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

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

The Wall Street Journal [2/12/2026 5:03 PM, Joseph De Avila, John McCormick, and Anvee Bhutani, 646K] reports President Trump’s border czar said Thursday the administration is ending its crackdown in Minnesota, wrapping up an operation that sparked outrage after the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens and prompted Democrats in Congress to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Tom Homan, who was dispatched to the state last month to de-escalate tensions, said the Trump administration achieved its public-safety goals, making more than 4,000 arrests. Roughly 3,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents have operated in the state in what the Trump administration dubbed Operation Metro Surge. “In the next week, we are going to deploy those officers here on detail back to their home stations or other areas of the country where they are needed,” Homan said at a news conference, while pledging to continue to arrest people living illegally in the U.S., one of Trump’s biggest policy priorities. “That’s what the American people voted for,” he said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned the two-month-plus surge, calling it an “unnecessary, unwarranted and in many cases unconstitutional assault on our state.” The enforcement actions “left us with deep damage, generational trauma,” he said. Homan’s announcement came after a public outcry over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 years old, in confrontations with immigration agents. The decision to wind down the operation marks a pivotal moment in the national debate over immigration policy, with many Americans favoring Trump’s push to deport people in the U.S. illegally but recoiling at the increasingly chaotic scenes in Minneapolis. Citing the shootings, Democrats on Capitol Hill have insisted they won’t approve funding for DHS, which oversees ICE, unless congressional Republicans and the White House agree to restrictions on immigration-enforcement operations. Some have demanded the resignation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, whom Trump has continued to support. On Thursday afternoon, Senate Democrats blocked a measure to fund DHS through the end of the fiscal year in September, saying they hadn’t made enough progress in negotiations with Republicans. The vote failed, with 52 in favor and 47 opposed, short of the 60 votes needed to advance under chamber rules. Funding for DHS is set to lapse this weekend. Democrats’ demands include an end to roving street patrols by immigration agents, tighter rules governing searches and use of force, independent investigations for officer misconduct and a prohibition on agents wearing masks. Reuters [2/12/2026 9:26 AM, Susan Heavey and Jonathan Allen, 38315K] reports "I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude," Homan told reporters at a news conference at a federal field office outside Minneapolis. "Operation Metro Surge is ending." Without giving precise numbers, he said on Thursday that many of the remaining agents deployed from other states would be sent home in the coming week, citing in part what he called "unprecedented levels of coordination" with Minnesota law enforcement. Before January’s surge, about 150 immigration agents worked in Minnesota, according to the Trump administration. "ICE will continue to identify, arrest and remove illegal aliens that pose a risk to public safety, like we’ve done for years," Homan said, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "and our officers will carry out those duties with professionalism, integrity and compassion, like we’ve done for years." Trump has said the surge was in the interest of public safety, describing many migrants, in sweeping terms, as violent criminals or fraudsters. Walz and other Minnesotans said the sometimes violent federal surge has only degraded public safety, and violated the constitutional rights of both immigrants and Americans. "The long road to recovery starts now," Walz said in a statement. "The impact on our economy, our schools, and people’s lives won’t be reversed overnight. That work starts today." The New York Times [2/12/2026 3:01 PM, Ernesto Londoño, Mitch Smith and Pooja Salhotra, 148038K] reports that on Thursday, Tom Homan, the White House border czar, declared the operation a success, saying that “a significant drawdown has already been underway this week, and will continue to the next week.” Mr. Homan said he had made arrangements for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to have more access to undocumented inmates at county jails in Minnesota, and he described conversations with state officials as productive. He did not immediately provide examples of newfound cooperation on immigration matters from local jurisdictions. “As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals,” Mr. Homan said. NewsMax [2/12/2026 4:48 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports Homan said Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s target list had been "significantly reduced" and that many public safety threats had been removed from local communities. He also said federal officials achieved what he called an "unprecedented level of coordination" with counties to notify ICE before releasing criminal illegal aliens from jail, allowing federal agents to assume custody in a secure setting. Homan further asserted that "unlawful agitator activity has notably decreased" and said state and local law enforcement had stepped up to shut down unlawful actions committed by agitators. The New York Post [2/12/2026 3:34 PM, Ryan King, 40934K] reports that “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue into the next week," he added, without specifying how many federal personnel would be leaving the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The border czar credited Operation Metro Surge with more than 4,000 arrests and the recovery of 3,364 unaccompanied migrant children, whom he claimed "the last administration lost and weren’t even looking for.” "Just this week," Homan continued, ICE nabbed an illegal immigrant who had been convicted of raping a child under the age of 14. "ICE also arrested two criminal aliens with criminal sexual misconduct convictions, among other violent criminals," he added. Homan also denied accusations that ICE had made arrests in schools, churches, and hospitals, saying that he could not find any proof of that occurring other than the nine demonstrators — including former CNN anchor Don Lemon — who were apprehended for storming a church service in St. Paul, Jan. 18. The AP [2/12/2026 7:17 PM, Steve Karnowski and Tim Sullivan, 35287K] reports Trump initially said the surge was an effort to root out fraud in publicly funded programs, for which he blamed the state’s large Somali community, most of whom are U.S. citizens. But the drive soon shifted gears toward other ethnic groups such as Latinos. While the administration has portrayed those caught up in the Minnesota sweeps as “dangerous criminal illegal aliens,” many of them are people with no criminal records, children including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, and U.S. citizens. State and local officials, who have frequently clashed with federal authorities since Operation Metro Surge started in December, insist the swarm of immigration officials has inflicted long-term damage on the state’s economy and its immigrant community. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz urged residents Thursday to remain vigilant in the coming days as immigration officers prepare to leave, saying he’s not going to express gratitude for the Trump administration officials who caused “this unnecessary, unwarranted and in many cases unconstitutional assault on our state.” “It’s going to be a long road,” Walz said at a news conference where he proposed a $10 million aid package for businesses that have lost revenue because of the immigration enforcement operation. “Minnesotans are decent, caring, loving neighbors and they’re also some of the toughest people you’ll find. And we’re in this as long as it takes.” Homan’s announcement came as Democratic lawmakers demand restraints on immigration officers before agreeing to fund DHS. The Trump administration is trying to secure votes in Congress to prevent federal funding from expiring at the end of the week. Operation Metro Surge, which started in December, resulted in more than 4,000 arrests, Homan told reporters Thursday morning, declaring it a success. "The surge is leaving Minnesota safer," he said. "I’ll say it again: It’s less of a sanctuary state for criminals.” But while the administration portrayed its Minnesota targets as dangerous criminals, many had no criminal records and they included working families, children like 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and U.S. citizens. The Washington Post [2/12/2026 11:30 AM, Maria Sacchetti, Marianne LeVine and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, 24826K] reports “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast occupation,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) said in a statement. “These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance — standing with our neighbors is deeply American.” Homan said federal agents have already begun leaving Minneapolis and will continue scaling back their presence into next week. The operation provoked outrage from residents who gathered daily outside federal officers’ base and temporary detention center at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Twin Cities area, which became the scene of clashes between federal forces and protesters. Homan’s announcement came as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) testified on the surge before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, urging Congress to bring an end to the raids and to use its oversight powers to disclose the names of Minnesotans who have been detained and deported. Ellison also urged senators to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide a full account of everyone stopped, detained, arrested and deported during the surge and to order the federal government to “conduct investigations in partnership with Minnesota” into the fatal shootings of residents Renée Good and Alex Pretti. He also asked immigration and border officers to stop concealing their identities and “stop masking, stop the racial profiling, stop conducting warrantless searches.”

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NPR [2/12/2026 4:36 PM, Matt Sepic, 28764K] Audio: HERE
NPR [2/12/2026 12:41 PM, Gigi Douban, 28764K]
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NBC News [2/12/2026 8:46 PM, Staff, 42967K] Video: HERE
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FOX News [2/12/2026 8:24 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports ‘Border czar’ Tom Homan discusses ending the increased I.C.E. presence in Minneapolis, the ruling to return Venezuelan deportees to the United States for hearings and more on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [2/12/2026 7:08 PM, Julie Bosman, 148038K] reports the Trump administration’s surprise announcement on Thursday that it was pulling immigration agents out of Minnesota ends an operation that started late last year, drew fierce opposition from residents across the Twin Cities, and resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. A drawdown in agents has already begun, said Tom Homan, the White House border czar, and will continue next week. The administration brought thousands of agents into Minnesota to help crack down on illegal immigration, officials said, making more than 4,000 arrests. But many Minnesotans saw the effort as a frightening invasion in which masked agents physically confronted and assaulted civilians. In Los Angeles and Chicago last year, the Department of Homeland Security swept into residential neighborhoods and busy commercial areas, making arrests of people they suspected were in the country illegally and often deploying tear gas or pepper spray if civilians shouted at them or tried to get in the way. Those tactics were widely criticized by the public, particularly since federal agents rarely warned civilians to disperse before they used tear gas. In several clashes in Chicago, people breathed in tear gas even while inside their own homes and cars. In the Twin Cities, the confrontations grew more intense and turned more violent. Agents were captured in widely shared cellphone videos breaking car windows, pushing passers-by to the ground, pointing guns at residents and fatally shooting Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Tactics used by Minnesotans who opposed ICE operations were also employed in Los Angeles last year, when neighbors formed Signal chats and Facebook groups to track and monitor immigration agents’ activities. In Chicago, volunteers and activists expanded those tactics, handing out whistles to warn of ICE presence and holding “know your rights” trainings sponsored by local aldermen.

FOX News [2/12/2026 6:00 AM, Emma Colton Fox, 37576K] reports the Trump White House reiterated that anyone residing in the U.S. illegally is eligible for deportation as its crackdown continues to initially focus on removing "the worst of the worst" violent illegal immigrants. "The president’s entire team, including border czar Tom Homan and Secretary Noem, are on the same page when it comes to implementing his agenda — which has always focused on prioritizing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — and the successful deportations and historically secure border proves that," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "As always, anyone in the country illegally is eligible to be deported," she added. "President Trump is keeping his promise to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in history.” The administration, most notably offices within the Department of Homeland Security, are in the midst of ongoing arrest and deportation efforts as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the immigration crisis that rocked the U.S. under the Biden administration. Officials increasingly have zeroed in on messaging that violent illegal immigrants are the top priority for apprehension, while broader mass-deportation efforts targeting all illegal immigrants have faded from the forefront. Border czar Tom Homan, for example, told NBC News in June in an interview only released Monday that failure to prioritize arresting and deporting "criminal illegal aliens" over other illegal immigrants risks losing the "faith of the American people.”

San Diego Union Tribune [2/12/2026 10:16 PM, Alexandra Mendoza and Tero Fogueroa, 1257K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited San Diego on Thursday to tout drug seizures during the Trump administration, including what she said was a 56% decrease in fentanyl smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border. Noem held a news conference at the Otay Mesa commercial port of entry as sirens blasted and dozens of protesters chanted outside, condemning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Noem was joined by Diane J. Sabatino, the acting executive assistant commissioner of the Office of Field Operations at Customs and Border Protection, who said, "We’re winning the fight against fentanyl." Noem said that she toured a vault holding 188,218 pounds of illicit drugs seized by CBP in the San Diego area. These included 100,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 59,000 pounds of cocaine, and 7,400 pounds of fentanyl. "That’s 1.7 billion lives that are saved because of the work that they do," she said. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks, also at the news conference, credited the Trump administration’s policies to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, which he said have allowed federal officers to focus on tasks other than processing migrants arriving at the border. In the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector, migrant encounters plummeted by 92% in fiscal 2025 compared to 2024. "They can look for more narcotics," Banks said. "They can operate the equipment and technology that this administration has given them, and that’s why you’re seeing this massive increase.”

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NewsNation [2/12/2026 1:26 PM, Zach Kaplan, 4464K]
Univision [2/12/2026 6:13 PM, Staff, 4937K]
(B) Today [2/12/2026 11:26 AM, Staff]

AP [2/12/2026 7:49 PM, Staff, 35287K] Video: HERE reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem touted the Trump administration’s border security and drug interdiction efforts during a visit to the California border community of Otay Mesa on Thursday.

FOX News [2/12/2026 11:46 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports that Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams joins Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as she visits angel families that lost loved ones to violent illegal immigrants. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [2/13/2026 2:25 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports President Donald Trump is heading to North Carolina on Friday to celebrate members of the special forces who stormed into Venezuela on the third day of the New Year and whisked away that country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, to face U.S. smuggling charges. First lady Melania Trump will also be making the trip to Fort Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the world by population, to spend time with military families. Trump has been hitting the road more frequently to states that could play key roles in November’s midterm congressional elections, including a stop before Christmas in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The White House has been trying to promote Trump’s economic policies, including attempts to bring down the cost of living at a time when many Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated with Trump’s efforts to improve affordability. The president spoke at Fort Bragg in June at an event meant to recognize the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. But that celebration was overshadowed by his partisan remarks describing protesters in Los Angeles as "animals" and his defense of deploying the military there. Trump has since deployed the National Guard to places like Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, as well as other federal law enforcement officials involved in his crackdown on immigration. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, announced Thursday that the administration is ending the operations in Minnesota that led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. This time, Trump’s visit is meant to toast service members involved in his administration’s dramatic ouster of Maduro, an operation he has described as requiring bravery and advanced weapons.

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Breitbart [2/13/2026 1:12 AM, Staff, 2238K]

The Hill [2/12/2026 4:50 PM, Sarah Davis and Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports senators faced off with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison during a fiery hearing Thursday that brought bitter divisions over the actions of federal immigration law enforcement officials in Minnesota to Capitol Hill. Ellison defended his criticisms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the hearing, while GOP witnesses went on the attack against Democrats in Minnesota. The heads of three major federal immigration agencies also faced intense questioning from lawmakers over the Trump administration’s handling of enforcement in the state, as White House border czar Tom Homan announced the crackdown was coming to an end. It all came against the backdrop of a likely shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Saturday, as Congress has not approved a funding bill.

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FOX Business [2/12/2026 8:30 AM, Staff, 7946K]
Washington Examiner [2/12/2026 8:51 AM, Brady Knox, 1147K]

Breitbart [2/12/2026 9:04 AM, Staff, 2238K] reports that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, February 12. Ellison, as well as Minnesota Department of Corrections commissioner Paul Schnell, will testify after the Trump administration withdrew thousands of federal agents from the state after Minnesota officials finally agreed to cooperate with immigration enforcement at the states jails. Also testifying will be Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow.

AP [2/12/2026 5:49 PM, Rebecca Santana] reports the men tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda were made to watch a video of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in a slow, moment-by-moment analysis on Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul, who repeatedly cast doubt on the tactics used by federal officers and warned that the American public had lost trust in the country’s immigration agencies. It was a tense confrontation at a Senate hearing that was called to scrutinize the immigration chiefs as they carry out one of Trump’s signature policy and after the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis over recent weeks at the hands of federal officers. The hearing’s witnesses included Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, and Joseph Edlow, who runs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The same officials appeared in front of a House committee earlier this week.

NBC News [2/12/2026 3:48 PM, Daniella Silva, 42967K] reports Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said Thursday that the agency would release body camera footage in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Scott made the assertion as he and the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were grilled by lawmakers over the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good, both of whom were killed by immigration agents last month. Amid tense questioning from senators, Scott did not share publicly details of when the footage would be released or what it would show. In addition to Scott, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow answered questions from lawmakers including Paul, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. The hearing came as funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to lapse after talks between Democrats and the White House failed to reach a consensus on overhauling ICE. The senators played a video clip capturing what led to Pretti’s shooting and pressed the witnesses about the tactics the immigration agents used in the encounter. Several lawmakers called for the agencies to issue specific directives regarding limits with the use of force and when to de-escalate a situation after repeatedly showing images of agents using chemical agents on peaceful protesters and throwing people to the ground.

Reuters [2/12/2026 3:48 PM, Julia Harte, 38315K] reports White House border czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to end an immigration-enforcement surge in Minnesota, drawing down thousands of federal agents whose presence provoked tumultuous protests for weeks. Here’s a timeline of events in the operation.

FOX News [2/12/2026 6:54 PM, Peter Pinedo and Alec Schemmel, 37576K] reports Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is demanding the federal government "pay for what they broke" after the Trump administration announced it would draw down its immigration enforcement presence in the Twin Cities. During a news conference after Border Czar Tom Homan’s announcement that the administration would be ending its Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, Walz said federal law enforcement’s presence in the state was leaving "deep damage" and "generational trauma.” "The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here," said Walz. "There [is] going to be accountability on the things that happened, but one of the things is the incredible and immense costs that were borne by the people of this state. The federal government needs to be responsible. You don’t get to break things and then just leave without doing something about it. "So, we’re going to be asking the federal delegation to be investing and doing the things necessary.” Walz, best known for being former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, has been at odds with the administration throughout much of the operation, which was meant to crack down on rampant fraud and abuse in the state. Regarding the federal drawdown, Walz said, "We are cautiously optimistic … that this surge of untrained, aggressive federal agents are going to leave Minnesota, and I guess they’ll go wherever they’re going to go.

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NewsMax [2/12/2026 4:25 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K]

FOX News [2/13/2026 4:24 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 40621K] reports Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz was slammed online by Republicans after proposing a $10 million emergency relief package for small businesses across the state impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Walz unveiled the proposal Thursday after Border Czar Tom Homan announced that Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota would be ending. The proposal calls for forgivable loans ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 to be distributed to eligible businesses that are able to demonstrate "substantial revenue loss" during "specified dates" tied to the operation. "The campaign of retribution by the federal administration has been more than a short-term disruption; it has inflicted long-term damage on Minnesota communities," Walz said in a statement. "Recovery will not happen overnight. Families, workers, and business owners are feeling the effects, and our responsibility is clear: we will help rebuild, stabilize these businesses, protect jobs, and ensure Minnesota’s economy can recover and thrive." Republicans quickly criticized the proposal as Minnesota continues to face extensive fraud allegations. President Donald Trump previously claimed that fraud in Minnesota exceeded $19 billion. Dozens of people have been prosecuted in Minnesota in recent years for alleged large-scale welfare fraud schemes involving food assistance and autism services. Federal prosecutors have alleged the schemes stole hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayer-funded programs, with separate investigations also examining alleged fraud in the state’s daycare system. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. reacted to the governor’s proposal on X, saying, "BREAKING: Tim Walz opens up a new avenue for fraud in Minnesota."

New York Times [2/12/2026 9:12 PM, Kate Kelly, Karoun Demirjian and Eric Schmitt, 148038K] reports the Federal Aviation Administration was alarmed. The Defense Department had passed along new laser technology to border officials who were planning to use it to interdict drones crossing into the United States from Mexico. But F.A.A. officials were concerned about the potential hazards of using lasers near the airspace where commercial planes were landing at El Paso International Airport, and wanted more information. After border officials went ahead and used the technology, ignoring the pleas, the F.A.A. determined it had no further leverage to use. So it played its only card — or perhaps overplayed it. Late Tuesday night, it abruptly closed El Paso’s airspace, an extraordinary measure that disrupted travel and shocked local residents. It was the latest dust-up in an increasingly fractious relationship between two powerful government agencies, the F.A.A. and the Defense Department, as they attempt to fulfill differing objectives in a chaotic administration. The F.A.A. is responsible for the safety of the national airspace and the more than three million people who travel through it every day. The Defense Department is tasked with keeping the United States safe, at home and abroad. Those twin goals collided this week in an embarrassing spectacle, after the F.A.A., frustrated by its inability to obtain its desired safety briefing on the new anti-drone laser technology, announced a 10-day shutdown of the airspace for a city of nearly 700,000 people. Officials there felt the military had not provided them with the information they needed to ensure that airplanes could maneuver safely through the skies while the technology was being tested, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the decisions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lent the technology to Customs and Border Protection personnel, because the agency had wider legal authorities inside the United States to use such tools, said two U.S. officials who requested anonymity to talk about operational matters.

USA Today [2/12/2026 6:19 PM, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, 70643K] reports minutes before midnight on Feb. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration shut down the airspace over El Paso for 10 days − longer than the airspace closure after the Sept. 11 attacks − prompting confusion and chaos for air travelers, residents and people trying to make sense of the unprecedented event on social media. Within hours, the notice was lifted and the airspace was reopened. Behind the scenes, an intra-governmental tug-of-war was unfolding between the military, which loaned Customs and Border Protection a high-powered laser to take out drones near the border, and the FAA, which had safety concerns over firing the device. The FAA’s shutdown of U.S. airspace on Feb. 10 did not go into effect until more than a day after the laser was fired, according to multiple people with knowledge of the matter. The high-tech device was fired on Feb. 9, USA TODAY has learned. Several outlets have also reported that the laser was fired at an object officials believed was a drone. They later learned it was a party balloon. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth authorized the device to be handed over to CBP in January, according to USA TODAY sources. At issue were laws prohibiting the military from using lethal force on U.S. soil against a non-military target − in this case, the thousands of drones that fly across the border every year.

CNN [2/12/2026 7:57 PM, Alayna Treene, 612K] reports the Federal Aviation Administration’s abrupt and unexplained closure of airspace above El Paso, Texas, early Wednesday has given way to a blame game inside the administration, with key senior officials asserting they hadn’t been alerted to the decision beforehand, according to several people familiar with the matter. The White House, which was furious with the FAA for the decision, blames the agency for failing to alert the appropriate people in the West Wing of its plan to shut down the airspace for 10 days, two senior administration officials told CNN. Senior aides to President Donald Trump view this as a FAA "f**k-up," not a Pentagon one, one of the officials said. Elsewhere in the administration, top officials were pointing fingers at the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon for using new counter-drone technology in civilian airspace without first alerting the FAA, sources familiar with the talks said. And one source disputed that the White House was kept in the dark, asserting that the FAA notified senior National Security Council staffers and the Homeland Security Council Tuesday evening that the airspace was going to be restricted and that they would issue the temporary flight restriction. The source said it was unclear if the officials who had been notified informed their agency’s principals. The intense finger-pointing inside the administration more than 24 hours after the airspace had reopened underscored both the concerns raised by the series of events and the rush to find someone to blame for it. Duffy was aware ahead of time the FAA was going to be shuttering the airspace, "but he didn’t tell anyone," one of the officials told CNN. He later told top White House officials that he knew about the announcement ahead of time, the official said. But another administration official blamed FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, saying that he "decided to close the airspace without alerting White House, Pentagon, or Homeland Security officials.” A separate source familiar with the process strongly defended Duffy and disputed that the FAA kept the White House in the dark. "It’s baffling that White House officials are upset with Duffy for protecting the airspace and not the folks who launched the laser," the source familiar with the talks said, blaming the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon for shooting "into commercial air space.” Despite many White House officials being "furious" with the FAA and Duffy, as one of the senior administration officials characterized it, it is unclear whether Trump will move to hold any specific individuals accountable.

Reuters [2/12/2026 6:08 AM, Laura Gottesdiener, 38315K] reports the chaotic closure of the El Paso airport overnight Tuesday, which U.S. authorities initially blamed on an incursion by a Mexican cartel drone, brought into sharp focus the growing use of unmanned aircraft by crime groups and the crackling tensions between the countries over how to deal with it. Over the past year U.S. security officials have increasingly expressed concern about the use of drones by Mexican cartels, which mostly employ crudely adapted versions of off-the-shelf models to drop drug packages or surveil trafficking routes. There have also been cases, in parts of Mexico further away from the U.S. border, of cartels using the remotely controlled aircraft to drop explosives in deadly attacks. The rising use of drones by Mexican cartels comes as the technology has significantly transformed traditional warfare on the world’s battlefields, most notably in Ukraine. Experts say there’s never been a Mexican cartel drone attack on U.S. soil or against U.S. law enforcement. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who oversees the Federal Aviation Administration, said the presence of a Mexican drug cartel’s drone in U.S. airspace had prompted the El Paso air traffic ban, which was initially slated for 10 days, but then shortened to only seven hours. But government and airline officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, later contradicted Duffy’s assertion, saying that the FAA had closed the airspace due to concerns that a laser-based counter-drone system being tested by the U.S. Army nearby could pose risks to air traffic. Aviation experts also said that a drone sighting near an airport would typically lead to a brief pause on traffic, not an extended closure. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday also cast doubt on the official U.S. account, saying there was no information about drones at the border, where the Texan town of El Paso sits just across from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, nor were there any impacts on the Mexican side. "They would have to explain it," she said of U.S. authorities at a regular press conference. Sheinbaum’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on growing tensions over cartel drones. White House press spokeswoman Anna Kelly said U.S. President Donald Trump has "left all options on the table," in response to a request for comment on the drones being a flashpoint in bilateral relations.

Washington Examiner [2/12/2026 7:09 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1147K] reports what may have been an incursion from a Mexican drug cartel drone, or sources say, more likely, a mylar party balloon floating harmlessly over the skies over El Paso, Texas, triggered a high-tech response that resulted in massive confusion. Since neither the U.S. Northern Command, the Pentagon, nor the Department of Homeland Security has been very forthcoming with the sequence of events that led the FAA to take the drastic and unprecedented step of closing the airspace over El Paso — closing the airport, grounding medical evacuation flights, and stranding hundreds of traveling, we’re left to piece together what happened from multiple media reports. Fox News, quoting a U.S. official, reported that last month, Secretary Pete Hegseth signed off on lending a high-tech counter-drone system that uses directed energy to deal with repeated incursions from Mexican drones near the border city of El Paso. Earlier this week, the platform was used to shoot down a suspected cartel drone, which, according to sources, turned out to be a "party balloon.” The problem was that Border Patrol had failed to coordinate with the FAA, which they were supposed to do, at a meeting planned for later this month. When the FAA learned the weapon platform had been employed in airspace used by commercial air traffic, it immediately ordered a closure as a safety measure to last 10 days, until the date of the planned coordination meeting. Mass confusion ensued, leaving city and state officials, the U.S. military, and commercial airlines in the dark. The airspace was reopened after a few hours, but the episode exposed a shocking lack of basic communication and coordination on a serious matter of public safety.

Wall Street Journal [2/12/2026 6:33 PM, Lara Seligman and Dean Seal, 646K] reports Bryan Bedford wasn’t happy. Against the expressed wishes of the FAA, officials from Customs and Border Protection had used the Pentagon’s highly classified laser-weapon system to shoot down what it thought was a handful of Mexican cartel drones on the southern border, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Bedford, the Federal Aviation Administration chief, issued a notice late Tuesday night that the FAA would close the airspace covering a roughly 11-mile radius over El Paso International Airport for 10 days, stunning officials at the White House, Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the CBP. The aerial objects turned out to likely be party balloons, and the laser weapon is an experimental system the military uses overseas that can pose serious risk to commercial aviation. The episode sowed chaos for a few hours in the Texas city, forcing hospitals to divert medical flights and travelers to cancel their plans. It also caused an uproar in Washington, particularly at the Pentagon, where officials scrambled to figure out what had happened and whom was to blame. The FAA lifted the restrictions hours later, with little explanation. The FAA and Pentagon determined there was no threat to commercial travel, Trump administration officials said. The incident sheds light on a longstanding spat between the FAA and the Pentagon over which government authorities are responsible for taking down drone threats over major airports and military bases, and the use of laser weapons to do the job. The FAA, DOD, DHS and White House spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.

New York Times [2/12/2026 5:33 PM, Farah Stockman, 148038K] reports the debacle at the El Paso airport this week is a sign that America’s counter-drone technology — and the ability to deploy it — is still at an early stage, despite billions of dollars invested in recent years. An attempt this week by the Customs and Border Protection agency to use a laser to take out a foreign object in the sky set off chaos. The Federal Aviation Administration, concerned about a lack of information about the potential risks to civilian planes, shut down the El Paso airport for hours. Top Trump administration officials claimed that an incursion of Mexican cartel drones across the border had required a military response that prompted the airport shutdown. But the episode was precipitated by Customs and Border Protection’s use of an anti-drone laser without coordinating with aviation officials, as The New York Times previously reported. The laser appeared to have struck a party balloon rather than a drone. The El Paso incident illustrated how difficult it is to test the technology in the real world. Equipment that can knock out an enemy drone — GPS jammers, lasers, drones capable of intercepting other drones — can wreak havoc on civilian life. Although drones have become crucial to winning modern wars, the United States still lags its adversaries in both the manufacturing of low-cost drones and the training and equipment needed to defend against hostile small drones.

New York Times [2/12/2026 5:01 PM, Jack Nicas and Paulina Villegas, 148038K] reports Trump administration officials said the sudden closure of El Paso’s airspace this week was because of a drone flown by a Mexican cartel. In reality, U.S. officials shot a laser at a party balloon, The New York Times reported. Yet the case still raises an important question: How big of a threat are cartel drones? The answer seems to depend upon whom you ask.

The Washington Post [2/12/2026 5:14 PM, Theodoric Meyer and Riley Beggin, 24826K] reports large swaths of the Department of Homeland Security are set to shut down Saturday after Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked two funding bills because the legislation did not include new restrictions on federal immigration agents. Democrats demanded a long list of changes to DHS after federal immigration agents killed Alex Pretti last month in Minneapolis, including tighter rules on warrants and a ban on agents wearing face masks. President Donald Trump appeared open to some of them, but Democrats rejected a proposal the White House made Wednesday night, all but ensuring a partial government shutdown. Every Democrat except one — Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) — voted Thursday against advancing legislation to fund DHS through Sept. 30 before lawmakers left town for a week-long recess. “Today’s strong vote was a shot across the bow to Republicans,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said. “Democrats will not support a blank check for chaos.” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) also blocked Republicans from extending DHS funding for two weeks, arguing that Democrats could not send the agency more money without new restraints on its agents. “We have a constitutional obligation to only fund a Department of Homeland Security that is obeying the law, and this Department of Homeland Security is not obeying the law,” Murphy said on the Senate floor. Republicans accused Democrats of being unreasonable and not allowing enough time for negotiations to play out. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said talks would continue but warned that Democrats would have to make concessions of their own. “Democrats are never going to get their full wish list,” Thune said Thursday on the Senate floor. “That’s not the way this works.” The Senate is not expected to hold any more votes before a shutdown starts at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, and many senators were set to leave town Thursday to travel to the Munich Security Conference. Schumer and Thune have said they are prepared to bring senators back early if a deal comes together. Politico [2/12/2026 8:46 PM, Jordain Carney, 13586K] reports that, though negotiations between the White House and Senate Democrats continue, the trajectory of talks suggest DHS funding will be lapsed for at least 10 days — meaning the soonest any resolution would be reached is in the political hothouse around Trump’s State of the Union address on Feb. 24. The lack of progress has even raised the prospect that Trump’s speech to Congress might be postponed, and some Democrats are mulling a boycott. “This ‘nyah nyah’ is going to go on for a while,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Thursday. Even if a deal were struck, Kennedy added, “I’m not entirely convinced that anybody would vote for it. I can’t see the Dems voting for anything because they’re not going to get pounded for funding ICE. And the Republicans on my side are not going to get pounded for hurting ICE.” Negotiations between Democrats and White House officials were ongoing as of Thursday evening. Democrats, who have floated a series of guardrails on immigration enforcement agencies in exchange for funding DHS, were expected to formally respond to the latest White House offer over the weekend after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries bashed it Thursday without disclosing specifics on what was contained within. ABC News [2/12/2026 7:39 PM, Allison Pecorin, 34146K] reports that the Senate has no further votes scheduled for this week and many senators were boarding planes to Germany for the Munich Security Conference. House members also left town. Homeland Security officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Coast Guard previously warned lawmakers that a lapse in funding will leave thousands of personnel working without pay, disrupt disaster reimbursements, delay cyber protections and put a strain on agencies barely digging out of the previous government shutdown. ICE, however, will largely continue operating because of the $75 billion already approved by Congress in President Donald Trump’s so-called "one big beautiful bill" that was passed last summer. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that talks would continue over the weekend and into next week’s Presidents Day week recess. But he slammed Democrats for blocking both efforts to keep DHS funded. "What it appears to me, at least at this point, is happening is the Democrats, like they did last fall, they really don’t want the solution. They don’t want the answer. They want the political issue," Thune said. "Negotiations will continue and we will see in the course of the next few days how serious they are.”

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Wall Street Journal [2/12/2026 4:42 PM, Lindsay Wise and Anvee Bhutani, 646K]
The Hill [2/12/2026 8:43 AM, Julia Manchester, 18170K]
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NPR [2/12/2026 4:27 PM, Ximena Bustillo, Sam Gringlas, 28764K]
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CNN [2/12/2026 4:13 PM, Sarah Ferris, Morgan Rimmer, 19874K]
FOX News [2/12/2026 2:00 PM, Alex Miller, 37576K]
FOX News [2/12/2026 10:20 AM, Elizabeth Elkind, 37576K]
NewsNation [2/12/2026 1:03 PM, Tom Dempsey, 4464K] Video: HERE

NewsMax [2/12/2026 9:33 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., torched jet-setting Senate Democrats on Thursday for voting against funding for the Department of Homeland Security before traveling to the Munich Security Conference this weekend. "Right about now, there’s a bus leaving the Capitol grounds headed for the airport," Schmitt said in a fiery speech on the Senate floor. "Democrats who just voted to defund the paycheck of the TSA agent making $40,000 a year are on that bus to hop on a plane funded by your tax dollars to go to Munich and badmouth American foreign policy.” Schmitt spoke after Democrats blocked DHS funding when their demands for reforms to immigration enforcement were not met. The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. Democrat Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Mark Warner of Virginia, Chris Coons of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Peter Welch of Vermont, Andy Kim of New Jersey, and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan are expected to attend the Munich Security Conference, considered the world’s leading forum for international security policy. "They’ll be sipping wine with the global elites telling them, ‘Don’t listen to President [Donald] Trump, that’s not who we are,’" Schmitt said. The House passed a full-year DHS spending bill Jan. 22. Although funding for the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts was set for the rest of Trump’s second term through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, DHS risks losing funds for agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration.

New York Times [2/12/2026 7:52 PM, Megan Mineiro, 148038K] reports the congressional delegation to Europe’s biggest annual security summit had been expected to be the largest ever this year, with around 50 lawmakers planning to travel to Munich to reassure allies that the United States could still be counted on as a reliable security and trade partner. But amid a funding battle that is expected to shutter the Department of Homeland Security this weekend, Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly canceled the official delegation of dozens of House members to the Munich Security Conference, which begins on Friday. It is standard operating procedure to call off congressional travel during a government shutdown, and a senior House Republican leadership aide said that was the reason for the cancellation. But top Democrats warned that canceling the delegation was the wrong decision in a moment of frayed trans-Atlantic relations. Last year, Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the conference left foreign leaders reeling. And in recent months, President Trump’s threats to invade Greenland and tariff any NATO ally that tried to stand in his way rattled European allies. “It’s more important than ever that we continue to engage with our partners and allies on critically important national security issues, and send a message of strength through unity,” Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said on Thursday. Mr. Smith, who had planned to attend the Munich gathering, added that lawmakers could have returned to Washington within two days to vote if Republicans and Democrats reached a homeland security funding deal. “Our colleagues in the Senate understand that, and Speaker Johnson should as well,” he said.

FOX News [2/12/2026 8:07 PM, Alexandra Koch Fox, 37576K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem warned Thursday that a lapse in funding for her department could disrupt airport security, disaster response and counterterrorism operations, escalating a partisan standoff in Congress over immigration policy. Senate Democrats demanded stringent reforms to immigration enforcement and blocked multiple attempts Thursday to keep the agency open, though Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) only accounts for 11% of the bill’s funding, according to Noem. Noem’s comments came as she joined U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks and Executive Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection Diane Sabatino in Otay Mesa, California, to discuss ongoing drug seizure operations. Noem accused Democrats of sending "the wrong message," arguing that failing to fund DHS undermines national security. Democrats have said the dispute centers on immigration enforcement policies, not disaster response or transportation security. She warned other DHS-funded agencies will see the impacts of the shutdown, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "If we had some kind of an attack or a terrible disaster that hit our country, FEMA is the agency that’s responsible for running our government, for stabilizing our country — and the Democrat Party is choosing not to fund FEMA and putting us in jeopardy in that situation.” According to DHS, disaster grant funding could be stuck due to the FEMA GO system being offline, National Fire Academy classes will be canceled, and preparedness exercises will be paused nationwide. Noem added that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, who keep the skies safe, will not be paid after Friday — leading to increased wait times at airports and safety concerns. "They’re expected to still show up. How long would you continue to show up for a job that you’re not being paid for," she said. "These TSA employees just went through a 43-day shutdown where they weren’t paid. How often do you expect these good patriots to keep showing up and to do their job, knowing that their salaries won’t be taken care of and their families’ bills won’t be taken care of.”

USA Today [2/12/2026 6:37 PM, Zachary Schermele, 70643K] reports in an attempt to force the White House into reforms for the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats are risking yet another partial government shutdown. But Republicans have been quick to point out an irony in that strategy: Regardless of whether funding for DHS lapses after Friday, Feb. 13, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will continue operating. The division of the agency most responsible for Democrats’ anger – stemming in large part from ICE agents’ killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last month – was bolstered in 2025 by billions of dollars from the so-called "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" Congress passed. Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, told lawmakers Feb. 12 that the upcoming shutdown would impact personnel actions such as pay retention, as well as the agency’s civilian workforce. But he confirmed ICE would not be critically impacted by a shutdown. Even during last year’s record-breaking funding crisis, more than 90% of ICE’s employees within DHS kept working. "If we shut down the department over ICE and CBP enforcement actions in Minneapolis," said Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, during a congressional hearing, "immigration and removal operations will continue.” In the meantime, he said, "the good work the department does outside of immigration enforcement will come to a screeching halt." Services or pay will likely be disrupted for employees of the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other components of DHS.

Politico [2/12/2026 5:30 PM, Myah Ward and Eric Bazail-Eimil, 21784K] reports the Trump administration’s decision to end its immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis could undermine Democrats’ messaging leverage on the eve of an expected partial government shutdown. By pulling out of Minneapolis — the epicenter of the left’s fight to overhaul federal immigration enforcement after federal agents killed two American citizens — administration officials and allies argue that Democrats will lose political steam as attention gradually fades from the administration’s aggressive enforcement actions. “I know everyone was concerned about ICE’s future if we kept acting like idiots,” said an administration official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “If we are really doing our job well, you won’t notice or have anything to complain about.” “It’s a side effect of Tom [Homan]’s leadership,” the person added, pointing to the hope that the border czar’s presence in Minneapolis could tame tensions on the ground. The administration’s retreat in Minnesota comes as immigration hawks have pushed Trump officials to stand firm and avoid caving to Democratic demands on policy changes in exchange for funding the Department of Homeland Security. Those demands have included a prohibition on federal agents wearing masks to an expansive limit on places where agents can operate. The belief among some administration officials and allies is that Democrats will eventually bend once agencies such as TSA and FEMA begin to feel the squeeze of a prolonged shutdown.

Wall Street Journal [2/12/2026 9:41 AM, Anvee Bhutani, 646K] reports Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) has warned that Democrats won’t back another short-term funding patch to “extend the status quo” for the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans say more time is needed to reach a deal over Democrats’ demands for new restrictions on immigration enforcement. Lawmakers in both parties have signaled chances of any deal soon are slim. With the deadline looming Friday, DHS funding is just days away from lapsing and triggering a shutdown. Here’s what that would mean for DHS, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard. Under federal law, employees may work during a shutdown only if their jobs are deemed essential or are funded outside the annual appropriations process. ICE and CBP would continue working in a shutdown because they are considered essential law-enforcement agencies. Transportation Security Administration airport employees would continue working, but without pay. Travelers could face longer security lines and flight delays if there is a longer shutdown and staffing shortages develop because of missed paychecks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency still has around $8 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal, which would allow critical, lifesaving emergency operations to continue even if federal funding lapses. Its broader programs and administrative support would largely pause, with personnel being furloughed. Nonessential grant approval would also pause. The Coast Guard is the only military branch not funded as part of the Department of Defense appropriations bill but instead through DHS. As a result, active-duty personnel would continue to work, but without pay. Essential operations such as search-and-rescue missions would continue, while administrative services would be paused.

NPR [2/12/2026 5:36 PM, Sam Gringlas, 28764K] Audio: HERE reports a bipartisan effort in Congress to restrain immigration enforcement tactics is flailing. It wouldn’t be the first time recently that lawmakers pledged to find consensus, only for negotiations to fail.

New York Times [2/12/2026 5:19 PM, Karoun Demirjian and Madeleine Ngo, 148038K] reports funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to lapse early Saturday morning, barring a breakthrough in negotiations, with no clear sign of when it may be revived. The looming shutdown of the sprawling department is the result of a bitter impasse over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in cities including Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents last month. Democrats do not want to fund the department unless Congress imposes rules requiring immigration officers to identify themselves during operations, remove their masks and obtain judicial warrants to make arrests on private property. Republicans have rejected those demands as overly burdensome. But a lapse in funding is not expected to bring the department’s immigration enforcement operations to a screeching halt. And the department is also home to several agencies unrelated to immigration, including the Coast Guard and FEMA, that will be affected.

Breitbart [2/12/2026 9:15 PM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Thursday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) responded to a question on a DHS shutdown hurting the Coast Guard, FEMA, and the TSA instead of ICE and CBP by saying Republicans are “going to be the ones that aren’t funding the Coast Guard. They’re the ones that are going to be impacting TSA folks, because all they have to do is say yes to commonsense proposals.” Host Katy Tur asked, “What about the argument that, ultimately, what you’re doing is not defunding or removing funding really from ICE or CBP — they already have a ton, more than they could possibly use — what you’re ultimately doing is hurting the Coast Guard, hurting FEMA, hurting the TSA?” Peters answered, “Well, hopefully we can separate that. Those will be negotiations going forward. We should not be in a situation where TSA doesn’t have the resources that they need, FEMA employees are going to be working without pay. We’ve got some time before those paystubs come in, but that should not happen. But we’ve got to realize that this is all in the hands of the Republicans right now. They control the White House. They control the Congress. … They’re going to be the ones that aren’t funding the Coast Guard. They’re the ones that are going to be impacting TSA folks, because all they have to do is say yes to commonsense proposals.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [2/12/2026 10:05 PM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Thursday’s “CNN News Central,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said that blocking DHS funding will do “very little” to restrict ICE and CBP, and “I think what has had some significant impact is the bravery of the people in Minneapolis who were out videorecording, and, essentially, stepping between ICE and their violence towards some innocent citizens in that town, and where we now see ICE is leaving Minneapolis, and that’s overdue.” Co-host Brianna Keilar asked, “Does holding up this DHS funding actually do anything to hamstring the ICE and CBP operations that Democrats object to?” Welch answered, “Well, very little, frankly. I think what has had some significant impact is the bravery of the people in Minneapolis who were out videorecording, and, essentially, stepping between ICE and their violence towards some innocent citizens in that town, and where we now see ICE is leaving Minneapolis, and that’s overdue. But, there [are] two questions here: One is — it should be the easier one — what standards should apply to that as a law enforcement agency? And as I mentioned, I think they should be subject to the same standards as anyone else. But the second — and this is the most important issue — should the president, should Homeland Security, should Kristi Noem be implementing this policy of mass deportation? Only 14% of the people who have been picked up and brought into custody have serious criminal records. So, what you’re seeing is that this wholesale demand by Kristi Noem that they reach quotas, like 3,000 a day, is that people are being picked up who are completely innocent, including U.S. citizens. And the president has had success on the border. The border’s secure, only 9,000 interactions last month. And there’s support for deporting criminals, but that’s a targeted approach. Where the president is absolutely wrong and Kristi Noem is absolutely wrong is this mass roundup where you’re going to farms in Vermont, you’re going to construction sites in Vermont and other places around the country, and where you’re bringing in, as they did in Minneapolis, 3,000 armed and pretty trigger-happy ICE agents, that is completely disrupting the city and interfering with local law enforcement. So, I hope we get to the debate about the wisdom of a mass deportation policy. I oppose that. It’s hurting everybody.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [2/12/2026 8:03 AM, Staff, 3760K] reports with Department of Homeland Security funding set to expire Friday, Rep. Andy Biggs told Newsmax on Thursday that he expects Senate Democrats to block the House-passed bill and force Congress into a short-term stopgap. "There’s going to be a vote sometime today, probably early afternoon, in the Senate on the House bill to fund DHS for the rest of the year. I don’t think it’s going to pass," the Arizona Republican said on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Early.” Biggs said he expects lawmakers to pivot to a continuing resolution lasting two or three weeks, but he suggested the timing could still trigger a brief lapse before the House receives the measure. "That might not happen until tomorrow, which means that the House would probably get a short-term CR maybe Friday night, maybe Saturday. Maybe even Sunday," he said, adding, "I don’t think you’re going to see a full-year funding.” The DHS funding deadline has raised warnings about potential disruption to agency operations, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, if Congress fails to act. Biggs also discussed his questioning of Attorney General Pam Bondi during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, including an exchange about an inquiry he tied to "Arctic Frost" and Section 702 surveillance authorities. After Bondi said the matter was "very active and ongoing," Biggs said he wanted the public to know the investigation continues.

NewsMax [2/12/2026 7:17 AM, Staff, 3760K] reports Rep. Dan Meuser said Thursday on Newsmax that he would support a short-term continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown, accusing Senate Democrats of refusing to consider what he described as a serious offer from the White House. "I would certainly support another couple of weeks, three weeks, four weeks CR," the Pennsylvania Republican said on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America.” However, he warned that without an agreement, "FEMA is going to lose its funding. CBP [Customs and Border Protection] is not going to be paid. The Coast Guard is not going to be paid. TSA is not going to be paid.” Meuser said a proposal was delivered to Senate Democrat leadership from the White House, but is not being taken up. "The point behind this is let’s deliberate, let’s get this right," he said. "Let’s gain cooperation. Let’s do some common-sense provisions within this new bill that they’re pushing for, and let’s not shut down the government.” He pointed to border enforcement and cooperation with federal authorities as key provisions. "We’re good with the body cams, we’re good with the added training," Meuser said.

The Hill [2/12/2026 11:38 AM, Tara Suter, 18170K] reports Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Wednesday Congress “cannot give another dollar” to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), underscoring Democratic feelings toward the embattled department, which could lose its funding Saturday. Congress approved a two-week stopgap to keep DHS funded through Friday, but it appears the Senate will likely leave Washington on Thursday without agreeing to a new funding bill. That would cause DHS to shut down Saturday. “My red lines have been passed a long time ago,” Booker told MS NOW’s Chris Hayes on “All In.” “You have a reckless, out-of-control agency that is violating the rights of Americans. Literally, shooting and killing Americans unjustly. And my colleagues do not seem to be aggrieved about this. The small government conservatives don’t think that this is in any way an overreach of executive power into the lives of community members,” Booker said. “And to me, this agency cannot, we cannot give another dollar to an out of control, reckless agency. So, I have no confidence that this negotiation is going to end well tomorrow, and I think it’s going to result, I hope it’s going to result, in Democrats staying strong and not giving another continuing resolution, not moving forward while we have this kind of crisis,” the Garden State senator added. Democrats in the Senate have made a number of demands for changes to DHS after the killings in Minneapolis of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, by federal law enforcement involved in the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. The demands included that law enforcement no longer be masked and that roving patrols be ended. On Thursday, Senate Democrats shot down a counterproposal from the White House to keep funding DHS after Friday and avert a partial government shutdown. Negotiators with the White House put forth their latest offer Wednesday night via legislative text, a move that followed Democrats slamming a prior Trump administration proposal that came in a letter.

NewsMax [2/12/2026 10:49 AM, Jim Morley, 3760K] reports Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Thursday criticized Democrats over the possibility of a partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security, accusing them of using the standoff to push efforts to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Appearing on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America," Johnson said Democrats "really just have that one message right now and it’s to defund ICE," adding, "That’s what all of this is about.” A potential shutdown could impact agencies including TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard. However, Johnson argued that "Border Patrol and ICE funding wouldn’t really be impacted that much due to the One Big Beautiful Bill funding.” "Democrats are just being obnoxious and obstructionist," Johnson said. "They want to defund police. That didn’t go over that well. Now they’ve got their martyrs because of the, you know, trained activists that impeded and obstructed justice. "And two people were tragically shot. And they’re using those martyrs to now try and defund ICE.” Johnson added, "I don’t think it’s going to work in the end.” Seeking to reassure viewers about the impact of a shutdown, Johnson said that "when you supposedly shut down, government doesn’t shut down if you’re deemed an essential worker.” He noted that "TSA, a lot of FEMA workers, most people within [the] Department of Homeland Security would be deemed essential.”

FOX News [2/12/2026 7:00 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., branded what he called the "Karen wing" of the Democratic Party as irrational for stalling a full Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget over demands for immigration enforcement reform. Kennedy’s comments followed hostile questioning aimed at the leader of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a volatile House hearing, which he said reminded him of "the game room in a mental hospital.” "This is not a rational process. This discussion we’re having is not a discussion about how we should use scarce taxpayer resources to fund the Department of Homeland Security," Kennedy said Wednesday on "The Faulkner Focus.” "The Karen wing of the Democratic Party wants to defund ICE, just like they wanted to defund the police, and we know how that vampire movie turned out," he said, adding the wing was now in control of the party. Kennedy claimed that even if Republicans agreed to all their demands for ICE reforms, the Democrats still wouldn’t pass a budget package because "the Karen Wing will punish any Democrat that votes to keep the Department of Homeland Security open.” The Senate is scrambling to avoid a third government shutdown under President Donald Trump. Another closure would be limited to just the DHS, affecting agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard and others under the Homeland Security umbrella, but not ICE. Immigration operations are flush with billions from Trump’s "big, beautiful bill.”

Politico [2/12/2026 10:46 PM, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 21784K] reports a federal judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration has been violating the rights of people detained by ICE in Minnesota, saying the agency had stashed them in an ill-equipped, overcrowded facility without access to attorneys. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel said it appeared the Trump administration had surged law enforcement into the Twin Cities without accounting for “the constitutional rights of its civil detainees” held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “The government suggests—with minimal explanation and even less evidence—that doing so would result in ‘chaos,’” wrote Brasel, an appointee of President Donald Trump. “The Constitution does not permit the government to arrest thousands of individuals and then disregard their constitutional rights because it would be too challenging to honor those rights.” The judge ordered the administration to dramatically revamp conditions in the Bishop Henry Whipple federal building, and provide routine and unmonitored phone access to detainees, including the chance to alert attorneys and family members at least one hour before being transferred out of state. The ruling came just hours after the White House announced an end to its recent immigration crackdown, which saw as many as 3,000 federal agents flood the Minneapolis region to conduct mass deportation operations. Reuters [2/12/2026 8:57 PM, Staff, 38315K] reports a federal judge on Thursday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure that detainees have access to their attorneys in Minnesota, after finding that the agency had blocked thousands of people from seeing their lawyers during a recent enforcement surge. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in his first term, said ICE’s practices during the recent Operation Metro Surge, including a policy of quickly moving detainees out of Minnesota and depriving them of phone calls, "all but extinguish a detainee’s access to counsel.” Brasel made the initial ruling in a class action lawsuit that was filed on behalf of detainees on January 27 and her order will remain in place for 14 days while the proceedings play out. The court order requires the government to stop rapidly transferring detainees out of the state and to allow attorney-client visits and private phone calls between detainees and their lawyers. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said detainees have access to phones that they can use to contact their families and lawyers and denied that there was any "overcrowding" at the Minneapolis federal building where detainees are processed. Democracy Forward, a nonprofit that filed the lawsuit on behalf of detainees, said that the right to a lawyer is not "optional" in the U.S. "DHS has been detaining people in a building never meant for long-term custody, shackling them, secretly transferring them out of state and blocking access to counsel and oversight in a deliberate effort to evade accountability," Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said in a statement. Axios [2/12/2026 9:47 PM, Rebecca Falconer, 17364K] reports Brasel in the emergency restraining order ruled ICE must give detained immigrants access to attorneys as soon as they’ve been taken into custody. The order that will remain in effect through Feb. 26 comes after a class-action lawsuit was filed last month against defendants including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The suit alleges that people were being detained without access to lawyers and denied confidential communication — a claim DHS rejected in a Thursday evening email following the ruling. However, Brasel wrote in the ruling that the government had put in place "obstacles" at Whipple that marked "an unconstitutional infringement" of noncitizens’ rights to access counsel. When asked for comment on Brasel’s ruling and those by other Trump-appointed judges that have gone against the administration, a DHS spokespersoncalled claims that there are subprime conditions or overcrowding at the Whipple building "FALSE."

The AP [2/12/2026 8:16 PM, Steve Karnowski and Rebecca Boone, 35287K] reports a federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to give immigrants detained in Minnesota access to attorneys immediately after they are taken into custody and before they are transferred out of state. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel issued the emergency restraining order Thursday, finding detainees at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building faced so many logistical barriers to contacting legal counsel that it was likely the Department of Homeland Security had stepped on their constitutional rights. The order is temporary, and will last for two weeks unless the judge extends it. “It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees,” Brasel wrote in the 41-page ruling. She rejected arguments by DHS attorneys that suggested changes to improve access would lead to “chaos.” “The Constitution does not permit the government to arrest thousands of individual and then disregard their constitutional rights because it would be too challenging to honor those rights,” she wrote. Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Advocates for Human Rights and a detainee sued late last month, contending people held at Whipple on the outskirts of Minneapolis are denied adequate access to lawyers, even as they face the prospect of deportation. Attorney Jeffrey Dubner told Brasel that detainees are allowed to make phone calls, but ICE personnel are typically nearby. Justice Department attorney Christina Parascandola told the court last week that people detained at the facility have access to counsel and unmonitored phone calls at any time and for as long as they need. She conceded that she had never entered the Whipple facility. Bloomberg Law [2/12/2026 7:53 PM, Maia Spoto, 763K] reports this order joins federal judges in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, who all made similar requirements of ICE holding facilities in their cities. Policies and practices at Whipple "all but extinguish a detainee’s access to counsel," Brasel said, finding the federal government likely violated detainees’ Fifth Amendment rights by shuffling detainees to facilities in other states quickly and without notice, and blocking their ability to speak with attorneys. Her order, which will stay in effect until Feb. 26, also bars the federal government from moving detainees away from the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during the first 72 hours of their detention. "Defendants allocated substantial resources to sending thousands of agents to Minnesota, detaining thousands of people, and housing them in their facilities," Brasel said. "Defendants cannot suddenly lack resources when it comes to protecting detainees’ constitutional rights.” The Trump administration has made mandatory immigration detention a pillar of its efforts to deport noncitizens at a massive scale. Immigration judges are clashing with federal district judges who have overwhelmingly found unsupported the administration’s position that all noncitizens arrested in the interior of the US are subject to mandatory detention. The conditions in these detentions are often crowded and squalid, causing some detainees to give up and self-deport, immigration lawyers say. Attorneys who visited Whipple on Monday wrote in court declarations that detainees were sleeping on the floor with shackled ankles, as trash piled up.

New York Times [2/12/2026 8:07 PM, Christina Morales, 148038K] reports a federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to give detainees at an immigration facility near Minneapolis adequate access to lawyers, saying the government could have isolated thousands of immigrants from proper legal services. In the lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Minnesota, lawyers for Advocates for Human Rights, a nonprofit, had argued that the detainees at the B.H. Whipple Federal Building have not been given access to lawyers for at least a month during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities. But lawyers for the federal government had argued that they could not arrange detainees to meet with lawyers in person because they did not have space to accommodate them in the Whipple facility. The government lawyers also said that the detainees were given access to phones to make calls for legal services. Judge Nancy E. Brasel, a Trump appointee, said in her order on Thursday that it appeared “the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees. The government suggests — with minimal explanation and even less evidence — that doing so would result in ‘chaos.’” Michele Garnett McKenzie, the executive director of the Advocates for Human Rights, said the ruling “recognizes the fundamental importance of access to counsel in ensuring basic due process.” “When the government deprives people of liberty, it cannot avoid its constitutional responsibilities because it finds them inconvenient,” she said in a statement. “It’s appalling that we required a court ruling to defend this fundamental right.” The Department of Homeland Security countered in a statement about the ruling that “all detainees receive due process.” The agency did not say whether it would appeal.

CBS News [2/12/2026 9:30 AM, Kaia Hubbard, 51110K] reports that Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware are introducing new legislation Thursday aimed at creating an independent watchdog commission to conduct oversight of federal immigration enforcement agencies. The bill, named the ICE Accountability Act, comes as Democrats seek reforms to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection following two deadly shootings by federal agents last month during the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. "After the Trump administration’s immigration agents shot and killed U.S. citizens, the American people are demanding accountability. This new bill will create the toughest independent watchdog to immediately rein in ICE’s terror and report directly to Congress," Warren said in a statement to CBS News. "The Senate must act now to stop ICE’s violence, and any new constraints on DHS funding must have serious teeth like this new independent monitor to enforce the law.". Democrats have been pushing for weeks for reforms to the nation’s immigration enforcement operations, while pledging to oppose any funding for the Department of Homeland Security until changes are made. Funds for DHS are set to lapse on Saturday, unless an agreement can be reached. DHS oversees ICE and CBP, which includes Border Patrol. Amid negotiations with the White House, the pair of Democrats is pitching the bill as an enforcement mechanism to go alongside the changes they’re seeking.

The New York Times [2/12/2026 4:09 PM, Miriam Jordan, 148038K] reports an immigration judge has terminated the deportation case against an undocumented father of three U.S. Marines who was detained by federal agents last year while landscaping in Southern California, paving the way for him to seek legal permanent residency in the United States. Last June, Narciso Barranco was clearing weeds outside an IHOP restaurant in Santa Ana, Calif., when immigration agents approached him from behind, pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him. Mr. Barranco, a 49-year-old Mexican national who has lived in the United States for three decades, was then transferred to a detention center and placed in deportation proceedings. He was released on a $3,000 bond in mid-July and fitted with an ankle monitor. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security defended the agents’ aggressive arrest, saying the agents had felt threatened by Mr. Barranco and accusing him of having raised his weed trimmer at them. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the immigration judge’s ruling. The episode garnered national attention last year, and Mr. Barranco became a symbol of President Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Trump administration had launched a large immigration enforcement operation in the Los Angeles area in June, touching off a wave of intense protests and clashes between residents and federal law enforcement officers. In her order terminating the deportation case, signed on Jan. 28, Judge Kristin S. Piepmeier said that Mr. Barranco had provided evidence that he was the father of three American sons in the military, rendering him eligible to obtain lawful status. Immigration officers have since removed Mr. Barranco’s ankle monitor, and his check-ins have been discontinued, Mr. Barranco told The New York Times. “I think the American people would agree that no one like Narciso Barranco, who raised three U.S. citizen Marines and has no criminal record, deserved the treatment he received,” Lisa Ramirez, Mr. Barranco’s lawyer, said shortly after the ruling. The AP [2/12/2026 5:18 PM, Christopher Weber] reports Ramirez said Barranco has applied for Parole in Place, a program that protects the parents of U.S. military personnel from deportation and helps them obtain permanent residency. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reiterated previous government claims that Barranco refused to comply with commands and swung his weed trimmer at an agent.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [2/12/2026 4:05 PM, Ruben Vives, 12718K]
NewsMax [2/12/2026 5:47 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K]

AP [2/12/2026 5:32 PM, Sudhin Thanawala, 35287K] reports a federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to make arrangements to allow some of the Venezuelan migrants deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador to return to the U.S. at the government’s expense. The case has been a legal flashpoint in the administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. It started in March after President Donald Trump invoked the 18th century Alien Enemies Act to send Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. In Thursday’s ruling, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington criticized the White House’s response to his earlier order that it come up with a plan to give the men a chance to challenge their removals. The 137 men were later returned to Venezuela in a prisoner exchange brokered by the United States. Lee Gelernt, their attorney in the U.S., said at a court hearing on Monday that plaintiffs’ attorneys are in touch with a handful of them who have since managed to leave Venezuela and are now in a third country. These men are interested in clearing their names, he said. Boasberg’s order says U.S. officials must provide the men in third countries who wish to fly back to U.S. with a boarding letter. The government must also cover their airfare. He noted the men would be detained upon their return. Those men and the migrants who remain in Venezuela can also file new legal documents arguing the presidential proclamation under which they were deported illegally invoked the 18th century wartime law, the judge ruled. The legal filings can also challenge their designation as members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Boasberg said he could decide later whether to require hearings and how to conduct them, but it was up to the government to "remedy the wrong that it perpetrated here and to provide a means for doing so."

New York Times [2/12/2026 5:45 PM, Luke Broadwater, 148038K] reports the images of masked federal agents sweeping through American streets have led to state and federal legislation, a protracted legal fight and accusations that the United States is descending into a police state. They are also central to the debate on Capitol Hill as the government heads toward a partial government shutdown on Friday, with President Trump and his top advisers insisting that unmasking officers would leave them vulnerable to threats, harassment and doxxing. Democrats say the face coverings are a way of sidestepping basic accountability after masked officers killed two U.S. citizens during a crackdown in Minneapolis, including Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was pinned down by agents and shot. Amid a backlash over aggressive tactics, the administration has begun shifting its approach to immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. On Thursday, Tom Homan, the White House border czar who was recently put in charge of the operation, announced that he was drawing down the numbers of ICE agents there. But the debate over masks has led both sides to dig in. Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of ICE, told a Senate committee Thursday that he did not want his officers masked, but that the risks were too severe. While the issue is litigated in the courts, it is also being debated in the halls of Congress.

FOX News [2/12/2026 11:36 AM, Ashley Oliver Fox, 37576K] reports a Department of Justice official raised the possibility of referring federal judges to Congress for impeachment in what would be a dramatic escalation of the administration’s fight with judges it views as activist and obstructionist. The idea was floated by a senior DOJ official during a recent virtual meeting with U.S. attorneys across the country, a source familiar told Fox News Digital. It marked a new possible avenue for the executive branch to confront the judiciary — by turning to Congress, which has sole authority over impeachment, to take the rare step of voting to oust federal judges. The meeting, led by Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh, was routine, but impeachment had not been raised in one before, the source said. Singh broached it after the DOJ received numerous complaints from the U.S. attorneys’ offices about judges, the source said. Bloomberg Law first reported on the meeting. Singh asked the U.S. attorneys to compile examples of issues they have had with judges, which the DOJ could then use to determine if referring judges for impeachment was appropriate. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed the move in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying the Trump administration is "facing unprecedented judicial activism from rogue judges who care more about making a name for themselves than acting as impartial arbiters of the law.” "The Department of Justice solicited the most egregious examples of this obstruction from our U.S. Attorney Offices to assist Congress with efforts to rein in judges violating their oaths in accordance with their constitutional oversight authority of the judicial branch," the spokesperson said.

New York Times [2/12/2026 5:08 AM, Linda Qiu, 148038K] reports as the aggressive tactics of federal officers advancing President Trump’s immigration crackdown have come under scrutiny, the use of body cameras has emerged as a rare point of bipartisan agreement in negotiations over a spending bill to keep the Department of Homeland Security running. Democrats in Congress have said they will not support funding the department without certain guardrails on enforcement operations, including a requirement that immigration officers wear body cameras. Republicans and the White House have signaled receptiveness to the idea, but top immigration officials have suggested that a lack of funding is hampering a more widespread adoption. “When body cameras got rolled out to C.B.P., the technical capability of the camera got rolled out,” Rodney S. Scott, the commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, said at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. “But the funding for the personnel to support the programs and the data, that can drain basically all your other operations. So fund the entire program.” Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was more explicit. “We’re still in the process of deploying body cameras for all law enforcement officers,” he said in a Fox News interview in January. “Unfortunately, in the last administration, we didn’t have the funding.” Their requests echo those of the Biden administration, which also argued that the funding was insufficient to deploy cameras nationwide. But it is worth noting that Mr. Trump has proposed drastic cuts to both programs.

New York Times [2/12/2026 5:25 PM, Madeleine Ngo and Michael Gold, 148038K] reports senators pressed top immigration officials on Thursday about the Trump administration’s handling of the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month, chastising federal authorities for drawing conclusions about their motives in the immediate aftermath of their killings. Although Republicans on the panel largely stopped short of critiquing the administration’s immigration crackdown, some of the most pointed questions came from Democrats and Senator Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who leads the Senate’s homeland security panel and has criticized the president over certain policy issues. Testifying before the Senate panel, Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, repeatedly said he could not offer comments on the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti because of continuing investigations. But asked by Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, if they were “domestic terrorists,” a label that Trump administration officials used to describe them shortly after their deaths without providing evidence, Mr. Lyons said he did not have knowledge that they were. “While that investigation is ongoing, to my knowledge, no,” Mr. Lyons said at the hearing held by the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee. Mr. Lyons and Rodney S. Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, were also pressed about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s description of Mr. Pretti as a domestic terrorist. In response, they said their agencies did not provide her an assessment that Mr. Pretti was engaged in domestic terrorism. The hearing came on the same day that Tom Homan, the White House border czar, announced that the Trump administration would end its surge in Minnesota, more than two months after the operation began. It also came two days after the agency heads testified before the House and repeatedly declined to answer questions about the fatal shootings. The Senate remains locked in a stalemate over whether to rein in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. On Thursday, Democrats blocked a measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security because it did not include the new restrictions on federal immigration agents that they have demanded, such as requirements that they remove their masks during enforcement operations.

Reuters [2/12/2026 11:10 PM, Kanishka Singh, 38315K] reports the U.S. Justice Department has moved to drop charges against two men charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minneapolis in January after an officer shot a Venezuelan immigrant, a court document showed on Thursday. The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, asked a judge to dismiss the charges, writing that "newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations." Rosen sought the dismissal with prejudice, which means the charges cannot be reintroduced. The shooting that wounded the Venezuelan man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, came during President Donald Trump’s widely condemned surge of immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Trump’s immigration crackdown, said in January officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop on Sosa-Celis when he sped away, crashed his car and fled on foot. DHS said at the time that Sosa-Celis and two other men hit an ICE officer who pursued him with a snow shovel and broom handle, prompting the shooting. But court documents unsealed later told a different story. The New York Times [2/12/2026 8:22 PM, Mitch Smith, 148038K] reports “Accordingly, dismissal with prejudice will serve the interests of justice,” wrote Mr. Rosen, who was nominated by President Trump to be U.S. attorney in Minnesota. The shooting on Jan. 14 of Julio C. Sosa-Celis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent touched off hours of tense protests in Minneapolis, where thousands of federal agents had been sent as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state. The details of what happened that night are unclear, and the government’s account of the shooting has shifted. Initially, federal officials described Mr. Sosa-Celis and his co-defendant, Alfredo A. Aljorna, as violent agitators who had attacked an agent with a shovel and broom. The government has said both men are from Venezuela and are in the United States illegally. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, accused them of trying to kill the agent. But inconsistencies soon emerged in the government’s description of the episode. Officials changed their account of which of the two men had fled from agents in a car before the shooting. And instead of three people attacking the agent, as the Department of Homeland Security had first claimed, charging documents suggested that there were only two. Still, prosecutors pushed ahead with felony cases against the men and sought to keep them detained ahead of trial. Mr. Sosa-Celis, who was shot in the leg, had injuries that were not life-threatening. Mr. Aljorna was not wounded. They were both arrested, officials have said, after agents used tear gas to force them out of a building.

CBS Baltimore [2/12/2026 9:12 PM, Mike Hellgren, 51110K] Video: HERE reports Maryland leaders have repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement, pushing back with legislation including a measure banning local cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That headed to the governor’s desk Thursday. It comes as President Trump lashed out at Gov. Wes Moore on Truth Social and disinvited Moore and Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis to a bipartisan National Governors Association event next week in Washington, D.C. "The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there," Trump wrote in his post. Poly Students left class Thursday afternoon in North Baltimore to take a stand against the federal immigration crackdown. Asked her message to President Trump on ICE, one student told WJZ, "I really hope that he stops this because this is really breaking our hearts because I have friends who’ve been taken away, and it’s very sad.” Her classmate spoke about the reason for the protest, "Young people are the voice of the future. We are the next vote holders. We are the next ones holding power, so it’s important for us to set the tone now.” The large gathering of students, many chanting and holding signs, walked out of the school and onto the football field. The demonstration at Poly was one of several across the state this week as tensions over Trump administration policies boiled over.

Washington Post [2/12/2026 2:30 PM, Salvador Rizzo, 24826K] reports that a federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to allow a group of Venezuelans who were hastily flown out of the country last year under the president’s wartime powers to return for court proceedings challenging their deportations. Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of D.C. said the Trump administration had denied due-process rights under the Constitution to 137 Venezuelan men who were deported in March under the rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act. The men were sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador, then moved to Venezuela months later as part of a prisoner swap. For now, because of political and logistical challenges, Boasberg’s ruling does not cover deportees who remain in Venezuela and applies only to those who have moved to another country. The judge said those men must be paroled into the United States for court proceedings if they want the opportunity to challenge their removals. The ruling, which the Justice Department has vowed to appeal, was the latest judicial setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations nationwide, in many cases without court hearings or advance notice. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin defended the deportations. “Nothing has changed; in addition to being in our country illegally, these aliens are foreign terrorists designated as alien enemies by the President,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “They were removed under the proper legal authorities.”

Reported similarly:
The Hill [2/12/2026 3:44 PM, Zach Schonfeld, 18170K]
CBS News [2/12/2026 12:05 PM, Melissa Quinn and Jacob Rosen, 51110K]

FOX News [2/12/2026 7:00 AM, Alexander Hall Fox, 37576K] reports Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., locked horns with podcast host Katie Couric after she minimized concerns about mass illegal immigration by claiming that less than 14% have been charged or convicted of violent crimes. Couric spoke to Paul on Wednesday about the ongoing immigration debate in Minneapolis. Paul argued that local officials’ refusal to cooperate with federal agents’ efforts to deport illegal immigrants has been a source of chaos, even though he does not agree with federal agents’ improper use of force. "This whole argument about the role of Minneapolis police in this or Minneapolis state officials might be more applicable, Senator, if ICE agents were truly talking about the ‘worst of the worst,’ as the president likes to say," Couric replied. "Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE and President Trump’s first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, supporting to an internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by CBS News.” She then proceeded to ask, "So isn’t all this talk about ridding the country of violent criminals a massive overstatement? If less than 14%, again, of the 400,000 immigrants being arrested are had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses?". "I think the facts make a difference, and so that’s one of the questions we will ask, and so, when you come to Minneapolis, if they have a policy that says, oh, we’re not going to turn over from our jails nonviolent prisoners, people who are, I don’t know why you’re in prison if you’re nonviolent, but maybe you have a drug crime that’s a nonviolent," Paul said. "I think there are plenty of non-violent people in prison," Couric replied. "But the thing is, that’s not their policy," Paul said. "Their policy is ‘we will turn no one over.’ So you can be, you beat somebody half to death, you get an assault charge, and you’re in jail for a couple years, and somehow you’re getting out on parole, and you’re not going to be turned over, and you are illegal, I’ve got a problem with that and so do probably most independents and Democrats. But that’s what we have to ascertain.”

Reuters [2/12/2026 11:30 AM, Staff, 38315K] Video: HERE reports the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require proof of U.S. citizenship in the November midterm elections, which Democrats said would impose unnecessary burdens on American voters and concentrate electoral power in the hands of President Donald Trump. Zachary Goelman produced this report.

ABC News [2/12/2026 6:48 PM, Staff, 34146K] Video: HERE reports Brennan Center director Sean Morales-Doyle explains how the Trump-backed SAVE Act could limit mail-in ballots and require stricter voter ID rules.

NewsMax [2/12/2026 9:23 PM, Sam Barron, 3760K] reports Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Thursday the SAVE America Act is common sense legislation. The bill, which was recently passed by the House, would require proof of citizenship before anyone is allowed to register to vote and a photo ID to vote. "That is common sense," Cruz said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "The overwhelming majority of Americans agree with it.” "And unfortunately, Democrats in the Senate are absolutely opposed because as a party, they have decided that voter fraud is good for them, that they want illegal aliens voting for them," Cruz added. "That’s how they stay in power. They don’t want voter ID," Cruz continued. The Senate’s filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes to advance legislation, means the bill has no chance of passing the upper chamber. "The case that I’m making to my colleagues is that we ought to use every procedural tool we can to run through the Democrats’ opposition," Cruz said. "We should nuke what’s called the zombie filibuster," Cruz said. "The zombie filibuster is essentially allowing the Democrats to say, ‘we’re filibustering this,’ but then not requiring them to do anything.” "We should require the Democrats to do an old-fashioned talking filibuster," Cruz added. "Think Jimmy Stewart in ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ or the 21 hours that I filibustered on the Senate floor fighting Obamacare.” "We should make them stand and talk and talk and talk," Cruz continued. "And when they can’t talk anymore, then we should pass it.” The Texas senator noted many Democrats support voter ID, recalling when he argued showing a photo ID to vote in front of the Supreme Court, liberal Justice John Paul Stevens agreed. "He said photo ID protects the integrity of democracy," Cruz said. "Justice Stevens says when someone illegally votes, that act disenfranchises legal voters.

Blaze [2/12/2026 10:12 AM, Rebeka Zeljko, 1556K] reports that the House passed a historic election integrity bill Wednesday night with the help of just one Democrat. Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy’s SAVE America Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, passed the House in a 218-213 vote with the support of every House Republican, including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, a vulnerable candidate who was pardoned by President Donald Trump on bribery and money-laundering charges, was the sole Democrat to cross the aisle and vote with Republicans. "I support the SAVE America Act because I believe in a fundamental principle: American citizens should decide American elections," Cuellar said in a post on X, defying his entire party. "That principle strengthens our democracy and protects the value of every vote." "This is the same secure but practical approach Texas already uses — strong photo ID standards with real fallback options — and it’s a big reason Texas has some of the strongest election security laws in the country." Following the bill’s passage, Massie clarified his support for the legislation after initially voting against a procedural vote on the SAVE America Act.

Wall Street Journal [2/12/2026 9:00 PM, Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey, and Tarini Parti, 646K] reports Kristi Noem knew she needed a reset. It was two days after federal agents had shot and killed Alex Pretti, and Noem was facing fire from all sides. Even some inside the administration were pushing President Trump to remove her from her position for her handling of the chaotic immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis and comments she’d made saying Pretti committed an act of domestic terrorism. So Noem’s top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, messaged Trump’s pollster with a request: They needed to cut an ad to help her, according to two people familiar with the episode. The pollster, Tony Fabrizio, who worked on Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, ignored the entreaty, the people said. Throughout her tenure as secretary of Homeland Security, a sprawling agency charged with carrying out Trump’s central campaign promise of a mass deportation, Noem has attempted to burnish her personal stardom at every turn. With Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, at her side, she has staged a headline grabbing immigration crackdown while sidelining rivals and dissenters. She’s carried out confrontational operations over the objections of longtime immigration officials who warned such flashy displays would discredit the department’s ultimate mission, according to two dozen current and former administration officials. Instead, she’s made the case that her approach would lead to more arrests as well as induce more people to leave on their own. She has donned flak jackets on ICE raids, posed toting a large gun and recorded messages urging immigrants to self-deport. In one, she stood before a group of imprisoned men with shaved heads packed into tight rows in a notorious El Salvadoran prison. And she has done it all with an eye to her style, with TV-ready hair and makeup. Within DHS, Noem and Lewandowski frequently berate senior level staff, give polygraph tests to employees they don’t trust and have fired employees—in one incident, Lewandowski fired a U.S. Coast Guard pilot after Noem’s blanket was left behind on a plane, according to people familiar with the incident. Simmering criticism over the past year for Noem’s policies and publicity moves exploded in Minneapolis, jeopardizing her grip over DHS and putting her standing with Trump on thin ice. Though some in Trump’s inner circle have tried to persuade the president to fire Noem and Lewandowski, according to administration officials, he has so far resisted, saying publicly he has no plans to dismiss her. Lawmakers from both parties have been critical, and Democrats in Congress are demanding changes to the department’s enforcement methods, threatening to withhold DHS funding. Eventually, the president put White House border czar Tom Homan in charge in Minnesota. Homan has long advocated a less conspicuous approach to immigration enforcement, and on Thursday, he said he would be winding down the immigration operation there. Now, Noem and Lewandowski have embarked on a rehabilitation tour.

NBC News [2/12/2026 8:34 PM, Staff, 42967K] reports the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning that the use of biochemical toxins to poison domestic partners is on the rise. NBC News’ Camila Bernal explains why these cases are increasing. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [2/12/2026 8:01 PM, Staff, 40934K] reports common sense is prevailing on both sides as ICE finalizes its draw-down of "Operation Metro Surge" enforcement in Minnesota; we pray the lesson proves lasting: Hyper-polarized politics can actually kill. Hard-left agitators — seeking to end immigration enforcement and dissolve America in the name of anticolonialism — worked in overdrive to delegitimize ICE as a rogue army of untrained Trump partisans. These anarchists and their well-meaning dupes swarmed federal agents, blew whistles and honked horns, physically interrupted arrests and threatened to dox and kill ICE officers — with the extremists trying desperately to provoke a violent response and draw public outrage. Unfortunately, they succeeded, in part: Renee Good and Alex Pretti lost their lives after tangling unnecessarily with federal officers while local cops seemingly stood down. Politicians local and national took up their deaths as a cause for grandstanding, as Mayor Jacob Frey demonstrated by grotesquely telling ICE to "get the f–k out of Minneapolis!" while Gov. Tim Walz called ICE a "modern-day Gestapo and Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner swore to "hunt down" ICE officers "for decades.” Lamentably, Homeland Security scored some own goals, as "Border Czar" Tom Homan acknowledged in his Thursday press conference: "There were some issues here and we addressed those issues.” It sure looks like DHS Secretary Kristi Noem didn’t know what she was sending thousands of agents into, nor get them the training they needed. But Homan has proved since taking point that it wasn’t systemic problems with ICE or its mission that sent everything south.

Bloomberg [2/12/2026 8:00 AM, Erika D. Smith, 18082K] reports that for about a decade, President Donald Trump has been seething about sanctuary cities and states — the Democratic-run jurisdictions with laws and policies that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents. He has threatened them with lawsuits and military interventions. He’s tried to defund them. More recently, he turned to Truth Social, “calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END” them. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina answered that call, introducing legislation to do just that. It’s now become part of the fraught negotiations over whether to fund the Department of Homeland Security past Friday. Graham has described his bill, which basically codifies Trump’s social media post into law, as “a remedy that Democrats should accept and America needs.” But congressional Democrats won’t accept it. And in fact, Democratic governors and mayors are doing the opposite, doubling down on sanctuary laws and policies. In the past week alone, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed an executive order directing state agencies to cancel any agreements that let the Trump administration deputize state law enforcement and corrections officials to conduct immigration enforcement. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed legislation that would ban local governments from entering into similar agreements, known as 287(g) partnerships. It also would prohibit renting out jail space to federal immigration authorities. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed an order on Wednesday designed to restrict federal immigration agents’ presence on state property.

New York Post [2/12/2026 7:00 PM, Betsy McCaughey, 40934K] reports a new public opinion poll shows two-thirds of Americans now disapprove of ICE, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That spells trouble for taxpayers and everyone who wants safe neighborhoods. A majority of Americans voted for President Donald Trump to enforce immigration laws. The poll, done just after the shooting of two anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis, indicates how Democratic rhetoric and misleading media reports are causing many Americans to change their minds. Democrats in Congress are trying to hold back funds for ICE enforcement. If this growing movement to hamstring ICE and let recent illegals stay here succeeds, hold onto your wallet: Either the criminal migrants roving the streets will rob you, or you’ll have to empty your wallet yourself to pay for the welfare benefits that illegal immigrants consume. Over 60% of those arrested by ICE in the last year have pending criminal charges or convictions, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons testified to Congress on Tuesday. Yet it’s not just crime: If ICE is allowed to remove illegals, more of the nation’s generous welfare benefits can go to needy Americans. An estimated 61% of households headed by an illegal immigrant used federal welfare benefits in 2024, including SNAP food assistance, Medicaid, federally supported health centers, substance-abuse treatment programs, mental-health services and Head Start, per the Center for Immigration Studies.

FOX News [2/12/2026 8:38 PM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons revealed that there are about 1.6 million illegal aliens with final deportation orders in the U.S., half of whom have criminal convictions. During testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, Lyons said, "What we’re tracking right now is about 1.6 million final [deportation] orders in the United States, with approximately 800,000 of those having criminal convictions.” Lyons clarified that these deportation orders have not been issued by ICE or the Department of Homeland Security. Rather, Lyons said the orders have come "through an immigration judge with the Department of Justice separate from Immigration Customs Enforcement.” The director added that "there’s 16,840 final orders at large in the state of Minnesota.” Lyons revealed this during questioning by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. Lankford asked Lyons to communicate his gratitude to the men and women in immigration enforcement, commenting, "Two years ago, we had 10,000 people a day illegally crossing into the country, two years ago, 10,000 people a day not vetted, had no idea who they were.” Lankford also pointed out that "70,000 people were estimated by the Biden administration to come in in 2024 that were special interest aliens that had a locational connection to terrorism.” "But we had no idea who they were. They were allowed to be able to come into the country two years ago," he lamented.

The Hill [2/12/2026 7:45 AM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 18170K] reports conversations about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pose a tricky line to walk for schoolteachers, who must balance compassion with avoiding the political land mine of immigration enforcement. Educators around the country are fielding questions, concerns and fears from students who are not immune to the political upheaval that has surrounded President Trump’s ICE policies, particularly the highly controversial deployment in Minnesota. Stacy B., a teacher in St. Paul who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said she has offered to bring groceries to families of her students who are afraid to go out after some saw relatives taken away by ICE, arguing the issue is no more political than her providing basic supplies in her classroom. “I’m just going to say publicly, ‘I’m here for you.’ And, to me, that’s not political, that’s my responsibility. That’s what I do is I support students. I understand and I support teachers who don’t want to say anything,” she explained. But “if someone calls me out on it, I’m going to, again, say I spend my own money on Kleenex boxes. There’s nothing political about Kleenex. I’m going to support my students, and I don’t care what the situation is.” Schools in the North Star State have seen massive attendance drops since Operation Metro Surge began, with many now offering remote learning for families afraid to leave their homes. Sean Padden, a health teacher at Roseville Area Middle School in Minnesota, said his students have been increasingly bringing up ICE and discussions around the current political climate. While he isn’t shying away from these conversations, he does warn them that such discussions end with “non-closure” much of the time. “So, the fact that we can encourage our students to have dialogue, to try to reach understanding and to try to come to terms with the fact that when that dialogue is had, expect non-closure. I tell my students that all the time — if you want to have this discussion, we can have it. If you want to go see some of our counselors that we have here on site and process, please do, but expect non-closure, and you have to be OK with that,” Padden said.

Bloomberg Law News [2/12/2026 3:19 PM, Erin Schilling, Erin Slowey, 50K] reports the IRS’ improper disclosure of thousands of immigrants’ personal information to the Department of Homeland Security fulfilled early warnings that the data-sharing deal between the agencies would put taxpayer data at risk. The IRS and DHS in April 2025 agreed to share data of immigrants to help with criminal investigations, subject to privacy law limitations. But the agency in a Wednesday court filing said it inappropriately overshared some immigrants’ address information with DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Multiple IRS leaders quit after last year’s agreement was signed, and former government officials and tax attorneys also raised alarms that it skirted the intent of strict IRS taxpayer privacy rules. Upholding that privacy is a key mission at the IRS and valued by both Democrats and Republicans. Government officials can face civil and criminal penalties for sharing confidential tax information without authorization. In the largest data breach in IRS history, former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn is serving a five-year prison sentence for leaking tax information of thousands of wealthy Americans to news outlets. President Donald Trump, who was part of the leak, is suing the agency for $10 billion.

New York Post [2/12/2026 12:48 PM, Taylor Herzlich, 40934K] reports that the IRS shared confidential information on nearly 50,000 taxpayers with DHS officials for use in carrying out the Trump administration’s massive deportation orders – seemingly violating key legal protections, according to court documents. In a court filing Wednesday afternoon, the Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service confirmed the inappropriate sharing of data, the Washington Post earlier reported. IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo wrote in a sworn declaration that the IRS disclosed the taxpayer data even when Department of Homeland Security officials were unable to provide enough information to identify the individuals they were after. Taxpayer data is protected by federal law, which has long acted as a guarantee to undocumented immigrants that data from paying their taxes would not be used against them. Yet in April, the Treasury Department agreed to provide DHS officials with names and addresses of individuals believed to be in the country illegally to aid their deportation efforts, according to a lawsuit by the Center for Taxpayer Rights in US District Court for DC. When the IRS sent these requested addresses to the DHS, it also mistakenly disclosed private information for thousands of taxpayers, sources told the Washington Post. By the time federal courts temporarily blocked the data-sharing agreement, the IRS had already sent over data on 47,000 individuals, according to court records. DHS officials had requested addresses of 1.2 million people, the documents said.

NPR [2/12/2026 3:38 PM, Ximena Bustillo, 28764K] reports in the last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted 37 investigations into officers’ use of force, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said during congressional testimony on Thursday. Of those, 18 are closed and 19 are still pending or referred for further investigation, he said. Lyons did not say whether any investigations have resulted in terminations. The investigations affect a tiny fraction of an ICE workforce. DHS has said they have been successful in nearly doubling their ranks in recent months to 22,000 people, not all of whom conduct arrests. Lyons’ comments come after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month, intensifying questions about immigration officers’ tactics, training and use of force. It also raised further questions about the integrity of the department’s internal oversight mechanisms. Lyons shared the details about investigations during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Thursday featuring top immigration enforcement officials. GOP Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., called the hearing after federal immigration officers in Minneapolis killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen. Some of the agents involved in the recent incidents had been with their agencies for several years. But critics of surging enforcement have also raised concerns about the training provided for 12,000 new ICE employees.

Politico [2/12/2026 4:30 PM, Kyle Cheney, 13586K] reports for six months, dozens of judges appointed by Donald Trump have rebuffed — and sometimes pointedly rebuked — his administration’s effort to lock up thousands of immigrants under a novel reinterpretation of decades-old deportation laws. This mass detention strategy, implemented by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has met an overwhelming rejection by federal judges appointed by every president since Ronald Reagan. Even judges Trump appointed are largely against him: 44 of them have ruled against the administration in mass-detention cases. Twenty Trump-appointed judges have signed off on the policy. The divide underscores the limits of a president’s ability to control the jurists he puts on the bench. These judges, nearly all appointed during Trump’s first term, have likely contributed to his frustration over the recommendations he received from groups like the Federalist Society and judicial power player Leonard Leo. They include Judges Stephanie Haines of Pennsylvania, John Holcomb of California and Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. of Texas, each of whom also rejected key prongs of Trump’s effort to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to carry out swift deportations without due process.

Washington Times [2/12/2026 4:05 PM, Mallory Wilson, 1323K] reports Democratic lawmakers on Thursday bolstered their demand for stricter rules for ICE agents by hosting advocates for illegal immigrants and people caught up in President Trump’s mass deportations. Congressional Democrats are calling for “guardrails” on the federal immigration agents, such as a ban on masks and requiring judicial warrants to enter homes of illegal immigrants, or else they will block funding and shut down the Department of Homeland Security at midnight Friday. At an event at the Capitol, they heard from vocal critics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Breitbart [2/12/2026 11:11 AM, Sean Moran, 2238K] reports that Middle District Court of Louisiana Judge John deGravelles, an Obama appointee, last Friday released four criminal illegal aliens convicted of murder and child sex crimes from ICE custody. "Judge John deGravelles, appointed by Barack Obama, released FOUR violent criminals back onto American communities, and unfortunately, the ramifications will only be the continued rape, murder, assault, and robbery of more American victims," Assistant Department of Homeland Secretary (DHS) Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in written statement. "Releasing these monsters is inexcusably reckless. President Trump and Secretary Noem are now enforcing the law and arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country. We are applying the law as written. If an immigration judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period." According to a DHS press release, the judge released: Ibrahim Ali Mohammed, a criminal illegal alien from Ethiopia, who has been convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor. An immigration judge ordered his removal in 2024. He was released by the Biden administration. Luis Gaston-Sanchez, a criminal illegal alien from Cuba, who was convicted of homicide, assault, resisting an officer, concealing stolen property, and two counts of robbery. An immigration judge ordered his removal in 2001.

Bloomberg [2/12/2026 10:45 AM, Max Rivera, 18082K] reports that State lawmakers across the country are trying to impede President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement with some officials pushing to outlaw federal use of local jail beds.

More than half a dozen states, including California, New Jersey and Illinois, already limit agreements between public entities and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and New York and Rhode Island are considering related proposals. Just last week, New Mexico passed the Immigration Safety Act, a law that bans agreements between public detention facilities and ICE. Other bills want to ensure access to key services for undocumented immigrants and block ICE agents in certain protected spaces like schools.

States are “stepping up to protect residents by passing bills and protections that address where the current administration has been attacking folks on the ground,” said Luis Suarez, a senior advocacy manager at the Detention Watch Network, a group that aims to cull immigration detention centers. Scrutiny of the US government’s tactics is growing after federal agents killed two US citizens in Minneapolis last month, sparking a wave of protests across the country. On Thursday, White House border czar Tom Homan announced the end of the surge operation in Minnesota. The immigration crackdown in US cities is also fueling a fight in Congress that is raising the risk of a partial government shutdown as soon as Saturday.

Axios [2/12/2026 6:40 AM, Chrissy Suttles and Ryan Deto, 12972K] reports U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Swissvale) said in a Wednesday letter to ICE that the agency "illegally detained" a Brentwood immigrant with health issues who, his family says, is authorized to remain in the U.S. The arrest of Maklim Gomez Escalante — an asylum seeker from El Salvador who lives with his family in Brentwood — is part of a Trump administration shift away from immigration policy that traditionally allowed asylum applicants to live and work in the U.S. while awaiting a decision. Gomez Escalante was detained by ICE in Baldwin on Jan. 20, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Axios on Tuesday. Rebecca Mackin, a friend who is helping Gomez Escalante’s wife navigate his arrest, tells Axios that federal officials gave the family no explanation for his detention and haven’t provided updates on his health after he was hospitalized last week for partial facial paralysis. He experienced cardiovascular problems at home in the months before his arrest, his wife, Natalia Garcia de Gomez, told Axios on Tuesday. Gomez Escalante told his family the officers discarded his work permit before arresting him. McLaughlin told Axios he started showing signs of "stroke-like symptoms and a migraine" while in ICE detention. He was transferred to Mount Nittany Medical Center near State College on Feb. 2, cleared by doctors and returned to Moshannon Valley Processing Center on Feb. 4. She said DHS provides "comprehensive medical care" to those in detention, including 24-hour emergency care.

NewsMax [2/12/2026 3:44 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Wednesday signed an executive order banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement from launching operations on state property. Sherrill also launched a portal for New Jersey residents to report interactions with ICE to the state. Federal immigration agents continue to be active in New Jersey, with recent enforcement operations drawing sharp local response. ICE officers from the Newark Field Office, headquartered at 970 Broad Street, have carried out multiple arrests in the state, including enforcement actions at transit hubs and community sites, prompting fear and quiet streets in areas like Hoboken the day after arrests, according to local officials. Recent legislation introduced by New Jersey lawmakers aims to increase transparency and restrict ICE tactics after heightened immigration enforcement raised concerns among residents and elected leaders.

FOX News [2/12/2026 7:18 AM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports the Trump Department of Homeland Security is clapping back at New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill after she pledged to help members of the public track U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers through an online portal. After Sherrill, a U.S. Navy veteran, recently announced, "We are going to be standing up a portal, so people can upload all their cell videos and alert people," adding, "If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out, we want to know.” In response, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "This certainly looks like obstruction of justice.” "This action by the Governor encourages violence against our officers and obstruction of our operations," the spokesperson went on, pointing out that "our officers are already facing a highly coordinated campaign of violence against them and a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them.” The spokesperson suggested that Sherrill’s policies are the real danger to New Jerseyans, not ICE agents. "ICE law enforcement would not have to be in the field in New Jersey if we had state and local cooperation. Governor Sherrill is not letting that happen, which puts New Jerseyans in danger," the spokesperson said. DHS pointed to just a few of ICE’s recent arrests in New Jersey, which they said include pedophiles, rapists and murderers. "While Governor Sherrill continues to encourage agitators to obstruct law enforcement and release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto New Jersey’s streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest heinous criminals in New Jersey," said the spokesperson. DHS said that it recently arrested a Mexican criminal illegal alien named Jose Ortega Villalva, who it said is convicted of sex offense against a child, fondling and molestation of a minor.

FOX News [2/12/2026 7:58 AM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said a Honduran criminal illegal alien rammed a law enforcement vehicle during an arrest attempt in New Jersey on Tuesday, forcing an agent to shoot out the suspect’s tires. Dramatic video shows the officer drawing his gun during the tense roadside confrontation. The incident unfolded in Roxbury Township when ICE said suspect Jesus Fabian Lopez-Banegas tried to evade arrest by crashing into a law enforcement vehicle and nearly striking an officer. Roxbury Township is in Morris County, roughly 35 miles northwest of Newark. Video shows an agent drawing his firearm at the crash scene, where a law enforcement vehicle and the suspect’s pickup truck sit nose-to-nose along a snowy roadside. The agent stands with his gun trained on the vehicle as the suspect eventually steps out and raises his hands, backing away from the officer. "In an attempt to evade arrest, Lopez-Banegas rammed into a law enforcement vehicle and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said. "Following his training, the officer defensively used his firearm and shot out the tires of the vehicle to stop the threat. Thankfully, no one was injured. Officers arrested Banegas and took him into ICE custody.” The incident comes as the Department of Homeland Security said officers are facing a 3,200% increase in vehicle attacks and a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they try to arrest criminal illegal aliens.

CBS Baltimore [2/12/2026 4:14 PM, J.T. Moodee Lockman, 51110K] reports a bill that could end 287(g) partnerships between Maryland law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is heading to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk. The bill would prevent state agencies and employees from entering into 287(g) agreements and would end all existing agreements by July 2026. The agreements allow local law enforcement officials to carry out immigration enforcement duties. Currently, eight Maryland counties have 287(g) agreements. Two versions of the bill, House Bill 0444 and Senate Bill 0245, were approved by the State House and Senate. Both bills were then sent to the opposite chamber for another round of approvals before they were sent to the governor’s desk to be signed into law. Moore previously expressed his support for the bill and said he would sign it into law.

Blaze [2/12/2026 5:10 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging Georgia law enforcement officials not to release an illegal alien charged with sexual crimes against a child, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News. Juan Carlos Salvador Diaz, 29, was accused of sexual battery against a 10-year-old girl on August 1, 2025, and on December 1, 2023. Salvador Diaz allegedly committed these crimes at a Marietta apartment complex. Local authorities arrested him on January 30, and he is facing two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Salvador Diaz is currently being held without bond. The DHS reported that the Honduran national illegally entered the U.S. in 2019. The day after his arrest, ICE lodged an arrest detainer with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. ICE is urging the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office not to release Salvador Diaz from its jail without first notifying the federal immigration agency.

CBS News [2/12/2026 6:19 PM, Brian Unger, 51110K] reports the city manager of Oakwood, Georgia, says he was given just days’ notice that a massive federal immigration detention facility is set to open inside the small North Georgia community. The facility, comprised of a pair of warehouses totaling more than 600,000 square feet, is expected to hold about 1,500 detainees. But for city officials, the most alarming number is three. White says the city of roughly 7,000 residents was never formally notified by federal officials that the site would operate as an immigration detention center. Now, city leaders say they are preparing for what could come with the opening of a large detention facility, such as increased traffic, public safety concerns, and the possibility of protests. White said city officials are hearing little support for the project from residents. Still, opinions among people in town appear divided.

Daily Caller [2/12/2026 2:40 PM, Jason Cohen, 803K] reports that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday indicated she might get into a shootout with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents if they entered her house and she could not easily identify them. ICE has faced intense backlash since the January fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. Willis said on the podcast "The Jamal Bryant Podcast ‘Let’s Be Clear" that she was shocked about a lack of "very violent incidents" between citizens and ICE and indicated there might be a shootout if agents entered her home "guns ablaze" in an effort to snatch somebody. "I’ve been very amazed that we have gotten this far and there has not been an incident with not even local law enforcement, but with communities that ICE is going to get… one reason I’m surprised is because sometime the identifying clothing or paraphernalia of the person is not one where you can readily tell that it is a law enforcement person," Willis said. "And if somebody came in my house, guns ablaze, trying to grab anyone out, it might end badly for everybody." "So I’ve been really, really surprised that we haven’t had an incident already. And I’m talking about very violent incidents," she continued. "I do not know that it will be law enforcement coming to a clash. But if you ask me the broader question is, do I think that something is going to go very badly before this behavior stops? I do." It was unclear when Bryant and Willis filmed the episode, and there was no mention of the Pretti and Good shootings during their discussion of ICE.

Chicago Tribune [2/12/2026 4:10 PM, Michelle L. Quinn, 5209K] reports Merrillville officials hope a letter denying the existence of a Department of Homeland Security contract on a warehouse in town will calm residents’ nerves about a theoretical immigrant detention center. Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6, read into the record during Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting a letter from Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Opus Group Vice President and General Counsel Shanna L. Strowbridge. The letter was a reply to a letter Town Attorney Joe Sventanoff wrote to the company last month at the council’s behest about rumors DHS was setting up a processing center at a 278,000-square-foot warehouse at 8719 Mississippi St. Additionally, the Town at its January 27 meeting approved a resolution denouncing any sort of detention or processing center. Sventanoff, however, previously told the Post-Tribune that if DHS decides Merrillville is its spot, there’s likely little it can do to stop it.

The Hill [2/12/2026 4:22 PM, Zach Schonfeld, 18170K] reports a federal judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow religious leaders into a detention facility in the Chicago suburbs for Ash Wednesday next week and enable them to offer communion going forward. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said denying Catholic priests and sisters access to detainees violates a federal religious freedom law. Gettleman said denying religious leaders access violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 1990s law Congress passed to strengthen religious liberty protections in response to a Supreme Court decision. The federal government did not reject the notion they denied the religious leaders access, but it insisted the lawsuit should not move forward because they hadn’t shown any legal violation.

Reported similarly:
Washington Times [2/12/2026 3:27 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K]

NPR [2/12/2026 4:54 PM, Jasmine Garsd, 28764K] reports for the last few months Minneapolis has been experiencing a historic immigration enforcement crackdown, which has even spread to medical facilities. Workers at one hospital in Minneapolis say ICE officers have restrained patients and lingered around the facility demanding proof of citizenship from people. It has forced many patients without legal status and their health care providers to set up alternate forms of care. "It really worries me that fear is causing people not to access health care," one Minneapolis doctor told NPR on the condition that he remain anonymous to protect his patients. "I get really concerned that people ignore acute symptoms, things that they really should be coming in for. Breathing problems, bad abdominal pain.” He’s worked in the city for more than two decades and says he’s never seen anything like the current immigration crackdown and how it is affecting patients. In addition to his regular practice, he supervises a licensed clinic in a neighborhood that has been the target of ICE operations. He says in the last month or so, he’s heard of patients staying home and away from care. The doctor says it’s not just medical emergencies that worry him. It’s "people missing the management of their chronic conditions. Things like diabetes going untreated for months is going to lead to complications.” NPR visited the neighborhood clinic he supervises on the condition that we keep the location and the names of patients and volunteers to varying degrees anonymous, because they fear federal immigration agents will target them. The clinic is located in an immigrant neighborhood, in the basement of a non-medical building. The day we visit, it’s being run by some 50 volunteer doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

NPR [2/13/2026 4:46 PM, Steve Inskeep, 34837K] reports NPR’s Steve Inskeep asks Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about the lingering impact of the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

CBS News [2/12/2026 8:37 PM, Jake Rosen and Joe Walsh, 51110K] reports the Justice Department moved to drop federal charges against two men charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minneapolis last month, including one Venezuelan defendant who was shot in the leg by an officer, citing "newly discovered evidence" that was "materially inconsistent" with the allegations against them. The filing, entered Thursday by U.S. Attorney in Minnesota Daniel Rosen, moves to dismiss the charges against the men with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be reintroduced. In January, the two men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were charged in a federal criminal complaint with forcibly assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers in performance of their official duties. The charges came after Sosa-Celis was shot by an ICE officer, which drew nationwide attention amid the federal immigration surge in Minnesota. It is unclear specifically what new information led to the charges getting dismissed. But the government’s account of the alleged assault was not consistent. A day after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said Sosa-Celis had fled the scene of a "targeted traffic stop" in Minneapolis in his vehicle, crashed into a parked car and kept fleeing on foot. When an ICE agent caught up to him, two men allegedly attacked the agent with a broom handle and snow shovel, and Sosa-Celis allegedly broke free and also started striking the officer. DHS said an officer then fired a "defensive shot to defend his life." Sosa-Celis and two other men ran into an apartment but were later taken into custody, DHS said. But in an affidavit to support charges against the two men, the FBI said that Aljorna — not Sosa-Celis — had fled the scene in a car, and Sosa-Celis was the one who initially struck the ICE officer with a broom stick while he tried to arrest Aljorna. The FBI alleged that Aljorna then broke free and started attacking the ICE officer with the same broomstick. The affidavit also says that the officer "had poor or sporadic lighting" and "had difficulty seeing the assailants.”

FOX News [2/12/2026 11:01 AM, Preston Mizell, 37576K] reports the Trump administration demanded answers from 7-Eleven’s COO following an altercation where U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and federal agents were denied service at a Minneapolis gas station in late January. Michael Lynch, deputy administrator of the General Services Administration, sent a letter to Doug Rosencrans, 7-Eleven’s COO, on Feb. 5 requesting any information from a potential internal investigation into the altercation. Lynch noted that a federal government partnership could be in jeopardy between the Trump administration and the world’s largest international chain of convenience stores. "As 7-Eleven, Inc./Speedway LLC locations accept the GSA SmartPay fleet card for fuel and other authorized purchases on behalf of Federal fleets —i ncluding those operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — these actions raise concerns about the ability of Federal vehicle operators to access necessary fuel and services at convenient locations," the letter reads. A viral video captured by conservative activist Cam Higby posted on Jan. 21 shows Bovino leaving a Speedway gas station, a chain which is owned by parent company 7-Eleven, followed by a manager who said, "I don’t support ICE, and nobody here does.” GSA said in the letter that "the reported refusal appears to have encompassed both in-store purchases and potential fuel transactions.”

The New York Times [2/12/2026 7:25 PM, Maria Cramer, 148038K] reports a New Jersey woman said she was chained to a hospital bed after having a seizure at an immigration detention center, where she has been held for nearly a year in conditions that she described as filthy and inhumane. The woman, Leqaa Kordia, who has been held at the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, since March 2025, said she woke up last Friday inside the medical unit “terrified and confused.” She had fallen twice and her body had begun twitching, she said in a statement released by her lawyer on Thursday. Ms. Kordia, 33, said she was brought to a hospital that day and remained there for 72 hours, her wrists and legs shackled to her bed, as medical staff drew her blood and gave her medications. “The entire time I was chained,” she said in the statement. “I felt like an animal.” Ms. Kordia has not been charged with a crime. Federal officials and her immigration lawyer, Sarah Sherman-Stokes, confirmed that Ms. Kordia, who is Palestinian, was hospitalized. Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, has accused Ms. Kordia of being a terrorist sympathizer and government lawyers had said they were investigating funds she sent overseas. Her lawyers have countered in immigration hearings and court documents that she sent $1,000 to help her family in Gaza. Ms. Kordia worked as a server before she was detained. After Ms. Kordia’s detention, an official from the Homeland Security Investigations agency in New Jersey asked the New York Police Department for information about her, saying that she was being investigated in connection with money laundering. The Police Department gave U.S. authorities the record of Ms. Kordia’s 2024 arrest. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on Wednesday that Ms. Kordia had been “found to be providing financial support to individuals living in nations hostile to the U.S.” The AP [2/12/2026 7:37 PM, Jake Offenhartz, 35287K] reports that in a statement released through her lawyers on Thursday, Kordia said she was shackled the entire time she was hospitalized and prevented from calling family or meeting with her lawyers. "For three days in the emergency room, my hands and legs were weighed down by heavy chains as they drew my blood and gave me medications," Kordia said. "I felt like an animal. My hands are still full of marks from the heavy metal.” Her doctors, she said, told her the seizure may have been the result of poor sleep, inadequate nutrition and stress. Her lawyers previously warned that Kordia, a devout Muslim, had lost 49 pounds (22 kilograms) and fainted in the shower, in part because the jail had denied her meals that comply with religious requirements. "I’ve been here for 11 months, and the food is so bad it makes me sick," the statement continued. "At Prairieland, your daily life — whether you can have access to the food or medicine you need or even a good night’s sleep — is controlled by the private, for-profit business that runs this facility.” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, but said in a statement to The New York Times that Kordia wasn’t being mistreated and was receiving proper medical care.

AP [2/12/2026 7:37 PM, Jake Offenhartz, 35287K] reports a Palestinian woman who has been held in an immigration jail for nearly a year after she attended a protest in New York City said she suffered a seizure after fainting and hitting her head last week, an episode she linked to "filthy" and "inhumane" conditions inside the privately run detention facility. Leqaa Kordia, 33, was hospitalized for three days following the seizure, which she said was the first of her life. She has since returned to the Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas, where she has been held since March. In a statement released through her lawyers on Thursday, Kordia said she was shackled the entire time she was hospitalized and prevented from calling family or meeting with her lawyers. "For three days in the emergency room, my hands and legs were weighed down by heavy chains as they drew my blood and gave me medications," Kordia said. "I felt like an animal. My hands are still full of marks from the heavy metal.” Her doctors, she said, told her the seizure may have been the result of poor sleep, inadequate nutrition and stress. Her lawyers previously warned that Kordia, a devout Muslim, had lost 49 pounds (22 kilograms) and fainted in the shower, in part because the jail had denied her meals that comply with religious requirements. "I’ve been here for 11 months, and the food is so bad it makes me sick," the statement continued. "At Prairieland, your daily life — whether you can have access to the food or medicine you need or even a good night’s sleep — is controlled by the private, for-profit business that runs this facility.” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, but said in a statement to The New York Times that Kordia wasn’t being mistreated and was receiving proper medical care.

Univision [2/12/2026 2:26 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports the vacation of a Colombian mother and her 9-year-old daughter turned into a four-month nightmare, when they were hospitalized at the ICE detention center in Dilley, Texas. The nightmare began when Maria Antonia, 9, traveled alone, in charge of the crew of a plane, from Colombia to Miami, where her mother, Maria Alejandra Montoya, was waiting for her. When the plane landed in Miami and Maria Alexandra was called to deliver her daughter, she took a bitter surprise. “I’m admitted to an office where there were about 8 or 10 officers, (and they tell me) or you sign a voluntary deportation or we took you to a detention center with your daughter. Choose,” the mother said. “A process of an interrogation of about eight to ten hours sitting in a room begins again. The girl was falling asleep. I all the time said, ‘I don’t want to answer, I don’t want to answer,’” Maria Alejandra said in an interview with N+ Univision 62. The Colombian mother decided not to sign that self-deportation offered at the airport since she was already in a process of adjustment of status for her residence and was not with undocumented immigrant status. After the lengthy interrogation, both were taken into ICE custody and 48 hours later were transferred to the Dilley detention center. Among the many complaints that María Alejandra makes is that of psychological manipulation suffered by the families locked in the detention centers, since when they arrived at that place, an Immigration agent told the girl: “Look at what ugly place your mother decided to bring you.” According to little Maria Antonia, in the detention center, the children meet to talk about their cases, to ask each other which countries they were going to send them to or when they were going to let them leave. Her mother says the girl feels guilt, saying that if she hadn’t asked for that vacation, they wouldn’t have gone through the arrest and the lockdown. After 128 days locked up and after a month of signing the voluntary departure of the United States, María Alejandra and María Antonia were finally deported to Colombia, where they now try to restart a life.

FOX News [2/12/2026 9:03 PM, Preston Mizell, 37576K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested an illegal migrant who was charged with rape, purchasing sex with a minor, and sexual abuse in Oregon, after the migrant was released on bail by sanctuary policies. Manuel Cruz-Ramirez, who still faces the slew of charges, was not referred to immigration officers upon his arrest and release due to Marion County’s sanctuary status. The illegal immigrant from Mexico was apprehended only because he was using a fraudulent Mexican passport at the Portland International Airport. TSA and CBP agents were flagged when his falsified name did not return full data, according to DHS. "Manuel Cruz-Ramirez was arrested for rape, purchasing sex with a minor, and sexual abuse in Oregon," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "The state’s sanctuary politicians allowed this pedophile to be released from jail back into American communities.” In non-sanctuary cities, Cruz-Ramirez would have referred to immigration officers, who would have apprehended him before he was released from detention. "Americans can be proud of the swift actions of TSA and CBP for protecting them and our judicial system by preventing this monster from fleeing the country," McLaughlin explained. "Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans. "Oregon’s sanctuary politicians must stop this reckless insanity of releasing child predators from jail back into our neighborhoods to prey on more innocent children," she added.

FOX News [2/12/2026 4:09 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K] reports a group in a Los Angeles neighborhood is using sirens to warn residents and business owners of federal immigration authorities. The Highland Park Community Support group, a coalition of community members, has crowdfunded to raise funds to purchase air raid sirens. Organizers told the news outlet they were working with homeowners and businesses to place the sirens on private property, rather than city-owned spaces. On the street, volunteers have distributed ICE alert whistles, encouraging residents to warn each other when enforcement activity is seen. Meanwhile. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently issued a directive to curtail ICE activity on city property. Breitbart [2/12/2026 8:42 PM, Paul Bois, 2238K] reports "We’d like to ultimately have this along all the different streets so they can take shelter," said Amanda Alcalde, creator of the group. "I’ve seen a lot of fear in people’s eyes. I don’t see a lot of our ethnic minorities out in the day to day. It’s big change. It feels dystopian in a way.” Alcalde said the group hopes to install the sirens later this month, adding that they will be installed on private property as opposed to city-owned spaces. Questions of them being a noise ordinance issue have not been addressed. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that those air raid sirens were used in London when German planes flew over, calling the move "insane.” "The residents of Highland Park want to buy an air raid siren—the same device that was used in London when German planes flew over—to alert the community about ICE," she said. "Seems like a public nuisance!". NewsMax [2/12/2026 4:35 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 3760K] reports that in addition to the sirens, volunteers have distributed "ICE alert" whistles, encouraging residents to warn one another if enforcement activity is observed.

FOX News [2/12/2026 7:00 PM, Alexander Hall, 37576K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called out musician Cardi B after she joked in viral videos that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents should be attacked if they enter her concerts. During the opening night of her Little Miss Drama Tour in Palm Desert, California. Wednesday, the musician scanned the crowd for any Guatemalans or Mexicans in the audience and made a statement that went viral. She then proceeded to warn, "B----, If ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they a----," sparking cheers from the crowd. "I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, b----.” ICE didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. However, DHS’ official account on X replied, "As long as she doesn’t drug and rob our agents, we’ll consider that an improvement over her past behavior.” DHS appeared to reference the musician saying in a past video that she once routinely drugged and robbed men while working as a stripper. "I had to go strip, I had to go, ‘Oh yeah, you want to f--- me?,’" she yelled in the past video. "‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, let’s go back to this hotel.’ And I drugged [men] up, and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do.” Her condemnation of immigration enforcement in America comes only weeks after she praised the policies of Saudi Arabia, a regime known for being far more theocratic and authoritarian than Western liberal democracies.

Univision [2/12/2026 1:49 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Rafael Caballero was detained by immigration agents on January 15 during an operation in the Flower District in downtown Los Angeles. Since then, his family has been living with anguish and hope for a swift reunion. Rafael, a construction worker and the sole provider for his family, was arrested while helping a street vendor set up her stall. The woman managed to escape, but that act of kindness landed him in immigration custody. Rafael is currently being held at the Adelanto Detention Center, from where he managed to contact his family by phone. In the call, he described his confinement and his longing for freedom. Their lawyer, Alex Gálvez, reported that during the last hearing, a judge determined that Rafael is eligible for a 42B visa, as he is the father of a minor with severe autism.

The Hill [2/12/2026 8:58 PM, Dylan McKim, 18170K] reports a Republican congresswoman from Texas said she believes it is now the time for the federal government to pivot its focus from immigration enforcement to immigration reform. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R – Texas, is championing a proposal to create a new visa program targeted specifically for construction workers. The proposed visa program is in response to a problem many south Texas builders are experiencing: a lack of immigrant workers. “Now, it is important that we look at a conversation now that the border is secure under President Trump on ways of reforming the immigration system,” De La Cruz told Nexstar. De La Cruz said she met with White House officials and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson earlier this week to discuss immigration reform policies. De La Cruz said Johnson is taking all of the thoughts and concerns into consideration, but some south Texas community members say they were not happy with the outcome of the meeting. Mario Guerrero, the executive director of the South Texas Builders Association, said construction sites are seeing fewer workers because of immigration enforcement. Guerrero said those workers are being targeted by immigration officials at the job site. Some are arrested and deported while others are scared to show up. Guerrero said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are notorious for following cement trucks to job sites in the area and arresting workers as they are in the middle of pouring the foundation. “So you’re looking at a $30,000 negative loss, off the bat, on a construction site,” Guerrero explained.

CNN [2/12/2026 6:00 AM, Catherine E. Shoichet, 612K] reports that when she read the news, Grace felt like she was falling. The 37-year-old oncologist had studied hard. And she’d sailed through her US citizenship interview. She thought just one step remained. "Be on the lookout in the mail," a US Citizenship and Immigration Services officer told her that day in September, she says. "You’ll get a notice to come for a ceremony." But instead, a few months later a government portal delivered a devastating update: "Oath ceremony cancelled." In an instant, the solid, American ground where she’d spent more than a decade building a career and life for her family seemed to disappear. "It was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re in a free fall,’" Grace says. "We don’t know where we’re going to land." Grace is among a growing group of would-be Americans whose cases are now in limbo after the Trump administration indefinitely froze citizenship decisions for applicants from certain countries it deems "high-risk." The pause also applies to applications for green cards and visas from nationals of those countries, which the Trump administration says "demonstrate significant deficiencies in screening, vetting and information sharing." CNN spoke with people across the US — in states including Washington, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Arizona and Massachusetts — who’ve been impacted by the sudden policy change, which critics decry as a move that punishes immigrants who follow the rules.

NewsMax [2/12/2026 8:17 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K] reports the Trump administration reportedly plans to increase efforts to denaturalize foreign-born Americans who committed fraud while applying for citizenship. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has directed its field offices to supply the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation with 100 to 200 potential denaturalization cases per month in fiscal year 2026, according to internal guidance obtained by The New York Times. If fully implemented, that would mark a dramatic escalation compared with recent years. The Justice Department has filed just over 120 such cases combined from 2017 through this year, the Times reported. USCIS has been sending experts to field offices nationwide and reassigning staff to identify cases in which citizenship may have been obtained through fraud or misrepresentation, NBC News reported. The goal, sources told NBC, is to significantly increase referrals to DOJ attorneys, who must ultimately prove their case in federal court. Under federal law, denaturalization is permitted only in narrow circumstances, primarily when an individual concealed material facts or committed fraud in the naturalization process. Administration officials insist the renewed push is about enforcing existing law, not changing it. "We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud in the naturalization process and will pursue denaturalization proceedings for any individual who lied or misrepresented themselves," USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser told NBC News.

Washington Examiner [2/12/2026 5:03 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K] reports a federal judge who is overseeing a high-profile immigration case read online threats made against her on Thursday after she upheld the temporary protected status designation given to more than 300,000 Haitians before the second Trump administration. In a court hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes of the District of Columbia entered a number of death threats into the record. As a Uruguayan immigrant herself, the case is particularly important to Reyes, who vowed she and her colleagues will not be "intimidated" by death threats. The court hearing concerned her previous order that postponed the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haitian immigrants. The Justice Department requested that Reyes rescind her order last week while also appealing her decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In response to the request, the district judge denied the government’s motion to stay her order. Reyes noted she will issue a written order by Feb. 19 when both parties face their next deadline in the case before the appeals court.

Blaze [2/12/2026 1:15 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports that Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took action on Wednesday to prevent unqualified foreign drivers from operating semi-trucks. This decision comes in response to several fatal crashes involving non-domiciled commercial driver’s license holders, a situation that has gained national attention over the past year. Duffy issued a final rule, "Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers Licenses," which aims to close safety gaps in the issuance of CDLs to foreign drivers. Perhaps the most significant provision of the DOT’s final rule eliminates the reliance on Employment Authorization Documents to demonstrate eligibility for non-domiciled CDLs, which the agency notes had led to "widespread regulatory non-compliance." Instead, applicants will be required to present a foreign passport or Form I-94 documentation. "While U.S. drivers are subject to strict checks through national databases for past violations — such as DUIs, reckless driving, or crash involvement — states lack the ability to access the driving records of foreigners and illegal immigrants. This loophole allowed individuals with dangerous driving histories to obtain a trucking license simply by presenting an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which does not screen for transportation safety," a DOT press release states. Another key condition of the final rule is a restriction on eligibility that requires foreign nationals to hold H-2A, H-2B, or E-2 visas, which are temporary non-immigrant visas for workers and treaty investors.

FOX News [2/12/2026 2:25 PM, Jake Gibson, 37576K] reports that a federal judge on Thursday upheld her order postponing the termination of temporary protected status for around 350,000 Haitians in the United States. The Justice Department appealed U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes’ stay to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit but simultaneously requested that she rescind her order. Reyes heard arguments from both sides on Thursday. She said she was denying the government’s motion and would issue a written order before Feb. 19, which is the next deadline in the appellate court case. Reyes’ order pauses Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of temporary protected status for Haitians. "During the stay, the Termination shall be null, void, and of no legal effect," she wrote. "The Termination therefore does not affect the protections and benefits previously conferred by the TPS designation, including work authorization and protection from detention and deportation, and the valid period of work authorization extends during the stay." At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Reyes said she had something "important" to put on the record. "People are entitled to their views," said Reyes, who is both the first Latina and openly LGBTQ person to serve in Washington, D.C., as a district court judge. "I am an immigrant. I did not hide that from the president of the United States… or from the U.S. Senate," Reyes said, adding that she has heard questions about "how someone like me, an immigrant and a lesbian, could get this job."

Bloomberg [2/12/2026 12:00 PM, Angelica Franganillo Diaz, 763K] reports that US Customs and Border Protection faces staffing and technology gaps along the northern border, a government watchdog says, even as migrant crossings there have dropped sharply from recent highs. The Government Accountability Office review comes after border security dominated political debate during Joe Biden’s administration, when nationwide migrant encounters exceeded 2 million annually in fiscal 2022 and 2023, according to CBP data. While activity was concentrated at the southwest border, the Border Patrol reported around 24,000 apprehensions along the northern border in fiscal 2024, up from around 6,000 in fiscal 2019. Northern land border apprehensions fell below 8,000 in fiscal... [Editorial note: consult extended commentary at source link]

CBS Miami [2/12/2026 1:37 PM, Steven Yablonski and Ivan Taylor, 51110K] reports that a large investigation took place in west Broward on Thursday, and several border patrol agents were assisting in the search that was taking place. CBS News Miami’s Ivan Taylor was at the scene off U.S. 27, and video showed investigators from multiple agencies, including the Broward Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, searching the area off U.S. 27. At least two people were taken into custody at the scene, and it’s unknown if they were looking for a third person that may have been connected to the investigation. Drones were also used during the search, as were K-9 units. It’s still unclear what sparked the large investigation, but CBS News Miami has reached out to various agencies for additional information.

USA Today [2/12/2026 5:11 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, 70643K] reports newly released body camera footage of a Border Patrol agent shooting a Chicago woman contradicts government accounts that she rammed agents with her car in an ambush. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said Marimar Martinez, a 31-year-old Montessori school teacher, on Oct. 4 followed federal Border Patrol agents, blocked them, and rammed her vehicle into them before Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot her five times. But video evidence, investigative reports and messages released Feb. 10 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago tell a different story. Footage from an officer’s body camera and surveillance video do not show agents boxed in or Martinez ramming them as she and other demonstrators followed federal agents to alert neighbors to their presence. At the government’s request, a federal judge on Nov. 20 already dismissed the criminal case for assault with a deadly weapon against Martinez, an American citizen from Chicago who is Latina. The incident occurred during the Trump administration’s "Operation Midway Blitz" that surged immigration agents in and around Chicago. Martinez’s lawyers are now pursuing legal action for damages from the shooting, which has left Martinez in pain and unable to close her hand or cross her legs months later. The incident is among a growing list of violent encounters with federal immigration agents. In response to emailed questions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol, said Exum was placed on administrative leave, consistent with policy.

NewsNation [2/12/2026 9:36 AM, Brónagh Tumulty, 4464K] Video: HERE reports lawyers for the Chicago woman shot by a Border Patrol agent took the first steps Wednesday in filing a federal lawsuit. Maramar Martinez alongside her lawyers held a news conference Wednesday they are seeking l seek tens of millions of dollars in damages. Martinez spoke only once when asked whether she was afraid for her safety. Her attorneys though had plenty to say, claiming agents and Homeland Security lied from the get-go about how the incident unfolded. Newly released body camera footage from inside the agent’s Chevy Tahoe on October 4 shows agents claiming they’re boxed in and going to make contact before colliding with Martinez’s Nissan. The driver of the Tahoe then gets out and opens fire. Martinez was struck five times but able to drive away. At Wednesday’s news conference, her lawyers outlined what they say are lies told by those on scene and said agents rammed her vehicle.

The Hill [2/12/2026 3:48 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports the lawyers for a Chicago woman who was shot five times by a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused the Trump administration on Wednesday of spreading lies about the shooting and of mishandling the investigation. Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen, was in her car in October when a Border Patrol agent shot her. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pressed charges, accusing her attempting to use her car to ram into the agents at the scene. But video footage released by her attorneys — which showed an agent steering his vehicle into Martinez’s car — led to the case’s dismissal. Her lawyers accused DHS of lying after the department called her a “domestic terrorist” with a history of doxing federal officials. The agent who shot Martinez five times, Charles Exum, was not wearing a body camera, NBC News reported. Other officials with body cameras show Exum steering his vehicle before colliding with Martinez’s car. He leaves the vehicle and five shots can be heard. The U.S. attorney’s office also released emails and texts, along with the videos, Tuesday night. Text exchanges to and from Exum show that he received “big time” support after the shooting, the outlet reported. He texted at one point that this support also came from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Gregory Bovino, former Border Patrol commander-at-large.

CBS Chicago [2/12/2026 3:34 PM, Todd Feurer, 51110K] reports an immigration judge has denied bail to a Chicago man who was recently cleared of charges accusing him of offering $10,000 for the murder of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, meaning Juan Espinoza Martinez will stay behind bars as the federal government moves to deport him. Despite a jury finding Martinez not guilty of one count of murder for hire, attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security argued he was a danger to the community, and an immigration judge in Chicago agreed on Wednesday to keep him in custody. A federal judge in Indiana, where Martinez is being held, had ordered he receive a bond hearing or be released from custody, resulting in Wednesday’s proceeding. Martinez’s attorney, Sussethe Renteria, said she will consider a possible appeal of the immigration judge’s ruling

CBS News [2/12/2026 9:22 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51110K] reports a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer is facing federal criminal charges over allegations he harbored an immigrant who officials say is in the country illegally and is also the officer’s girlfriend and niece. The Justice Department alleges that CBP officer and supervisor Andres Wilkinson was living in Laredo, Texas, with a woman who had overstayed her visa and is now in the U.S. illegally. The woman entered the U.S. on a temporary visa in August 2023, according to the criminal complaint filed earlier this month. Wilkinson allegedly provided her "financial support, including housing, credit cards, assistance with financial obligations and access to vehicle," the Justice Department said. The criminal complaint states they traveled together through Border Patrol checkpoints near the Texas border. The Justice Department said Wilkinson was "aware of her unlawful immigration status yet maintained a romantic relationship with her.” The Washington Examiner [2/12/2026 6:10 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K] reports a U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervisor has been arrested and charged in Texas for allegedly harboring an illegal immigrant who is said to be in a romantic relationship with the immigration officer. Andres Wilkinson, 52, remains in custody for the alleged crime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced on Wednesday. The situation in which Wilkinson finds himself is notable not only because he was purportedly involved in a sexual relationship with the illegal immigrant but also because the woman may be his niece. CBP first learned in April 2025 that Elva Edith Garcia-Vallejo, who entered the United States on a nonimmigrant visa in 2023, was living with Wilkinson and her child in Laredo, Texas, according to the criminal complaint as reported by the Guardian. She later overstayed her visa. Wilkinson was aware of her unlawful status and even helped her cross through Border Patrol checkpoints along the southern border. Last May, CBP received word that Garcia-Vallejo may be Wilkinson’s niece because the CBP supervisor listed her father as his brother in a 2023 background investigation. No evidence has been presented suggesting the lovers are related by blood or a relative’s marriage. When law enforcement interviewed her earlier this month, the woman admitted she had been living with her uncle since August 2024, per the complaint. The press release says the defendant had a detention hearing set for Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Bajew. It’s unclear if he entered a plea yet. If convicted, Wilkinson faces up to a decade in prison and a possible $250,000 fine for allegedly harboring the illegal immigrant.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [2/12/2026 6:45 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K]
Washington Times [2/12/2026 10:33 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K]

New York Post [2/12/2026 12:02 PM, Zain Khan, 40934K] reports that this is the astonishing moment shots were fired as US Border Patrol pursued a panga boat packed with illegal migrants off the coast of San Diego. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations on Wednesday shared footage of agents chasing the vessel and deploying multiple warning rounds near San Clemente Island on Feb. 2. The border agents could be seen blaring their sirens before racing alongside the small craft and ordering it to a halt in both Spanish and English. The clip cuts to the small boat appearing to speed up and try to escape, until the officers moved ahead and cut off the vessel. One migrant is heard telling the officers, "Take it easy, man," as he was ordered at gunpoint to put his hands up and move away from the helm. The video then shows the agents boarding the boat, lifting the illegal immigrants into their vessel, and zip-tying them toward the bow. Border Patrol in California later confirmed 12 people were detained, including three minors and one aged just 11. Maritime migrant detections nearly doubled in 2021 to 14,500 incidents, though funding for these missions has remained stagnant at around $1.2billion, the Migration Policy Institute reports.

DailySignal [2/12/2026 5:40 PM, Virginia Allen, 474K] reports Border Patrol agents in California have arrested 23 individuals in a human smuggling bust, according to Customs and Border Protection. Four of the individuals arrested are believed to be human smugglers, and 19 are Mexican nationals, the agency reported. Border Patrol agents spotted a vehicle on Jan. 31 in the El Centro Sector of the U.S. border with Mexico, which they believed was being used for smuggling activity. An investigation led agents to an apartment complex in Seeley, California, about 100 miles east of San Diego, where they saw individuals being transferred between vehicles. Seven individuals attempted to flee the scene when agents approached, but officials pursued them. In addition to the 23 arrests, federal agents seized six vehicles that are connected to the investigation.

Houston Chronicle [2/12/2026 6:23 PM, Yilun Cheng and Caroline Ghisolfi, 2493K] reports Harris County’s 100-year floodplain could grow by more than 40% under draft maps newly released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After a nearly four-year delay, FEMA posted last week an early version of the county’s updated floodplain boundaries on its website. The agency is now gathering feedback from local officials before beginning a broader public review process. If adopted, the new maps would mark the first comprehensive update to Harris County’s floodplain boundaries since 2007. A Chronicle analysis found the county’s flood zones could see substantial expansions. If finalized as currently proposed, the 100-year floodplain would grow by about 130 square miles, a 43% increase compared with today’s boundaries. The 500-year floodplain would increase by about 62 square miles, or 30%. Meanwhile, floodways, which represent the most dangerous areas, would shrink by about 5%. Experts pointed to several factors that likely have contributed to the growing flood zone boundaries. For one, new data show that rainfall rates are over 30% higher than previous models assumed, according to Emily Woodell, a spokesperson for the Harris County Flood Control District, FEMA’s local partner in the update. The new maps also use more sophisticated technologies, she said. The latest analysis, for instance, takes into account almost all the channels in the county, while the previous model only included major waterways.At the same time, decades of development have replaced vast stretches of natural soil that once absorbed water. A recent Chronicle investigation found that builders have developed more than 65,000 new structures inside Greater Houston’s floodplains since 2017’s Hurricane Harvey.

FOX News [2/12/2026 6:23 PM, Emma Colton, 37576K] reports alleged members of "foreign terrorist cartel" Tren de Aragua may be brought back to the U.S. after their deportations in 2025, and it could come at taxpayers’ expense. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who has repeatedly butted heads with the Trump administration, ordered the Trump administration Thursday to facilitate the return of 137 migrants deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, CECOT, in 2025. Boasberg stipulated in his ruling that the government pay for the migrants’ airfare back to the U.S., meaning taxpayers are likely footing the bill. Boasberg argued that it’s "unclear why Plaintiffs should bear the financial cost of their return in such an instance," noting that "this situation would never have arisen had the Government simply afforded Plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them.” The ruling comes as part of a nearly year-long saga during which the federal judge attempted to halt the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act in March 2025. The Supreme Court ultimately allowed the Trump administration to continue using the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations in April but ordered that detainees receive notice and an opportunity to challenge allegations. Boasberg has since been wading through legal avenues with the men in El Salvador, issuing a ruling in December that the Trump administration denied them due process. It is unclear how many of the men will actually take the offer and return to the U.S., with Boasberg noting that the noncitizens "would be detained upon arrival" back to the U.S. Similar to Boasberg’s ruling, another federal judge this month ordered the Trump administration to pay for the return of three migrant families the judge ruled ICE unlawfully deported by a 2023 humanitarian parole settlement. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital Thursday in response to the ruling that the illegal aliens in El Salvador were removed under proper legal authority, before taking a shot as Boasberg. "Nothing has changed; in addition to being in our country illegally, these aliens are foreign terrorists designated as alien enemies by the president," McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "They were removed under the proper legal authorities. This case is no longer about the facts or law but about Judge Boasberg’s crusade to stop President Trump from doing the will of the American People. He has been shut down by appellate courts again and again on this case.”

AP [2/12/2026 7:26 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports authorities have charged two teenagers with attempted murder and conspiracy for allegedly plotting to stage a shooting at a central Indiana school that one of the teens attended. Alexis Pickett, a student Morristown High School in Shelbyville, Indiana, and Melanie Little of Corinth, Mississippi, both 17, are charged as adults in an alleged crime planned over social media and involving Pickett sending video of the school’s layout, according to law enforcement documents. The investigation began in December when Pickett’s mother, Rhonda Nicholson, approached sheriff’s police with concerns that Pickett showed behaviors indicating she intended to harm others or herself, including online conversations obsessing over past school shooters. Pickett, who lives in Arlington, was charged in January. Little was charged this week. “The mother saved a bunch of lives,” Shelby County Prosecutor Brad Landwerlen said. “What I say to parents is, ‘It’s OK to check your child’s activities, see the conversations they’re having.’” Shelbyville is 32 miles (51.5 kilometers) southeast of Indianapolis. A probable cause affidavit lays out detailed conversations Pickett and Little had, mostly on the communication app Discord. Pickett acknowledged to investigators that she had considered suicide for a long time and has a desire to hurt others. Her devices had photos of the gunmen in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado. For Halloween, she dressed as a school shooter from a movie. A senior, Pickett suggested a mass shooting around graduation and planned on May 25, even though graduation is two days earlier. Little intended to tell her parents that Pickett was a friend from grade school who had moved away and she wanted to attend her friend’s Indiana commencement. She sent Little a video of the school’s layout, its hallways and dead ends. Pickett owns a muzzleloader firearm, according to the affidavit, and showed Little photos of targets she said she had hit using a shotgun and a .357 revolver. The two discussed without resolution how to obtain other guns.

CBS News [2/12/2026 6:54 AM, Staff, 51110K] reports that the United States and Mexico seized several tons of cocaine from a ship in a "coordinated operation" in the Pacific Ocean, the Mexican navy said Wednesday. The unusual joint action comes despite tensions between the two countries, with President Trump vowing to strike Mexican drug cartels that he said posed a grave threat to national security. "About 188 packages containing several tons of cocaine" were seized from the vessel off Clarion Island, about 680 miles from the Mexican port city of Manzanillo in Colima state, the Mexican navy said in a statement. The navy released images and video of the alleged drugs, showing packages laid out on the deck of a naval ship before being transported to shore. Multiple people were arrested, the statement added, without specifying how many. Mr. Trump has threatened to slap additional tariffs on Mexico to pressure the country into beefing up drug raids and cartel arrests. Mexico has sent nearly 100 members of Mexican drug cartels to the United States in recent months, including 37 individuals in January. A free trade agreement between the two neighbors and Canada is up for renegotiation this year.

CBS News [2/12/2026 11:51 PM, Eleanor Watson, Charlie D’Agata, and Joe Walsh, 51110K] reports the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and its escort ships are expected to head from the Caribbean to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told CBS News, adding a second aircraft carrier to the region as tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to simmer. The Ford — which is the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier — is set to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group, which arrived in the Middle East late last month. The region is overseen by the U.S. military’s Central Command. The Ford carrier strike group has been in the Caribbean region since November, part of a broader military buildup near Venezuela. American forces in that region have conducted dozens of strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats and, last month, captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The New York Times was first to report on the Ford’s expected movement.

FOX News [2/12/2026 11:31 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 37576K] reports in the face of President Donald Trump’s concerns about Arctic security and his calls for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, NATO has launched a security effort called "Arctic Sentry.” "Still, in the face of Russia’s increased military activity and China’s growing interest in the High North, it was crucial that we do more, which is why we have just two hours ago launched Arctic Sentry," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during remarks on Wednesday. "Initially, it will bring together exercises like Denmark’s Arctic Endurance and Norway’s Cold Response," he noted. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had a "very productive meeting" with NATO’s Rutte. "We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations," Trump wrote at the time. In a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday, a White House official said, "The Arctic is a critical region for U.S. national security and the economy. As an Arctic nation, the United States will pursue its security and economic interests and ensure safety, stability, and prosperity in the face of growing competition from China and Russia.”

Reuters [2/12/2026 10:34 AM, Dave Sherwood, 38315K] reports two Mexican-flagged ships loaded with humanitarian aid entered Havana Harbor early on Thursday, a Reuters witness said, as Cuba’s long-time ally made good on a promise to assist after Washington threatened tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba. One of the ships, the Papaloapan, carried large quantities of white-wrapped pallets on its deck as it passed beside the El Morro castle before entering the quiet waters of the harbor. The shipment from Mexico arrives just days after the island’s communist-run government announced increasingly strict rationing measures to confront U.S. efforts to cut off Cuba’s fuel supply. Washington in January threatened tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island, saying that Cuba poses an "extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security - a claim Havana denies. Mexico announced the aid delivery after halting shipments of crude and refined products to Cuba in mid-January under pressure from the Trump administration. "These ships set sail from the port of Veracruz with a cargo of more than 814 tons of supplies destined for the civilian population of the island of Cuba," Mexico`s government said in a statement later in the day.

Washington Post [2/13/2026 3:00 AM, Dan Lamothe, Susannah George, Suzan Haidamous, and Mustafa Salim, 24826K] reports the U.S. military has nearly completed the transfer of thousands of suspected Islamic State fighters to the Iraqi government, setting the stage for the expected withdrawal of many — perhaps even all — American troops from Syria within months, officials familiar with the issue said. The movement of between 6,000 and 7,000 detainees, underway for weeks, could be completed as soon as Friday, said the officials, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations. The effort signals a forthcoming end to a years-long mission overseen by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish militia group that had managed the detention facilities in territory they controlled in northeastern Syria. The transfer began last month, with U.S. troops teaming with SDF and Iraqi counterparts to move the detainees using aircraft and armed ground convoys. It marks one of the most significant developments in years for the remnants of the Islamic State, the militant group whose bloody campaign across Syria and Iraq resulted in a multinational military intervention beginning in 2014. A smaller number of Syrians, fewer than 2,000, are expected to remain in Syria in the SDF-run detention centers until they are turned over to the Syrian government. Many of the detainees who have been transferred are expected to be held at the Al-Karkh prison, an Iraqi facility near Baghdad International Airport, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. It was once called Camp Cropper and used by the U.S. military to house detainees during the Iraq War. In a statement, the White House said Trump is committed to a Syria that is “stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors.” That requires Syria not being a base for terrorism or to pose a threat in the region and beyond, it says. The United States is monitoring the situation in Syria and working with all sides, the statement says, to ensure that “ISIS detainees remain in detention,” including an organized transition of other detention centers in Syria to Syrian government control.

Reuters [2/13/2026 3:32 AM, Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo, 36480K] reports China and the United States held an anti-narcotics intelligence exchange meeting from Tuesday to Thursday in the U.S., Chinese state media reported on Friday. Teams from China and the U.S. had "in-depth discussions on the narcotics situation, cleanup of illicit online information, cooperation cases, control of chemicals, and drug-related anti-money laundering", state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Both sides agreed to "promote healthy, in-depth and pragmatic anti-narcotics cooperation", Xinhua said.

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