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.

Breitbart [2/10/2026 8:06 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports Trump administration officials said federal immigration officers are properly enforcing the nation’s laws during congressional testimony Tuesday as Democratic lawmakers accused them of "using unnecessary force.” The 3-hour hearing included testimony from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow. The agency lawfully and correctly is enforcing the nation’s immigration laws and properly trains officers before they go to work in the field, Lyons told members of the Committee on Homeland Security. He said federal officers face threats of violence from those who oppose the enforcement of federal immigration laws, but they won’t stop enforcing the law. "Despite these perils, our officers continue to execute their mission with unwavering resolve," Lyons said, as reported by Politico. "We are only getting started.” Lyons and other DHS officials testified in the oversight hearing as congressional Democrats threaten to vote against federal funding for the department after temporarily extending its 2025 budget through Friday. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., showed a clip of officers spraying a man and a child inside a moving vehicle with irritants. Another showed a person being sprayed at close distance while being pinned down by officers. "Your agency has repeatedly been caught on tape using unnecessary violence against civilians, and you can’t even tell me if any of these agents have been investigated or disciplined," Magaziner said. "You are supposed to be making people safer, and instead, your agents are being unnecessarily violent, and that is why the Trump administration has lost the trust of the American people on immigration.” Committee Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said the January shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, in Minneapolis, must be addressed. "Public trust and public safety go hand in hand," Garbarino said during the hearing. If the DHS is defunded, ICE and Customs and Border Protection would continue to operate due to funding provided in the Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, but it would shut down the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others. The AP [2/10/2026 4:32 PM, Rebecca Santana and Lisa Mascaro, 34146K] reports Lyons was one of the three heads of agencies implementing President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda to testify in a hearing called after the shooting deaths of two Americans at the hands of federal officers. They faced fierce questioning from Democrats, and support from most Republicans, over how they are prosecuting immigration enforcement inside American cities. “Let me send a message to anyone who thinks they can intimidate us. You will fail,” said Lyons, who blamed elected officials and protesters for escalating rhetoric that he said endangered his officers. Lyons, who at various points declined to comment directly on the killings of the two U.S. citizens, said his officers would not be deterred. “We are only getting started,” he said in opening remarks. Tuesday’s hearing was called after federal officers shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good, which sparked outrage across the country and demands for accountability and reform. Lyons and Scott said standard operating procedures were being followed in investigations into the January shootings. Tensions flared and the hearing sparked heated exchanges -- the Democrats comparing the enforcement operations to Nazi Germany and questioning how the administration officials will be judged -- the chairman at times gaveling the lawmakers back to order. The ranking Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, called the hearing the “start of a reckoning” and said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be held accountable. Thompson said the department has blocked lawmakers from visiting detention facilities and needs to be more responsive to questions. “Every American should be outraged,” Thompson said. Breitbart [2/10/2026 12:13 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports that in the wake of the Minneapolis killings, Trump acknowledged that a “softer touch” may be needed on immigration, and his administration announced concessions including the withdrawal of hundreds of officers from the Midwestern city. But the issue remains far from resolved, with Democrats demanding changes to the way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducts its immigration sweeps and threatening to block its funding, while Trump’s administration vows to maintain its deportation efforts. “The president tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate,” Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said during the Tuesday hearing. “Thanks to the resources provided by Congress, we are ramping up detention (capacity) and removal flights daily. In the last year alone, we conducted over 475,000 removals,” Lyons said. The Washington Post [2/10/2026 3:26 PM, Amber Phillips, 24826K] reports that at the start of the hearing, Homeland Security Committee chairman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-New York) appeared to criticize Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem for saying those killed by immigration agents were “domestic terrorists.” Other Republicans urged immigration officials to focus on deporting people with criminal records. McCaul also said he wanted immigration agents to be concentrated more at the border than in cities far away from it. Lyons did say officials will ask someone their nationality. But he said Americans shouldn’t have to carry their passports and there is no database they use to surveil protesters. Several times, Democrats asked immigration officials to denounce the killings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good and the executive branch’s subsequent denunciation of them as domestic terrorists. The officials repeatedly declined to do so, pointing to the fact that there are now active investigations into the killings. Democrats also raised concerns about immigration officers wearing masks while on duty, a practice they hope to outlaw. Lyons said there have been assaults on ICE officers and a massive increase in death threats, making masks necessary. He blamed Democratic officials for inflaming the situation by criticizing ICE. Immigration officials said Tuesday that they will share the results from their investigations of the two fatal Minneapolis shootings with Congress and that they are working to issue more body cameras to agents. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and other agencies, including the Coast Guard, runs out Friday. If Congress doesn’t fund the agency by then, it will have to largely shut down. Democrats are demanding major changes to ICE in exchange for their votes to fund Homeland Security. Negotiations on those changes are ongoing this week. Politico [2/10/2026 3:17 PM, Eric Bazail-Eimil, 13586K] reports that funding for DHS will expire on Feb. 13 if Congress does not pass a funding bill. House Homeland Security Chair Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) said the hearing came at an “inflection point” for the Department of Homeland Security. “Public trust and public safety go hand in hand,” Garbarino said. “Transparency and communication are needed now more than ever. The department’s no-fail mission hangs in the balance.” The testimony and exchanges between lawmakers and officials seemed to have little effect on members’ views of the immigration agency, as Democrats argued recent events necessitate serious changes at ICE and Border Patrol and some Republicans accused Democrats of trying to score political points at the expense of the individual safety of immigration officers. Lyons maintained in response to questioning that the priority for ICE is to remove unauthorized immigrants with violent criminal records and argued most people detained and removed over the past year fit under those parameters.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [2/10/2026 4:19 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18170K]
Reuters [2/10/2026 10:22 AM, Ted Hesson, 38315K]
NPR [2/10/2026 4:37 PM, Ximena Bustillo, 28764K] Audio: HERE
NBC News [2/10/2026 4:21 PM, Nicole Acevedo, Daniella Silva, 42967K]
CNN [2/10/2026 3:41 PM, Michael Williams, 19874K]
FOX News [2/10/2026 9:25 AM, Staff, 37576K]

Washington Post [2/10/2026 3:11 PM, Marianne LeVine, David Nakamura and Mariana Alfaro, 24826K] reports acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Todd M. Lyons sparred Tuesday with Democratic lawmakers who accused his agency of functioning like a violent secret police force, vowing at a congressional hearing to press forward with the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. Legislators on the House Homeland Security Committee pressed Lyons for more than three hours on the detentions of U.S. citizens, the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and the aggressive actions by immigration officers in cities including Minneapolis. Lyons refused to answer some questions, citing ongoing investigations, and denounced Democratic lawmakers who compared ICE to Gestapo — a reference to the police of Nazi Germany, which conducted brutal arrests with no legal oversight. In one contentious moment, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York) told Lyons that if he and his agents do not want to be referred to as a secret police force, then they should reevaluate their actions. “I have a simple suggestion: If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one,” Goldman said. Lyons told the lawmakers that such rhetoric has put officers in unprecedented danger, including assaults and death threats, and said his family had been targeted. But Lyons said: “Let me send a message to anyone who thinks you can intimidate us: You will fail. We will continue carrying out our mission.” Lyons was joined by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott and Customs and Immigration Services Director Joseph B. Edlow at the bipartisan hearing — the first time the heads of ICE and CBP had appeared before the committee in President Donald Trump’s second term. Although CBP and Border Patrol officers have been at the helm of some of the deportation campaign’s most controversial tactics — including use of force against protesters — much of the scrutiny was focused on ICE. Noem said last week that, “effective immediately,” DHS would deploy body cameras “to every officer in the field in Minneapolis” and would expand the body-cam program broadly, “as funding is available.” The Washington Post previously reported that in its initial budget proposal, the department said it planned to cut the staff of ICE’s body-cam program from 22 to three and reduce spending on the initiative from about $20.5 million to $5.5 million. Lyons told lawmakers Tuesday that about 3,000 of ICE’s 13,000 officers in the field are assigned to wear body cameras, which can record their interactions with the public, and another 6,000 cameras are in the process of being deployed. Scott said that 10,000 of the 20,000 Border Patrol agents in the field have cameras and that the number is going to grow. “Nobody wants to see attacks on ICE agents. Unfortunately, during your leadership and under Secretary Noem’s leadership, this rogue brutality that ICE agents are inflicting on the people of this country is not being reined in,” Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) said. “The agents who are abusing their power are not being held accountable.”

The New York Times [2/11/2026 3:25 AM, Madeleine Ngo and Michael Gold, 148038K] reports top immigration officials defended the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign during a congressional hearing on Tuesday and repeatedly declined to answer questions about the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Pressed by Democrats at the hearing to apologize to the families of two Americans killed in Minneapolis by federal agents — Alex Pretti and Renee Good — Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he welcomed the opportunity to speak with their families in private. But he said he would not apologize or comment on the shootings. “The loss of any life is unacceptable,” Mr. Lyons said. “But I’m not going to comment on an ongoing investigation.” Asked whether he thought Mr. Pretti deserved to die, Rodney S. Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, also said he would not comment on open investigations. Witness videos of the encounter appeared to show Mr. Pretti recording immigration officers on his phone and helping a civilian stand back up before several officers wrestled him to the ground. He was fatally shot by Customs and Border Protection officers. The hearing, held by the House Homeland Security Committee, highlighted how entrenched both parties’ positions have become as Congress negotiates possible restrictions on immigration enforcement efforts. Despite bipartisan outrage last month after federal agents killed Mr. Pretti, House Republicans have largely returned to a staunch defense of federal immigration enforcement. Democrats on the panel condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown for sweeping up people who were in the country lawfully or who had no criminal records. They also criticized the administration’s aggressive tactics, saying that immigration officers were using excessive force and carrying out “lawless actions.” Few Republicans mentioned Mr. Pretti in their questions, instead focusing on an increase in threats against immigration officers and what they said were the dangers posed by unauthorized immigrants. Bloomberg Law [2/10/2026 12:43 PM, Angélica Franganillo Diaz, 50K] reports “I welcome the opportunity speak to the family in private, but I’m not going to comment on any active investigation,” Lyons said in a response to a question from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) about apologizing to Good’s family. He told lawmakers ICE is using “standard investigative practices” to review the shooting. Lyons, a career US Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who has led the agency on an acting basis since last year, largely deflected Democratic attacks while defending his agency’s training standards and denouncing threats against officers. “We’ve seen a de-escalation in the fact that the protests, while they still go on, have subsided and ICE has been allowed to do their targeted, intelligence-driven operation,” Lyons testified before the House Homeland Security Committee. Politico [2/10/2026 1:36 PM, Finya Swai, 13586K] reports Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) pressed ICE chief Todd Lyons on Tuesday to apologize to the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month, but instead received a blunt refusal from the Trump official during a Department of Homeland Security oversight hearing. “Will you apologize to Renee Good for being called a domestic terrorist by the president and his leadership?” Swalwell asked Lyons, who was testifying alongside other top DHS officials before the House Homeland Security Committee. “No, sir,” Lyons replied. “Is she a domestic terrorist?” Swalwell asked. Lyons declined to answer, saying he would not comment on a pending investigation, but acknowledged public remarks from President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem labeling victims as domestic terrorists. When Swalwell asked whether he agreed with those statements, Lyon again declined to respond. “I welcome the opportunity to speak to the family in private, but I’m not going to comment on any active investigation,” he said, also declining to apologize to the family of Pretti. Democratic lawmakers used the hearing to press the administration over transparency and accountability during its immigration enforcement, at the same time that they are trying to get Republicans to agree to more training and accountability for ICE officers — and holding up funding to do so. Lyons statements suggest that administration officials, at least, are looking to stand firm.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 12:25 PM, Emily Hallas, 1147K]

Wall Street Journal [2/10/2026 4:41 PM, Jack Morphet and Michelle Hackman, 646K] reports Department of Homeland Security officials including Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott testified at a House committee hearing Tuesday. The testimony came weeks after backlash to the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Minneapolis. Here are the takeaways: Lyons declined to apologize for senior Trump administration officials who accused Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal authorities in Minneapolis, of being domestic terrorists. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good a “domestic terrorist” in the aftermath of her death. Similarly, Stephen Miller, a top aide to President Trump, called Pretti a domestic terrorist who “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement,” without substantiating the claim. Trump called Good a “professional agitator,” in a social-media post. Lyons committed to releasing body-camera footage from federal immigration enforcement officers after it was announced last week that every agent in the field in Minneapolis would wear body cameras. “One thing that I’m committed to is full transparency, and I fully welcome body cameras all across the spectrum in all of our law enforcement activities,” Lyons said. “Bodycam footage will be released.” Lyons didn’t specify whether there was body-camera footage from the shootings of Good or Pretti that would be released. Lyons said less than 14% of the nearly 400,000 migrants arrested by ICE since Trump’s return to the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, as earlier reported by CBS. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the statistics didn’t account for migrants with violent criminal histories in other countries who have been detained and deported from the U.S. by federal immigration officials. Lyons added that more than 60% of detainees currently in ICE custody had a pending criminal charge or conviction.

AP [2/10/2026 6:07 PM, Rebecca Santana, Lisa Mascaro and Meg Kinnard, 1323K] reports President Donald Trump’s top immigration officials appeared before Congress Tuesday for the first time since the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis, seeking to defend their officers’ actions as their agencies face intensifying scrutiny over nationwide immigration enforcement operations. Todd Lyons, who is the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, came in for some of the sharpest questioning during a more than 3-hour-long hearing in front of the House Homeland Security Committee. He appeared alongside Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, and Joseph Edlow, who leads U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Lawmakers asked them about issues that have dominated the public discourse since Trump launched his mass deportations agenda at the start of his second term. Here are some of their answers. Lyons and Scott faced scrutiny over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti but they repeatedly declined to answer questions, citing active investigations. Lyons was asked if he would apologize for the way some Trump administration officials characterized Good as an agitator, which he declined to do. “I welcome the opportunity to speak to the family in private. But I’m not going to comment on any active investigation,” Lyons said. Lyons said he had seen the video that captured Pretti’s shooting but said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation. Democrats painted masked officers as lawless and unaccountable. Republicans said masks are needed to protect officers from doxing. Asked if he would commit to making his officers take off their masks and requiring them to wear “standard uniforms with identifiable badges,” Lyons answered with one word: “No.” Lyons and Scott said thousands of federal immigration officers are already outfitted with body cameras, with more to come. Lyons said the body camera footage caught in Minneapolis would be released to the public. “That’s one thing that I’m committed to is full transparency. And I fully welcome body cameras all across the spectrum in all of our law enforcement activities,” Lyons said.

NewsMax [2/10/2026 12:16 PM, Theodore Bunker, 3760K] reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested about 1,400 known or suspected terrorists in the past year as part of an aggressive expansion of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, according to acting ICE director Todd Lyons. "Under the leadership of President Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the men and women of ICE have been empowered to do exactly what they were trained to do: arrest and remove illegal aliens and criminals from our communities," Lyons said in his opening remarks while testifying before Congress on Tuesday. He added: "From Jan. 20, 2025, through Jan. 20, 2026, ICE conducted nearly 379,000 arrests." He then said that among those taken into custody were "more than 7,300 suspected gang members and 1,400 known or suspected terrorists. ... We have taken these dangerous individuals off our streets, making our country dramatically safer." Lyons said the arrests reflect a broader shift in priorities following what he described as a collapse of immigration enforcement during the Biden administration. "In the last year alone, we conducted over 475,000 removals," Lyons said. "We are not just inflating statistics by counting border turnarounds; these are real removals of individuals with no lawful basis to remain in the United States." Lyons urged local and state agencies to expand cooperation with ICE, pointing to the federal 287(g) program.

Telemundo 51 [2/10/2026 12:59 PM, Staff, 162K] reports that the Trump administration has arrested 379,000 immigrants between January 20, 2025, and January 20, 2026, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Todd Lyons, stated Tuesday. In testimony before the U.S. Congress, Lyons explained that among those detained "are more than 7,000 suspected gang members and more than 1,400 known or suspected terrorists." The head of the immigration agency affirmed that ICE "remains committed to the fundamental principle that those who enter our country illegally must be held accountable." The testimony before the House of Representatives comes at a sensitive time for the Trump administration’s immigration policy, which has had to de-escalate the raids in Minnesota due to public outcry following the deaths of two Americans in shootings by federal agents. Furthermore, Democrats are maintaining their refusal to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless certain controversial aspects of its immigration enforcement policies are modified, such as requiring agents to enter homes only with a warrant signed by a judge, or prohibiting or restricting agents from wearing masks or face coverings. If they do not reach an agreement with Republicans before the weekend, the department will enter a shutdown. Univision [2/10/2026 3:13 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports this Tuesday, February 10, 2026, ICE Director Todd Lyons mentioned that, thanks to resources provided by Congress, the capacity to detain immigrants has increased, and he also revealed the number of deportations that have been made during Donald Trump’s current term as President of the United States. Lyons also said that the President of the United States was the one who ordered the mass deportations of immigrants. The ICE director mentioned that, thanks to the resources provided by Congress, they have been able to increase their operations and daily deportation flights, deporting more than 475,000 people last year alone.

Washington Times [2/10/2026 11:42 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports that Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons flatly rejected the accusation that his agency maintains a database of Americans who have protested against President Trump’s deportation efforts. Mr. Lyons, testifying to Congress on Tuesday, was confronted on the idea by Rep. Lou Correa, California Democrat. “There is no database of protesters, sir,” Mr. Lyons said, later adding, “I can assure you there is no database that’s tracking United States citizens.” Mr. Correa seemed to base his question on video of an ICE officer telling protesters their face was being put in a “little database.” Mr. Lyons said he wasn’t aware of what the agent had said.

Bloomberg Government [2/10/2026 11:56 AM, Myles Miller and Alicia Diaz, 111K] reports senior US immigration officials told House lawmakers that officers involved in federal operations in Minnesota were trained on constitutional limits, crowd control and the use of force, as Congress scrutinizes two fatal shootings that occurred during enforcement actions earlier this year. At a House Homeland Security Committee oversight hearing, Chairman Andrew Garbarino questioned ICE Director Todd Lyons about whether officers are trained to distinguish between lawful protest activity and conduct that unlawfully interferes with enforcement. Lyons said deportation officers and special agents are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in “defensive tactics and personal safety,” as well as laws including key Constitutional amendments relating to speech, firearms, searches, citizenship and other rights before being deployed, with additional training once in the field. Garbarino, a New York Republican, posed a similar question to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, who said agents receive ongoing instruction and refresher training when deployed away from the border areas the agency normally patrols. “Any time we’re deploying them to the interior, they get updated law and law refresher training to include First Amendment and Fourth Amendment,” Scott said. Operation Metro Surge, in which thousands of ICE and CBP personnel were deployed in Minneapolis and other nearby communities, triggered a broad outcry after two US citizens were killed during enforcement operations. Critics at all levels of government have questioned whether force protocols were properly applied and are seeking greater transparency in reviewing the two fatal shootings. Garbarino pressed both agencies on the availability of less-lethal options.

ABC News [2/10/2026 7:44 PM, Staff, 34146K] Video: HERE reports top immigration officials defended the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

ABC News [2/10/2026 1:27 PM, Staff, 34146K] reports that at a House Homeland Security Committee oversight hearing Tuesday, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., sharply criticized acting ICE Director Todd Lyons’ tactics and rhetoric. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [2/10/2026 8:12 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports the leaders of three major immigration agencies defended the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign in testimony before lawmakers, marking their first appearance on Capitol Hill since the recent crackdown in Minneapolis. Nicole Sganga has details.

FOX News [2/10/2026 6:16 PM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] Video: HERE reports Progressive Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., exploded on U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, calling federal immigration officers "thugs" and telling the commissioner he "better hope" for a presidential pardon during a particularly heated House hearing on Tuesday. Thanedar, who is originally from India and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980’s, drilled into Scott, saying, "You better hope you get pardoned because you will be held accountable for the absolute disregard of the law your agencies have shown over the past year.” The exchange occurred during a House Homeland Security hearing on "Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security: ICE, CBP, and USCIS." During the hearing, Thanedar grilled Scott and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons on the recent shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minnesota. After Lyons and Scott repeatedly backed their officers through Thanedar’s questioning, the congressman said, "I have heard and seen enough. I’m just sick and tired of your agents running around in our cities, in our streets, causing illegal activities, ICE thugs attacking our communities, using our children as bait, referring to people as bodies and numbers, targeting people for their accents and the color of their skin, and killing American citizens, all while showing zero remorse for their actions.”

FOX News [2/10/2026 6:53 PM, Michael Dorgan Fox, 37576K] reports Democratic lawmakers compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Nazis and the Gestapo during a heated House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday, as the agency’s acting director faced sharp questioning over enforcement tactics and accountability. The exchange turned explosive when Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., pressed ICE acting director Todd Lyons on whether agents have been asking people on the streets to show proof of U.S. citizenship, citing reports claiming that American citizens have allegedly been questioned during immigration enforcement actions. Goldman escalated the line of questioning by invoking historical comparisons, asking pointedly, "Is Nazi Germany one?" after Lyons acknowledged that "very nefarious regimes" had required proof of citizenship. Goldman also pressed Lyons on whether the Soviet Union employed similar tactics. Lyons pushed back, calling the comparison inappropriate and "the wrong type of questioning," before snapping, saying, "The Holocaust Museum is on 14th Street and Independence. If you want to go see Nazis, that’s where it is.” Goldman reclaimed his time and accused ICE leadership of having it "backwards," arguing that public criticism of the agency stemmed from its own conduct. "People are simply making valid observations about your tactics, which are un-American and outright fascist," Goldman said. "So I have a simple suggestion. If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one.” Goldman’s questioning followed Lyons’ own testimony earlier in the hearing, in which the ICE acting director said agents have been labeled "Gestapo or secret police" by elected officials and activists. Lyons tied that rhetoric to what he described as a sharp rise in threats and assaults against ICE personnel, saying it has endangered agents and their families. Nazi references surfaced elsewhere during the hearing as well. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., cited "Greg Bovino, who styled himself in Nazi attire," while criticizing federal immigration operations in Minnesota and the use of masked agents during recent enforcement actions.

Daily Caller [2/10/2026 1:09 PM, Jason Cohen, 803K] reports that Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell used a disputed story about a five-year-old child who federal agents detained to push acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons to resign during a Tuesday hearing. Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian, became a symbol of left-wing opposition to ICE in January after his detention in Minnesota during an incident targeting his father. During a House Homeland Security hearing, Swalwell displayed a picture of Ramos and told Lyons he had to choose between protecting children or standing by murderers. "It’s a decision to stay on at this point. And considering your honorable service in the past, and the dishonorable acts that those who have worked for you have conducted, and the disgraceful statements that the leadership above you have said, you now have a decision: will you stand with the kids who you’re supposed to protect, or will you side with the killers bringing terror to our streets?" Swalwell asked. "Mr. Lyons, will you resign from ICE?" Lyons replied that he would not. Swalwell asked him why he wouldn’t. "Because, sir, that child that you’re showing right there, the men and women of ICE took care of him when his father abandoned him and ran from law enforcement," Lyons said. "He never should have gone into custody," Swalwell replied. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has asserted the boy’s father, Adrian Conejo Arias, was the target of an illegal immigrant arrest operation. Ramos was caught up in his father’s arrest after his mother declined to take him, prompting the father to request his child stay with him in detention, according to the agency.

FOX News [2/10/2026 3:36 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., unleashed a blistering attack on federal agents Tuesday, calling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers "thugs" and accusing them of criminal conduct during a heated House hearing. The Democrat’s comments came during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversight. Lyons said ICE has made nearly 379,000 arrests, including 7,000 suspected gang members and 1,400 suspected terrorists. Amid the enforcement, federal agents have faced a more than 8,000% increase in death threats. Thanedar, who pushed legislation in January to abolish ICE, dug into Lyons and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, accusing them of criminal behavior that could warrant a presidential pardon.

Federalist [2/10/2026 1:57 PM, Brianna Lyman, 540K] reports that Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson used an AI-generated image of Alex Pretti’s death in which a federal immigration agent is missing his head during a Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday. Thompson is the same man who chaired the Jan. 6 Committee, which was also caught fabricating "evidence." While Thompson was chiding Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for allegedly creating a "demonstrably false story" about Pretti’s death, an apparent staffer held up an AI-generated image of Pretti with Border Patrol agents standing over him, and one of the agents is headless. Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin used that same image during a speech on the Senate floor in January. Durbin’s post was flagged with an X community note that said the photo Durbin showed "has been digitally altered from the original screen capture of the incident that killed Alex Pretti. The kneeling officer on the right has no head, and other seemingly clear but fictional details are created from the original blurry image." Pretti was fatally shot during an interaction with Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Video footage appeared to show Pretti interfering with a law enforcement operation, but an investigation is ongoing. Notably, Thompson served as chairman of the Jan. 6 Committee, which also fabricated records.

The Hill [2/10/2026 11:57 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18170K] reports that Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said he believes Greg Bovino, the former commissioner at large of the Border Patrol, escalated the situation in Minnesota. McCaul referenced widespread protests taking place in Minneapolis over federal immigration operations in the state before turning to Bovino. “All this created a perfect storm for our officers being thrown into this situation, and then Agent Bovino came into the picture, and I would argue, in fairness, that he escalated the situation by the way that was handled,” McCaul said. “I’ve called for deescalation after the two deaths, the two shootings that took place,” he continued. “I believe that these roving patrols should be done at the border rather than in the major cities of the United States.” Bovino was demoted after the killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis last month. McCaul then praised border czar Tom Homan, who was sent to Minneapolis after Pretti’s death and Bovino’s demotion. McCaul said Homan told him immigration raids should only be conducted in proximity to the border. “He is also getting the body cameras put on them, and the roving patrols and his words to me, should be done at the border or not in major cities,” McCaul said.

Reported similarly:
Houston Chronicle [2/10/2026 1:57 PM, James Osborne, 2493K]

FOX News [2/10/2026 1:46 PM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] Video: HERE reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons told lawmakers Tuesday that body camera footage from ICE operations in Minnesota will be released, while acknowledging that about 3,000 of roughly 13,000 ICE agents currently wear body cameras. Lyons made the remarks during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, as lawmakers pressed the agency following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month. The hearing grew contentious as ICE officials acknowledged the limited use of body cameras and lawmakers clashed over enforcement tactics. In the case of Good, footage of the fatal encounter included video from a federal agent’s personal phone and was later circulated publicly, along with witness footage. The Pretti incident was captured by bystander video. Lyons did not specify whether body-camera footage exists from either of the fatal incidents. "Body cameras have been deployed in Minnesota. I think transparency helps regain public trust. Is there any plan to release any of the footage to the public?" Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, asked Lyons. "100%, sir. That’s one thing that I’m committed to — full transparency. And I fully welcome body cameras all across the spectrum in all of our law enforcement activities," Lyons said. "Body camera footage will be released." Gonzales welcomed the response, saying he agreed "completely." "Everyone assumes body camera footage is bad footage, but in so many cases it’s the exact opposite," Gonzales said. "We get to see from the officer’s lens what they’re dealing with on a daily basis, not just a 15-second clip we see on TikTok or whatever it may be."

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [2/10/2026 12:35 PM, Jim Mishler, 3760K]

AP [2/10/2026 4:46 PM, Steve Karnowski] reports Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that he expects the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota will end in “days, not weeks and months,” based on his recent conversations with top Trump administration officials. The Democratic governor said at a news conference that he spoke Monday with border czar Tom Homan and with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday morning. Homan took over the Minnesota operation in late January after the second fatal shooting by federal officers and amid growing political backlash and questions about how the operation was being run. He added that he expected to hear more from the administration “in the next day or so” about the future of what he said has been an “occupation” and a “retribution campaign” against the state. While Walz said he’s hopeful at the moment because “every indication I have is that this thing is winding up,” he added that things could change.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/10/2026 6:35 PM, Kanishka Singh, 38315K] r

AP [2/9/2026 4:45 PM, Staff, 34146K] reports federal authorities have denied attempting to expedite an end to asylum claims by the family of a 5-year-old boy who was detained with his father during the immigration crackdown that has shaken the Minneapolis area. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack surrounded by immigration officers stirred outrage over the crackdown. Danielle Molliver, a lawyer for the boy and his father, told The New York Times that the government was attempting to speed up the deportation proceedings, calling the actions “extraordinary” and possibly “retaliatory.” The government denied that. “These are regular removal proceedings. They are not in expedited removal,” Department of Homeland Security official Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, adding “there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.” Molliver told the Times that an immigration judge, during a closed Friday hearing, gave her additional time to argue the family’s case. The family is sequestered pending their next hearing this Friday, according to Kristen Stuenkel, spokesperson for Liam’s district, the Columbia Heights Public Schools.

New York Times [2/11/2026 3:25 AM, Alexandra Berzon and Allison McCann, 148038K] reports the Trump administration was quick to pin the blame. Days after a federal immigration agent shot at Phillip Brown, a U.S. citizen, last October at a busy commercial intersection in Washington, D.C., a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security claimed Mr. Brown had made a “deliberate attempt” to run officers down with his car. Mr. Brown, 33, was arrested, charged with a felony — fleeing from law enforcement — and spent three days in jail. In court, however, the case against Mr. Brown quickly unraveled as a judge found that the government failed to present any evidence supporting its claims. The judge dismissed the charges and said the agent had fired his weapon “for reasons that are completely unclear to me.” Mr. Brown’s case is among the 16 shootings by on-duty federal immigration agents patrolling in U.S. cities and towns over the past year, including those that took the lives of Minnesota protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The Trump administration’s rush to declare Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti at fault for instigating violence was quickly undercut by a barrage of viral videos. But a New York Times review of the other shootings found that similar claims by officials fell apart more quietly when the cases went to court. In four of the shootings where prosecutors brought assault or other charges, including against Mr. Brown, the cases fizzled after evidence emerged that contradicted the administration’s initial description of events. The charges were either dismissed or prosecutors dropped the case. Charges against six other people who were shot at by immigration agents are pending. Five of the defendants have denied aspects of the D.H.S. accusations or presented differing accounts in court. Two cases are going to trial in April. Tricia McLaughlin, a D.H.S. spokeswoman, stood by past statements in which she and the agency blamed people shot by officers, including labeling some of them “domestic terrorists.” “We work every day to give the American people swift, accurate information on evolving, challenging law enforcement operations as federal law enforcement officers are facing a highly coordinated campaign of violence against them,” Ms. McLaughlin said. She also defended the charges that have been brought by the government after violent encounters.

New York Times [2/10/2026 1:35 PM, Sabrina Tavernise, 148038K] reports in the month since Renee Good was shot and killed on Portland Avenue, life at the impromptu street-side memorial to her memory has taken on a gentle rhythm. Well-wishers walk quietly around its circumference, reading the signs, looking at the artwork and laying down bouquets. Caretakers come too, chipping away ice with hammers and sweeping up old flowers to make room for the new. On Saturday, Sandy Zaic, a 59-year-old teacher, came with two friends to pay her respects. “It’s very overwhelming,” she said, looking at a blue painting of Ms. Good and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers. In four days of interviews in Minneapolis and St. Paul, people reflected on the two months since the federal immigration operation began. Almost everybody interviewed in the heavily Democratic region opposed the federal presence. Some also worried that protesters would destroy property; many had not attended any of the protests. But almost all of those interviewed said they had learned a lot about each other in the past two months, as the Twin Cities have been confronted by an immigration sweep that, by the government’s own account, has been the largest in the nation. Along the way, not only was Ms. Good killed, but a nurse, Alex Pretti, was too. Federal agents also arrested a 5-year-old boy, Liam Ramos, whose picture in a bunny hat became a symbol for many of all that had gone wrong. They learned that they are willing to be outdoors for hours on one of the coldest days of the past 25 years to march in protest. They learned they will deliver food to complete strangers after long days at work, so families who need meals don’t have to risk a trip to the store, where immigration agents may be waiting. And they learned that these efforts bring a new sense of their own power, that they have come together, made themselves heard and, if they have not prevailed against what they see as unjust federal action in their cities, then at least they have held their ground. “I’m super proud to be a Minnesotan,” said Ms. Zaic, who lives in the suburbs and delivers food to families in the Columbia Heights school district, where Liam Ramos went to school. “I’m proud to watch all these people stand up for what they know is right.” The Department of Homeland Security has pulled 700 of its 3,000 agents from the streets, and Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, was sent to Minnesota to strike a more conciliatory tone. In an interview on Friday with KSTP, a television station in the Twin Cities, Mr. Homan said one of the first things he did after arriving was to have more oversight of federal agents and “to hold anybody who acts out of policy, hold them accountable.” He said that several agents are under investigation and no longer part of the operation in Minnesota.

Washington Times [2/10/2026 5:17 PM, Lindsey McPherson, 1323K] reports Democrats are refusing to extend the latest deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, all but guaranteeing the department will shut down at midnight Friday. Democratic lawmakers insist there is time to work out a full-year funding deal in the next three days, with the restrictions on immigration enforcement that they demand, and that punting the deadline beyond Friday would take away the urgency toward that goal. “I’m just not right now prepared to give them more money without reform,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Democrat, told The Washington Times. Even Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who was one of only three Democrats to consistently vote to reopen the government during the record 43-day shutdown last year, is not entertaining another short-term funding bill, known on Capitol Hill as a continuing resolution or CR. “The Republicans need to provide a serious counterproposal,” she said. “There’s more than enough time for us to negotiate. We don’t need a CR.” Democrats insisted on a two-week DHS stopgap extension from the previous Jan. 30 deadline, which Republicans argued would not be enough time to work out the parties’ disagreements over immigration enforcement. “The Democrats took the better part of a week and a half to get their proposal in. And now the White House has reacted to it, responded and submitted a counterproposal, which the Democrats are evaluating,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, citing that as “progress.” The DHS spending bill provides funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, agencies running President Trump’s deportation force that Democrats want to overhaul. However, those two agencies will not shut down without annual appropriations because Republicans provided them with a separate stream of funding through their One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

New York Times [2/10/2026 1:00 PM, Carl Hulse, 148038K] reports that Bipartisan talks over curbing President Trump’s immigration crackdown remained stalemated in Congress on Tuesday, threatening a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security this weekend as time ran short for a deal. Senate Democrats late Monday rejected as “incomplete and insufficient” a White House counteroffer to new rules they have insisted on governing the conduct of immigration officers as a condition of funding the department, which also oversees airport security, disaster relief and the U.S. Coast Guard. The conditions include unmasking those engaged in the immigration roundups and new requirements for warrants for searches and arrests. “We need to see more from Republicans very soon,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said on Tuesday. Republicans said they were preparing a new legislative offer for Democrats. But Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, was skeptical that any agreement could be finalized in time to avoid a shutdown after midnight on Friday. “It’s being worked on, I think quickly,” Mr. Thune said about the Republican offer, “so hopefully there’ll be something out there soon, but I don’t know how we get around having to extend the deadline.” Mr. Thune had warned that two weeks was too short to reach any deal on immigration enforcement, but Democrats pushed for a short time frame when they agreed to fund most of the government last week to guard against stalling by Republicans. And they have signaled they will not be willing to support another temporary measure if the G.O.P. fails to agree to restrictions on federal immigration agents.

The AP [2/10/2026 2:36 PM, Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking, and Seung Min Kim, 1297K] reports Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday that a Republican counterproposal to the list of demands they transmitted over the weekend “included neither details nor legislative text” and does not address “the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct.” The proposal was not released publicly. The Democrats’ rejection of the Republican counteroffer comes as time is running short, with a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department threatening to begin Saturday. Among the Democrats’ demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use-of-force standards and a stop to racial profiling. They say such changes are necessary after two protesters were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis last month. “We simply want ICE to follow the same standards that most law enforcement agencies across America already follow,” Schumer said Tuesday. “Democrats await the next answer from our Republican counterparts.”

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [2/10/2026 1:45 PM, Staff, 2238K]
The Hill [2/10/2026 7:41 AM, Sophie Brams, 18170K]
FOX News [2/10/2026 9:59 AM, Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind, 37576K]
FOX News [2/10/2026 6:22 AM, Staff, 37576K]
FOX News [2/10/2026 12:02 PM, Staff, 37576K]
Washington Times [2/10/2026 11:45 AM, Lindsey McPherson and Mallory Wilson, 1323K]
(B) WDAY News at 11 [2/10/2026 12:54 PM, Staff]

FOX News [2/10/2026 5:20 PM, Alex Miller, 37576K] reports Senate Democrats aren’t ready to concede in their push for stringent reforms to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and are ready to buck Senate Republicans’ plans to avert a partial shutdown. Their resistance comes as Senate Republicans and the White House have floated a counteroffer to Democrats’ proposed DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reforms. But the two sides remain far apart on a deal to fund the agency, and they are quickly running out of time. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the top-ranking Senate Democrat on the Homeland Security spending panel, said he would not support another short-term DHS funding extension unless Republicans made meaningful concessions on immigration enforcement. His position is shared by several Senate Democrats who have unified around a push to codify a list of 10 DHS reforms. Those include requirements that ICE agents obtain judicial warrants, unmask and display identification, provisions Republicans have labeled red lines. The standoff follows criticism late Monday from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who rejected President Donald Trump’s counteroffer.

AP [2/10/2026 5:05 PM, Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking and Seung Min Kim] reports congressional leaders said Tuesday that a deal was still possible with the White House on Homeland Security Department funding before it expires this weekend. But the two sides were still far apart as Democrats demanded new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. After federal agents fatally shot two protesters in Minneapolis last month, Democrats say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to be "dramatically" reined in and are prepared to let Homeland Security shut down if their demands aren’t met. On Tuesday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they had rejected a White House counteroffer that "included neither details nor legislative text" and does not address "the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct." The Democrats’ rejection of the Republican counteroffer comes as time is running short, with a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department threatening to begin Saturday. Among the Democrats’ demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use-of-force standards and a stop to racial profiling. Finding agreement on the charged, partisan issue of immigration enforcement will be exceedingly difficult. But even as lawmakers in both parties were skeptical, a White House official said that the administration was having constructive talks with both Republicans and Democrats. The official, granted anonymity to speak about ongoing deliberations, stressed that Trump wanted the government to remain open and for Homeland Security services to be funded.

NewsNation [2/10/2026 1:59 PM, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports that ongoing Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operations across the United States will continue uninterrupted even if lawmakers fail to agree on the agency’s nearly $106 billion funding by a Friday deadline. However, officials said Tuesday that while federal immigration officers will remain on the job without pay, the nation’s safety is being compromised without the agency remaining open for business. A DHS spokesperson told NewsNation Monday that DHS “essential missions and functions” will continue as they do during every shutdown. The spokesperson added while the operations continue, many employees will be forced to work without pay, “putting a strain on the frontline defenders of our nation.” DHS funding has been operating at 2025 levels since the end of January, when a stopgap measure extended financing for another two weeks despite most agencies being funded through September. However, when it comes to DHS, Democrats are holding out — demanding more accountability for federal immigration agents after the January fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday, speaking publicly before lawmakers since the deaths of Good and Pretti. Asked Tuesday how a government shutdown would impact DHS operations, Scott criticized the ongoing politicization of federal law enforcement. The CBP commissioner, who is helping oversee the ongoing Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation under White House border czar Tom Homan, said such rhetoric “detracts from the general morale of our personnel.”

FOX News [2/10/2026 3:10 PM, Leo Briceno, 37576K] reports Democrats are split on whether to spare the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and other agencies from the possibility of a government shutdown as lawmakers remain gridlocked over Democrats’ demands for funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Other Democrats, however, believe now is the time to play hardball over the changes they want to see and aren’t inclined to cut deals that don’t directly address their demands. In the wake of two deadly confrontations between border enforcement and civilians in Minnesota in January, Democrats are demanding stronger warrant requirements, a ban on agents in masks, a ban against racial profiling, an end to paramilitary police and more before funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates under DHS. Republicans have balked at those demands, arguing they would handcuff the agency’s operations. But even amid those tensions, DeLauro believes Democrats — and Republicans — can find common ground to shield unrelated agencies from suffering the fallout if lawmakers can’t come to an agreement by Friday. Until then, DHS is running off a two-week spending extension lawmakers agreed to when this same issue threatened a larger, $1.2 trillion spending package earlier in February. When the impasse over ICE looked poised to tank the bill, lawmakers split off non-DHS funding to shrink the scope of the disagreement. DeLauro believes Congress should do that again now.

Daily Signal [2/10/2026 6:30 PM, Virginia Grace McKinnon, 474K] reports as the House Homeland Security Committee heard testimonies from top Department of Homeland Security officials on Tuesday, Republicans are warning Democrats about the consequences of a partial government shutdown. Congress is facing yet another potential partial government shutdown this Friday as funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire. Democrats have made their demands clear, stating that they will not fund DHS without Immigration and Customs Enforcement reform. ICE, however, received billions of dollars in funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But shutting down DHS funding will harm other agencies funded through DHS. If Democrats vote against funding for the department, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration operations could be at risk, Republicans argue. "Another shutdown of DHS will disrupt important operations that include seizing illegal drugs, responding to natural disasters, combating child exploitation, arresting human traffickers, and preventing cyberattacks," Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told the Daily Signal.

Roll Call [2/10/2026 7:48 PM, Savannah Behrmann, 673K] reports the battle over immigration enforcement has become a fight over whether to temporarily extend funding for the last outstanding fiscal 2026 spending bill. With no immigration deal in sight, Senate Democrats and Republicans spent much of Tuesday at odds over whether to pass a short-term measure to buy more time before current funding for the Homeland Security Department runs out Friday night. On Tuesday evening, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the full-year, House-passed Homeland Security appropriations bill, which would serve as a vehicle for a short-term continuing resolution. Unless an agreement is reached, a preliminary procedural vote on taking up the stopgap measure would occur on Thursday. Thune said Tuesday he’s still uncertain on the length of the CR he is pushing for, saying it would be "subject to whatever is negotiated with the Democrats" and "if it looks like they are making sufficient progress that they are willing to vote for a CR." But he said "we’re kind of in a consent posture, doing anything with the amount of time that we have between now and when the funding deadline gets hit, would take consent. "I don’t know whether they will give us that or not," he said. A partial government shutdown might have minimal impact on Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, which received a $75 billion boost from last year’s reconciliation law. But other agencies under the DHS umbrella, such as the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration would be harder hit by the department shuttering.

The Hill [2/10/2026 11:54 AM, Emily Brooks, 18170K] reports Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that the House GOP leadership wants to see the Senate pass a full-year funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security rather than a short-term or even long-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the department at current levels. His position is a contrast from that of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who indicated that he plans to move forward on a second CR this week to fund DHS as Democrats and the White House remain at an impasse over proposed reforms to immigration enforcement. “We’ve not moved a CR here because our position is, the Senate should pass the House-passed homeland bill. We got it done. We did the work in the House, and I think they should — they should get that through,” Johnson said in a press conference Tuesday. “So us offering a CR would be a concession that we don’t believe in that product.” Johnson said he would meet with Thune later on Tuesday. “We’re going to go over all this to find out where their mindset is,” Johnson said. DHS funding expires after Friday, Feb. 13.

NewsMax [2/10/2026 7:18 AM, Staff, 3760K] reports that Rep. Mary Miller, Tuesday on Newsmax, accused Democrats of prioritizing political power over public safety as Congress faces a fast-approaching deadline to avert a lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. "They are willing to sabotage American safety in order to keep their status quo and keep their power," the Illinois Republican told Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Early." "This isn’t just political. This is dangerous." Miller argued Democrats are "in this for the fight because they want to hang on to power," warning that a funding lapse could jeopardize airport security, disaster response, the Coast Guard, and border security. Her comments came after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., would not directly answer a question about whether Democrats would support a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open and extend DHS funding while negotiations continue. Instead, he pivoted to criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the agency is "out of control right now." "The American people know it, and ICE clearly needs to be reined in," he said. DHS funding is set to run out Friday, Feb. 13, unless lawmakers reach an agreement. A House appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to examine the potential effects of a funding lapse, with witnesses expected from the Secret Service, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and TSA.

NewsMax [2/10/2026 10:10 AM, Theodore Bunker, 3760K] reports that Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., on Newsmax, Tuesday, accused Democrats of making "unreasonable" demands in a funding standoff that could trigger a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security by Friday. He warned that disruptions would hit airport security, disaster response, and the Coast Guard even as immigration enforcement remains funded. On "Wake Up America," Ricketts said that Democrats are trying to hedge ahead of a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing set to question top immigration enforcement officials, including acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons, amid intensifying scrutiny after fatal shootings in Minneapolis. Democrats have refused to approve DHS appropriations unless Congress agrees to significant reforms to immigration enforcement, particularly restrictions on ICE operations in the wake of fatal shootings and public protests. With DHS funding set to expire, lawmakers face a deadline this week to reach an agreement or allow the department’s funding to lapse, which would furlough employees in agencies like the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Coast Guard and halt parts of federal operations. ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection remain funded through an earlier appropriations act. The House hearing is expected to feature Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow.

Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 11:26 AM, Rachel Schilke, 1147K] reports that a proof of citizenship and voter ID bill is hitting the floor for the third time in the House, granting Republicans another opportunity to push one of its strongest, election-tested messages as the party scrambles to recapture public opinion on immigration. Eyes will also be on House Democrats to see whether they support the bill, entitled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, America Act. The legislation is an altered version of the SAVE Act, which has passed the House twice and required proof of citizenship to register to vote. The SAVE America Act requires both citizenship proof and voter ID at the time of registration, and eliminates mail-only registrations, as well. Democrats have mostly come out against both of these bills, expressing concern that the bills would impede individuals from voting, such as women who changed their name upon marriage and those who don’t have birth certificates. Many lawmakers have also said it opens the door for immigration agents and officers hanging out around polling places. It comes as public support plunged for deportation operations carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. A recent survey from PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll found 6 in 10 people disapprove of ICE’s work. While 73% of Republicans approve of the agency’s work, 66% of independents and 91% of Democrats do not. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called the bills "Jim Crow 2.0," which caused some backlash in GOP circles. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called the SAVE America Act "worse" than the original SAVE Act.

ABC News [2/10/2026 6:18 PM, Benjamin Siegel, 34146K] reports House Democrats and Republicans sparred Tuesday over the sweeping GOP voting bills Congress is set to consider in the coming weeks, amid President Donald Trump’s renewed focus on the results of the 2020 election, and the upcoming midterms. "Elections should end on Election Day. You need a photo ID to cast a ballot. You need to be a citizen to vote. You need a ... paper trail, and you shouldn’t mail ballots to people who don’t request them," Republican Rep. Bryan Steil said. The House Administration Committee debated Republicans’ proposals under the Make Elections Great Again Act, which would place new restrictions on the use and processing of mail-in ballots, require voters to provide photo ID in order to vote, and require states to review their voter rolls at least once a month. Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the panel, accused Republicans of trying to "change the rules of the game" before the high-stakes midterm elections in which Republicans are widely expected to lose seats. Historically, the party in power in the White House tends to lose congressional seats in the midterm elections. "All these bills have the same outcome: They are the Trump elections takeover bills. We know this because the president has said so himself," Morelle said, referring to Trump’s previous comments calling on Republicans to "nationalize" elections, and that the federal government should "get involved" in managing elections. The Constitution gives states the authority to run and administer federal elections, subject to laws passed by Congress. "I ask the American people this: Do you want Donald Trump running your elections. Do you want Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem running your elections? I want every American to know this is not President Trump’s election to take over. It’s yours.” Like the SAVE Act, the Make Elections Great Again Act would require voters to provide photo ID to vote, both in person and for mail-in voting, and require proof of U.S. citizenship, which is currently only required in a handful of states. In every state, new voters are required to attest that they are U.S. citizens when registering to vote. Non-citizen voting is already illegal and is vanishingly rare, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

NewsMax [2/10/2026 5:42 PM, Jim Mishler, 3760K] reports House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Newsmax on Tuesday that he predicts the SAVE Act — which would require photo identification to vote in federal elections — will pass the House on Wednesday. On "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Scalise said that the margin for approval will be razor-thin. "We’re not taking that for granted with a two-seat majority," he said. "But then, getting it passed through the Senate to President [Donald] Trump’s desk is critically important. I think you’re seeing more people across the country take notice of this bill.” But first things first, he said. "The SAVE Act is so important to get passed through the House first," Scalise said. The SAVE Act is short for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. The primary sponsor of the legislation is Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. Scalise said the reasoning behind proving who you are to vote is not a stretch for most Americans. "The idea of, one, proving your citizenship to register, and then, showing an ID to vote. This is something that you do to get on an airplane, to go to a bar. "How about to show an ID when you exercise the main right of democracy, and that is to vote.” Scalise said recent polling shows 83% of Americans support requiring a photo ID to vote in federal elections.

NewsMax [2/10/2026 5:27 PM, Jim Thomas, 3760K] reports Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that Republicans do not have nearly enough votes to change Senate rules to advance the SAVE Act, a House-passed measure backed by President Donald Trump that would tighten proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal voter registration. Thune dismissed talk of lowering the 60-vote threshold that typically applies to moving most legislation through the Senate, saying Republicans were nowhere close to the support needed to overcome the filibuster by a simple majority. "It’s not just me not being willing to do it," Thune said. "There aren’t anywhere close to the votes, not even close, to nuking the filibuster," he said. The comments came as Senate Republicans weigh options for forcing action on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act would bar states from accepting and processing a federal election registration application unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill specifies acceptable documents and requires an alternative process for additional evidence.

Federalist [2/10/2026 12:04 PM, M. D. Kittle, 540K] reports that the House this week is set to take up the SAVE America Act (the SAVE Act 2.0), an election-integrity measure that some Senate Republicans can’t seem to get behind even though the vast majority of Americans already have. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s office confirms the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register and photo identification to vote in federal elections, will hit the floor on Tuesday. While Democrats will spend hours making a mockery of truth and reality in opposing it, the legislation is expected to pass mostly along party lines — as the original SAVE Act did in the House some 300 days ago. But as the House prepares to send another bill aimed at protecting federal elections from fraud, the GOP-led Senate can’t seem to get its act together. Why? Because the sad state of affairs is that some Republican senators need to be talked into moving on the SAVE Act or its successor. "We have to convince our colleagues that this is a popular enough piece of legislation, one we have to pass," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told The Federalist Monday afternoon before heading into a meeting with a parliamentary expert to discuss the path and pitfalls of the so-called "talking filibuster." As The Federalist reported last week, Republicans could take the "silent filibuster" off the table. Democrats would certainly use the passive-aggressive form of bill-killing. Republicans — with a 53-47 majority — definitely don’t have the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture and move the election-reform bill to the floor for a majority vote; sources say the majority might not have enough votes to meet a simple majority threshold.

Axios [2/10/2026 12:03 PM, Jason Lalljee, 17364K] reports that President Trump’s push to "nationalize" elections includes his backing of a bill that could be a "nightmare" for voters, election experts told Axios. Why it matters: The House is scheduled to vote on the SAVE America Act this week, which requires proof of citizenship to vote, and could potentially prevent millions of people from casting their ballots. Trump and Republicans have framed their election overhaul efforts as necessary to stop noncitizen voting, but that is both illegal and rare. Catch up quick: Last week, Trump told ex-FBI deputy director Dan Bongino the GOP should "nationalize" elections in 15 places — without specifying where — and has repeatedly claimed without evidence that elections are "rigged." "President Trump cares deeply about the safety and security of America’s elections, that’s why he has urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other legislative proposals," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Axios this week. Democrats and nonprofit groups have rallied against the bill. Democrats have accused Trump of using the bill to manipulate midterms in the GOP’s favor, with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) saying Sunday on ABC News’ "This Week" that Trump "intends to try to subvert the elections." The SAVE America Act "sends clear marching orders for state lawmakers to enact Trump’s extreme elections agenda — all with an eye toward this year’s midterms," Samantha Tarazi, CEO of Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan organization that tracks and analyzes election laws, told Axios.

Daily Caller [2/10/2026 8:30 PM, Mariane Angela, 803K] reports President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday on the possibility of another sweeping legislative package. Trump signed the "Big, Beautiful Bill" into law at the White House July 4, cementing his 2017 tax cuts and advancing several core domestic policy priorities. Appearing on "Kudlow," Trump responded to a question about whether his administration plans to pursue a second Big Beautiful Bill, including the possibility of another reconciliation package featuring deeper tax cuts, additional deregulation, or related measures. "So when I first came in we met with John Thune, who is a terrific guy, and, as you know, Mike Johnson, the speaker, and we had about 17 different bills, and I said let’s put them all together, and everybody was against it," Trump told host Larry Kudlow. "They weren’t, really, but it was a long shot. Many people said you can’t get it done. Don’t do it. It’ll be bad, and we put everything together, and this was a four-year package.” Trump said Congress passed his sweeping legislative package by bundling numerous proposals into a single bill. "We put it together, and we got it passed, and it was sort of a miracle because I’ve seen it work the other way. There was something in there for everybody. That’s how we got it passed," Trump said. "I’m not sure we would have gotten very many of those bills. But we had many bills, and we put them all together. So, in theory we’ve gotten everything passed that we need. Now we just have to manage it, but we’ve gotten everything passed that we need for four years.” Trump said his administration plans to pursue additional legislation beyond the recently passed package.

New York Times [2/10/2026 10:43 AM, Shaila Dewan, 148038K] reports Republicans and Democrats in Congress are in a showdown over immigration enforcement in American cities as the Friday deadline approaches to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Last week, Democrats released a set of 10 “guardrails” they said were needed “to rein in ICE and ensure no more lives are lost.” Polls show that while many Americans say they support President Trump on immigration, a growing number believe his administration’s enforcement tactics have become too aggressive. Two U.S. citizens who were protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal officers in Minneapolis last month. ICE and Border Patrol officers have also stopped people who have an accent or a dark complexion, pulled citizens out of their cars and pointed guns at protesters. Republicans say that the Democrats’ proposals go too far. “You can’t in any way lighten the enforcement requirement of federal immigration law,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement last week. Many of the Democrats’ proposals lack specifics. And civil rights advocates and some ICE officials from previous administrations are questioning how much difference the measures would make on the ground. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, has already said that body cameras will be issued to officers. Heidi Altman, the vice president for policy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group, said that body cameras might not reduce misconduct. “Agents are out in the field wearing body-worn cameras and engaging in violence all the time,” she said, noting that the officer who killed Ms. Good was recording video with his cellphone during the encounter.

Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 1:01 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K] reports that a codefendant charged alongside former CNN host Don Lemon in a federal case stemming from an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest inside a Minnesota church is asking a judge to dismiss his charges. Ian Davis Austin, one of nine defendants charged over a January disruption at St. Paul’s Cities Church, filed a motion on Friday seeking dismissal of the conspiracy and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act counts as applied to him, arguing the indictment criminalizes expressive protest activity rather than unlawful conduct. Austin is charged with conspiracy against rights under 18 U.S.C. § 241 and interference with religious freedom under the FACE Act, statutes that require allegations of force, threats of force, or physical obstruction. His attorneys argue the indictment falls short of those standards. "The Indictment does not allege that he used force against any person," the motion states. "It pleads no physical contact, assaultive conduct, weapons, or acts capable of causing bodily harm. Nor does it allege that he threatened force.” According to the indictment unsealed on Jan. 30, Austin attended a planning meeting and later stood in or near aisles during a church service where protesters confronted the pastor, who the protesters said also serves as a federal immigration official. The defense argues those allegations amount to political speech and presence during a protest, not conduct criminalized by the FACE Act’s narrow terms. Lemon is expected to be arraigned in Minnesota federal court on Friday afternoon. Austin has pleaded not guilty, and the court has not yet scheduled a hearing on his motion to dismiss.

CBS News [2/10/2026 12:33 PM, Briauna Brown, 51110K] reports that students are walking out of several North Texas high schools again to protest tougher immigration enforcement nationwide, while the state school board and Gov. Greg Abbott warn they could cut education funding if the demonstrations continue. Over the last two weeks, students have been demanding changes within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agency following the shooting deaths of two people in Minneapolis and the arrest and deportation of civilians across the U.S. "We are speaking for the people who cannot speak for themselves," one student from Haltom City High School told CBS News Texas. Tuesday, students from Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts have planned a peaceful protest to demand that ICE stay out of Dallas. In partnership with the Next Generation Action Network, the students prepared a statement, that reads in part, "We feel that, as Texan students, it is our duty to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, to speak for those whose voices have been censored, and to fight for those who have been killed simply for trying to live." Also, on Tuesday, hundreds of students from Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center in Oak Cliff walked out during lunchtime to protest ICE. Gov. Abbott has criticized the walkouts, saying that school districts should be subject to cuts and liability if they allow students to leave class to protest ICE.

Politico [2/10/2026 3:11 PM, Kyle Cheney, 13586K] reports federal judges may have found a workaround to reject the Trump administration’s mass detention policy after an appeals court backed the approach. A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday blessed the administration’s interpretation of the government’s power to systematically detain people targeted for deportation — even if they have no criminal records and have lived in the country for decades. But two federal district court judges in Texas, who are bound by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit’s ruling, said the 2-1 decision left an opening for them to continue granting immigrants’ release on other grounds, primarily constitutional arguments against detaining people who have established roots in the U.S. without due process. Those roots amount, in legal parlance, to a “liberty interest” that the Constitution says cannot be taken away without at least a hearing before a neutral judge. “This conclusion is not changed by the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision,” Judge Kathleen Cardone, an El Paso based appointee of George W. Bush, ruled late Monday in at least five cases, concluding that the circuit’s decision “has no bearing on this Court’s determination of whether [the petitioner] is being detained in violation of his constitutional right to procedural due process.” Judge David Briones, an El Paso-based Clinton appointee, reached a similar conclusion. “The Court reiterates its original holding that noncitizens who have ‘established connections’ in the United States by virtue of living in the country for a substantial period acquire a liberty interest in being free from government detention without due process of law,” Briones wrote. The decisions from the Texas-based judges are notable in part because the administration has often rushed detainees there after their arrests in other states such as Minnesota. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN [2/10/2026 5:00 AM, Devan Cole, 18595K] reports in some two dozen cases stemming from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota that CNN has reviewed, federal judges appointed to the bench by Democrats and Republicans have had to use terms like “contempt” and “noncompliance” to get the government’s attention to respond to court orders. To date, it doesn’t appear that any judge in the District of Minnesota has held an agency official or Justice Department attorney in civil contempt of court or imposed sanctions in cases related to Operation Metro Surge. But the sheer number of threats is significant. Many of the punishment threats have arisen in cases where judges concluded that an immigrant was unlawfully arrested and must immediately be released. Other compliance issues have bubbled up when Immigration and Customs Enforcement releases a noncitizen with certain conditions that they weren’t subject to prior to their arrest, enraging a judge who never gave permission to impose such constraints. “This is clearly not tenable,” Judge Laura Provinzino, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, told one top government attorney late last month. “I can’t continue to have (federal prosecutors) violating really important orders … If somebody should be released, that has to happen.” The potential punishments highlight the smoldering tension between the federal judiciary, which has had to handle scores of cases brought by immigrants claiming they were unlawfully detained in recent weeks, and the lawyers defending the Trump administration’s operation, who often have little insight into the actions of their agency clients or the ability to sufficiently keep up with the pace of litigation. Often, a judge is the one ordering the government to “show cause,” or explain, why the court should not hold lawyers or agency officials in contempt. But in some instances, attorneys representing immigrants swept up in the enforcement blitz have asked the judge to impose sanctions when compliance issues have occurred. “It’s very rare for federal government officials to face contempt sanctions in court,” said David Cole, a Georgetown Law professor who served as the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “And yet, it’s become almost routine under this administration.”

AP [2/10/2026 8:06 PM, Rebecca Boone, 1323K] reports three Idaho families who are U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are suing after they and hundreds of others were detained for hours during an aggressive immigration raid at a rural horse racing track last year. The families say state and federal law enforcement agencies conspired to use unconstitutional tactics during the raid, including detaining people because they appeared to be Latino; keeping adults and some children in zip ties for hours without access to food, water or bathrooms; and searching individuals without reasonable suspicion of a crime. Similar immigration dragnets marked by a heavy use of force have entangled U.S. citizens and legal residents in other states. An Alabama construction worker and U.S. citizen who says he was detained twice by immigration agents filed a federal lawsuit in his state last year demanding an end to Trump administration workplace raids targeting industries with large immigrant workforces. Other lawsuits alleging racial profiling and unconstitutional detention have had mixed results in the courts. Last year, a federal judge in California issued a restraining order barring immigration agents from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location, but the Supreme Court lifted that order in September in a 6-3 ruling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurrence that judicial second-guessing of how immigration officers carry out brief stops for questioning would chill lawful immigration enforcement efforts. But he also suggested stops by agents using force could still face legal challenges. The Idaho families were among roughly 400 people detained at the privately owned race track known as La Catedral, about an hour’s drive west of Boise. The October raid came amid an FBI-led investigation into allegations of illegal gambling, but only five people at the event were arrested in connection with the investigation. More than 100 others were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations. The FBI had a criminal search warrant for the gambling investigation, but the operation was essentially a “fishing expedition for immigration violations,” attorneys with the ACLU of Idaho wrote in the lawsuit. Multiple agencies took part in the raid, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, Idaho State Police, and local police and sheriff’s deputies. Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said afterward that “ICE dismantled an illegal horse-racing, animal fighting, and a gambling enterprise operation.” However, court documents make no mention of animal fighting, and the track had a horse-racing license. McLaughlin later added that ICE did not restrain or arrest children.

Bloomberg Law [2/10/2026 6:05 PM, Maia Spoto, 763K] reports ICE’s detention and deportation of noncitizens who have experienced or witnessed violent crimes appears to contradict US lawmakers’ intent behind legal protections for immigrant survivors, a Los Angeles federal judge said in a Tuesday hearing. Federal law allows for protection from deportations and a pathway to visas for those who report crimes such as domestic violence and human trafficking, in part to encourage victims and witnesses to cooperate with law enforcement without worrying about consequences related to their legal status, Judge Andre Birotte Jr. of the US District Court for the Central District of California said. Though the pathway to a visa still exists, the government has begun in some cases initiating deportation proceedings while these visa applications are pending. Prior to deporting these noncitizens, the government is refusing to check with US Citizenship & Immigration Services, which processes the applications, to see if an applicant is likely to be approved, the lawsuit alleges. Birotte is considering a request for a preliminary injunction and class certification in a case brought in October by a group of immigrant survivors of crimes. The lawsuit asks the court to issue orders providing for the return of named plaintiffs who have been deported, to stop ICE from revoking deferred action status without an opportunity to be heard, and to block the "blind removal" of survivors with pending visa applications without checking if they’re likely to be approved. Applications for U or T visas will still be processed if applicants are deported, and they will have a pathway to return if the applications are approved, Mishra said.

Chicago Tribune [2/10/2026 7:30 PM, Rick Pearson, 5209K] reports Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday he is asking fellow Democratic governors to convene and discuss ways to hold President Donald Trump and his administration accountable in the courts for their aggressive immigration enforcement actions — even if that accountability comes after the president is scheduled to leave office in 2029. While Pritzker said the actions of immigration agents that led to two deaths in Minneapolis last month have spurred a public backlash against the Trump administration, he cautioned, “I can’t tell you that I am 100% confident that we will overcome.” “I’m an optimist, and I do feel like, in the end, Americans, the majority of Americans, will make sure that we preserve the future of this constitutional republic,” he said in a livestreamed conversation with Stephen Schmidt, once a GOP strategist and the co-founder of the Save America Movement. Pritzker’s appearance coincided with the debut of his new Substack column, another step by the two-term governor to try to reach a national audience as he ponders a potential bid for the White House in 2028. The billionaire businessman and heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune did not dismiss any presidential speculation when Schmidt said that “the role that you’re going to play in these next couple years is going to be an immense one.” Pritzker said Democrats are increasingly confronting Trump after initially believing they could find ways to work with him. “I think it took a while for people to understand that this is not a president you can trust. There’s nothing about him that you can trust. It’s not just his policies are, you know, out of the mainstream. He won’t live up to any of his obligations — not the oath he took, not the obligation to deal honestly and certainly not the obligation to avoid corruption. And so, I think the party is catching up. I don’t want to say, everybody’s there,” Pritzker said. Asked whether he is concerned about Trump’s threats to jail political opponents, including himself, Pritzker framed the risk as part of the responsibility of public service.

Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 3:16 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1147K] reports the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to defend Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when asked if she should resign during a heated House hearing where Democrats intensified calls for Noem to step down. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons was asked by Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) during the House Homeland Security Committee’s first oversight hearings of immigration agencies in more than a year if Noem should leave her post atop the government’s third-largest department. Lyons would not comment on Noem.

The Hill [2/10/2026 11:26 AM, Tara Suter, 18170K] reports Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Monday called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be “entirely reformed,” as criticism rises over the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of force when carrying out President Trump’s deportation agenda. “Well, the first thing we’re doing is … we as Democratic governors are all calling it out. ICE needs to be entirely reformed,” Beshear — who has been floated as a possible 2028 presidential contender — told MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle. “[DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem needs to be fired,” he continued, doubling down on demands from Democrats. “And every agent ought to be withdrawn from any and every community they’re in and fully retrained.” The Trump administration has faced mounting scrutiny over its immigration enforcement tactics in recent weeks after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot in Minneapolis in separate incidents last month at the hands of federal agents. Democrats have pushed for Noem to be held accountable, threatening impeachment proceedings if she does not resign. Trump, amid the calls for her ouster, has defended the DHS chief, suggesting she is being targeted because, “she is a woman, and has done a really GREAT JOB!” “The Radical Left Lunatics, Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Thugs, are going after Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, because she is a woman, and has done a really GREAT JOB!” Trump wrote last month on Truth Social. “The Border disaster that I inherited is fixed, the violent criminals that were allowed into our Country through Sleepy Joe’s ‘sick’ Open Border Policy, are largely gone, or being strongly sought for purposes of removal,” he added at the time. The president also suggested earlier this month amid pressure over the Minnesota shootings that his administration could “soften” its policies.

Breitbart [2/10/2026 6:12 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports during an interview with MS NOW’s “11th Hour” on Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) argued that “every” ICE agent “ought to be withdrawn from any and every community they’re in”, but he trusts the local law enforcement agencies in Kentucky that are partnering with ICE. Beshear said, “ICE needs to be entirely reformed, Secretary Noem needs to be fired, and every agent ought to be withdrawn from any and every community they’re in and fully retrained.” Host Stephanie Ruhle then said, “But you’ve got 25 local law enforcement agencies now partnering with ICE in Kentucky.” Beshear responded, “They’re partnering with ICE, but that doesn’t mean they’re engaging in the type of activities that you see in Minnesota or elsewhere, and I trust my law enforcement to be better than that. As the former top elected — the top law enforcement official, when I was attorney general, no other law enforcement agency in the country acts like the way that ICE is. None of them are that aggressive, none of them think an administrative warrant means they can knock down your door and come into your home, none of them are grabbing five-year-old children and sending them to Texas. What this group is doing is not only wrong, but it fails all of the basic tests of law enforcement. Every one of them has to be retrained.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [2/10/2026 3:45 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for trying to enforce a statute that the lawmaker opposes. The DHS faced pushback from Duckworth after the agency requested a list of the Office of Inspector General’s ongoing investigations, accusing the OIG of illegally withholding such information. In late January, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) met with DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to demand that the watchdog open a probe into the "egregious public execution of Alex Pretti and pattern of brutality from Trump’s lawless agents." Duckworth speculated that the OIG denied her request because the DHS had sent the OIG "repeated tacit threats" to "sabotage" its investigations by invoking 5 U.S.C. § 417, a provision of the law that gives the DHS secretary the authority to terminate investigations that could harm national security or present a significant impairment to U.S. interests. In a Friday letter to the DHS, Duckworth described seeking to enforce the statute as an "obscure authority" that has "never been invoked in the history of DHS," adding that it is "contrary to the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act of 1978." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, "Senator Duckworth is arguing that a Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretary shouldn’t use an existing section of federal law because she doesn’t think it should exist. If Senator Duckworth and her fellow Democrats do not like the law that Congress already passed, they — as members of Congress — have full constitutional authority under Article I to change the law and assuage their own concerns. As it stands, 5 U.S.C. 417 is federal law, and it applies to Secretary Noem just the same as it applied to previous homeland security secretaries for decades without controversy."

New York Times [2/10/2026 5:02 AM, J. David Goodman, 148038K] reports Republican officials and candidates in Texas have shifted their rhetorical attack lines from the border fears that dominated recent elections to the state’s growing Muslim population, with language that echoes the aftermath of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric has unnerved many in the state’s Islamic community while sending signals to Republicans outside Texas who might be searching for rhetorical targets now that the nation’s southwestern border has grown quiet. Ads for Senator John Cornyn of Texas have touted his fight against “radical Islam.” Texas Republican lawmakers created a “Sharia-Free America Caucus” in Congress. Gov. Greg Abbott has labeled one of the nation’s largest Muslim rights groups a terror organization. A “Save Texas from Radical Islam” dinner north of Dallas last month featured Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Trump, the conservative commentator Glenn Beck and the Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders — and attracted party activists and Texas House members. The State Senate is weighing legislation requested by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to ensure Texans “are never held under the heel of ‘Sharia law.’” Just on Monday, the state’s hard-right attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced he would investigate a proposed real estate development in Kaufman County, east of Dallas, as a “potentially illegal ‘Sharia City.’” The attacks on Islam are a notable shift for a party that has spent the last several election cycles focused on the Mexican border. Warnings of migrant “caravans” and a criminal invasion have lost their sting with a Republican in the White House and new policies that have halted most border crossings. That has left the G.O.P. looking for ways to address its voters’ concerns over the number of immigrants who came into the country during the Biden administration while avoiding the increasingly unpopular policy of mass deportations under Mr. Trump. In Texas, concern about Islamic radicalism has recently been polling among the top issues for Republican primary voters, according to Republican campaign consultants. The state party put a resolution on its primary ballot asking whether Texas should “prohibit Sharia law,” a term that refers to Islamic religious rules but has long served as a catchall to signify expansions of Muslim culture and religion that opponents say threaten American values. Mr. Abbott has promised a “total ban” through legislation next year, though he has not said what that would mean in practice. “Any event you go to, people ask about it. It’s like the border used to be,” said Dave Carney, the top political strategist for Mr. Abbott. “‘What are you doing about Shariah law? What are you doing about the Muslims taking over the state?’” But Muslims in the state say they feel the threat.

Washington Post [2/10/2026 7:12 PM, Arne Duncan, 24826K] reports underneath the fireworks of a contentious congressional hearing on Tuesday were the contours of a bipartisan deal to rein in the excesses of Immigration and Customs Enforcement without undermining its essential mission of removing dangerous criminals who are illegally in the United States. ICE clearly rushed too quickly to get officers into the field as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. Acting ICE director Todd M. Lyons said the agency has hired over 12,000 officers in less than a year. He acknowledged that individuals with no prior law enforcement experience only get about three months of training. For previously certified officers, training is just 47 days. More and better training, matched with better oversight, would go a long way toward restoring public trust. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island) showed U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott a video that appeared to show federal agents pepper-spraying into the car of a family of U.S. citizens. Scott said he didn’t have the details of the incident, but he added: “We try to avoid that.” It shouldn’t take cellphone videos to stop agents from breaking protocol. Body cameras are an easy way to boost accountability while protecting agents from false accusations, but only about 3,000 of 13,000 ICE agents currently have them. Lyons said another 6,000 are coming soon. Any funding bill should include a requirement that these be worn on duty. Another necessary reform that has at least some bipartisan support is requiring ICE to obtain a judicial warrant before storming into someone’s home, even if they have an administrative order to remove from the country someone they suspect of being inside. ICE’s policy gives heartburn to Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colorado), a former cop and Army officer. “If I had an arrest warrant for an individual and I thought they were in the house, or if I was assisting social services with a child removal, I still had to have an arrest warrant to go in the house,” he said.

The Hill [2/10/2026 9:30 AM, Eisha Jain, 18170K] reports after Alex Pretti was needlessly killed by immigration enforcement officials in Minnesota, more Americans have come to see the Department of Homeland Security’s law enforcement tactics as a disgrace. The public is demanding change, including an end to “roving immigration stops.” This is the right idea, but with one key mistake. Immigration agents and officers haven’t been making roving stops. Instead, the government has been doing something different: systemic unlawful Terry stops. Last fall, in a nonprecedential order, the Supreme Court stayed a restraining order issued by a federal judge who found that immigration agents were violating the rights of U.S. residents in Los Angeles. Too many people have taken a brief concurring opinion in a shadow docket order, authored only by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as though it had the force of precedent. But Kavanaugh’s concurrence in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo did nothing to change the constitutional doctrine relating to stops and the Fourth Amendment. In Terry v. Ohio, the Supreme Court held that a stop is seizure — a temporary restraint on someone’s liberty — and it can only lawfully occur if the police have reasonable suspicion that the stopped person is involved in criminal activity. The government is not entitled to make Terry stops without reasonable suspicion, nor is it entitled to use the rationale of immigration control to justify otherwise unlawful Terry stops. This distinction matters — it’s the difference between law and lawlessness. Police, whether they work for Immigration and Customs or for a local law enforcement agency, have the burden of proof to justify all stops. Just because an immigration officer makes a stop doesn’t automatically make it a roving immigration stop. Instead, we must look to the stated justification for the stop itself. For Terry stops, that usually means the police officer will say he observed something suspicious and is therefore justified in briefly detaining someone to investigate further. The standard isn’t a high one. It’s less than the probable cause standard for an arrest. But the standard still matters, because it means that police need to justify their decision to restrict someone’s liberty.

The Hill [2/10/2026 10:00 AM, Dr. Dana Suskind, 18170K] reports as a pediatric physician, an early childhood researcher and a child development expert, I am compelled to state, in no uncertain terms: What we are witnessing is a public health crisis. The immigration crackdowns in Minneapolis, my native Chicago and across the U.S. are resulting in children being separated from their families. Preschoolers and toddlers being detained. Children are being left orphaned, in the case of Renee Good. Young people are witnessing acts of violence including the killings of Good and Alex Pretti in their neighborhoods, in their social media feeds, and on their television screens. This approach to immigration reform is deeply detrimental to public health, in both the present and long term. Adverse childhood events and toxic stress disrupt children’s brain development; it is hard to think of a more traumatic or stressful event for children than being forcibly separated from their families. Toxic stress alters the very structure of a child’s still-growing brain, leading to lifelong learning, memory and attention problems. Toxic stress also weakens children’s immune systems and increases their risk of developing chronic conditions like asthma and heart disease. Decades of research tell us that minimizing exposure to toxic stress during children’s earliest years is imperative for healthy brain development. There is overwhelming scientific evidence on this. It is also well established that, in addition to the love, joy and protection that parents and caregivers provide children, their words and nurturing interactions fuel the creation of up to 1 million neural connections every single second, wiring children’s brains for a lifetime of learning and relationship building. Caregiving is an art. It is also backed by science.

Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 6:00 AM, Sean Kennedy, 1147K] repots the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good on the streets of Minneapolis exposed a strategic failure in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Although sometimes necessary, public apprehensions are messy, politically radioactive, and prone to error. That’s why Trump border czar Tom Homan has stepped in to order Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pull back, withdrawing 700 federal law enforcement personnel from Minneapolis. With Democrats trying to hem in ICE nationwide, how can Trump deliver on his promises on illegal immigration? There is another path — one that deports millions without street arrests, protests, or riots. It relies on leverage and paperwork. And it sits squarely within the authority of the current administration. The numbers show the current strategy is not working. In Trump’s first year, federal agencies arrested and deported roughly 230,000 people from inside the United States. Another 270,000 were turned away at the border, and about 70,000 remain in ICE custody. On net, that amounts to less than 2% of the estimated 14 million people living in the country illegally when Trump took office. Even with interior removals now running roughly three times higher than during Trump’s first term, the totals only match levels reached under George W. Bush’s final years and Barack Obama’s first term, despite there being millions more unlawful residents today. If ICE were targeting only hardened criminals and gang members, the political backlash would be marginal. Instead, data show that between 30% and 50% of recent ICE arrestees have no criminal convictions or pending charges, even though officials say nearly half a million illegal immigrants with convictions are already eligible for deportation. High-intensity street enforcement guarantees that sympathetic cases — longtime residents, productive workers, and even U.S. citizens — will be swept in. Each case chips away at the White House’s credibility.

Blaze [2/10/2026 8:00 AM, Adam Gibbs, 1556K] reports Somali pirates. Dead people "billing" taxpayers. Foreign terror networks thriving on Medicaid scams. Hackers stealing identities to collect benefits. That lineup sounds like an over-the-top Hollywood heist movie. Americans now read versions of it on the front page. Federal prosecutors charged 78 Somali immigrants with allegedly stealing more than $1 billion from taxpayers. National outlets noticed, including the see-no-immigrant-evil New York Times. Prosecutors also say suspected Medicaid fraud in Minnesota may top $9 billion, with new allegations and evidence surfacing by the day. Hollywood can’t compete with numbers like that. In "Die Hard," the crooks chased $640 million. Danny Ocean’s crew in "Ocean’s 11" made off with a mere $160 million. Minnesota’s real-life scammers allegedly went after far more, and they exploited programs meant to help the vulnerable. Americans should treat this caper as a wake-up call. Elected leaders should treat it as an emergency: Prosecute the thieves, close the loopholes, and change the incentives that let fraudsters treat public benefits like an ATM.

FOX News [2/11/2026 5:00 AM, Joe Abraham, 40621K] reports I am a lifelong Illinoisan, and I have met my social contract. I’ve done everything properly. I’ve been law-abiding and I’ve been productive. And if I didn’t do these things, I would have been punished. So I’ve met my side of the bargain. But I want my governor to know that he hasn’t met his end of the bargain. Recently, I sent Gov. J.B. Pritzker a letter asking straightforward questions about the sanctuary policies he champions—policies that protected an illegal alien who went on to kill my daughter. I asked for a response by January 19, 2026, the one-year anniversary of Katie’s death. To this day, I have received nothing. The pain our family has experienced in the past 12+ months since Katie’s death is beyond description. I wish I could explain it to people. The pain is so unbearable at times it has made me almost unable to function. I am haunted by the knowledge that I will never walk my daughter down the aisle, I’ll never hold her children, I’ll never see her again. I would give anything – anything – and the rest of my days for just one more hour with her. My questions to the governor were not ideological questions. They were factual, basic, and rooted in public safety. Among the 11 questions I asked, three stand out: First, in federal court on November 23, 2025, it was stated that Julio Cucul-Bol is currently receiving treatment through the Illinois Department of Corrections for an incurable communicable disease, HIV. What medical screening protocols, if any, were in place when he entered Illinois? Second, it has since been revealed that Cucul-Bol, a Guatemalan national, was using the alias "Juan Jahaziel Saenz-Suarez," falsely identifying himself as a Mexican national. Federal law-enforcement authorities were aware of this identity fraud. Why was an individual known to be using an alias allowed to remain in Illinois communities without meaningful verification? Third, Cucul-Bol possessed an Illinois driver’s license despite being illiterate and unable to read or write in any language. How did he pass the written driver’s examination? These are simple questions. They deserve answers.

Roll Call [2/10/2026 12:35 PM, Chris Johnson, 673K] reports when Rep. April McClain Delaney made an oversight visit to an immigration detention site in Baltimore last month, 47 days after her office originally requested, the Maryland Democrat said she found concerning conditions with detainees gesturing for food and water and placed in rooms with 40 others. But it was clear Immigration and Customs Enforcement had made changes prior to her visit, McClain Delaney told reporters, and migrants housed there told her the facility was cleaned just prior to her arrival. "While I am relieved to be granted access after requesting this tour nearly two months ago, it’s clear that ICE gave us a highly sanitized portrayal of this facility," McClain Delaney said in a news release. "What remains unknown is what conditions look like when I’m not there.” McClain Delaney is among Democratic members of Congress emphasizing the importance of being able to conduct immediate oversight visits to detention centers, as they renew their legal challenge to the latest Department of Homeland Security policy requiring a seven-day waiting period. Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this month temporarily halted implementation of the DHS policy and will hold a hearing Thursday over whether to issue a more permanent block while the lawsuit plays out. The conditions at immigration detention facilities continue to draw concern amid reports of overcrowding, use of solitary confinement and denial of medical care, and House Democrats have estimated more than 50 deaths of people in ICE and Customs and Border Protection custody since the start of the second Trump administration. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, is among the lawmakers who submitted sworn declarations in the case on the impact of the delays on oversight work. He said the conditions found at immigration detention facilities have "underscored the importance of having oversight access, when necessary, with little or no prior notice.” Lawmakers had previously been able to gain immediate access to immigration detention facilities because of a provision in the law funding the department. A group of Democrats originally filed a lawsuit to enforce that provision last year when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first implemented a policy with a waiting period. Noem implemented a new version Jan. 8, which became public after members of the Minnesota delegation were denied entry to a detention facility in the wake of the fatal shooting of American citizen Renee Good. Noem has said all funding for the lawmaker visits will not come from annual appropriations, but from separate funds in a budget reconciliation law President Donald Trump signed in July. That reconciliation law does not include a provision requiring unannounced visits and provided $170 billion for immigration enforcement activities. DHS spokesperson Tricia Mclaughlin has said the Jan. 8 policy was instituted as a safety measure "due to escalating riots and political violence targeting buildings and facilities used by ICE.” "This is to ensure adequate protection for Members of Congress, congressional staff, detainees, and ICE employees alike," Mclaughlin said. "Unannounced visits require pulling ICE officers from their normal duties."

CBS News [2/10/2026 7:16 PM, Jason Rantala, 39474K] reports Becky Ringstrom was following federal immigration agents in her Blaine, Minnesota, neighborhood last month, when they approached her car and told her to stop following. Ringstrom said she went the other way, turning back home, but several minutes later, federal officers stopped and arrested her. "Once they started to tap on my windshield, I did make the decision that I would roll down my window, and as soon as I did that, the agent on my driver’s side reached in and unlocked my door himself," said Ringstrom. "They just told me they were going to extract me from the vehicle." Ringstrom was taken to the Whipple Building, where an officer gave her a citation, charging her under a federal law that criminalizes impeding law enforcement. "Assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is a felony," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Reuters, that immigration officers "used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property." "I will never stop believing that what happened on that day was nothing more than them trying to scare us," said Ringstrom. According to Reuters, the Trump administration has prosecuted at least 655 people for interfering with federal agents since city-by-city enforcement began last summer. They report that’s more than double the previous year. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [2/10/2026 6:03 AM, Ted Hesson, Kristina Cooke, and Brad Heath, 38315K] Video: HERE reports that Becky Ringstrom was heading home after following federal immigration officers in her gray Kia SUV in suburban Minneapolis when she was suddenly boxed in by unmarked vehicles. At least a half-dozen masked agents jumped out to arrest her, one knocking on her windshield with a metal object as if threatening to use it to break her window. After the arrest, captured on bystander video verified by Reuters, the 42-year-old mother of seven later said she was transported to Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis where an officer gave her a citation charging her under a federal law that criminalizes impeding law enforcement. The official said her name and photo would be added to a government database. The arrest of Ringstrom became the latest detention of one of thousands of local activists for violating Title 18, Section 111 of the U.S. Code, a catch-all charge for anyone who "forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes" with a federal officer conducting official duties. The statute can be charged as a felony or misdemeanor. A Reuters review of federal court records found that the Trump administration has prosecuted at least 655 people under that charge across the U.S. since a series of city-focused immigration crackdowns began last summer. That’s more than double the prosecutions during the same period in 2024-2025, according to a review of publicly available criminal filings in Westlaw, a legal research database owned by Thomson Reuters. "Assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is a felony," said U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. She said federal immigration officers "used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property." White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the Trump administration was committed to protecting First Amendment freedoms, but that people impeding law enforcement "will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

AP [2/11/2026 12:52 AM, Ryan J. Foley, 31753K] reports at least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020, and the wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse, corruption and other misuses of authority, a review by The Associated Press found. While most cases happened before Congress voted last year to give ICE $75 billion to hire more agents and detain more people, experts say such crimes could accelerate given the volume of new employees and their empowerment to use aggressive tactics to deport people. Almost every law enforcement agency contends with bad employees. But ICE’s rapid growth and mission to deport millions are unprecedented, and the immense power that officers exercise over vulnerable populations can lead to abuses. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that wrongdoing was not widespread in the agency, and that ICE “takes allegations of misconduct by its employees extremely seriously.” She said that most new hires have worked for other law enforcement agencies, and that their backgrounds were thoroughly vetted. “America can be proud of the professionalism our officers bring to the job day-in and day-out,” she said.

Axios [2/10/2026 4:11 PM, Herb Scribner, 17364K] reports ICE plans to have a presence at the World Cup this summer, acting director Todd Lyons said Tuesday. Trump’s immigration crackdown and ICE’s actions have fueled international backlash that could affect how global fans, teams and governments engage with the World Cup. "ICE, specifically Homeland Security Investigations, is a key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup," Lyons said before a House panel Tuesday. "We’re dedicated to securing that operation and we’re dedicated to the security of all of our participants as well as our visitors," he added. Lyons was specifically talking about ICE HSI, which manages all criminal investigations related to human trafficking and is involved with many large sports events, like the Super Bowl and the Olympics. There has also been concern about a new Trump policy that would mandate social media checks for tourists. USA Today [2/10/2026 4:11 PM, Seth Vertelney, 70643K] reports Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would not commit to pausing operations for the 2026 World Cup during a hearing on Tuesday, Feb 10. Lyons was one of three senior immigration officials called to testify before the U.S. House Department of Homeland Security Committee. It was the first hearing since federal law enforcement officers fatally shot two U.S. citizens last month in Minneapolis. With the U.S. set to serve as a co-host of the Men’s World Cup this summer, there have been concerns over how welcoming the country will be to visitors, as well as how it will treat some residents of the United States. NewsMax [2/10/2026 4:57 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports that the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are co-hosts of the World Cup, although the majority of the matches will be played on U.S. soil, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Missouri, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco. HSI is responsible for all criminal investigations related to human trafficking and is involved in many large sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and the Olympics. This year’s World Cup is expected to be the largest in the tournament’s history, with 48 teams participating in 104 matches, including 78 matches on U.S. soil. About 10 million people are projected to visit the 11 host cities in the U.S.

Blaze [2/10/2026 5:10 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) unveiled the TruckSafe Tipline on Tuesday, which allows those who work in the trucking industry to report carriers that may be breaking federal laws. The reporting system encourages truckers to submit a form if they believe a carrier has employed or contracted drivers who are illegally in the U.S., who are not authorized to drive, or who do not meet the English-language proficiency requirements. Banks’ office will share the submitted tips with the Department of Transportation and its Office of Inspector General. The tip line was launched following a semi-truck crash in Indiana last week that resulted in the deaths of four Amish men, including a father and two sons. The driver of the truck, Bekzhan Beishekeev, a 30-year-old Kyrgyzstani national who obtained his commercial driver’s license in Pennsylvania despite allegedly residing in the U.S. illegally, was accused of swerving into oncoming traffic and striking a 15-passenger van head-on. Beishekeev is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Banks’ office noted that the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is investigating the carrier that employed Beishekeev as well as several other companies.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [2/10/2026 4:11 PM, Sean Moran, 2238K]

US News & World Report [2/10/2026 4:00 PM, Olivier Knox, 16072K] reports the centerpiece of the federal government’s case for mass deportations is that enforcement targets "the worst of the worst" – a rogue’s gallery of violent criminals in the U.S. illegally. But official data and individual stories show many if not most of the people swept up don’t fit that definition. CBS News reported Monday that less than 14% of the roughly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Donald Trump’s first year back in office had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document. Offenses in that category include homicide, robbery, kidnapping, sexual assault, arson and assault. While nearly 60% of people ICE arrested over the past year had criminal charges or convictions, CBS said, most were not for violent crimes. About 40% of ICE arrestees last year had no criminal record at all, the network reported. They faced civil immigration offenses that are typically handled by civil courts, not their criminal equivalents. As of January 25, 74.2% of ICE detainees had no criminal conviction, according to TRAC.

CBS News [2/10/2026 12:56 PM, Emmet Lyons, 51110K] reports that an Irish man who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years has been detained by U.S. immigration officials for almost five months despite insisting he had a valid U.S. work permit and a pending green card case as the spouse of an American citizen. Seamus Culleton has said he fears for his life due to the conditions in the detention center where he’s being held in Texas. Seamus Culleton, who lived in Boston, is being held at the El Paso Camp East Montana, an ICE detention facility inside the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas, according to the agency’s detainee locator system. Speaking to Irish state broadcaster RTÉ in a phone interview Monday from the detention center, Culleton described life at the camp as a "nightmare.” "You don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. You don’t know if there’s going to be riots, you don’t know what’s going to happen," he told RTÉ. He characterized the detention facilities as "a bunch of temporary tents." Culleton said he had rarely been outside in the five months since his arrest. "I have barely any outside time, no fresh air, no sunshine. We have two TVs on the wall. There are 72 detainees here in total. We get three meals a day, very very small meals — kid size meals, so everybody is hungry," he said. Culleton called the conditions "filthy" and said the toilets and showers were "completely nasty" and "very rarely cleaned.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which ICE falls under, denied the allegations about the conditions at the Texas facility on Tuesday, with Assistant DHS Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin telling CBS News in a statement that Culleton’s claims were, "FALSE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens." CNN [2/10/2026 1:01 PM, Kara Fox, 612K] reports that in a statement to CNN, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that Culleton had entered the US in 2009 under the visa waiver program which allowed a 90-day stay, then failed to depart. Culleton said that he is being held in a large, overcrowded room with more than 70 other men and sleeping under constant artificial lighting in cold and damp conditions. Detainees are receiving limited food, have restricted access to medical care and are rarely allowed outside, he told RTE.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [2/10/2026 5:55 PM, Lauren Villagran, 70643K]

CBS Boston [2/10/2026 8:24 PM, Mike Sullivan, 51110K] reports an Irish man living in the Boston area, who is married to a U.S. citizen and is seeking a green card, has been in ICE custody for five months. Seamus Culleton entered the United States in 2009 under a visa waiver program which allows him to stay for 90 days. The Department of Homeland Security said he overstayed his time. In April 2025, Culleton married Tiffany Smith. Smith said her husband is a plasterer and was detained by ICE after going to Home Depot in Saugus, Massachusetts on Sept. 9. "I think they spotted him in Home Depot and followed him and stopped him outside Home Depot," Smith said. Smith and her lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye, say Culleton told ICE agents he had a marriage-based petition in place and was about to receive a green card. They say ICE agents ignored his claims and took him into custody. Okoye said Culleton is a "model immigrant" with no criminal record. "In Seamus’s case, he came in 2009, his only immigration infraction is visa overstay," Okoye said. "That’s what held him in custody for the past five months. It’s inexplicable.” Smith said Culleton was quickly taken to Burlington, Massachusetts and then onto Buffalo, New York and finally to a facility in El Paso, Texas. "It seems like they just wanted to get him out of Massachusetts as quick as they could," Smith said. Okoye says he was waiting to have an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and that it hasn’t happened because he is in ICE custody. Okoye says USCIS will not let his wife do the interview nor will they let him do it from custody. They say if he is let out, that USCIS can immediately speak with him. "The fact that all of the policy memos from the USCIS support an adjudication of a green card petition even at this stage, and yet we don’t have, you know, the discretion exercised in his favor is just something that is for me inhumane," Okoye said. "And especially that he has statutory protection, the fact that he qualifies as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen.” In a statement, Assistant DHS Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Culleton is "an illegal alien from Ireland.” "He received full due process and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on September 10, 2025," McLaughlin said. "He was offered the chance to instantly be removed to Ireland but chose to stay in ICE custody, in fact he took affirmative steps to remain in detention. A pending green card application and work authorization does not give someone legal status to be in our country.” McLaughlin said any claims about the conditions at the ICE facilities are false. "ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens," she said.

AP [2/11/2026 12:14 AM, Ryan J. Foley, 35287K] reports investigators said one immigration enforcement official got away with physically assaulting his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he repeatedly sexually abused a woman in his custody. A third is charged with taking bribes to remove detention orders on people targeted for deportation. At least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020, and their documented wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse, corruption and other abuses of authority, a review by The Associated Press found. While most of the cases happened before Congress voted last year to give ICE $75 billion to hire more agents and detain more people, experts say these kinds of crimes could accelerate given the sheer volume of new employees and their empowerment to use aggressive tactics to arrest and deport people. The Trump administration has emboldened agents by arguing they have "absolute immunity" for their actions on duty and by weakening oversight. One judge recently suggested that ICE was developing a troubling culture of lawlessness, while experts have questioned whether job applicants are getting enough vetting and training. Almost every law enforcement agency contends with bad employees and crimes related to domestic violence and substance abuse are long-standing problems in the field. But ICE’s rapid growth and mission to deport millions are unprecedented, and the AP review found that the immense power that officers exercise over vulnerable populations can lead to abuses. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that wrongdoing was not widespread in the agency, and that ICE "takes allegations of misconduct by its employees extremely seriously." She said that most new hires had already worked for other law enforcement agencies, and that their backgrounds were thoroughly vetted. "America can be proud of the professionalism our officers bring to the job day-in and day-out," she said.

Daily Caller [2/10/2026 9:58 AM, Harold Hutchison, 803K] reports that independent journalist Cam Higby broadcasted an audio dispatch feed of a group using the Signal app to coordinate efforts to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on his Monday show. At least one so-called "rapid response" network in Minnesota is tracking vehicles used by ICE, broadcasting their locations and summoning backup to confront the agents, often leading to assaults and physical altercations, Fox News Digital reported. Higby was asked to check in by one of the group’s dispatchers while he was on the air during the episode, which was later taken down by YouTube, citing copyright issues. "Hey! Welcome to the Cam Higby show! Would you like to say hello?" Higby greeted the dispatcher, who responded, "You are…" "I am Cam Higby and you are live right now on the Cam Higby show!" Higby replied. "Would you like to say hello?" "Yes, this is Cam Higby, you are definitely experiencing OPSEC issues" The fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good occurred during confrontations involving "rapid-response" to ICE operations seeking to apprehend illegal immigrants with criminal records. Higby has previously posted material from these anti-ICE Signal groups on his X feed, including a manual apparently used by one so-called "rapid response" network. "Are we having an OPSEC problem, dispatch?" one member of the anti-ICE network asked. "Yep, this is dispatch from the Cam Higby show," Higby said. "You are absolutely having OPSEC problems right now, that is for sure. You are live on the air."

Daily Caller [2/10/2026 10:49 AM, Jason Cohen, 803K] reports that Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett demanded the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a Monday interview with theGrio regarding her Texas Senate campaign. A January 2025 poll from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs found that 60% of Texans backed the mass deportations of most illegal immigrants. Crockett noted during the theGrio interview that ICE replaced the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and argued that the current agency was unsalvageable. "We know that ICE was referred to as INS before. And so I think that just like we went from INS to ICE, we have to do immigration enforcement. That is a basic, okay? We do," Crockett said. "We have laws for a reason. So we need to enforce our laws. Absolutely. Do I think that what ICE is right now makes sense for anyone, whether they are here with legal status, not here with any status, or a U.S. citizen? I don’t. I absolutely don’t." "They are against their own policies. They are against the law. And so I just don’t know how you clean this up … I think that we need to scrap it," she added. "And we need to come up with something that actually meets not only the moment, but meets the definition of what they are supposed to be doing. I don’t know how you fix this, but I think that we start at the top. And I signed on to impeach [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem, And that’s where we start. We start by getting rid of her. And then we can work our way down.” Crockett was also pressed on whether she would "support abolishing or defunding ICE" during a Jan. 24 debate. "We absolutely have to clean house," she said at the time. "Whatever that looks like, I am willing to do it."

The Hill [2/10/2026 9:12 AM, Zach Schonfeld, 18170K] reports an immigration court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, the Turkish national and Tufts University student arrested nearly a year ago after she co-authored a pro-Palestinian op-ed in her student newspaper. Öztürk’s lawyers revealed the news in a Monday update, saying the immigration court found the government “had not met its burden of proving removability” and terminated Öztürk’s deportation proceedings. It marks a major defeat for the Trump administration in its push to deport foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy on college campuses. The immigration court system is part of the executive branch, not the judiciary, and the government can appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. That board is also within the Department of Justice. “This is more judicial activism at its core to keep a terrorist sympathizer in this country. We are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in a statement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a law that allows him to make someone deportable if he believes they pose potentially “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio has also cited the provision to try to deport Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, among others. Öztürk’s case captured national attention after her March 2025 arrest by plainclothes officers her near her Somerville, Mass., home was captured on video. In justifying her deportation, the Trump administration has focused on a Tufts University student newspaper op-ed Öztürk bylined with three others supporting the Palestinian cause. Öztürk has claimed the deportation push is retaliation that violates the First Amendment.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/10/2026 12:20 PM, Jonah E. Bromwich, 148038K]
Breitbart [2/10/2026 10:13 AM, Staff, 2238K
USA Today [2/10/2026 4:50 PM, Brie Anna J. Frank, 70643K]

Breitbart [2/10/2026 4:48 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2238K] reports officials in a Maryland county approved a resolution expressing their "full support" for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other law enforcement agencies. The Board of County Commissioners of Washington County approved the resolution on Tuesday morning, which states that the board also "encourages ongoing cooperation and partnership between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to ensure the welfare and security of all citizens and legal residents," according to ABC7 News. The resolution is also "effective immediately upon adoption." The approval of the resolution comes after the DHS was reported to have "purchased a warehouse near Hagerstown for more than $100 million," according to the outlet. In a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on February 6, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) expressed his "concerns" over the DHS’s "apparent plans to house a new" ICE facility at the recently purchased warehouse, according to the Daily Voice.

Daily Wire [2/10/2026 12:05 PM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports he snuck across the border illegally and went undetected. Then, he went on to allegedly rape three young children in Asheville, North Carolina, authorities said. Now, federal immigration authorities are begging sanctuary officials to hand Mexican illegal immigrant Juan Ramon Juarez-Talamantes, 29, over to ICE before he has the opportunity to continue on with his violent rampage, The Daily Wire has learned. "This depraved sicko is charged with raping three children. This criminal illegal alien has no place in American communities," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Daily Wire on Tuesday. "We are calling on Asheville sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this pedophile back into our communities to prey on more innocent children. If politicians allow state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE, we can get criminals like this out of our country," McLaughlin said. Juarez-Talamantes was charged in November with two counts of statutory rape involving a child at least 13, 14, or 15 years of age, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office said in a recent press release. He was charged again last month for an incident involving a third victim.

CBS News [2/10/2026 11:36 AM, Dan Raby, 51110K] reports that the family of a Georgia Army veteran is now fighting to bring him back to the U.S. after he was deported to Jamaica, despite having an active appeal. Godfrey Wade had lived in the U.S. for more than 50 years before he was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He remained in custody for nearly five months before his deportation. His family and attorneys are trying to reopen Wade’s case, holding out hope that his case can be fully heard. Wade came to the U.S. lawfully in 1975 as a teenager. He enlisted in the Army and served overseas. That was his foundation, and he took pride in it and made us believe in the U.S. Army," said his daughter, Emmanuela Wade. After Wade was honorably discharged, he worked as a chef, tennis coach, and fashion designer. His family says Wade’s life changed in September 2025, when he was pulled over for failing to use a turn signal in Conyers and arrested for driving without a license. Following that arrest, ICE detained him due to a 2014 removal order stemming from a 2007 bounced check and a 2006 simple assault charge. Wade’s attorney said that the assault charge involved no physical violence and that his client had paid the bounced check and related fines. ICE cited a removal order from over a decade ago after officials said Wade did not show up for a hearing in 2014. Court records show hearing notices sent to an address used by ICE were returned as undeliverable. Wade’s attorney says the Covington man was unaware of the removal order until his arrest. Georgia U.S. Rep. David Scott said his office formally requested last week that the Department of Homeland Security halt Wade’s deportation until he could have the case heard in court.

AP [2/10/2026 3:11 PM, Mike Mendenhall, 35287K] reports a state prosecutor has subpoenaed the city of Jacksonville to look for evidence of what the Florida attorney general alleges is immigration enforcement interference by Mayor Donna Deegan’s Hispanic outreach coordinator. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the subpoena in a post Monday on the social media platform X. Uthmeier wrote, "If there’s evidence that (Deegan’s) administration coordinated to impede immigration enforcement and harbor criminal aliens, we will hold them accountable!" A copy of the subpoena obtained by Jacksonville Today through a public records request gives city officials until Feb. 20 to produce the emails, text messages, social media communications and other records of Yanira Cardona — the city’s first Hispanic outreach coordinator. The criminal investigation comes about two weeks after Cardona returned to work at City Hall after a brief suspension for posting a video that went viral on social media. In the video, Cardona discussed recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Jacksonville and provided advice on how to navigate interactions with immigration enforcement. She emphasized complying with officers.

Chicago Tribune [2/10/2026 12:49 PM, Shelley Jones, 5209K] reports that for different reasons from all quarters, a resolution denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis failed to pass at the Valparaiso City Council meeting Monday night after hours of comment and debate from the overflow audience. Council Member Robert Cotton, D-2nd, submitted the resolution for a vote in response to requests made by the group Valpo Resistance at the Jan. 26 city council meeting that the mayor and council formulate and publicize a policy for dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the end, Cotton was the only council member to vote for the resolution. Before the meeting, a group of about 75 Valpo Resistance members took their support of the proposed resolution on parade. They met at the southwest corner of Lincolnway and Franklin Street and walked the few blocks to City Hall. Timothy Leitzke, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, pronounced the names of those who have died since Jan. 1, 2025, in DHS custody or at their hands over a megaphone and the marchers refrained, “Remember them,” to each. Upon their arrival at the west steps of City Hall, they were met by a handful of opponents dressed in Trump and ICE hats and attire. After some jockeying to put signs in each other’s faces and outshout each other, both groups moved inside without incident.

Chicago Tribune [2/10/2026 6:28 PM, Alice Yin and Madeline Buckley, 5209K] reports Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday said he will not refer alleged cases of misconduct by federal immigration agents to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, following criticism by the top prosecutor that his "ICE on notice" executive order would politicize investigations. Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke released a memo last week saying Johnson’s decree would jeopardize her office’s ability to secure convictions. Johnson told reporters his order will nonetheless remain as-is, arguing the text "does not necessarily" involve his office in any potential charges against federal immigration agents despite saying "CPD Supervisors must … at the direction of the Mayor’s Office, make a referral of felony matters to the Cook County State’s Attorney." After the mayor’s City Hall news conference, Johnson spokesperson Cassio Mendoza clarified the mayor’s office would not be reviewing individual cases. Usually, law enforcement makes referrals to prosecutors asking them to approve felony charges, so involvement from the mayor’s office would not be typical. Johnson told reporters "we are having conversations" in the wake of a memo disseminated by Burke’s team on Friday that was critical of his order. But he said work will continue on the 30-day "rule-making process" set out in the order to clarify how it will be implemented.

FOX News [2/10/2026 3:49 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K] reports an illegal immigrant who claimed he was beaten by immigration officers so badly that he couldn’t remember that he had a daughter, hit his head on a concrete wall while attempting to escape from authorities, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers had placed Alberto Castaneda-Mondragon, 31, a Mexican citizen, in handcuffs during a Jan. 8 operation in Minnesota when he tried to escape, DHS said. Once officers nabbed Castaneda-Mondragon, they called an ambulance to examine him, authorities said. He declined medical services and stated he was uninjured, DHS said. He told the news outlet that he was in a vehicle with a friend when ICE agents pulled them over outside a St. Paul shopping center. He said he was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and then punched and struck in the head with a steel baton. He remembers being dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, where he said he was beaten again. Castaneda-Mondragon said he also remembers the emergency room and claimed he suffered eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages. Once he was taken to an ICE holding facility at Ft. Snelling in suburban Minneapolis, Castaneda-Mondragon said officers resumed beating him. Homeland Security placed the blame on Castaneda-Mondragon and those who dangerously resist arrest when confronted by authorities.

CNN [2/10/2026 10:00 AM, Mica Rosenberg, 612K] reports that fourteen-year-old Ariana Velasquez had been held at the immigrant detention center in Dilley, Texas, with her mother for some 45 days when I managed to get inside to meet her. The staff brought everyone in the visiting room a boxed lunch from the cafeteria: a cup of yellowish stew and a hamburger patty in a plain bun. Ariana’s long black curls hung loosely around her face and she was wearing a government-issued gray sweatsuit. At first, she sat looking blankly down at the table. She poked at her food with a plastic fork and let her mother do most of the talking. She perked up when I asked about home: Hicksville, New York. She and her mother had moved there from Honduras when she was 7. Her mother, Stephanie Valladares, had applied for asylum, married a neighbor from back home who was already living in the U.S., and had two more kids. Ariana took care of them after school. She was a freshman at Hicksville High, and being detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center meant that she was falling behind in her classes. There were children in Dilley who were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, several mothers told me. Recently, two cases of measles were discovered in the center. Federal officials said they quarantined some immigrants, and attorneys said ICE cancelled in-person legal visits until Feb. 14 as a safety precaution. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement that all detainees at Dilley are "being provided with proper medical care." DHS did not respond to questions about individual detainees but said that all "are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries" and that "certified dieticians evaluate meals." Detained parents are given the option for their families to be deported together, or they can have their children placed with another caregiver, the statement said. DHS said in its statement, "No one is denied medical care."

Reuters [2/10/2026 3:26 PM, Douglas Gillison, 38315K] reports a Texas property developer has agreed to pay $68 million to resolve a Biden-era civil rights case that alleged the company targeted Hispanics in a fraudulent land scheme, and the money will partly fund immigration enforcement by local police, court papers showed Tuesday. The Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2023 accused Texas developer Colony Ridge of marketing unaffordable loans to unsuspecting Hispanic families for the purchase of flood-prone land that did not have utility or sewage lines. After foreclosure, the company allegedly then resold the plots. Under the settlement, Colony Ridge will spend $48 million to improve roads, flood prevention and sewage handling, according to the agreement. Another $20 million will go to complying with local and federal agreements and funding local law enforcement, "including, primarily, funding additional delegated immigration enforcement authority from the federal government," according to the agreement.

AP [2/10/2026 5:39 PM, Rebecca Boone, 35287K] reports three Idaho families who are U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are suing after they and hundreds of others were detained for hours during an aggressive immigration raid at a rural horse racing track last year. The families say state and federal law enforcement agencies conspired to use unconstitutional and illegal tactics during the raid, including detaining people because they appeared to be Latino; keeping adults and some children in zip ties for hours without access to food, water or bathrooms; and searching individuals without reasonable suspicion of a crime. Similar immigration dragnets marked by a heavy use of force have entangled U.S. citizens and legal residents in other states. Other lawsuits alleging racial profiling and unconstitutional detention have had mixed results in the courts. The October raid came as part of an FBI-led investigation into allegations of illegal gambling, but only five people at the event were arrested in connection with the investigation. More than 100 others were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations. Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies took part in the raid, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, Idaho State Police, and local police and sheriff’s deputies. Shortly after the raid, Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said that "ICE dismantled an illegal horse-racing, animal fighting, and a gambling enterprise operation." However, court documents make no mention of animal fighting and the track had a horse-racing license. McLaughlin later added that ICE did not restrain or arrest children. Five families interviewed by The Associated Press after the raid said children as young as 11 were restrained with zip ties, and several children were separated from family members for hours. Some detainees were denied bathroom access, forcing them to urinate outside in view of other detainees and law enforcement, according to the lawsuit. None of the families were asked questions about gambling, and all were eventually released after proving they were citizens or lawful permanent residents. They want a federal judge to make the lawsuit a class action on behalf of other legal residents who were also detained, and to declare that the law enforcement agencies violated federal law and the constitutional rights of detainees. They also want to be paid for damages in an amount to be proven at trial.

CBS News [2/10/2026 5:54 PM, Daniel Klaidman, Michael Kaplan, Matt Gutman, 51110K] reports mistreatment of children during a militarized police action that involved armored vehicles and flashbang grenades has sparked fresh questions about tactics being employed nationwide in the name of the Trump administration’s wave of immigration sweeps. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal civil rights lawsuit highlighting the mistreatment of families attending the weekend recreation event at La Catedral Arena, many of whom were American citizens of Hispanic descent. The administration denied that children at the Idaho horse track were ever zip-tied. "ICE didn’t zip tie, restrain, or arrest any children," Homeland Security spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin told CBS News in a statement." She said, "ICE does not zip tie or handcuff children. This is the kind of garbage rhetoric contributing to our officers facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats." But those who were temporarily detained tell a different story. In an exclusive interview with CBS News, 14-year-old SueHey described the moment law enforcement officers — who she said refused to identify the agencies they worked for — herded her onto the racetrack with hundreds of other detainees and, she says, zip-tied her hands. In Idaho, questions still remain about what prompted the raid. Sheriff Donahue said the objective was to take down what was suspected to be an illegal gambling operation at the racetrack. The FBI had obtained a federal criminal warrant to arrest five people suspected of running the unlicensed operation. But at the scene, agents arrived with a massive show of force, including representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Witnesses told CBS News the agents set about rounding up hundreds of mostly Latino attendees — including dozens of children — to determine whether they were in the United States legally. Four months after the raid, the only criminal charges filed involved the five individuals arrested for unlicensed gambling. Meanwhile, according to the ACLU’s complaint, the psychological and emotional fallout from the raid runs deep for the children who experienced the violent, chaotic episode.

The Hill [2/10/2026 8:28 AM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports a federal judge ruled on Monday that California cannot enforce a law banning federal agents from wearing masks during immigration enforcement operations, but it can require them to show identification when performing their duties. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder found that the “No Secret Police Act” signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last fall likely violates the Supremacy Clause because it “unlawfully discriminates against federal officers” by not applying equally to all law enforcement officers on the state level. Snyder, an appointee of former President Clinton, also found that the “No Vigilantes Act” could be enforced. The legislation requires non-uniformed law enforcement officers operating in California to “visibly display” identification, including their agency, name or badge number. Newsom hailed the ruling on identification as a “clear win for the rule of law” in a Monday statement. “No badge and no name mean no accountability. California will keep standing up for civil rights and our democracy,” the governor said. The Trump administration sued to block the mask ban last November, arguing that California lacked the authority to regulate federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also said it would not comply and directed federal authorities to ignore the state’s new law against concealing their identities, citing a rise in attacks on ICE officers. DHS last month reported a 1,300 percent increase in assaults against ICE officers from 2024 to 2025. Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed that justification in a Monday post on social platform X, calling Synder’s order blocking the mask ban “ANOTHER key court victory.”

New York Post [2/10/2026 11:15 AM, Zain Khan, 40934K] reports that Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor put Gov. Gavin Newsom on blast for "misleading the public" after he claimed victory over a court ruling that partially blocked a new California law affecting federal law enforcement. Newsom had taken to X on Monday to celebrate an incomplete win after a federal judge blocked a law that would ban federal agents from wearing masks in the state during law enforcement activity. US District Judge Christina Snyder did rule in favor of a provision that requires all law enforcement officers — federal and state — to wear badges or other identification on their uniforms. "A federal court just upheld California’s law REQUIRING federal agents to identify themselves. California will keep standing up for civil rights and our democracy," Newsom wrote on X. "That’s a funny way of saying you lost," First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District Bill Essayli fired back on X. "A federal judge BLOCKED your anti-masking law because it violated the Supremacy Clause." Judge Snyder, a Clinton-nominated US district judge, ruled that the mask measure "treats federal law enforcement differently than similarly situated state law enforcement officers." The Trump administration hailed the decision as a "key court victory." "These federal agents are harassed, doxxed, obstructed, and attacked on a regular basis just for doing their jobs," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X. "We have no tolerance for it. We will continue fighting and winning in court for President Trump’s law-and-order agenda — and we will ALWAYS have the backs of our great federal law enforcement officers."

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [2/10/2026 11:41 AM, Jim Mishler, 3760K]

Los Angeles Times [2/10/2026 7:12 PM, Melissa Gomez, 12718K] reports Los Angeles police officers must turn on their body cameras at the scene of federal immigration enforcement operations and preserve the footage, according to an executive directive issued by Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday. Since June, federal immigration raids have disrupted neighborhoods and communities across Los Angeles and around the nation, including at work sites, along neighborhood streets and in commercial areas. Often, police officers have responded to the scene to try to keep order amid tensions between immigration agents and community members. "The point that we’re trying to make here is that ICE enforcement is not welcome here," Bass said at a news conference Tuesday morning. "We have resisted against it since this terror started, and we will continue to do that.” In addition to recording the federal immigration agents’ actions, LAPD officers must document the name and badge number of the agents’ on-scene supervisor, summon emergency personnel if someone at a scene is injured and take reports from the public about federal agents’ alleged misconduct, Bass’ five-page directive states. The directive also prohibits federal immigration agents from using city property and imposes a fee on owners who allow federal agents to use private property. The effort builds on a previous Bass directive that aimed to restrict the city from assisting federal immigration agents. The LAPD has a long-standing policy that its officers should not be involved in immigration enforcement. James "Jim" Willis, a former LAPD detective who later worked for the L.A. Police Commission’s inspector general’s office, said he agreed with the directive’s intent: to bring greater accountability to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. But he has questions about how it would work in practice. For one thing, he said, it’s unclear whether LAPD officers are supposed to respond whenever an ICE operation is underway. Doing so would put further strain on a department that is down hundreds of officers from a few years ago, he said.

CBS Los Angeles [2/10/2026 1:34 PM, Chelsea Hylton, 51110K] reports that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive directive prohibiting the use of any city-owned or controlled property by federal immigration agents. On Tuesday morning, Bass said she was signing the directive to "protect Los Angeles" from the federal government. She said the directive was crafted with the help of community organizations and immigrant rights leaders. "Let me make myself clear, this is not normal, and it will never be normal. It is the opposite of what a federal government is supposed to do," Bass said. "What we have seen in all of our districts is ICE go and attempt to stage at various properties, public or private.” CBS LA has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment and is waiting for a response. The directive also instructs the Los Angeles Police Department to preserve all evidence related to immigration enforcement operations so it can be reported. It directs the city planning department to prepare an ordinance to impose fees on property owners who give site control to federal agents. "Let me be clear, we will never allow our city to be divided," Bass said. "We will never allow ICE to continue doing what it’s doing in terms of attempting to stage in different areas." Bass previously signed an executive directive, which she said will protect immigrant communities, calling on city departments to develop preparedness plans for federal immigration activity on city property and for departments to have a designated "immigration affairs liaison."

(B) Great Day on FOX26 [2/10/2026 12:12 PM, Staff] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reporting there are more than 33,000 undocumented immigrants in California prisons. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is calling on state officials to cooperate with ICE. The governor’s office says that ICE is failing to get flagged inmates and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has coordinated the transfer of 12,000 plus people into ICE custody since 2019.

Telemundo52 [2/10/2026 5:13 PM, Zoe Navarro, 61K] reports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed Executive Directive 17 on Tuesday, a new order aimed at protecting city residents from immigration raids conducted by the federal government, which local officials say have generated fear and traumatized entire communities. The measure is based on joint work with community organizations and immigrant rights leaders, and expands on efforts previously initiated with Executive Directive 12, which strengthened resources and training for municipal employees and their families. The new directive explicitly prohibits the use of city-owned or city-controlled properties by federal immigration agents, following ICE’s attempts to establish operations in various parts of the city. It also orders the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to preserve all evidence related to these operations.

The Hill [2/10/2026 10:21 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 18170K] reports an appeals court issued a ruling Monday allowing the Trump administration to revoke deportation protections for citizens from Nicaragua, Nepal and Honduras. The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals struck down an August ruling from a California judge that ruled against plans to end protections for migrants from those countries, citing sufficient racial animus. The three-judge appeals panel said the Trump administration could provide “legitimate” reasoning to support its decision to end protections for 60,000 migrants who entered the country through Temporary Protected Status (TPS). “We conclude that the government is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal either by showing that the district court lacked jurisdiction or by prevailing on plaintiffs’ arbitrary-and-capricious APA challenge,” judges wrote in their ruling, referring to Administrative Procedure Act challenges, which are legal actions filed in federal district court to contest federal agency actions as arbitrary, capricious, unlawful or to address unreasonable delays. The decision is set to impact approximately 50,000 Hondurans, 7,000 Nepalis and 3,000 Nicaraguans who migrated to flee war, weather disasters or other conditions under TPS, according to the National Immigration Forum. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the appeals court decision as a “win for the rule of law and vindication for the US Constitution.” “Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation,” she wrote in a Monday statement on the social platform X.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [2/10/2026 6:31 AM, Staff, 2238K]
Breitbart [2/10/2026 4:19 PM, John Binder, 2238K]
Federalist [2/10/2026 1:54 PM, Shawn Fleetwood, 540K]

Blaze [2/10/2026 12:30 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports that afederal appeals court ruled on Monday that the Department of Homeland Security can end Temporary Protected Status for three countries, marking a significant immigration enforcement victory for the Trump administration. The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously determined that the DHS can end deportation protections for roughly 90,000 immigrants from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The decision overturned a December order from District Judge Trina Thompson of San Francisco. "The rule of law demands that when executive officials exceed their authority, they must be held to account," Thompson wrote, claiming that DHS’ termination of TPS for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua was "unlawful." The appellate court found that the lower court erred, stating that the Trump administration is likely to succeed in its argument regarding DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision-making process, adding that the decision was neither "arbitrary nor capricious." "Specifically, the government can likely show that the administrative record adequately supports the Secretary’s action, that the TPS statute does not require the Secretary to consider intervening country conditions arising after the events that led to the initial TPS designation, and that the Secretary’s decision not to consider intervening conditions does not amount to an unexplained change in policy," the appellate court wrote. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem responded to the court’s decision in a post on social media, calling it "a win for the rule of law and vindication for the U.S. Constitution."

Daily Signal [2/10/2026 11:10 AM, Virginia Allen, 474K] reports that a federal appeals court is allowing the Trump administration to proceed with plans to end temporary immigration protections for about 89,000 aliens from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily lifted a lower court’s order blocking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from moving to end Temporary Protected Status for natives of the three countries. Noem hailed the appeals court’s decision as "a win for the rule of law and vindication for the U.S. Constitution." "TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades," Noem wrote on X. "Given the improved situation in each of these countries, we are wisely concluding what was intended to be a temporary designation." Temporary Protected Status provides protection against deportation and allows foreign nationals to live and work in the U.S. for a period. It is usually granted to citizens of nations experiencing war or recovering from a major natural disaster. The Ninth Circuit Court explains in its order that it determines whether to grant a stay pending appeal if the party asking for a stay has shown a strong likelihood "to succeed on the merits" of the appeal. The government, in this case, "is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal," the court document reads. The schedule for further proceedings will be determined in the coming days.

Telemundo52 [2/10/2026 6:26 PM, Eduardo Orbea, 61K] reports Rep. Greg Steube (R-Flordai) introduced the Bill to End Imported Operating Labor Waivers (EXILE Act) on Tuesday. According to the legislator on its website, this bill would modify the Immigration and Nationality (Immigration and Nationality) Act by ending the H-1B visa program. “Prioritizing the foreign workforce over the well-being and prosperity of U.S. citizens undermines our national values and interests,” said Rep. Steube. “Our workers and youth continue to be displaced and deprived of their rights by the H-1B visa program, which provides benefits to foreign corporations and competitors at the expense of our workforce. We cannot preserve the American dream for our children if we take their share from non-citizens. That’s why I file the EXILE Act to reprioritize American workers.” According to Steube, the EXILE Act would amend Section 214(g)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) by ending the H-1B visa program. More than 80% of H-1B visa recipients are Indian or Chinese citizens, and priority is given to younger workers.

AP [2/10/2026 5:16 PM, Mike Schneider] reports immigrant rights groups are seeking to toss out a Republican lawsuit that would prohibit the U.S. Census Bureau from counting people who are in the U.S. illegally during the 2030 census. The groups said the lawsuit filed late last month by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway would violate the law and require a recount of the U.S. population from 2020, costing billions of dollars. The lawsuit is the latest effort by Republicans to exclude people who are in the U.S. illegally or other noncitizens from the census figures. Those numbers guide the distribution of federal money and determine the number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state receives in a process known as apportionment. The Missouri lawsuit asks that the apportionment process that used the 2020 census figures be redone without including people in the U.S. illegally and that the process after the 2030 census be conducted in the same manner. A similar lawsuit filed by four other GOP state attorneys general is pending in federal court in Louisiana, and Republican lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation that would accomplish the same goal.

Daily Wire [2/10/2026 6:17 AM, Zach Jewell, 2314K] reports that President Donald Trump tore into Canada again on Monday, threatening to prevent the opening of a bridge connecting Ontario to Michigan — a project finally nearing completion after almost eight years of construction. Trump blasted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for holding trade talks with China as Canada continues to levy tariffs on U.S. products. The president said that Canada must treat "the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve," and until that happens, he will not allow the bridge to open. "The Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products have, for many years, been unacceptable, putting our Farmers at great financial risk. I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY." The Gordie Howe International Bridge is slated to open sometime this year, but Trump’s threat could throw a wrench in those plans. While the bridge would be partly owned by Michigan, Trump could prevent the bridge from being operational by declining to staff the port of entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, however, promised Michigan’s Democratic senators last year that the crossing would be staffed. "It’s going to open one way or another, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon cutting," a Whitmer spokeswoman said on Monday. The spokeswoman said the Gordie Howe Bridge is "a tremendous example of bipartisan and international cooperation."

Bloomberg [2/10/2026 8:09 PM, David Welch, Josh Wingrove, and Thomas Seal, 18082K] reports President Donald Trump’s threat to block a new bridge from Detroit to Canada followed a meeting between his Commerce Secretary and a billionaire who owns an existing border-crossing bridge just miles from the new span, according to two people familiar with the matter. On Monday evening the president said on Truth Social he’d prevent the Gordie Howe International Bridge from opening until Canada “fully compensated” the US, and said the US should own 50% of the asset. The social media post followed a Monday meeting between Howard Lutnick and Matthew Moroun, whose family owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge, currently the busiest crossing over the border between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the people said. Following the meeting, Lutnick called Trump. The White House declined to comment. Representatives for Detroit International Bridge Co., the company which operates the Ambassador Bridge, and other companies where Moroun holds roles did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times first reported the talks. Construction of the C$6.4 billion ($4.7 billion) Gordie Howe bridge was paid for entirely by Canada. It’s largely complete and was due to open soon. In a deal agreed over a decade ago, Canada is set to receive toll revenues until it has recouped the construction cost, after which time that money will be split equally between Canada and Michigan. Both governments will co-own the asset. Both governments also appoint an equal number of members to an oversight body. But the Morouns have long lobbied against Canada building a new bridge, which would rival their privately-held span.

NPR [2/11/2026 4:48 AM, Colin Jackson and Steve Inskeep, 34837K] reports a day after President Trump threatened to block the opening of a bridge between Michigan and Canada, the state’s governor says the project will proceed as planned. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Bloomberg Law [2/10/2026 10:07 PM, Megan Crepeau, 763K] reports the Border Patrol agent who shot a Chicago woman multiple times last fall bragged about it to a text message group chat after the shooting and said he had the support of Department of Homeland Security leaders, according to records made public Tuesday. "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes," Charles Exum sent a group called "Posse Chat" just days after he shot Marimar Martinez. "Put that in your book boys." The texts were among a slew of evidence made public after Martinez’s attorneys persuaded a judge to lift much of a protective order that had shielded much of the material. Christopher Parente of Cheronis & Parente in recent court hearings cited recent high-profile killings by immigration officials in Minnesota as well as character attacks by federal officials who wouldn’t recant their description of Martinez as a "domestic terrorist." Martinez’s attorneys are expected to hold a news conference Wednesday to announce their plans to file a civil lawsuit related to the shooting. They say Martinez was driving alongside the agents’ SUV when the agents deliberately sideswiped her. The released texts also show Exum saying he had received "big time" support from higher-ups in the Department of Homeland Security, including Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, Secretary Kristi Noem, "and El Jefe himself...according to Bovino"—an apparent reference to the president.

Chicago Tribune [2/10/2026 9:14 PM, Jason Meisner, Caroline Kubzansky and Gregory Royal Pratt, 5209K] reports a trove of evidence was released Tuesday in the controversial shooting of Marimar Martínez by an immigration agent at the height of Operation Midway Blitz, including body-worn camera footage showing the tense moments just before their vehicles collided and an email sent later that day by Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino praising the agent’s conduct. "It’s time to get aggressive and get the (expletive) out," one agent says on a bodycam video as horns blare on Kedzie Avenue in Brighton Park, where Martínez had been following the agents through the neighborhood on the morning of Oct. 4, according to the material released by the U.S. attorney’s office. Seconds later, the driver, Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum, appears to jerk the steering wheel to the left, in the direction of Martínez’s vehicle alongside them. The video jolts, apparently capturing the collision between the agents’ Chevrolet Tahoe and Martínez’s car. "Be advised we have been struck!" one of the agents in the vehicle yells to a dispatcher. Exum then gets out of the vehicle and moves off-camera and five rapid-succession gunshots are heard. "We have shots fired, shots fired, we need backup," an agent said into a radio. "We’re on south Kuh-DEE-zee, near Highway 55," the agent says, butchering the street name. The evidence offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at one of the highest-profile investigations of Operation Midway Blitz, where Trump administration officials, in a playbook that has now become familiar in other cities, almost immediately labeled of Martínez as a "domestic terrorist" after she was shot — a narrative the government has refused to retract even after assault charges against Martínez were dropped.

Reuters [2/11/2026 1:06 AM, Renee Hickman, 38315K] reports federal prosecutors have released bodycam footage in the case of a Chicago woman who survived being shot multiple times by a Border Patrol agent during an immigration crackdown last fall, part of a trove of evidence that casts doubt on the Trump administration’s account of the incident. Soon after the shooting, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen, had rammed the agents with her car. But the footage suggested that the agents could have struck her vehicle themselves. Video, emails and other records were released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago late on Tuesday after a district court judge said that the government had shown "zero concern" about Martinez’s reputation. Martinez, a Montessori school teacher in Chicago, was following the agents on October 4 to warn residents of their presence when the collision occurred. In the bodycam video released Tuesday, one agent could be heard saying "do something, bitch" shortly before the vehicles made contact. An agent in the vehicle, driven by Exum, said they were being boxed in. "It’s time to get aggressive," he said, adding "we’re going to make contact." After the collision, Exum stepped out of the vehicle and fired five shots. Martinez drove off, and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The Department of Homeland Security released a statement after the shooting saying that Martinez had "ambushed" the border patrol vehicle, and that an agent had fired in self-defense. Martinez, 31, was indicted on charges of impeding a federal officer. The charges were dropped in November, but the DHS statement labeling her a "domestic terrorist" has remained online.

AP [2/10/2026 6:10 PM, Garance Burke, Byron Tau, 35287K] reports more than two dozen privacy and advocacy organizations are calling on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to remove a network of covert license plate readers deployed across Southern California that the groups believe feed data into a controversial U.S. Border Patrol predictive domestic intelligence program that scans the country’s roadways for suspicious travel patterns. An Associated Press investigation published in November revealed that the U.S. Border Patrol, an agency under U.S. Customs and Border Protection, had hidden license plate readers in ordinary traffic safety equipment. The data collected by the Border Patrol plate readers was then fed into a predictive intelligence program monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious. The letter said the groups’ researchers have identified a similar network of devices in California, finding about 40 license plate readers in San Diego and Imperial counties, both of which border Mexico. More than two dozen of the plate readers identified by the groups were hidden in construction barrels.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/10/2026 6:29 PM, Phoebe Huss, 1257K] reports for 20 nights a year, the University of California, San Diego, in addition to their usual school rounds, patrols the shores of La Jolla, Black’s Beach and Torrey Pines. With overtime payment provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), agents search for people crossing the border. The University of California, San Diego, police have long been involved in the Department of Homeland Security’s federal program, known as Operation Stonegarden, which awards 10.9 million dollars annually to dozens of California law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the Border Patrol. This practice continued during the Democratic and Republican administrations, and after the state passed a sanctuary law in 2017 that restricts the collaboration of law enforcement with immigration authorities. Now, UC San Diego participates in the program at a time of greater immigration control by the Border Patrol. The university warns students about the location of Border Patrol checkpoints on its website. Last year, dozens of students were revoked and subsequently visas were returned, and at least one was detained at the border. So far, the Stonegarden program at the University of California, San Diego has not drawn public criticism. Police departments typically allocate the money to overtime payment for officers to conduct operations for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The money also allows you to fund a wide range of surveillance equipment, from search cameras and devices that transmit your data, to facial recognition and license plate software. Three California counties (Imperial, San Diego and Riverside) accept the grant and distribute it among police forces in their area. California and four other sanctuary states (New York, Washington, Vermont and Minnesota) participate in Stonegarden, along with 18 other states and territories. California is the third state to receive the most grants, after Texas and Arizona. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican and a candidate for governor, told CalMatters that state sanctuary law should change its name to “Califarian Criminal Protection Act,” but also claimed that his department’s involvement in Stonegarden does not violate such a law. Bianco added that he is extremely proud that his department collaborates with the Border Patrol. “By providing local police resources through Operation Stonegarden to combat ... public safety issues, the Border Patrol and other federal agents have more capacity to devote their resources to immigration enforcement and border security,” Bianco said.

FOX News [2/10/2026 3:13 PM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 37576K] reports Nicaragua’s government has blocked Cuban citizens from entering the Central American country without a visa in a move that eliminates a route for Cuban migration into the U.S. For years, Cuban migrants would fly to Nicaragua and meet up with smugglers, who would then help them migrate north through Central America and Mexico to get to the U.S. border, according to The Associated Press. However, Nicaragua’s government confirmed to the AP that on Sunday it suspended an exemption that allows Cubans to enter Nicaragua without a visa. What remains for Cuban migrants is primarily Guyana, a small South American nation where Cubans have also traveled in order to reach the U.S.

New York Times [2/11/2026 4:43 AM, John Yoon and Edgar Sandoval, 148038K] reports the Federal Aviation Administration late Tuesday halted all flights to and from El Paso International Airport for 10 days, citing unspecified “special security reasons.” In a move that appeared to surprise local officials and airlines, the restriction went into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday and will remain until Feb. 20 for the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community Santa Teresa, N.M., the F.A.A. notices said. They did not detail the security reasons that prompted them. The airport issued a travel advisory on social media saying that all flights to and from the airport had been grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. It told travelers to contact their airlines for the latest status of their flights. An operator who answered the phone at El Paso International Airport early Wednesday also confirmed that all flights have been halted because of an F.A.A. order. The airport said in a statement that the restriction had been issued “on short notice” and that it was waiting for additional guidance from the F.A.A. In a notice, the F.A.A. said the federal government “may use deadly force” if an aircraft violating the airspace is determined to pose “an imminent security threat.” Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio, said he had no idea what was going on. “Sorry, I don’t have some clear answer,” Mr. Castro said early Wednesday. When asked if this was surprising, he simply said, “Yes.” When asked early Wednesday morning whether he was aware of the F.A.A. restriction, Texas State Representative Vincent Perez of El Paso said, “I don’t have any information on that.” “I have never heard of an American airspace being shutdown for 10 days, absent a major emergency,” Mr. Perez added. The F.A.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/11/2026 4:15 AM, Akanksha Khushi and Shubham Kalia, 36480K]
Telemundo [2/11/2026 3:22 AM, Staff, 19K]

Federal News Network [2/10/2026 6:26 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports a group of unions and nonprofits is seeking an emergency court order to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency from restarting staff layoffs. Lawyers for the American Federation of Government Employees and other plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction today to prohibit FEMA from continuing cuts that had started in early 2026, but were temporarily paused due to a damaging winter storm that swept through the United States in late January. The latest court action comes after AFGE and the other plaintiffs in the case first challenged the FEMA cuts in court late last month as part of a broader lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s governmentwide workforce cuts. AFGE argues the FEMA cuts violate the law and inhibit the ability of the agency to respond to disasters. Today’s proposed injunction would prevent FEMA from making further cuts to its Cadre of On-Call Disaster Response/Recovery (CORE) staff. FEMA had been issuing non-renewals to CORE staff with expiring contracts prior to the pause. The Associated Press reported this week that FEMA would resume the cuts "soon," citing two anonymous FEMA managers. Court filings show attorneys for AFGE had sought clarification from Justice Department representatives about FEMA’s plans to resume the CORE cuts. After initially asking for more time to run down the information, a DoJ attorney responded that they would not be able to provide further information by Monday night. "Although the Department of Homeland Security briefly paused these actions during last week’s winter storms, the plaintiffs believe the agency intends to imminently resume the cuts," AFGE wrote in a press release today. "Plaintiffs’ emergency request seeks not only to halt any new reductions, but also to undo all unlawful workforce cuts carried out since Jan. 1.”

FOX News [2/10/2026 12:52 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 37576K] reports that the No. 2 House Republican in Congress tore into Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday after cold weather left 18 New York City residents dead. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., made the comments in the context of warning that Democrats’ rejection of a bipartisan compromise on funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will leave critical offices — like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — with a dire lack of money. "What is not funded if the Democrats get their way? They will literally shut down funding for disaster relief and FEMA," Scalise said. "In the middle of a storm that in New York City alone — you want to see what socialism gets you — people now have frozen to death under the leadership of the socialist Mamdani. That’s what Democrat leadership gets you." Mamdani confirmed on Monday that an 18th person died in New York City during a period of dangerously low temperatures up and down the East Coast. "Since Friday’s press conference, one additional New Yorker lost their life on the streets of our city as a result of this cold snap. The total lives lost is now 18. Each life lost is a tragedy, and we will continue to hold their families in our thoughts," Mamdani said during a press conference about a separate issue. He urged homeless residents to shield themselves from below-freezing temperatures at a shelter, while his administration has also deployed warming vehicles throughout the city.

CBS Chicago [2/10/2026 7:25 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports Gov. JB Pritzker called the decision "politically motivated.” State officials say they will do what they can to help families with the recovery effort.

Houston Chronicle [2/10/2026 5:49 PM, Yilun Cheng, 2493K] reports after years of delays, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has quietly posted a draft of Harris County’s new flood maps online, kickstarting a review process that could lead to the first major update to the county’s floodplain boundaries in nearly two decades. Harris County has not had a comprehensive map update since 2007. After Hurricane Harvey, the county partnered with the federal agency on a major map overhaul. The new maps were originally expected to be released in 2022, but have since encountered repeated delays. The draft maps, now viewable on FEMA’s website, are intended for floodplain administrators and local elected officials. They show the new 100-year floodplain expanding significantly, roughly aligning with areas currently designated as the 500-year floodplain, according to Emily Woodell, a spokesperson for the Harris County Flood Control. Based on the draft maps, many homeowners across the region could be affected.

Daily Signal.com [2/10/2026 6:31 PM, Tyler O’Neil, 474K] reports this year may have barely begun, but it has already witnessed many threats to President Donald Trump and members of his administration. Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, and he faced another serious assassination attempt in West Palm Beach, Florida, two months later. The first assassin died in the attempt, and a judge sentenced Ryan Routh, 59, to life in prison plus 84 months last week for the second attempt. Two events last year highlighted the rise of political violence on the left: the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and the comments of Democrat Jay Jones, who now serves as Virginia’s attorney general, wishing for the death of his political opponents. (Jones apologized for the comments after National Review exposed them.). A judge sentenced Jauan Rashun Porter, 30, to more than three years in prison Tuesday for transmitting threats to kill Trump last summer. Porter allegedly said on TikTok that "there’s only one way to make America great and that is putting a bullet in between Trump’s eyes.” Earlier this year, defendants have allegedly threatened Trump, key administration officials, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Secret Service agents arrested Shannon Mathre, 33, on Friday. A grand jury indicted Mathre on charges of threatening to take the life of a successor to the presidency, namely Vice President JD Vance. "I am going to find out where he [Vance] is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him," Mathre allegedly stated. Authorities arrested Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, California, last month for posting death threats on Instagram against Vance during Vance’s visit to Disneyland last year. Authorities arrested Kyle Wagner, 37, on federal threat and cyberstalking charges last week. He allegedly threatened to assault and murder ICE agents. A resident of Minneapolis, Wagner reportedly identified himself with Antifa. A grand jury indicted Oklahoma man Jacob Wray Hudson last month on threats against a federal law enforcement officer and interstate communications with threats to injure others. A federal grand jury indicted Francisco Jesus Mena, 36, earlier this month on charges of threatening a federal official. Mena, a resident of North Richland Hills, Texas, allegedly threatened to assault and murder Trump and unnamed ICE agents. If convicted, he faces up to 96 years in prison. West Virginia State Police arrested Cody Smith, 20, last month after he allegedly "posted videos of himself" saying he was "going to attack and kill ICE agents" in calls to the Department of Homeland Security.

CBS News [2/10/2026 12:58 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports that a Georgia man who threatened to kill former President Donald Trump during a TikTok livestream has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, 30-year-old Jauan Rashun Porter made the threats during a TikTok Live broadcast in July 2025 titled "Alligator Alcatraz." Court records show Porter wrote in the chat, "So there’s only one way to make America great and that is putting a bullet in between Trump’s eyes." During the livestream, Porter repeatedly escalated his threats, saying he intended to shoot Trump at an upcoming rally and describing in graphic detail how he planned to carry out the attack. "I’mma load up a rifle [and] sit inside... an abandoned building.. and when he approaches the rally… I’m gonna put one… if not the face then… in his chest," Porter wrote. When the livestream host raised concerns about law enforcement involvement, Porter also threatened to kill federal agents and then himself, court documents state. Investigators with the U.S. Secret Service, Floyd County Police and Georgia probation officers later searched Porter’s apartment. Authorities found two pipes, pistol ammunition and Tannerite, an explosive material, but did not locate a firearm. Porter was taken into federal custody on Aug. 8, 2025. He pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2025, to one count of transmitting interstate threats. The judge ruled he must spend three years on supervised release after spending three years and five months in prison.

AP [2/9/2026 8:57 PM, Ben Finley, Michael Biesecker and Konstantin Toropin, 34146K] reports U.S. military forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the ship from the Caribbean Sea as part of an oil quarantine meant to squeeze Venezuela, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday. Venezuela had faced U.S. sanctions on its oil and relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Following the U.S. raid to apprehend then-President Nicolás Maduro in early January, several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast, including the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean overnight. Hegseth vowed to eventually capture all those ships, telling a group of shipyard workers in Maine on Monday that “the only guidance I gave to my military commanders is none of those are getting away.” “I don’t care if we got to go around the globe to get them; we’re going to get them,” he added. Later Monday, the U.S. military said it had carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Southern Command said the strike killed two people, while one person survived. Southern Command said it had notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate its search and rescue system for the survivor. A video linked to the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames.

Bloomberg [2/10/2026 4:51 PM, Myles Miller, 18082K] reports a House committee is escalating its investigation into a troubled Coast Guard shipbuilding program after accusing a major contractor of failing to turn over records related to years of delays and cost overruns, according to a letter from the panel’s chairman obtained by Bloomberg News. Andrew Garbarino, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says Eastern Shipbuilding Group missed a January deadline to provide internal documents tied to the Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter program, despite having received almost $1.5 billion in federal funding and delivering no completed ships. The letter, dated Feb. 5, sets a new deadline of Feb. 19 and cites the committee’s authority under House rules to compel the production of documents, signaling growing impatience with a program that has drawn repeated criticism from government watchdogs and is preparing to spend billions more in federal money. According to the committee, the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard have paid the company about $1.5 billion since the program began, but no cutter has been delivered.

Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 6:09 AM, Staff, 1147K] reports the U.S. military conducted its latest operation to combat suspected drug-trafficking operations coming out of South America as part of Operation Southern Spear. Three people were reportedly aboard the ship, two were killed, and there was one survivor, according to U.S. Southern Command. The military announced the "lethal kinetic strike" in a post on X. "On Feb. 9, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," read the post. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” "Two narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the strike," said U.S. Southern Command. "Following the engagement, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor.”

USA Today [2/10/2026 4:25 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 70643K] reports authorities are investigating what caused the death of a U.S. Coast Guard officer, his wife and their two children, whose bodies were found inside the family’s Central Florida home. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office reported deputies responded to a home in Ocala for a welfare check on Feb. 6 and found all four relatives dead. The home is about 40 miles south of Gainesville and about 70 miles northeast of Orlando. The department identified the victims as Yohan Sanchez, 33, Rebeca Santos, 37, Michael Melendez, 15 and Samuel Sanchez, 2. According to the agency, just before 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, deputies responded to a residence on Banyan Track Way in Ocala for a welfare check. Arriving deputies, the department reported, found two adults and two children dead inside their home. According to a preliminary investigation, the agency reported, no foul play is suspected in the deaths. In an updated post on social media, the sheriff’s office wrote detectives suspected the deaths may have been the result of carbon monoxide poisoning −an invisible and odorless gas. According to an online fundraiser launched by Noel Sanchez, Yohan Sanchez’s sister, he "proudly served as a member of the United States Coast Guard.” "Our family is grieving this unimaginable tragedy, and this fundraiser is to help cover funeral expenses and support our family during this incredibly difficult time," Noel Sanchez, of Massachusetts, wrote. "Thank you for your prayers, compassion, and support.”

Reported similarly:
New York Post [2/11/2026 1:12 AM, Richard Pollina, 40934K]

CBS News [2/10/2026 9:05 AM, Kerry Breen, 51110K] reports a stowaway has been arrested after he was allegedly found floating in a Puerto Rican harbor with nearly 800 pounds of cocaine, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday. The suspect, who has not been identified, was first spotted by a crewmember of a tugboat leading a barge into San Juan’s Old Army Terminal port in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the early hours of January 28. The tugboat’s crewmember had seen the suspect after boarding the barge, the Coast Guard said. The tugboat relayed the information to authorities and held its position while awaiting an official response. Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Caribbean Air and Marine Branch and Office of Field Operations, the Puerto Rican police, and the U.S. Coast Guard boarding team stationed in San Juan harbor, were notified of the incident. The U.S. Coast Guard’s San Juan team were directed to launch a boat into the harbor. Shortly afterwards, a person in distress was reported in the water. The Coast Guard boat responded and recovered the person, as well as 10 bales of suspected contraband wrapped in brown bags. The contraband was identified as 789.25 pounds of cocaine, the Coast Guard said, and the illicit drugs are worth more than $5 million. The suspect and seized contraband were transferred to Homeland Security partners, the Coast Guard said. The suspect now faces federal drug trafficking charges. A search of the barge found no other contraband or smugglers, the agency said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Daily Caller [2/10/2026 11:42 AM, Mark Tanos, 803K]

Federal News Network [2/10/2026 12:54 PM, Michele Sandiford, 1297K] reports that Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is pledging to keep his hold on the nominee to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Wyden said he will continue to object to Sean Plankey’s nomination until CISA releases a 2022 report on security flaws in the U.S. telecommunications system. Wyden previously held up Plankey’s nomination for much of last year over the same issue. The Defense Department is adding OpenAI’s ChatGPT to its arsenal of large language models. The Pentagon is partnering with OpenAI to make the artificial intelligence capabilities available to all service members and civilians through its GenAI.mil platform. DoD launched the GenAI.mil platform in December, starting with Google’s Gemini LLM and added XAi’s Grok tool to it later that month. DoD said the adoption of AI tools is already accelerating its decision making. It’s also providing training for all personnel to better integrate AI capabilities into their daily workflows. Democratic lawmakers have started negotiations with the White House on new restrictions for immigration enforcement as the clock ticks down on a potential shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats have sent a list of demands to the White House, which responded with a counterproposal, neither of which have been made public. Congress has until Feb. 13 to reach an agreement or risk a partial government shutdown.

Reuters [2/10/2026 2:25 PM, Staff, 38315K] reports that U.S. energy officials found no evidence of malicious communication equipment embedded in Chinese-made inverters in the nation’s power infrastructure, according to a Department of Energy report viewed by Reuters. Inverters convert electricity produced by solar panels or batteries into power that it can be used in household appliances. They are also built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance. Most of the world’s power inverters are made in China, and the United States government has sought to reduce its reliance on Chinese-made equipment for the power grid due in part to concerns about national security amid tense relations between Beijing and Washington. The DOE analysis, which was provided to some in the energy industry but not released publicly, was performed in response to media reports that said unexplained communication equipment was found inside some inverters produced in China. Reuters had reported on the existence of those devices last year. "DOE assessments found no definitive evidence of intentionally introduced malicious wireless functionality in inverters examined," the report, which is dated Jan. 20, said. DOE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. The agency inspected about 30 inverters and identified two that differed from official documentation, the analysis said. The differences were found to be "non-malicious and non-intentional.”

CNN [2/10/2026 6:00 AM, Curt Devine and Kyung Lah, 18595K] reports a concerned mother posted online an urgent plea for advice last year: Her teenage son returning from college overseas had been mysteriously detained at a US airport. As her post went viral, commenters suggested she inform Congress and contact civil rights groups. But federal law enforcement documents obtained by CNN suggest her son harbored dark secrets. On his phone, customs agents discovered messages encouraging extreme violence, rape, Nazism and self-harm. One photo showed a gun pointed at someone’s head. Another showed Adolf Hitler. Days later, customs officials found chats with the same man on the phones of three European women, discussing organizing bombings in US cities, the documents show. Those ominous clues all pointed back toward a movement that’s increasingly alarming federal authorities: nihilistic violent extremism, a subculture spreading through loosely connected online groups that seek to sow chaos and are motivated not by political ideology but a desire to destroy society. The documents, which are unclassified FBI and Department of Homeland Security intelligence reports, provide disturbing new insights into the growing problem – and also illustrate law enforcement’s struggle to crack down on the decentralized movement. The records contain previously unreported cases tied to the movement, including the incident involving the detained teenager, along with a plea from authorities to local agencies for help in spotting and stopping potential bloodshed. “Mitigating pre-meditated violence by members of this network presents unique challenges,” the DHS memo acknowledges.

Univision [2/11/2026 3:50 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports UNAM researcher Javier Oliva Posada analyzed the investigation into high-caliber projectiles used by Mexican cartels, which were allegedly manufactured at a contractor plant in the United States, and warned of a serious chain of corruption and lack of control in the sale of munitions considered weapons of war, with a direct impact on violence against security forces in Mexico. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [2/10/2026 10:20 AM, Derek VanBuskirk, 803K] reports that House Republicans have introduced a bill Tuesday to prompt U.S. action to document "religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria," the Daily Caller first learned. The Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 calls on the Secretary of State to give the foreign affairs committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate an annual report on U.S. efforts to address Christian persecution. It also calls on the secretary to consider whether to designate the Fulani ethnic militias a Foreign Terrorist Organization, take a look at sanctioned individuals and weigh whether U.S. assistance in Nigeria encourages Christian persecution. New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, and West Virginia Republican Rep. Riley Moore co-sponsored the bill. It would continue actions already taken by the legislative and executive branches to combat Nigerian terrorism. The bill also calls on the secretary of state to counter "the hostile foreign exploitation" of illegal Chinese mining operations in Nigeria. The bill has already garnered support from other House Republicans, including Florida Rep. and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, Florida Rep. and Appropriations Vice Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart and Michigan Rep. and House Foreign Affairs South and East Asia Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, according to a statement sent to the Caller from Smith. The bill is expected to move through the House quickly and points to actions already taken by President Donald Trump to combat the persecution in Nigeria, according to the statement.

New York Times [2/10/2026 6:39 PM, Eric Schmitt, 148038K] reports the Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Nigeria in the coming weeks to help train its military to fight Islamist militants, weeks after President Trump criticized the country for failing to shield Christians from terrorist attacks, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. The troops will augment a small team of U.S. forces who have been in the West African nation for weeks assisting local soldiers with identifying potential terrorist targets for strikes using American and Nigerian intelligence, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The new troops, whose impending deployment was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, will be assigned to locations across the country to provide troop training and technical expertise, the official said. The U.S. troops will not be involved in combat operations, the official added. Relations between Nigeria and the United States took a startling turn after Mr. Trump late last year threatened to enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing,” to avenge what he has called a “Christian genocide.” Weeks later, on Christmas Day, Navy warships aided by Nigerian intelligence launched 16 Tomahawk missiles at what Mr. Trump said was the “terrorist scum” responsible for killing Nigerian Christians. The strike was the explosive outcome of an intense, yearslong push led by Christian activists, Republican lawmakers and American celebrities seeking U.S. intervention in a long-simmering security crisis in Nigeria. Thousands of Muslims and Christians alike have been killed as part of a campaign of violence and land disputes. The violence involves battles over land, kidnappings for ransom, sectarian tensions and terrorism, but the activists wanted Mr. Trump to see the conflict through a single lens: the persecution of Christians. The activists have seized on his support to orchestrate a rapid shift in U.S. foreign policy toward Nigeria, with major consequences for the country, including the threat of more bombings. U.S. military leaders who for years have complained about prickly relations with the Nigerian military say the shift has opened the door to increased intelligence sharing and military planning, and now additional training. U.S. surveillance planes from Ghana regularly fly over contested Nigerian territory and relay data to teams of American and Nigerian military analysts drawing up potential terrorist targets for strikes.

Reuters [2/10/2026 6:24 PM, Phil Stewart and Jonathan Landay, 38315K] reports U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard told Reuters on Tuesday that she has wound down a task force she launched last year with the declared goal of rooting out politicization from intelligence agencies, but which critics accused of being a tool for partisan attacks by the Trump administration. Gabbard said in a statement she had reassigned members of the Director’s Initiatives Group elsewhere in her agency. Her comments to Reuters came after two sources said the decision to wrap up the DIG, as it was commonly known, was taken after alleged missteps. A spokesperson at Gabbard’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence denied any missteps and said the DIG was meant to be only temporary, a view Gabbard echoed. "The Director’s Initiatives Group was created as a temporary effort to surge resources to deliver on high-priority projects with near-term deadlines, including Presidential Executive Orders," Gabbard told Reuters. "We are continuing to deliver results focused on our mission by maximizing the expertise and experience of those who were temporarily assigned to the Director’s Initiatives Group by assigning them to teams across ODNI." The DIG has been scrutinized by members of Congress, many of whom saw its structure as secretive. Congress passed legislation in December requiring Gabbard to provide a classified report last month that included details on DIG leadership, staffing levels and hiring practices. Gabbard’s office missed the deadline but the ODNI spokesperson said the agency would still provide the information to Congress. The disclosure that the DIG has been wound down comes at a sensitive moment for Gabbard, as Democrats raise alarms over her presence at a January 28 FBI raid that seized ballot boxes and other materials from a Georgia county’s election archive. Reuters first reported last week that Gabbard’s office also oversaw an investigation last year into voting machines in Puerto Rico, with officials taking possession of an unspecified number of them. The White House has defended Gabbard’s role in reviewing U.S. election security. But Democratic leaders of Congress argue that she has exceeded her spy agency’s purview and say that the Trump administration could attempt to interfere in future U.S. elections.

New York Times [2/10/2026 11:21 AM, Steven Erlanger and Lara Jakes, 148038K] reports that the United States will hand over some NATO commands to European allies, NATO said on Tuesday, in an effort to show that European allies of NATO are taking more responsibility for conventional war planning. The United States will remain in overall charge of NATO and allied forces through the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a post that has always been held by an American. The role is currently filled by Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich of the U.S. Air Force. The move further underscores the American command role in NATO. The United States will take over maritime forces, NATO said, and is now in charge of the three core capabilities: land, air and maritime. The United States has said for years that its European allies should take on more responsibilities within NATO, allowing Washington to shift its focus to the Pacific in line with its own security priorities. That push has been amplified under President Trump, though the moves announced on Tuesday are about sharing the burden, not shifting overall responsibility for NATO command. The American ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, told reporters in a telephone briefing on Tuesday that the move would strengthen the alliance. “Anything that allows our allies to step up and do more and take on more leadership in the alliance is a good news story and a common-sense move,” Mr. Whitaker said. Eventually, he said, “we want Europe to take over the conventional defense of the European continent” so that Washington can move forces to the Pacific as needed.

Wall Street Journal [2/10/2026 10:55 PM, Sadie Gurman and C. Ryan Barber, 646K] reports a grand jury refused to sign off on criminal charges for several Democratic lawmakers who in a November video told military servicemembers they could refuse to obey illegal orders, people familiar with the matter said. The lawmakers who prosecutors tried to indict include Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and retired U.S. Navy captain, and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA analyst who organized the video’s filming. Both also sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The grand jury’s rejection marked the latest setback for the Trump-era Justice Department in its bids to prosecute the president’s perceived enemies. More than one grand jury similarly declined to indict New York’s Democratic attorney general, Letitia James, late last year. It couldn’t immediately be determined what criminal charges Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, sought to bring. A spokesman for her office didn’t return calls seeking comment. It is very rare for a grand jury to decline an indictment sought by prosecutors, because it only hears the government’s version of events and doesn’t require unanimity. The lawmakers’ Nov. 18 video, titled “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” came in response to President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities and strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean—actions that critics contend are legally questionable. After the video’s release, some Democrats said they had received inquiries from Pirro seeking to interview them. The other lawmakers in the video include Democratic Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army Ranger; Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, a former Air Force officer; Chris Deluzio, another Pennsylvania Democrat and former Navy officer; and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, a Navy veteran. Top administration officials had quickly condemned the video, with Trump posting on social media that the recorded remarks amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.” “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump said in a social-media post reminiscent of one earlier in the year that called for prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff and the New York attorney general.

Washington Examiner [2/10/2026 7:11 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1147K] reports Secretary Pete Hegseth, befitting his rebranded title, is on the warpath. Hegseth is skipping the NATO defense ministers meeting this week in Brussels. He won’t be hobnobbing with top world and defense leaders at the weekend’s Munich Security Conference (Secretary of State Marco Rubio will represent the U.S. at the prestigious conference). Instead of appearing on the world stage, Hegseth has been assigned a singular mission — to implement President Donald Trump’s Jan. 7 executive order to cajole, threaten, and consult with defense contractors to make more weapons, faster and cheaper. Monday found him at Maine’s Bath Iron Works, preaching that message with the fire and brimstone of a country pastor, to a gathering of shipyard workers, as part of his barnstorming "Arsenal of Freedom" tour of the country. "No more excuses. No more barriers to entry. No more monopolies. No more egregious bonuses. No more stock buybacks. No more ridiculous CEO salaries," Hegseth said, invoking the president’s directive. In that executive order, Trump fumed about "underperforming" defense contractors who "pursue newer, more lucrative contracts, stock buy-backs, and excessive dividends to shareholders at the cost of production capacity, innovation, and on-time delivery.” "Effective immediately," Trump said. "They are not permitted in any way, shape, or form to pay dividends or buy back stock, until such time as they are able to produce a superior product, on time and on budget.”

FOX News [2/10/2026 1:22 PM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 37576K] reports that Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that the United States should get "some benefit" from Greenland if it’s going to "be on the hook for protecting this massive landmass.” Vance told reporters in Armenia that, "it’s very early in the Greenland talks," amid the Trump administration’s push to acquire the Danish territory. "We’ve been working quite a bit on this over the last few weeks, but it’s just very simple. Greenland is very important to the national security of the United States of America," Vance added. "I do think that some of our allies have under-invested in Arctic security, and if we’re going to invest in Arctic security, if we’re basically going to pay a lot of money and be on the hook for protecting this massive landmass, I think it’s only reasonable for the United States to get some benefit out of that, and that’s going to be the focus of the negotiations here over the next few months," Vance said. President Donald Trump said in mid-January that the U.S. needs Greenland "for the purpose of national security." "It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" Trump said at the time. A week later, Trump said, "Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [2/10/2026 9:01 AM, Eric Mack, 3760K]

AP [2/10/2026 10:27 AM, Bassem Mroue, 10094K] reports that the U.S.-led international coalition to fight the Islamic State group has welcomed Syria in the fight against the extremists, saying that the priorities include the swift transfer of IS detainees to Iraq and third-country repatriation of families linked to IS held in two camps in Syria. The State Department also welcomed a recent ceasefire that ended fighting between Syrian government forces and the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that were a main force in the fight against IS in Syria. Representatives from Syria — which officially joined the global coalition against IS in November during a historic visit by Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s to Washington — attended a meeting on Monday of some officials from the 90-member coalition in Saudi Arabia. “Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the D-ISIS Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,” Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy to Syria, said in comments posted on X on Tuesday, using an acronym to refer to IS. The U.S. military began transferring some of the about 9,000 IS detainees held in northeastern Syria last month to secure facilities in Iraq, following clashes between government forces and the SDF. Monday’s State Department statement said coalition members “underscored their readiness to work closely with the Syrian government” and encouraged members to provide direct support to Syrian and Iraqi efforts.

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