxpayers if a new bill proposed by Sacramento politicians goes through. Starting next year, California would begin to fund legal representation for all unauthorized adults to fight their deportations under new legislation set to clear its first hurdle on Tuesday. "Legal representation saves lives, protects civil liberties and keeps families together," said bill author Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D). "This is a due process issue in California. People can lose their freedom, their family, their job and home through immigration proceedings.” Last year, Bonta helped pass a law that directed the California Department of Social Services to provide legal counsel to every undocumented and unaccompanied youth in California. The reason, Democrats argued, was that they were the most vulnerable population targeted for removal from President Donald Trump. The focus of that law was narrowed to youth due to budget constraints, legislative analysts noted. Now, Bonta wants to expand that program to every adult, despite a multi-billion dollar state budget deficit. It’s unclear yet how much the new bill would cost the state. For comparison, California’s existing program to represent undocumented youth was estimated to cost anywhere from $17.5 million to $77 million, the department had said. If enacted, the legislation would establish a new "administrator," most likely within the social services department, that develops regulations and a "phase-in" implementation plan. Criteria would be established for private attorneys seeking to contract with the state for immigration services, and there would be grants for community organizations for outreach to affected immigrants. In light of budget realities, analysts for the state Assembly Judiciary Committee even recommended Bonta narrow her bill to fund legal representation for detained illegal immigrants instead of all of them, including those not detained. Around 2.25 million immigrants in California were undocumented in 2023, according to the Pew Research Center. Critics said it was fiscally irresponsible for the state to give legal help for non-U.S. citizens. Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R) questioned who would take advantage of this program. "Is there provision in the bill that prevents dangerous and violent felons from receiving taxpayer funds for legal aid to avoid deportation?" she asked Bonta. Bonta replied that the bill is about due process and stays silent on that issue. Immigrant rights groups said that the proposed program would only happen if there is available funding. They claimed the program isn’t just about fighting Trump but to help California’s economy, which relies on immigrants. "Mass deportation policies target Californians based on the color of their skin, the language they speak, or their type of work, destabilizing entire industries and local economies," the California Immigrant Policy Center and a coalition of other organizations said in a letter to lawmakers. Analysts will eventually assess the bill’s fiscal impact before lawmakers go on summer break.

FOX News [4/7/2026 2:02 PM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] reports that Tennessee Republicans are moving to criminalize immigration violations at the state level with a bill that would make it a crime for migrants to remain in the Volunteer State after a final deportation order. The measure, which passed the Republican-controlled Senate on a 26-6 vote, would require illegal immigrants with a removal order to leave Tennessee within 90 days or face a Class A misdemeanor. The House previously passed the measure 73-22. Violators would face up to 11 months and 29 days in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both. The bill also creates a separate Class A misdemeanor offense for migrants who re-enter or attempt to enter the state after being deported. Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill’s sponsor, framed the proposal as a direct challenge to long-standing limits on state immigration enforcement. "When someone has exhausted all their options and they’ve been told to leave the country, it is illegal for them to stay, both under federal law, and if this bill passes, it would be a misdemeanor for them to enter in, or remain in, the state of Tennessee," Lamberth said during a state House Judiciary Committee hearing, according to Newsweek. The measure is part of a broader push by Tennessee Republicans to take a stricter approach to illegal immigration, including restricting public benefits and expanding state involvement in enforcement. Supporters, including Republican lawmakers backing the bill, argued it would strengthen enforcement and deter violations.

Los Angeles Times [4/7/2026 2:14 PM, Summer Lin, 12718K] reports that a USC freshman who went to photograph a recent "No Kings" protest in downtown Los Angeles was allegedly shot with a less-lethal projectile by a Department of Homeland Security agent and had to have one of his eyes removed, according to his attorney. Tucker Collins, 18, was shot in the eye with what appeared to be a projectile containing chemical irritants during the March 28 demonstration, said his attorney, V. James DeSimone. He was taken to the side of the protest at the Metropolitan Detention Center and given an eye patch. A nurse happened to be driving by and offered to take him to the hospital, DeSimone said. "We’ve unfortunately seen in other instances where law enforcement has targeted the press with violence," he told The Times. "Instead of targeting people who were throwing things into the crowd, they were targeting someone who was documenting and taking photos of the crowd." The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Collins, who is still recovering and wasn’t feeling well enough to be interviewed Monday, had his right eye removed as a result of his injuries, according to DeSimone. "This is the third person who’s lost an eye, maybe the fourth by a [Department of Homeland Security agent]." DeSimone said. "Two were in Orange County. I’m not representing those people but my former partners are. I see it as a really rampant problem across the board."

FOX News [4/7/2026 10:18 AM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] reports an Indianapolis city councilor said someone fired multiple rounds into his home overnight Sunday while he and his son were inside after he backed a controversial data center project, according to reports. Ron Gibson, a Democrat representing District 8, said the shooting happened around 12:45 a.m. Monday and that roughly 13 rounds were fired into his home, FOX59 reported. A threatening note reading "no data centers" was also left under his doormat, according to the outlet. Images from the scene show a front door riddled with bullet holes and an outer glass door completely shattered by the gunfire. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) told Fox News Digital that the officers responded to the lawmaker’s home on East 41st Street around 9 a.m. Monday after reports of shots fired. Police described the incident as "an isolated, targeted incident" and said no injuries were reported. Police told Fox News Digital that the case is being investigated by IMPD’s Violent Crimes Task Force, with assistance from the FBI, and that an evidence technician responded to the scene to photograph and collect evidence. The Department of Homeland Security is also assisting, FOX59 reported. Fox News Digital has reached the FBI and DHS for comment.

Washington Post [4/7/2026 10:06 AM, Brianna Sacks, Maria Sacchetti, and Marianne LeVine, 24826K] reports on a Monday in mid-March, a group of Department of Homeland Security investigators entered the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters and headed up to the eighth floor, past two access-controlled doors, and to an office near the administrator’s. The agents roped off the area, copied notebooks left on the desk, and put stacks of documents and equipment in boxes. That workspace belonged to an influential figure at DHS who had been integral to overseeing much of FEMA’s day-to-day operations — including decisions on grants and awards that are now part of an Office of Inspector General review of contracts issued under then-Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s leadership, according to several current and former DHS officials, including two with knowledge of the headquarters search.

The Wall Street Journal [4/7/2026 3:07 PM, Michelle Hackman and Josh Dawsey, 646K] reports President Trump has ousted Kristi Noem from the Department of Homeland Security, but his administration is hanging on to the controversial $70 million jet she leased during her tenure, according to a department spokeswoman and other officials familiar with the matter. The administration plans to use the plane, which is nicer than most other government jets, for travel by select cabinet secretaries, some of the officials said. First lady Melania Trump’s office would also have access to the jet, the officials said. The plane first gained attention as an element of the vast spending at DHS under Noem, who initially leased it primarily for her personal travel around the country with top aide Corey Lewandowski, The Wall Street Journal reported. Noem had planned to purchase it, and in paperwork, it had been earmarked for “high-profile deportations” in addition to cabinet-level travel. Trump fired Noem last month, telling advisers that he was tired of the infighting and drama at her department and upset over her congressional testimony, in which she said Trump had signed off on other controversial spending at the department. Former Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) was confirmed last month as her replacement. Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was handling the jet’s purchase, thought plans to buy it would then be shelved, agency officials said. But following Noem’s ouster, the White House wanted to move ahead, and has taken it away from DHS’s control, the officials said. The plane’s use is now approved by top White House officials instead of officials at DHS. Newsweek [4/7/2026 5:23 PM, Andrew Stanton, 52220K] reports first lady Melania Trump will have access to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s $70 million jet, The Wall Street Journal reported. Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email. The Trump administration will retain the jet Noem leased during her tenure, the Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a department spokeswoman and other officials familiar with the matter.

Los Angeles Times [4/7/2026 6:00 AM, Erwin Chemerinsky, 12718K] reports Senate Democrats are absolutely right in doing everything they can, including holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security, to impose limits on behavior by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But it is not enough. There also must be congressional action to address the inhumane conditions in ICE detention centers and the lack of protections for those facing deportation. Unfortunately, the current law is grossly inadequate and many people will suffer as a result. Since October, 23 people have died in ICE custody, already surpassing the total for the prior fiscal year and now on pace to be the deadliest period in two decades. Detainees in ICE facilities report worms in their food, unsafe drinking water, overflowing sewage and weeks without medical attention. Under the Trump administration, ICE has dramatically increased its use of solitary confinement as punishment — isolating more than 10,500 people between April 2024 and May 2025 alone — some just for asking guards their names, or for filing civil rights complaints. If prisoners were treated this way in federal or state facilities, it would be acknowledged as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment. There are countless cases in which federal courts found harsh and inadequate conditions of imprisonment that violate the Constitution. But those in immigration detention cannot invoke this constitutional protection because of the Supreme Court’s decision in Fong Yue Ting vs. United States (1893), where the court held that deportation is a civil, not criminal, proceeding and therefore is not punitive. As a result, the cruel and unusual punishment clause is not deemed to apply at all.

FOX News [4/7/2026 4:03 PM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston announced the arrests of five illegal immigrants over the past month who are wanted for murder and other violent crimes in their home countries, including several subjects of Interpol Red Notices. The agency said in a series of posts on X that ‘‘each illegally entered the United States during the Biden administration’s disastrous open border policy.’’ ICE said the migrants were apprehended in New England and are wanted overseas for serious violent offenses, including homicide and attempted homicide. The arrests underscore ICE’s focus on detaining foreign nationals accused of serious crimes abroad and highlight ongoing concerns about public safety tied to illegal border crossings.

DailySignal [4/7/2026 5:50 PM, Rebecca Downs, 474K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a of violent criminals in the country illegally who have been convicted of heinous crimes in the United States. Among those ICE arrested are five men from Mexico or Guatemala, some with sexual crime convictions, including crimes committed against children. "Yesterday, the men and women of ICE continued to make American communities safer by arresting rapists, pedophiles, arsonists and other depraved criminal illegal aliens. Our officers risk their lives every single day to get criminals out of American neighborhoods," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, "nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the United States." The department’s website includes a "Worst of the Worst" page to highlight criminal illegal immigrants arrested in various states.

Reuters [4/7/2026 1:30 PM, Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke, 38315K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 800 people following tips shared by federal airport security officials from the start of Donald Trump’s presidency through February 2026, internal ICE data reviewed by ‌Reuters show, a figure far above what was previously publicly known. The leads came from the Transportation Security Administration, which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers for possible immigration enforcement, the data showed. Reuters could not determine how many arrests took place inside airports, although the TSA tips would mainly be useful in determining when a person would be traveling. ICE and TSA are part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The agencies have historically shared information related to national security threats, but they began focusing on routine immigration arrests last year as part of Trump’s mass deportation effort. The 31,000 traveler records were gathered by TSA’s Secure Flight Program, which was created in 2007 to allow the agency to review passenger information for people who may be on U.S. government watchlists. The program was intended as a counter-terrorism measure, not to track down immigration offenders, according to the regulation outlining its purpose. DHS did not respond to questions about TSA providing passenger information to ICE, but said that under Trump, TSA "is pursuing solutions that improve resiliency, security, and efficiency across our entire system."

AP [4/7/2026 5:43 PM, Travis Loller, 35287K] reports U.S. government attorneys on Tuesday told a federal judge the Department of Homeland Security still intends to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, despite a new agreement with Costa Rica to accept deportees who cannot legally be returned to their home countries. The Salvadoran national’s case has become a focal point in the immigration debate after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year. Since his return, he has been fighting a second deportation to a series of African countries proposed by Homeland Security officials. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, of Maryland, previously barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him or detaining him. She has written that the agency has no viable plan to actually deport Abrego Garcia, referring in February to “one empty threat after another to remove him to countries in Africa with no real chance of success.” Abrego Garcia has argued that if he is going to be deported, it should be to Costa Rica, which previously agreed to accept him. But Todd Lyons, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, said in a March memo that deporting Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica would be “prejudicial to the United States.” Abrego Garcia should be sent to Liberia because the U.S. has spent government resources and political capital negotiating with the West African nation to accept third-country nationals, Lyons wrote. At a Tuesday hearing in Xinis’ court, Ernesto Molina, director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation, suggested that Abrego Garcia could “remove himself” to Costa Rica. Xinis pointed out that the DOJ is prosecuting him in Tennessee on human smuggling charges. She called it a “fantasy” to say that he can remove himself anywhere while the criminal case is pending. Xinis set a schedule for a briefing on the matter and scheduled a new hearing for April 28.

ABC News [4/7/2026 7:37 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports the federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Maryland immigration case on Tuesday pressed the government over its push to swiftly deport the Salvadoran native while his criminal case in Tennessee is still pending. The hearing follows a Justice Department request from last month to dissolve a preliminary injunction barring the government from re-detaining Abrego Garcia, so he can be deported to the West African nation of Liberia. "Be clear, there is no emergency if what you’re telling me is true that you want to prosecute Mr. Abrego Garcia in Tennessee," U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said at Tuesday’s hearing, adding, "You can’t have it both ways -- he physically needs to be in this country to be prosecuted.” Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March of last year to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies. He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he pleaded not guilty. When Xinis asked the government during Tuesday’s hearing if it was dismissing the Tennessee indictment, DOJ attorney Ernesto Molina said it is not. Xinis also questioned why the government has not agreed to send Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica, his preferred country of removal. "It is common knowledge that the United States has now reached an agreement with Costa Rica to remove similarly situated individuals to Abrego Garcia," Xinis said. Molina responded that Abrego Garcia could deport himself to Costa Rica, which would "effectuate" his removal order. Xinis pushed back, calling that a "fantasy" and pointing to a court order from the federal judge overseeing the Tennessee case that requires Abrego Garcia to attend his hearings. "Yes your honor, you’re correct," Molina said. "You’re conceding that you’re not dismissing the indictment, and you all know that Mr. Abrego Garcia has to be in the United States ... so why are you pressing this motion to dissolve if the criminal case is still needed for the government?" she asked again. Molina said the Department of Homeland Security’s interest is to remove Abrego Garcia from the U.S. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [4/7/2026 5:35 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports Kilmar Abrego Garcia entered the news in March 2025 after he was deported to El Salvador despite a court ruling that should have prevented it. His complicated legal fight since then has galvanized both sides of the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. There is a civil case in Maryland where he has been challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s attempts to deport him to a series of African countries. There is also a criminal case in Tennessee, where the government accuses him of human smuggling. He has pleaded not guilty and asked that the case be dismissed, claiming it was only brought to punish him.

NPR [4/7/2026 5:01 PM, Jude Joffe-Block, 28764K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using spyware tools that can intercept encrypted messages as part of the agency’s efforts to disrupt fentanyl traffickers, according to a letter sent last week by the agency’s acting director, Todd Lyons. Lyons’ letter, which was reviewed by NPR, said ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is using various tools as part of its mission to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations "particularly those involved in the trafficking of fentanyl." Lyons wrote "in response to the unprecedented lethality of fentanyl and the exploitation of digital platforms by transnational criminal organizations" he approved HSI’s "use of cutting-edge technological tools that address the specific challenges posed by the Foreign Terrorist Organizations’ thriving exploitation of encrypted communication platforms." His letter, dated April 1, was a belated response to an October inquiry from three Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressing concern about the agency’s potential use of the spyware Graphite, which was created by an Israeli company, Paragon Solutions. The letter is the first time ICE has indicated it is using Graphite.

Breitbart [4/7/2026 2:18 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a thrice-deported illegal alien accused of kidnapping a little girl after the sanctuary state of New York freed him from jail and sent him back into the community. On March 28, police in Long Island, New York, allege that 38-year-old illegal alien Carlos Corte-Corte of Ecuador kidnapped a four-year-old girl from a laundromat while she was there with her mother. Police located the girl at a nearby library hours after her kidnapping. Following his initial arrest for kidnapping and cruelty towards a child, Corte-Corte was released from jail back into the community rather than being turned over to ICE agents. The move is a result of New York’s strict sanctuary policy that shields illegal aliens from federal immigration enforcement. On March 31, ICE agents arrested Corte-Corte and put him into deportation proceedings. "This three-time deported criminal illegal alien, Carlos Corte-Corte, kidnapped an innocent four-year-old girl from a laundromat on Long Island," the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Lauren Bis said in a statement: Months ago, ICE Director Todd Lyons urged New York Attorney General Leticia James (D) in a letter to ensure that criminal illegal aliens were not being routinely released from state and local jails. James’s office never responded to Lyons’s letter.

FOX News [4/7/2026 7:19 Greg Norman-Diamond, Staff, 37576K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained an illegal immigrant who was released back into the community after allegedly kidnapping a 4-year-old girl from a laundromat in New York, a report said. The Department of Homeland Security told the New York Post that Carlos Corte-Corte, 38, of Ecuador, was taken into custody by ICE on March 31 and placed into removal proceedings following the March 28 incident at Laundry Kingdom in Patchogue. "This three-time deported criminal illegal alien, Carlos Corte-Corte, kidnapped an innocent four-year-old girl from a laundromat on Long Island. New York sanctuary politicians chose to release this kidnapper from jail to prey on more innocent children rather than cooperate with ICE law enforcement," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told the newspaper. "Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety," she added. "This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims.” The Suffolk County Police Department said that, "While a woman was with her two children at a laundromat, located at 138 East Main St., Carlos-Corte, who was unknown to the woman, led her 4-year-old daughter out the back exit of the laundromat, at 12:08 p.m." on March 28. "Her mother reported her missing, and patrol officers responded to the scene, where they reviewed surveillance video and began canvassing the area. During the search, the mother located her daughter in the children’s play area of the Patchogue-Medford Library, located at 54-60 East Main St. A patrol officer then located Corte near the laundromat and took him into custody," police added. Corte-Corte was charged with second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

Daily Caller [4/7/2026 2:21 PM, Christine Sellers, 803K] reports that ICE arrested an illegal alien who allegedly kidnapped a four-year-old girl from a New York laundromat and was later released by a judge, according to a federal statement Tuesday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended Carlos Corte-Corte, a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador, March 31 and began removal proceedings against him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a press release. Corte-Corte came into the U.S. illegally at least three times in 2020 and was removed every time, officials said. He allegedly re-entered the U.S. illegally on a fourth occasion at an unknown location and time. Police arrested Corte-Corte on March 28 after he allegedly led the four-year-old girl out of a Patchogue laundromat’s rear exit unbeknownst to her mother at 12:08 p.m., according to a Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) release. DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis praised ICE for arresting Corte-Corte, according to the DHS press release. "This three-time deported criminal illegal alien, Carlos Corte-Corte, kidnapped an innocent four-year-old girl from a laundromat on Long Island. New York sanctuary politicians chose to release this kidnapper from jail to prey on more innocent children rather than cooperate with ICE law enforcement," Bis said. "Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety. This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims. Thanks to our ICE law enforcement, this sicko is off our streets," she continued.

USA Today [4/7/2026 1:40 PM, Amethyst Martinez, 70643K] reports that ICE agents may still have a presence in New York City airports following a partial government shutdown that sent TSA lines into chaos for days. Workers for the agency were sent to airports across the country by President Donald Trump two weeks ago in hopes to supplementing TSA vacancies caused by resignations and call-outs. Airport TSA workers had gone without pay for weeks, with almost 500 officers quitting during the partial government shutdown as D.C. was unable to come to an agreement on Department of Homeland Security funding. The employees then began to receive backpay days ago after President Donald Trump signed an order directing DHS to use available federal funds to pay employees. Despite airport lines easing, ICE agents may still be seen by travelers going through security checkpoints. Although TSA workers began to receive backpay, ICE agents could still be assisting at certain airports due to the amount of employees that quit during the pay blackout period, DHS said. "President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours long lines at airports across the country — especially during this spring break and holiday season," a DHS spokesperson told USA Today. "President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted. This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions."

CBS Pittsburgh [4/7/2026 7:23 PM, Andy Sheehan and Tory Wegerski, 51110K] Video: HERE reports data obtained by KDKA Investigates shows the dramatic increase in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Pittsburgh area, providing a picture of those being detained and deported. "It’s disgusting what’s happening," said Monica Ruiz, the executive director of Casa San Jose, a nonprofit in the Pittsburgh area that supports Pittsburgh’s Latino community through social services and immigrant rights advocacy. Sheriff Michael Slupe of the Butler County Sheriff’s Department, which has a 287(g) cooperation agreement with ICE, said of undocumented immigrants, "They shouldn’t be here. Period.” KDKA Investigators obtained and analyzed years of arrest data from the Department of Homeland Security via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Deportation Data Project. Since President Trump took office, the rise in ICE arrests in the Pittsburgh area has been dramatic, jumping from 448 in the final year of the Biden administration to 1,425 in the Trump administration’s first year in 2025. That’s an increase of 218%. And with 358 ICE arrests just in January and February of this year, that pace appears to be increasing. ‘"Every day, there’s at least four or five people that are picked up here locally," said Ruiz. It’s had an impact on immigrant communities like the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Beechview, where Ruiz said fear of what she calls ICE’s "Gestapo tactics" means most people no longer go outside.

FOX News [4/7/2026 12:54 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports that a witness filmed the line at a PennDOT Driver’s Licensing Center moments before ICE made multiple arrests in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. A DHS spokesperson said 13 illegal immigrants — including from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan — were arrested and one will also potentially be additionally charged with resisting arrest and assault on an officer. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [4/7/2026 6:22 AM, Chrissy Suttles, 17364K] reports an immigrants’ rights group is leading a 130-mile trek from Pittsburgh to the Northeast’s largest ICE detention center. Organizers are taking their message by foot into Central Pennsylvania, through rural and often conservative areas where immigration debates play out differently than in cities. Frontline Dignity kicked off an eight-day walk Sunday from the South Side ICE office to Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County. The route spans shoulders, sidewalks, backroads and more. Walkers will at times hit nearly 30 miles a day, culminating in an April 12 vigil outside the ICE facility. Founded last year by Pittsburgher Jaime Martinez, Frontline Dignity is building a rapid-response network of legal observers to document ICE activity and support immigrant families. It now has more than 1,000 volunteers across six counties and has trained roughly 2,500 people.

Washington Post [4/7/2026 2:43 PM, Jenny Gathright and Juan Benn Jr., 24826K] reports that D.C. police have released body-camera footage showing the moments after a federal agent shot at an unarmed man during an October traffic stop in Northeast Washington — a case that fueled local outcry after the gunfire was not disclosed in an initial police report. The videos do not capture the shooting itself, which federal officials have alleged came after the driver made a “deliberate attempt” to run officers down, an account the driver’s attorneys dispute. Instead the footage shows the perspectives of two D.C. police officers who were on the scene. The release comes after the D.C. Council passed legislation last month compelling the local police department to release body-camera footage when federal officers use force and a D.C. officer is present amid ongoing scrutiny of federal law enforcement’s increased presence in the city. The local department cannot require federal agencies to release their officers’ body-camera footage. Attorneys for Phillip Brown, the unarmed man whom they say bullets narrowly missed, said Tuesday the video contradicts law enforcement statements that the Homeland Security Investigations agent was in danger when he shot at Brown. The short clip “underscores what attorneys for Mr. Brown asserted since the shooting — he was nearly killed by his own government for no reason,” Bernadette Armand and E. Paige White said in a statement.

FOX News [4/7/2026 4:09 PM, Leo Briceno, 37576K] reports Virginia’s Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday ignored questions on whether she would entertain calls from the Department of Homeland Security to end sanctuary policies in the state. Virginia — and in particular Fairfax County — has made headlines in recent weeks for a string of deadly attacks carried out by illegal aliens. DHS noted that three of the four suspects charged with murders in Fairfax County so far in 2026 are illegal aliens. At the beginning of her term, Spanberger joined a handful of Democratic governors like California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker who have made it harder for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. On Jan. 17, Spanberger rescinded local-federal coordination requirements, arguing that Virginia’s resources would be better spent enforcing its own laws. DHS explained in a statement to Fox News Digital that it depends on partnerships to coordinate detention and removal of illegal aliens like Gomez, Muy and Jalloh. "ICE can only detain illegals for the purpose of removal," a DHS spokesperson said when asked how the agency coordinates handovers of suspects.

Breitbart [4/7/2026 9:21 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2238K] reports a Haitian national, in the United States illegally, was arrested and charged with the murder of a woman at a Florida gas station, after he allegedly violently beat her to death. Fox News’s Bill Melugin reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that the alleged suspect, Rolbert Joachim, was "caught & released" into the country under the Biden administration in 2022. While a judge ordered Joachim to be "deported from the U.S. later that same year," the Biden admin is accused of protecting him from being deported and gave him Temporary Protect Status (TPS). Joachim’s TPS amnesty "expired in 2024.” "There is an extremely graphic video of the April 3rd killing on social media," Melugin wrote in his post. "Joachim is seen hitting a vehicle with a hammer in the parking lot of the gas station. The clerk comes out to confront him, he walks right at her, and with full strength, he bludgeons her in the head with the hammer. She falls down unconscious and he crushes her head with the hammer 6 more times.” In a press release, DHS shared that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials helped the Fort Meyers Police Department (FMPD) track down and arrest Joachim. Video footage showed that Joachim allegedly smashed the car windshield of a store clerk at a gas station, and then "repeatedly hit her in the head with a hammer," according to the press release. "This illegal alien barbarically hit this woman in the head multiple times with a hammer," DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. "This heinous murderer was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they the gave him Temporary Protected Status.” Bis continued to state that the Biden administration’s "reckless immigration policies cost this woman her life.”

FOX News [4/7/2026 6:51 PM, Alexandra Koch and Bill Melugin, 37576K] reports a Haitian illegal immigrant who was caught and released by the Biden administration in 2022 was arrested after allegedly bludgeoning a mother to death with a hammer on Friday outside a gas station in Fort Myers, Florida, in broad daylight. Rolbert Joachim, 40, is charged with second-degree murder and criminal damage to property, according to Lee County Sheriff’s Office jail records. Surveillance footage appeared to show Joachim smashing the woman’s car windshield, approaching her, and repeatedly hitting her in the head with a hammer — killing her in broad daylight, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The woman, whose identity has not yet been publicly released, was reportedly a store clerk inside the gas station. She was also the mother of two teenage daughters, according to a report from local outlet Gulf Coast News. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assisted the Fort Myers Police Department in tracking down and arresting Joachim on Mango Street in Fort Myers. Joachim first entered the U.S. in August 2022 and was released into the country under the Biden administration, according to DHS. "This illegal alien barbarically hit this woman in the head multiple times with a hammer," DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis wrote in a statement. "This heinous murderer was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him temporary protected status. Their reckless immigration policies cost this woman her life.” ICE has lodged a detainer against Joachim, and he will be deported regardless of the outcome of the case. "The arrest of this criminal is an example of how ICE and local authorities can work together to swiftly bring criminals to justice and make our communities safer," Bis said.

Washington Post [4/7/2026 10:43 AM, Anindya Kundu and Ryan W. Pontier, 24826K] reports since March 2025, at least 15 Florida public universities and colleges, including the University of Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville, have signed memorandums of agreement for their campus police departments to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These partnerships authorize ICE agents to expand the role of campus police officers so they can receive training and "perform certain functions of an immigration officer.” The agreements give campus police officers the federal authority to question students who are believed to be immigrants about their legal right to be in the country. Campus police officers can arrest students if the officers have "reason to believe the alien to be arrested is in the United States in violation of law." Campus police can also check federal immigration databases to see students’ immigration status. The list of universities in the state that have signed on to these agreements includes leading research universities such as Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University in Miami, or FIU, where we work as professors of education. We are unaware of any school in the Florida state university system that has publicly said they will not sign an agreement.

Breitbart [4/7/2026 4:09 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports an illegal alien convicted sex offender wanted in the sanctuary state of California is accused of killing an elderly couple in Benton County, Arkansas, in a drunk driving crash. Jose Luis Gomez, a 35-year-old illegal alien convicted sex offender and child abuser, has been arrested and charged in Benton County on two counts of negligent homicide and drunk driving. According to police, on March 26, 70-year-old Michael Cordes and his wife, 67-year-old Freda Cordes, were riding their Harley-Davidson motorcycle when Gomez allegedly failed to yield to oncoming traffic and crashed into the couple. Michael and Freda were pronounced dead at the scene, while Gomez suffered no injuries. Following a sobriety test and blood draw, police determined that Gomez was drunk at the time of the crash. Surveillance footage of the crash, police say, confirmed that Gomez was at fault. Arkansas State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar called the deaths of Michael and Freda Cordes "entirely preventable" because Gomez should have never been in the United States. This week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials revealed that Gomez was convicted in 2013 for cruelty towards a child and, in 2016, convicted of oral sex with a child under 16 years old. For the child sex crime conviction, Gomez received just two years in prison. At the time of the deadly crash, Gomez was wanted on a felony warrant in the sanctuary jurisdiction of Los Angeles County, California. ICE agents have lodged a detainer against Gomez, requesting that the Benton County Sheriff’s Office notify them if the illegal alien is released from jail at any time.

ABC News [4/7/2026 1:07 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports that a Vietnamese immigrant died in government custody last week, according to a notification sent to lawmakers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, marking the latest detainee death during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Tuan Van Bui, a 55-year-old immigrant, died at the Miami Correctional Center in Indiana. He is the 46th person to die in ICE custody during the current administration. A Vietnamese immigrant died in government custody last week, according to a notification sent to lawmakers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, marking the latest detainee death during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Tuan Van Bui, a 55-year-old immigrant, died at the Miami Correctional Center in Indiana. He is the 46th person to die in federal custody during the current Trump administration. In its notification, ICE said that "onsite staff discovered Bui unresponsive and immediately initiated life-saving measures, including CPR. Staff immediately contacted emergency services personnel, who swiftly responded to the scene and initiated advanced life support interventions." The cause of death is under investigation. According to an ABC News analysis of ICE data and the number of detainee deaths provided to Congress, the first 14 months of the second Trump administration represent the deadliest period for the federal detention system in recent years, with the exception of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a spike in deaths.

Breitbart [4/7/2026 7:27 AM, Randy Clark, 2238K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents recently announced 14 arrests that occurred in March during a multi-agency sex trafficking and child exploitation sting operation. ICE announced that among the group of 14 suspected offenders arrested were a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, a pastor, and a public-school guard. The operation, dubbed "Operation Out of Bounds," took place in and around Dayton, Ohio, between March 16 and 18. The results of the operation were first announced in a Facebook social media post by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. The operation was conducted by the Miami Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, comprised of multiple local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The task force targeted individuals that sought to engage in prostitution and the solicitation of minors. After the operation, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost commented on the results achieved, saying, "Those fueling the demand for human trafficking have no discernment if the person they are meeting for sex is a willing participant, a victim, or in these cases, our task force agents. Play it safe, don’t buy sex in Ohio.”

Chicago Tribune [4/7/2026 2:40 PM, Madeline Buckley, 5209K] reports that on Holy Thursday, local clergy members offered Communion and got down on their knees to wash the feet of detainees at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, even as the migrants were handcuffed and shackled during the religious observance inside the west suburban facility. The faith leaders described the scene in a report to U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who on Tuesday ordered that the government cannot make a blanket policy that bans clergy from ministering to people inside the building while a lawsuit on the matter is proceeding. Gettleman ruled that the parties must meet to decide on a protocol that would allow ongoing ministry in the facility that has been a flashpoint during the administration’s controversial immigration enforcement operations. “For me, I’ll be very honest with you, it was heartbreaking,” one of the clergy members, the Rev. David Inczauskis, wrote in a status report filed with the court on Monday. “It was heartbreaking to see these people wearing handcuffs and to see them also wearing shackles on their feet.” The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it previously said it “follows ALL court orders.” Government attorneys have said that the agency does not object to ministry in longer-term detention centers, but has drawn a distinction with processing centers that act as a waypoint.

ABC News [4/7/2026 7:39 AM, Staff, 34146K] reports Homeland Security officials said agents were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, noting that lying under oath is a serious federal offense. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Houston Chronicle [4/7/2026 6:00 AM, Staff, 2493K] reports last year, the Houston Police Department transported people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 17 times. Many Houstonians were outraged upon learning that. Now, finally, Houston City Council will have a chance to put local public safety ahead of national politics. On Wednesday, council members will vote on an immigration ordinance mandating that traffic stops end when their lawful purpose ends, not when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrives. The ordinance also requires HPD to publicly update City Council four times a year about the department’s interactions with ICE. It’s a watered-down version of the original proposal that Council Members Alejandra Salinas, Abbie Kamin and Edward Pollard introduced two weeks ago. Under the original version, a provision would have given HPD officers the option to not call ICE when there is no criminal warrant and only an administrative warrant, which is a civil document. Administrative warrants aren’t signed by a judge — they don’t allege a criminal charge and they don’t authorize local police to arrest anyone. Austin and Dallas already give cops that discretion. Unfortunately, that provision — the most meaningful part of the proposal — was struck down by Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel. He reports to Mayor John Whitmire and basically has veto power on proposals introduced through Proposition A, which lets any trio of council members put an item on the meeting agenda. Michel warned us of “draconian” $25,000 daily fines should the city run afoul of Senate Bill 4, a state law that prohibits cities from limiting their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. What remains now is an imperfect, but urgently needed step toward clarifying HPD’s role in the Trump administration’s smash-and-grab deportation spree — a chaotic dragnet that has resulted in legal residents being detained and U.S. citizens being killed in the streets.

Axios [4/7/2026 3:52 PM, Kale Williams, 17364K] reports a federal appeals panel heard arguments Tuesday on limits to federal agents’ use of chemical munitions during protests outside an ICE facility in Portland. The case could determine how broadly federal agents can use force-control tactics like tear gas during protests. Steven Worth, an attorney representing residents of an apartment complex across the street from the ICE facility, argued that federal officers have used tear gas in situations that were not dangerous. Instead, he said, agents have used tear gas to create dangerous conditions, later posting footage of the confrontations on social media. In two lawsuits, journalists, demonstrators and nearby residents challenged federal agents’ use of tear gas, saying it represented excessive force and violated their constitutional rights, respectively. Two federal district court judges agreed, and in February, restricted the use of chemical munitions to situations in which officers face imminent threats. The Trump administration appealed both those rulings and a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 to pause the restrictions ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. The panel, made up of two Trump appointees and one judge appointed by former President Biden, did not say when it expected to rule on the cases.

USA Today [4/7/2026 1:02 PM, McKenna Mobley, 70643K] reports that a California bill, SB 873, has been introduced to limit immigration enforcement activity at state courthouses. The bill would require federal agents to have a judicial warrant before making an arrest within 1,000 feet of a courthouse. Supporters argue the legislation is necessary to ensure all residents can safely access the justice system without fear. The bill, introduced in January 2026, has not yet been voted on and is awaiting committee hearings. A California bill has been introduced to limit immigration enforcement agent activity at courthouses. Senate Bill 873, called Kick ICE Out of Courts, would prohibit civil arrests in or by a courthouse while individuals are attending a court proceeding. The move follows a slew of immigration sweeps last year outside of courthouses, schools, churches and private residences. The bill, introduced by California Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes, a Democrat representing the Inland Empire District 29, in January and amended in March with stricter limitations, would require federal immigration agents to present a valid judicial warrant and clearly identify themselves before making an arrest within 1,000 feet of a California courthouse. "Flagrant disregard for rights protected by constitutional law will not be tolerated in California," Reyes said. "California fully intends to protect the right of our residents to participate in judicial proceedings. Indiscriminate arrests in and around California courts by unidentified federal agents without proper warrants are unreasonable, unjust, and unlawful."

San Diego Union Tribune [4/7/2026 5:21 PM, Alexandra Mendoza and Kristen Taketa, 1257K] reports immigration arrests in the San Diego area appear to have decreased in the first two months of this year compared to late last year, though they are still much more frequent than under the Biden administration, recently released data show. The slowdown comes after a year in which arrests increased by over 1,300% from 2024, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to the Deportation Data Project by the agency in response to a public record request and analyzed by the Union-Tribune. The data now covers more than a year into the second term of the Trump administration, which has been notable for its increased efforts to crack down on immigration. ICE made about 8,300 arrests in the San Diego field office in 2025, up from about 600 the previous year, the data show. The office oversees San Diego and Imperial counties. December alone saw almost 1,500 arrests. Over the past year, Trump administration officials have repeatedly stated that they will target the “worst of the worst,” referring to individuals with serious criminal records. However, from January 2025 through March 10, 2026, data show that approximately 59% of arrests at the San Diego field office were individuals with no pending criminal charges or prior convictions. During the first months of 2026, the percentage remained above 50%.

Univision [4/8/2026 2:21 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports a Guatemalan immigrant identified as Maria claims that, after being detained for four months at the ICE detention center in Adelanto , she received a letter of distress sent by “ four former companions “ who, according to the same account, are still being held there. According to the testimony, the letter asks for help and describes an atmosphere of desperation within the center, where solitary confinement would be applied for minimal reasons. Maria said she received the letter recently and that it was written by four women with whom she shared detention. The woman states that the letter seeks to make known what is happening inside the center and to activate legal and public support. Maria recounted that solitary confinement would be applied for reasons she described as "simple" such as being in a room that, according to her version, "does not belong to you" or for arguing with another inmate. She also said that some of the detainees had reached a breaking point. In her testimony, María stated that some women “fell into depression” and that one of them wanted to take her own life. Maria was one of several immigrants detained by ICE during an operation carried out on November 27, 2025 in Hollywood , according to the script. A report from the LAist portal on the use of solitary confinement in Adelanto indicates that this condition would have increased from 14 cases in May 2025 to 74 in January 2026 . N+ Univision 34 is awaiting the information requested from both the Adelanto detention center and ICE regarding this situation. Francisco Moreno , executive director of the Council of Mexican Federations (COFEM) , expressed concern about the increase in people detained. Moreno added that they are pursuing legal processes and actions with lawyers , including the possibility of going before a judge and filing lawsuits and complaints about what is happening to the people.

Newsweek [4/7/2026 6:01 PM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports a union representing approximately 2,000 hospitality workers at SoFi Stadium said that it could call a strike if immigration enforcement agencies are involved in World Cup operations in Los Angeles. Newsweek has contacted FIFA for comment. UNITE HERE Local 11 said members, including cooks, servers and bartenders at SoFi Stadium, remain without a labor contract as World Cup preparations continue, adding that the potential presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at or near matches has raised concerns among workers about safety and working conditions. This comes amid fears among immigrant communities and lawmakers about possible enforcement activity around venues. The union said it has repeatedly requested meetings with FIFA since Los Angeles was selected as a host city but has not yet secured a response. Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing in February that the agency would be a key part of the overall security framework for the tournament and did not rule out the possibility of enforcement operations around matches. House Democrats have introduced a set of bills seeking to restrict the role of ICE agents during the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States. The proposals would limit civil immigration enforcement near stadiums, fan zones, and transit hubs, amid concerns from lawmakers and advocates that operations by ICE and Customs and Border Protection could discourage attendance and create anxiety among international visitors and immigrant communities as the U.S. prepares to co-host the tournament with Canada and Mexico.

CNN [4/7/2026 6:00 AM, Michal Ruprecht, 19874K] reports nearly 1,000 patients come to Dr. Faysal Al Ghoula’s pulmonology clinic in southwestern Indiana every year. Some come to manage chronic lung disease; others reckon with a new lung cancer diagnosis. The 38-year-old doctor also spends weeklong stretches in an understaffed ICU, watching over patients as ventilators hum and conversations tip between survival and loss. On his days off, he volunteers at a clinic for uninsured patients. The father of two summed it up: "It’s busy." But even as demand for Al Ghoula grows, he fears that his ability to care for patients is at risk. Trump administration policy changes are putting a growing number of immigrant doctors in limbo. And Al Ghoula knows he could be next. He’s from Libya, one of the 39 countries officials now call "high-risk." Many immigrants from those countries who came to the US legally are facing indefinite delays in decisions on their applications for visas, work permits, green cards and citizenship. And some hospitals have already lost doctors, a loss felt across the communities they serve. According to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, roughly 2 million immigration applications are affected by these policies. About 240,000 are for green cards. Al Ghoula and potentially thousands of other foreign-born doctors are now caught in that limbo, and some have been forced to step away from work without pay — jeopardizing their own futures in the US. While they wait, some have filed lawsuits against the federal government, hoping to protect their ability to keep working. "I really trusted the system. I believed in it," said Al Ghoula, who holds a visa that classifies him as someone with "extraordinary ability." "I wanted to be part of this great country, and now I’m receiving this message that I’m not good enough." Al Ghoula is still working, but his authorization to do so is set to expire in September.

FOX News [4/7/2026 10:12 AM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it had discovered "significant national security and public safety risks" in U.S. vetting processes, calling the system "wholly inadequate," just days before two relatives of slain terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani were taken into custody in Los Angeles. The arrests of Soleimani’s niece, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, and grandniece, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, left many asking how close family associates of one of the most well-known terrorists in the world could gain lawful permanent status in the U.S. A USCIS internal review announced just days before the arrests may shed some light on that. On March 30, USCIS issued an alert that, through an ongoing comprehensive review of pending workloads and benefit applications, it had "ascertained that prior screening and vetting measures were wholly inadequate." The agency said that "many applicants for naturalization and lawful permanent residence were not sufficiently vetted." As a result, USCIS said applications were approved and individuals were naturalized who "should not have been." "These gaps," said USCIS, "expose the United States to significant national security and public safety risks and compromise the integrity of the immigration system." Acting Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital that both entered the U.S. in 2015. Soleimani Afshar entered on a tourist visa in June, while her daughter, Hosseiny, entered in July on a student visa. Both were granted asylum status by a judge in 2019. Bis said that Soleimani Afshar became a green card holder under the Biden administration in 2021, giving her permanent lawful status. Two years later, in 2023, Hosseiny also got her green card, gaining permanent lawful status.

FOX News [4/7/2026 12:55 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports that Dana Perino reports on the arrest of Qasem Soleimani’s niece and grand-niece, whose US green cards were revoked. Sheila Nazarian, an Iranian exile and plastic surgeon, slams their lavish Los Angeles lifestyle, accusing them of supporting the oppressive Iranian regime that persecutes women. The Department of Homeland Security declared their asylum claims fraudulent, leading to potential deportation for exploiting US immigration policies. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Newsweek [4/7/2026 9:02 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports U.S. authorities have revoked the green cards of two Iranian nationals and detained them in immigration custody, according to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Los Angeles following the revocation of their green cards. Afshar and Hosseiny are the niece and grandniece of Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of Iran’s Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He led the Quds Force from the late 1990s until his death in January 2020, when he was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. Department of State said the action was taken on national security grounds, and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested the two women in Los Angeles after Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated their residency status. While residing in the United States, Hosseiny’s social media accounts reportedly showed travel to destinations such as Miami, Alaska and Las Vegas, and content reflecting a luxury lifestyle, according to the New York Post. The posts described in reporting included images of her traveling by private aircraft, spending time on yachts, attending music festivals, and sharing photos from trips to locations such as Miami, Alaska and Las Vegas, where she was photographed at events including a Formula 1 race. Hosseiny entered the United States on a student visa in 2015 and was later granted lawful permanent resident status in 2023, the New York Post reported. With their green cards revoked, both women are now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and are facing removal proceedings that could ultimately lead to deportation to Iran. In such cases, the process typically involves appearances before immigration judges, where the individuals may have the opportunity to contest removal or apply for relief under U.S. immigration law, though outcomes vary depending on the specifics of each case. If deported, they would return to Iran, where domestic laws include strict public-morality regulations governing dress, behavior, and social conduct, enforced by state authorities. These rules are implemented through a legal and regulatory framework that can carry penalties for violations, including flogging, though any consequences would depend on Iranian law as applied by local authorities at the time of return and the circumstances of the individuals involved. Both individuals are being held at the South Texas Detention Facility, according to the ICE detainee locator.

Telemundo20 [4/7/2026 5:59 PM, Daniel Andrade, 56K] reports according to authorities in Tijuana, illegal crossings of migrants by sea into the United States have increased, so a series of warnings were issued. The Tijuana Fire Department’s Aquatic Rescue Unit says that attempts to cross by sea have increased in the Playas de Tijuana area, at least during the last few weeks. He noted that these activities had decreased in previous months. However, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that in 2025, encounters with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border have fallen to their lowest level in more than 50 years, with 237,538 records, a decrease of 84.5% compared to fiscal year 2024. To address these binational concerns, Municipal Civil Protection reported that they are holding information-sharing meetings with their counterparts in San Diego, in order to effectively handle any such emergency. According to CBP, this decrease in encounters is closely related to the number of people living in migrant shelters, which has been quite low for months.

New York Times [4/7/2026 5:59 PM, Miriam Jordan, 148038K] reports a Venezuelan-born family physician who had been caring for Americans with chronic illnesses in an area facing a doctor shortage was detained by Border Patrol agents in Texas late Monday. The doctor, Ezequiel Veliz, was featured in a New York Times article last weekend that detailed how a Trump administration policy had frozen visa extensions, work permits and green cards for citizens of 39 countries, forcing some foreign-born physicians out of U.S. hospitals. He had entered the United States legally and was forced to withdraw from his position after losing his work permit because his immigration status ended. He had been trying to transition to a new visa, according to documents he submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that The Times reviewed. In response to the Times article from last weekend, the department said it had paused decisions on cases involving immigrants from “high-risk countries” to ensure they are “vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” Dr. Veliz, 32, is among a growing number of foreign-trained doctors who were abruptly sidelined by the little-known immigration policy, which has affected hospitals across the country.

Federal News Network [4/7/2026 5:55 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports the Trump administration wants to cut airport security screeners and shift funding to private contractors under the Screening Partnership Program. The Trump administration plans to start privatizing Transportation Security Administration security screeners by requiring smaller airports across the country to use contract screeners approved by TSA. TSA’s fiscal 2027 budget justification shows the agency would cut roughly 8,400 positions out of 61,000 at the agency, representing about a 14% decrease in the TSA workforce compared to the 2026 budget. The documents show the request would reduce TSA’s budget for personnel costs by about $529 million. But TSA would re-direct most of that funding, approximately $477 million, toward its Screening Partnership Program. Under the SPP, the agency contracts with private companies to run screening operations at select airports. The expansion of SPP "begins the privatization of TSA’s airport screeners," according to the Office of Management and Budget overview. Currently, 20 U.S. airports use private contractors under SPP, while 27 companies are approved to compete for work under the program. Meanwhile, approximately 440 airports are federalized and rely on TSA screeners. The 2027 budget request’s expansion of SPP would require all category III and category IV airports to enroll in the program. TSA categorizes airports based on different risk factors, including passenger throughput. While TSA doesn’t maintain a public list of all categorized airports, a 2025 report to Congress on screening technology upgrades at 228 airports shows that the category III and IV locations tend to be smaller regional and county airports. Meanwhile, larger regional airports and international airports tend to be classified as category I or II, while the largest airports in the country are in the "X" category. The budget justification documents put more details around a push by the Trump administration to overhaul TSA operations. Last year, acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said "nothing is off the table" regarding potential privatization of airport screening functions. Project 2025, which OMB Director Russell Vought contributed to, also calls for privatizing TSA. Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security is also following Project 2025’s call to eliminate union rights for TSA airport screeners. That effort is being challenged in federal court.

USA Today [4/7/2026 2:15 PM, Kaitlyn McCormick, 70643K] reports that all terminal security checkpoints are reopened at the Philadelphia International Airport as of April 7, a potentially good sign after a Department of Homeland Security shutdown (that still hasn’t reached a sure conclusion) caused travel panic across the United States. The saga is one that has been the focal point of political and travel news over better part of the last two months, which included TSA furloughs, ICE agents sent to airports to assist security checks and extended waits at security checkpoints. In March, multiple Philadelphia-based media outlets reported ICE sightings at the Philadelphia International Airport, including NBC10 and 6ABC. But DHS wouldn’t confirm, citing agent and operational safety. Public Affairs Manager, Heather Redfern, deferred to TSA and DHS at the time as well, stating that ICE was under the scope of DHS, not the airport itself. On April 7, a DHS spokesperson forwarded a similar statement to USA TODAY upon being asked for more information on ICE agents’ presence at airports across the region. "For operational security reasons, we are not going to confirm the locations of our officers."

New York Times [4/7/2026 6:35 PM, Amy Graff, 148038K] reports Hawaii was bracing for a threat of flooding yet again with a wet spring storm system expected to bring another five to 12 inches of rain through Friday, as the islands recover from the catastrophic flooding last month. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for all the islands from 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Friday, but downpours of rain were already falling over Kauai early Tuesday. The service said that “significant flooding” could lead to overflowing streams, road closures and landslides on steep slopes. Mr. Parker warned that evacuations may become necessary. Since February, multiple storm systems have led to an unusually wet period across the islands, and most notably two powerful storms led to an onslaught of rain in March. In the second week of March, soggy hillsides collapsed onto roads, and rivers of rain inundated homes in southern parts of Maui and the Big Island. When another storm swept in a week later, the ground was already waterlogged, causing more rain to gush and stream down streets. Residents of Waialua on the North Shore of Oahu were forced to evacuate their homes, as floodwaters inundated the area and threatened to overwhelm a local dam. Emergency crews on Oahu rescued more than 200 people, according to the Department of Emergency Management. On Maui, floodwaters destroyed properties in the town of Kihei.

CBS News [4/7/2026 9:17 AM, Emily Mae Czachor, 51110K] reports a family of three were found alive and rescued Monday, after disappearing seven days earlier on a boat in the western Pacific Ocean, the United States Coast Guard said on Tuesday. The family included two men and one woman, all of whom have been rescued, according to the Coast Guard. None suffered injuries during their week lost at sea. Crew members aboard the Coast Guard cutter Midgett located the missing family off the coast of Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia, an island nation northeast of Papua New Guinea. The trio had set sail from Fananu Island, within the archipelago, on March 30, the Coast Guard said. They planned to travel only a short distance to nearby Murillo Island on a 23-foot skiff, but never arrived at their destination after the boat’s engine failed. The Midgett crew found the missing family after receiving a report Sunday from authorities in Micronesia and the U.S. Embassy, which informed the Coast Guard that their boat was overdue. Search and rescue efforts spanned 14,000 square nautical miles of rough seas, where waves at times reached as high as 10 feet, the Coast Guard said. All three survivors were taken safely by the Coast Guard to Chuuk State, where transport was available back to Fananu Island.

CNN [4/8/2026 4:01 AM, Taylor Romine, Chris Boyette, and Martin Goillandeau, 19874K] reports authorities in the Bahamas have moved to a recovery operation in their search for an American woman who reportedly fell overboard during a boat trip with her husband Saturday night, local police said. Lynette Hooker, 55, and her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, both US nationals from Michigan, were on a small dinghy when Lynette fell off the boat during turbulent weather, according to Brian’s account shared by the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Local authorities and the US Coast Guard scoured the bay near the incident in search of Lynette, but have now moved to a recovery operation, according to Richard Cook, fire team lead with Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue. As authorities continue their search, Lynette’s family have called for an investigation into her disappearance as they work to get more information from local authorities.

NBC News [4/7/2026 4:40 PM, Kevin Collier, 42967K] reports Iran’s hackers are actively breaking into industrial control systems in the U.S., multiple federal agencies warned Tuesday, in an ongoing attempt to disrupt American infrastructure. Hackers are compromising internet-facing tools made by Rockwell Automation, a Milwaukee-based maker of industrial control systems, which has led to “disruptions across several U.S. critical infrastructure sectors,” the advisory says. It is unclear if any of the disruptions are significant. The hackers have targeted victims in government services, water and wastewater services and the energy sector, it says. The warning concerning domestic critical infrastructure threats is the first one of its kind released to the public since the U.S. war with Iran began. The advisory does not name which companies have been disrupted or how severe the effects of the hacks have been, but says they have resulted in “operational disruption and financial loss” for victims. It is jointly authored by the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI, NSA, Department of Energy, and U.S. Cyber Command. The agencies recommend taking vulnerable internet-connected controllers offline. It identifies the hackers as “Iran-affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) actors.” The hackers have been breaking into Rockwell’s Studio 5000 Logix Designer, a customizable program to control industrial systems, the advisory said. The New York Post [4/7/2026 5:02 PM, Ronny Reyes, 40934K] reports that the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency had put out a notice "urgently warning" the private sector that hackers backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were attempting to disrupt systems tied to America’s water, energy, transportation and communications set-ups. The hackers have had some success, the US said. The notice called on utilities and government agencies to make sure that none of their PLCs were connected to the Web, which could make them vulnerable to a cyberattack. The warning from the CISA was echoed by the FBI, NSA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and US Cyber Command. The Los Angeles Times [4/7/2026 2:27 PM, Michael Wilner, 12718K] reports that the Iranian cyberactivity comes as President Trump is threatening to target Iran’s critical infrastructure in the coming hours, particularly its bridges and power plants. Iran’s attack targeted products by Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley, one of the most widely used industrial automation brands, according to the notice, which said that cyber actors affiliated with Iran were exploiting "programmable logic controllers across U.S. critical infrastructure." Tehran’s targeting campaigns against U.S. organizations "have recently escalated, likely in response to hostilities between Iran and the United States and Israel," the notice warned. "Iran-affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) actors are conducting exploitation activity targeting internet-facing operational technology (OT) devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs) manufactured by Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley," the notice reads. "U.S. organizations should urgently review the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) in this advisory for indications of current or historical activity on their networks," it continues.

The New York Times [4/7/2026 5:32 PM, David E. Sanger, 148038K] reports a vaguely worded warning from the Trump administration on Tuesday said that hackers backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had begun a series of cyberattacks on water and energy systems across the United States, presumably in retaliation for American and Israeli strikes over the past five weeks. But the warning, issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, did not name specific American facilities that had been struck or say whether any damage had been done. It said only that the attacks were focusing on equipment made by a major American producer of computer controllers, in an effort to make government agencies and utilities lock down their systems before the Iranian hackers can disrupt more systems. The report was issued in conjunction with the F.B.I., the National Security Agency and the Energy Department, among other government agencies, and said that the purpose of the Iranian-affiliated attacks was “to cause disruptive effects within the United States.” Most of the equipment targeted by the group, the report said, were “programmable logic controllers” made by Rockwell Automation, which turns out a widely used line of what are known as Allen-Bradley controllers. The notice urged utilities and government agencies to make sure none of those controllers were connected to the web. CyberScoop [4/7/2026 2:00 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports that the hackers are taking aim at devices and systems that control industrial processes, and have harmed victims in the last month following the onset of U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, according to the joint alert from the FBI, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department and Cyber Command. “Iran-affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) actors are conducting exploitation activity targeting internet-facing operational technology (OT) devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs) manufactured by Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley,” the alert states. “This activity has led to PLC disruptions across several U.S. critical infrastructure sectors through malicious interactions with the project file and manipulation of data on human machine interface (HMI) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) displays.” U.S. government agencies have warned before about Iranian hackers going after similar targets with those similar methods. The first such warning came after an Iranian government-linked group took credit for attacking a Pennsylvania water facility in late 2023. CNN [4/7/2026 8:12 PM, Sean Lyngaas, 612K] reports Iran-linked hackers have successfully targeted and caused disruptions at multiple US oil and gas and water sites in recent weeks, according to a federal advisory released Tuesday and three sources familiar with the investigation. The hacking campaign marked an escalation of the cyberattacks launched by Tehran since the US-Israeli war with Iran began because it tested the safety systems at US industrial plants that protect human life. The hacks have caused some industrial processes at the sites to shut down, forcing them to operate manually, the sources said. That downtime has caused financial losses for some of the victims, the federal advisory said. The hackers have in some cases tried to use destructive malware, or "wipers," to delete data from victim companies, but it was unclear if they were successful, two of the sources said. The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber agency and others said Tuesday they were "urgently warning" US critical infrastructure firms about the ongoing hacking campaign, which officials said was aimed at causing "disruptive effects within the United States. Later on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he’d agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, less than two hours before his 8 p.m. deadline to destroy a "whole civilization." He has also previously threatened to bomb power plants in Iran. While Iranian missiles can’t yet hit the US homeland, the hacking campaign offers an opportunity for Iran to respond asymmetrically by hitting the US critical infrastructure in cyberspace. "Government and experts have been warning about internet connected systems for years, and how vulnerable they are," said one source familiar with the federal investigation into the hacks. "The companies who paid attention and have severe consequences already removed those systems and followed the guidance.” The concern is for the critical US infrastructure providers that haven’t been paying as close attention. The Iran-linked hackers are opportunistically targeting internet-facing programmable logic controllers, the devices that allow machinery to communicate at industrial plants around the world. That "opens up the opportunity not just for immediate disruption, but potentially modification of operating parameters that could impact physical operations," said Joe Slowik, director of cybersecurity alerting strategy at Dataminr and an industrial cybersecurity expert. "The latter could lead to physical impacts and safety concerns, which is a serious issue and represents a notable extension of adversary capability and intent" from previous activity affiliated with certain Iranian hackers, Slowik said.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [4/7/2026 5:30 PM, Ari Natter, 18082K]
NewsMax [4/7/2026 4:56 PM, Theodore Bunker, 3760K]

Bloomberg [4/7/2026 7:14 PM, Margi Murphy and Paige Smith, 18082K] reports a pro-Iranian cybercrime group has claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Chime Financial Inc. and Pinterest Inc. that knocked the websites of both companies offline. Chime, a San Francisco-based fintech company, was hit with a distributed-denial-of-service attack on April 1, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named to discuss internal information. Customers expressed frustration on social media that they were unable to access services at the time. Chime disclosed the outage on its website but didn’t share the reason why. A pro-Iranian hacking group later claimed responsibility for the attack. “Chime recently experienced a brief disruption to Chime.com that was quickly resolved,” the company said in a statement. “The incident had no impact beyond the temporary website disruption, and no funds or member data were compromised.” On Tuesday, Pinterest, a San Francisco-based social networking company, was also knocked briefly offline in a similar attack. Once again, the pro-Iranian group claimed credit. “We are aware of a DDoS attack that targeted Pinterest,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg. “We mitigated this attack within minutes, and it impacted less than 2% of Pinterest traffic.” The Iranian-aligned group also claimed to have recently attacked several American companies, but Bloomberg wasn’t able to substantiate the claims.

Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 2:00 PM, Claire Carter, 1147K] reports that Anthropic announced it is launching a new artificial intelligence cybersecurity initiative in a preview rollout with a select group of industry partners, aiming to test and refine the system before any broader release. The rollout comes as concerns grow over cybersecurity tools being used in major conflicts, including the Iran war. The effort, called Project Glasswing, uses Anthropic’s Claude Mythos frontier model to identify and exploit software vulnerabilities, a skill typically associated with human cybersecurity researchers. Rather than making the model widely available, Anthropic is working with a select group of companies across different industries to improve defenses and better understand how to safely deploy the technology. The companies include: Amazon, Apple, Cisco, CrowdStrike, the Linux Foundation, and Microsoft. Logan Graham, who leads Anthropic’s frontier development team, told the Washington Examiner that the Claude Mythos model has been around, but only recently have researchers found it is particularly adept at cybersecurity work. "At a high level, we have a new model, but it’s not even that this moment is really about this model, per se," Graham said. "It’s about what we’re doing with it, and how we hope to kick off a meaningful industrywide improvement in cybersecurity, preparing for a future of models that are this good at cybersecurity tasks."

CyberScoop [4/7/2/26 1:00 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports cybercrime remains a booming business. Annual cybercrime losses amounted to almost $20.9 billion last year, reflecting a 26% increase from 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said in its annual report Tuesday. The comprehensive study exposes a worsening digital crime environment that is driving financial losses, with momentum moving in the wrong direction and compounding at an alarming rate. Annual cybercrime losses have jumped almost 400% from $4.2 billion in 2020, and cumulative losses in that five-year period surpassed $71.3 billion. The FBI’s IC3, which formed as the country’s central hub for cybercrime reporting in 2000, is busier than ever. “We now average almost 3,000 complaints per day,” Jose Perez, the FBI’s operations director for its criminal and cyber branch, wrote in the report. The annual internet crime report highlights growing and sustaining trends. Yet, the scope of the study is limited and relies entirely on cybercrime incidents submitted to the FBI. The full impact of cybercrime remains murky, as an unknown number of victims suffer in the shadows and never report the crimes they endure.

Security Week [4/7/2026 4:15 AM, Eduard Kovacs] reports the Trump administration is proposing a $707 million reduction in the budget of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for fiscal year 2027. A proposal from the Office of Management and Budget indicates that the cut aims to refocus CISA on its core mission: protecting federal networks and critical infrastructure. The goal is also to eliminate “weaponization and waste”. “CISA was more focused on censorship than on protecting the Nation’s critical systems, and put them at risk due to poor management and inefficiency, as well as a focus on self-promotion,” the new budget proposal reads. The proposed budget seeks to streamline operations by eliminating some CISA programs deemed redundant by the administration. This includes removing school safety initiatives that overlap with existing state and federal programs. Additionally, the proposal calls for the dissolution of offices dedicated to international affairs and stakeholder engagement, as well as the termination of programs focused on combating misinformation and propaganda.

AP [4/7/2026 4:42 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 35287K] reports a California man who co-founded one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug cartels pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the U.S. to a federal narcotics conspiracy charge. Erick Valencia Salazar formed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known as “El Mencho” who was killed by the Mexican army in February. Valencia Salazar 49, of Santa Clara, California, faces a mandatory-minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison after pleading guilty in Washington, D.C., to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine for U.S. importation. Chief Judge James Boasberg is scheduled to sentence him on July 31.

FOX News [4/8/2026 3:47 AM, Landon Mion, 37576K] reports the two terror suspects accused of trying to bomb a protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence last month, in what authorities have described as an ISIS-inspired attack, were indicted on Tuesday, according to federal prosecutors. Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, are accused of throwing live explosive devices into a protest outside Mamdani’s Gracie Mansion residence on March 7, after driving from Pennsylvania. The bombs failed to detonate and nobody was injured. Both were charged with eight counts: conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, provision and attempted provision of material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, carrying of explosives during the commission of a federal felony, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives and unlawful possession of destructive devices. "As alleged, just weeks ago, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi carried out a terrorist attack on the streets of New York," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said in a statement. "They sought to murder multiple innocent victims in the name of ISIS. The brave women and men of the NYPD responded immediately, and Balat and Kayumi were arrested on site."

New York Post [4/7/2026 11:16 PM, Zoe Hussain and Ben Kochman, 40934K] reports two ISIS-inspired bombing suspects were caught musing about blowing up white supremacist Jake Lang and maiming up to 60 victims — both cops and civilians — in dashcam footage from their car ride to an anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion last month, according to a bombshell indictment. Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were indicted on Tuesday for allegedly hurling two homemade incendiary devices in an ISIS-inspired March 7 attack during the dueling protests outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence. The two homegrown terrorists were caught on footage — from a built-in dashboard camera on their car ride from Pennsylvania to Manhattan — casually chatting about how they planned to target Lang, who organized the hateful rally, and hoped he would be "split in half" in the bombing attack. The pair also discussed how they wished for maximum casualties — and their chilling backup plan to toss the explosives in a café if all else failed, according to court documents. "All I know is I want to start terror, bro," Kayumi allegedly said in the recording, per the indictment. "I want to petrify these people.” "Oh yeah, what do you think, are they going to remove the airplanes for us… over New York? Are they going to stop them? If we do the attack and the bombs go off and everything," Balat then asked. "First call, they’re going to be like this is us targeting [Individual-1]," Kayumi responded. The "individual-1" is referencing Lang, a right-wing agitator and pardoned January 6 rioter, law enforcement sources said. Balat then explained that he was also hoping to target "the government" and "civilians also," to which Kayumi replied, "Yeah, I know.” He then detailed how he had put a specific amount of Triacetone triperoxide, an explosive known as "TATP," to kill roughly 8 to 16 people or as many as 60 people if the area was crowded. After the two discussed how they planned to hide the bomb and flee back to the car, Balat said he just "can’t wait for that bomb to go off and his [Lang’s] freaking head, his body to get split in half, bro, dead.” "Bro, this is so cool," Kayumi allegedly calmly responded. "I’m gonna just start attacking police," Balat added, later stating that if their primary plan "doesn’t work," they "could also throw it [a device] in the café.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/7/2026 2:49 PM, Ashley Oliver, 37576K] reports that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday creating a state process to designate terrorist organizations and penalize universities that support them, part of what he described as a crackdown on Islamic extremism in Florida. DeSantis, standing behind a sign denouncing Sharia law, said during the bill signing Monday that the legislation was designed to protect Floridians and their tax dollars. "We’ll do millions for public safety, millions for education, but never one red cent for jihad," DeSantis said, noting that "the federal government does this all the time… but we need to be doing that here." The bill, HB1471, reaffirmed that Florida courts cannot enforce any sort of foreign or religious law, including Sharia law. The bill also gave the Florida Department of Law Enforcement the ability to declare domestic terrorist organizations, which would subject the organizations to numerous prohibitions, including barring them from receiving any sort of public funding. "The legislation we’ll sign today is the strongest action Florida has ever taken to protect its people from this influence, and obviously it spans finance, it spans political, it spans culture, and then of course it can be overt acts like we’ve seen at Old Dominion," DeSantis said. The bill also bars Florida universities from receiving public funds if they show support for any group designated a terrorist organization. It requires the schools to expel any students who promote the groups. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [4/7/2026 4:42 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports a California man who co-founded one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug cartels pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the U.S. to a federal narcotics conspiracy charge. Erick Valencia Salazar formed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known as “El Mencho” who was killed by the Mexican army in February. Valencia Salazar, 49, of Santa Clara, California, faces a mandatory-minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison after pleading guilty in Washington, D.C., to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine for U.S. importation. Chief Judge James Boasberg is scheduled to sentence him on July 31. Valencia Salazar was a member of the Milenio Cartel before he and Oseguera Cervantes founded the Jalisco cartel, which is known by its Spanish-language acronym CJNG. Hundreds of CJNG members reported to Valencia Salazar, whose duties included recruitment and obtaining information about cartel rivals, prosecutors said. Valencia Salazar, also known as “El 85,” formed his own cartel, La Nueva Plaza, after parting ways with “El Mencho,” who led the CJNG until his death. A. Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said the CJNG has inflicted “immeasurable damage” on the U.S. “Valencia Salazar was also responsible for furthering the rampant violence in Mexico, at the expense of people’s lives and the safety of communities, that helped destabilize the region and allow crime to flourish,” Duva said in a statement.

Reported similarly:
Telemundo [4/7/2026 8:21 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 56K]

Bloomberg [4/7/2026 10:38 PM, Mie Dahl and Annmarie Hordern, 18082K] reports Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa said he would welcome US troops to help confront the “security crisis” in his nation, provided they follow the lead of local armed forces. The US has already helped Ecuador target criminal gangs with its advanced tracking and intelligence technology, Noboa said in an interview. He would be in favor of even more involvement from the administration of President Donald Trump, who he said shares his concern with combating drug trafficking. “It’s not an invasion, it’s not an not an intruder coming to our country,” Noboa said Tuesday, speaking at his home overlooking the Guayas River in the gang-ridden port city of Guayaquil. “It’s actually international collaboration against crime.” Noboa said that a US troop deployment could happen as early as this year. With US help, he said that his government had succeeded in slashing the homicide rate in the violent region near the Colombian border. Government data shows a near 35% year-over-year decline in violent crime in those hot spots during the first quarter of this year. Noboa is one of Trump’s closest allies in Latin America, who has deepened security ties with Washington and taken a similarly confrontational approach both to drug cartels and to trade and diplomacy. In March, Ecuador carried out military actions using US intelligence to target groups they labeled terrorist. Ecuador’s homicide rate has risen about sevenfold since 2019, turning the nation from one of the safest in the region to among the world’s most violent, with a homicide rate of about 50 per 100,000. The violence is tied to record cocaine production in Colombia, much of which transits through Ecuador en route to the US, Europe and elsewhere. Since taking office in 2023, Noboa has declared an internal armed conflict, labeling more than 20 local crime groups as terrorist organizations, deploying the military across the country and imposing curfews in some areas. While homicides initially dropped, they later rebounded to reach a new record. Noboa said that his approach was closer to that of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe than to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. As well as battling guerrilla groups, Uribe sought to spread “democratic security” by deploying the military to protect towns and roads. Bukele slashed gang violence by imprisoning tens of thousands of suspected gang members with little due process. “It’s not only I would say an iron fist, it’s an iron fist with a heart,” and “with an economic strategy,” Noboa said.

Reuters [4/7/2026 7:10 AM, Staff, 38315K] reports recent U.S. complaints about NATO allies and threats to quit the alliance are pushing European countries to seek alternative security arrangements, Spanish Foreign ‌Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Tuesday. After European countries declined to send their navies to open up the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping following the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, U.S. President Donald Trump has declared he ⁠is considering withdrawing from the alliance, thrusting it into a crisis. Albares said the decision was entirely up to Trump, but underscored that NATO allies stood in solidarity with Washington after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

NBC News [4/7/2026 9:48 AM, Megan Lebowitz and Sahil Kapur, 42967K] reports that President Donald Trump threatened in a Truth Social post Tuesday that "a whole civilization will die tonight" as the deadline nears for an agreement on a ceasefire in the war with Iran. The message marks his most extreme public rhetoric to date against the country and comes less than 12 hours before he says the United States will launch attacks on Iran’s infrastructure over Tehran’s continued disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," Trump said in the post. "I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will." "However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?" Trump wrote, referring to the killings of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders, although it’s unclear what the full impact of their deaths has been on Iran’s government. "We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World," Trump continued. "47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!" The statement sparked a wave of fierce and immediate condemnations from Democrats.

Reported similarly:
San Diego Union Tribune [4/7/2026 3:20 PM, Bassem Mroue, Jon Gambrell, Mike Corder, and Samy Magdy, 35287K]

FOX News [4/7/2026 11:43 AM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 37576K] reports that Vice President JD Vance said that Iran has "two pathways" it can take regarding the conclusion of the war as President Donald Trump’s 12-hour deadline is looming Tuesday for the regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges. Vance, speaking in Hungary, also said he is praying that the United States is on "God’s side" in its pursuit to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. "There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives," Vance said. "I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit, but I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country. They’re not going to fund terrorism anymore. They’re going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange," Vance continued. "And that’s going to mean much better things for them economically. It’s going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It’s going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That’s option A." "Option B is that the Iranians don’t come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel but of course their Arab neighbors too. Then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad. And frankly, it will probably get worse," the vice president said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The AP [4/7/2026 9:00 PM, Bassem Mroue, Jon Gambrell and Samy Magdy, 35287K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, swerving to deescalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate or face a major escalation. Trump said he was holding off on his threatened attacks on Iranian bridges, power plants and other civilian targets as the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He said Iran has proposed a “workable” 10-point peace plan that could help end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that meant Iran would loosen its chokehold on the waterway. The plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, a regional official said Wednesday. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. In addition to control of the strait, Iran’s demands for ending the war include withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen assets. Even as the ceasefire was announced, missile alerts continued in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait early Wednesday, hinting at the chaos surrounding the diplomatic moves. A gas processing facility in Abu Dhabi was ablaze after incoming Iranian fire, officials said. The U.S. military has halted all offensive operations against Iran but continues defensive actions, said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive military operations. Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly backed off deadlines just before they expire. In doing so again Tuesday, Trump said in a social media post he had come to the decision “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief. Sharif, in a post on X hours earlier, urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. He used the same post to ask Iran to open the strait for two weeks. Breitbart [4/7/2026 8:24 PM, Paul Bois, 2238K] reports that the brief statement from Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, credited the prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, and Field Marshal Asim Munir for helping with negotiations: “On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I express gratitude and appreciation for my dear brothers HE Prime Minister of Pakistan Sharif and HE Field Marshal Munir for their tireless efforts to end the war in the region. In response to the brotherly request of PM Sharif in his tweet, and considering the request by the U.S. for negotiations based on its 15-point proposal as well as announcement by POTUS about acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s 10-point proposal as a basis for negotiations, I hereby declare on behalf of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council: If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations. For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.” President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social on Tuesday that Iran and the U.S. had reached a ceasefire agreement prior to his set deadline. “Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president said. “This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East. We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” he continued. “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated. On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution,” he concluded.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [4/8/2026 1:13 AM, Staff, 2238K]
Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 8:30 PM, Staff, 1147K]

Reuters [4/7/2026 8:44 PM, Kristina Cooke and Ted Hesson, 38315K] reports the FBI warned U.S. state and local law enforcement of an elevated threat posed by Iran’s government to targets in the United States last month even as ‌the White House sought to downplay the likelihood of an attack, a law enforcement intelligence report reviewed by Reuters shows. In the March 20 report, the FBI and other federal intelligence agencies cautioned that Iranian government "poses a persistent threat" to U.S. military and government personnel and buildings, Jewish and Israeli institutions, and Iranian dissidents in the U.S. Despite those warnings, the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center had not identified broad threats to the American public, the report said. President Donald Trump publicly has minimized the possibility of Iranian attacks on American soil in response to other intelligence assessments in recent months. When asked ⁠outside the White House on March 11 whether he was worried about Iran perpetrating an attack in the U.S., Trump said, "No, I’m not." The Republican president escalated his rhetoric around the conflict this week, saying on Tuesday that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran did not meet his demands but later delaying the threatened assault by two weeks. The March 20 report - titled "Public Safety Awareness Report" - was issued weeks after Reuters and other news outlets reported that the White House blocked the release of a similarly described intelligence product. At the time, the White House said it was ensuring any information was properly vetted before release.

AP [4/7/2026 5:06 PM, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, 2238K] reports that American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad streetcorner last week, has been released, two Iraqi officials with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday. The development came after the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day that it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31. Its condition was that that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release. Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told The Associated Press that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Typically, the State Department does not confirm the release of Americans abducted abroad until they have been transferred to U.S. government hands or have safely left a country. In Wisconsin, Kittleson’s mother said she was unsure if her daughter was free. According to one of the two Iraqi officials, Kittleson was freed in the afternoon. The officials, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, did not share her current whereabouts but said that prior to her release, Kittleson had been held in Baghdad. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/7/2026 9:06 AM, Elaine Mallon, 37576K] reports an investigation is "underway" to determine who leaked to the press that one of the two American airmen was still missing after their fighter jet was shot down in Iran on Good Friday, a White House official told Fox News Digital. During a Monday afternoon press conference centered on the successful rescue mission, President Donald Trump said his administration is working "very hard" to determine who the leaker is, which he said put the missing pilot at greater risk. "We think we’ll be able to find it out because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security, give it up or go to jail,’" Trump said. "When they did that, all of a sudden the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life. And it also made it much more difficult for the pilots and for the people going in to search for him." The Military Times attributed an X post by Israel’s N12 News reporter Amit Segal as the first to break that one of the "crew members was successfully rescued," citing a Western source around 11 a.m. Friday. But another Israel N12 News reporter, Barak Ravid, wrote an article for Axios that was published hours before Segal’s X post, which shared that one pilot was rescued and another was still missing. Ravid cited his sources as "an Israeli official and a second source with knowledge."

Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 6:27 PM, Molly Parks, 1147K] reports President Donald Trump bashed the Iranian regime for encouraging its civilians to form human shields around the country’s power plants on Tuesday. Ahead of Trump’s looming Tuesday night deadline for Iran to strike a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before the United States resumes attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure, Tehran officials called for Iran’s "young people" to physically help stave off the possible airstrikes. Trump called the move "totally illegal" in a call with NBC News. "Totally illegal," Trump said. "They’re not allowed to do that.” Iran’s youth and adolescents secretary Alireza Rahimi called on university students, professors, and the nation’s youth to form a human chain around the country’s power plants, framing it as a patriotic act. Iranian civilians have used the tactic before to deter Israeli strikes. "We hope that with the participation of young people across the country, this human chain will be formed around the power plants, and it will be a sign of the youth’s commitment to protecting the country’s infrastructure and building a bright future," Rahimi said. As the Iranian regime calls on its civilians to take part in the war, Trump has warned the regime that irreversible damage could come to Iran and its civilization if the two countries do not strike a deal. On Monday evening, Trump threatened "complete demolition" of Iran’s power plants and bridges, adding that "the entire country can be taken out in one night.”

The Hill [4/7/2026 9:52 PM, Max Rego, 18170K] reports Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas) said Tuesday that he will back a House war powers resolution when it comes before the lower chamber again, a reversal of his previous position. In a lengthy statement, Cuellar criticized President Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die” in Iran, which he issued Tuesday morning before backing down and halting strikes against the Middle Eastern country for two weeks. “I respect the weight of the decisions before the president and the responsibility he carries to protect the American people,” Cuellar wrote. “However, I believe we must be careful with the language we use. “Strength and destruction are not the same. The words we choose matter, not just here at home, but around the world.” The Texas Democrat later added, “I continue to ask the administration for answers about our objectives, our long-term goals, and most importantly, a clear exit strategy” in Iran. “So far, those answers have not been sufficient,” Cuellar noted. “And because of that, I intend to support a war powers resolution when it comes before the House again. Not as a rebuke, but as a reaffirmation of Congress’ constitutional role and our shared responsibility to the American people.” Cuellar was one of four House Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) being the other three — to vote against a war powers resolution to halt the U.S. military campaign in Iran. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and co-sponsored by 94 Democrats, failed 219-212 on March 5. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told host Anderson Cooper on CNN Tuesday that once the lower chamber returns to session on Monday, his caucus will bring another war powers resolution “as soon as it becomes available to us to do so, as a matter of privilege” to the floor. Earlier Tuesday, the president wrote on his Truth Social platform, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” referring to Iran. Trump had set an 8 p.m. EDT deadline for the Iranian government to lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president added of the threatened strikes. “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

AP [4/7/2026 8:42 PM, Edith M. Lederer and Farnoush Amiri, 35287K] reports Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had been repeatedly watered down in hopes those two countries would abstain. The vote — 11-2, with two abstentions from Pakistan and Colombia — took place shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an unprecedented threat that a "whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran does not open the strategic waterway and make a deal. But late Tuesday, less than two hours before the deadline he set, Trump pulled back his threat. Trump said he would suspend the threatened attack for two weeks provided Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. One-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through the strait, and Iran’s stranglehold during the war has sent energy prices soaring. Iran accepted the two-week ceasefire and said passage through the strait during this period would be allowed under Iranian military management. Trump said Iran has proposed a "workable" 10-point plan for ending the war. Russia and China strongly defended their opposition to the U.N. resolution, both citing Trump’s threat to end Iran’s civilization as confirmation that the proposal would have given the U.S. and Israel "carte blanche for continued aggression," as Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia put it. Nebenzia and China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, said the resolution failed to capture the root causes and full picture of the conflict by not showing that America and its closest ally started the now spiraling war. Fu said in his statement that resolution was "highly susceptible to misinterpretation or even abuse," and if it were adopted "would send a wrong message and have serious, very serious consequences.” Russia and China immediately followed up by circulating a rival resolution, seen by The Associated Press, which urged all parties to halt military activities and condemned attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. Nebenzia told reporters it was already in a form that could be put to a vote. ,The foreign minister of Bahrain, which authored the draft, assailed the U.N.’s most powerful body for not taking action and allowing the international community to be "held hostage to economic blackmail" from Iran. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said failing to adopt the resolution sends "the signal that the threat to international waterways can pass without any decisive action by the international organization responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.” Al-Zayani told reporters that Gulf countries will intensify diplomatic efforts to deter Iran’s attacks and safeguard freedom of navigation. But Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. thanked its allies on the 15-member council for refusing to adopt the resolution. "The text unjustifiably and misleadingly portrays Iran’s lawful measures in the Strait of Hormuz, which have been taken in the exercise of its inherent right of self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter, as threats to international peace and security," Amir-Saeid Iravani said in his statement.

Washington Examiner [4/7/2026 2:42 PM, Zach Halaschak, 1147K] reports that United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the United States’ economic relationship with China is "stable" ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Greer, who is tasked with leading U.S. trade policy and implementing Trump’s tariff agenda, made the remarks on Tuesday during an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. There has been friction between Washington and Beijing over tariffs. "So right now, with the United States and China, I would characterize our economic and trade relationship as stable," Greer told a crowd of several dozen people. "I know that’s a boring word. I know it’s a word you’ve heard me and others say before, but that’s what it is right now." Greer said that Trump and other officials are hoping to avoid confrontation with China on trade, but said that national security needs and economic security are crucial. "The alternative, I don’t think, is one that people want to deal with right now, which is what we are not looking for, is massive confrontation or anything like that," he said. "At the same time, we have to protect our national security. We have to protect our economic security." "We’ve settled into a stable situation with the Chinese, where the United States continues to maintain substantial tariffs on Chinese goods, primarily on a lot of the advanced goods and a lot of the manufacturing," Greer added.

CNN [4/8/2026 12:23 AM, Isaac Yee, 612K] reports a hacker has allegedly stolen a massive trove of sensitive data – including highly classified defense documents and missile schematics – from a state-run Chinese supercomputer in what could potentially constitute the largest known heist of data from China. The dataset, which allegedly contains more than 10 petabytes of sensitive information, is believed by experts to have been obtained from the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin – a centralized hub that provides infrastructure services for more than 6,000 clients across China, including advanced science and defense agencies. Cyber experts who have spoken to the alleged hacker and reviewed samples of the stolen data they posted online say they appeared to gain entry to the massive computer with comparative ease and were able to siphon out huge amounts of data over the course of multiple months without being detected. An account calling itself FlamingChina posted a sample of the alleged dataset on an anonymous Telegram channel on February 6, claiming it contained "research across various fields including aerospace engineering, military research, bioinformatics, fusion simulation and more.” The group alleges the information is linked to "top organizations" including the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and the National University of Defense Technology. CNN has reached out to China’s Ministry of Science and Technology as well as the Cyberspace Administration of China for comment. Cyber security experts who have reviewed the data say the group is offering a limited preview of the alleged dataset, for thousands of dollars, with full access priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Payment was requested in cryptocurrency. CNN cannot verify the origins of the alleged dataset and the claims made by FlamingChina, but spoke with multiple experts whose initial assessment of the leak indicated it was genuine. The alleged sample data appeared to include documents marked "secret" in Chinese, along with technical files, animated simulations and renderings of defense equipment including bombs and missiles. "They’re exactly what I would expect to see from the supercomputing center," said Dakota Cary, a consultant at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne who focuses on China and has reviewed the samples placed online from the alleged hack.

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