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 New York Times [2/14/2026 12:48 AM, Madeleine Ngo, 148038K] reports funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed early Saturday morning, beginning a shutdown that was not expected to bring most of the department’s work to a halt yet could disrupt travelers, immigration enforcement and disaster relief if it is prolonged. Department officials have said that its essential missions and functions would continue. During last fall’s government shutdown, more than 90 percent of the department’s employees were required to keep working. But department officials have warned that many employees would be working without pay, posing a financial strain as their bills come due. During previous shutdowns, for instance, the Transportation Security Administration saw a spike in resignations because they were required to report to work without being paid. Work force shortages caused some screening delays at airports in Houston during last fall’s record-long shutdown. The shutdown is the result of a partisan divide in Congress over new guardrails on federal immigration enforcement. Democrats have pushed for a range of new restrictions on immigration agents, such as mandating that officers remove masks during enforcement operations and that they obtain warrants from judges to make arrests in homes. Many of their demands have met resistance from Republicans. The shutdown will not affect the administration’s deportation campaign. Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told lawmakers on Thursday that immigration enforcement would mostly be unaffected, in large part because of the billions in funding Congress approved for the agency last summer as part of its major tax bill. Still, Mr. Lyons said that a shutdown would affect personnel issues, such as pay and retention. It is unclear how long the shutdown could last. Congress left Washington for a weeklong recess on Thursday. Republican leaders in Congress have said that negotiations would continue with lawmakers gone, and that members should be ready to return to Washington if an agreement is reached. The Department of Homeland Security is vast and includes many agencies, such as the T.S.A., Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Customs and Border Protection. The Hill [2/14/2026 12:01 AM, Emily Brooks, 18170K] reports that most House and Senate lawmakers have departed Washington for a scheduled weeklong recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he would call lawmakers back to Washington in the event that negotiators come to an agreement but did not cancel the break entirely. Democrats rejected the White House’s latest offer on Thursday, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) labeling it “not serious, plain and simple.” Democrats’ demands for tightening warrant requirements, unmasking of federal immigration officers and ending roving patrols are being largely rejected by Republicans. Trump added that he knows “what [Democrats] want,” but declined to offer details. “You always have to protect our law enforcement. They’ve done a great job. Remember, they’ve taken out hundreds of thousands of criminals out of our country,” Trump said Friday as he left the White House. Unlike the record-setting 43-day full government shutdown last year, this partial shutdown is not expected to have immediate broad impacts on the public. The Los Angeles Times [2/13/2026 4:25 PM, Ana Ceballos and Andrea Castillo, 12718K] reports that without a deal, key agency functions — from airport security to disaster relief coordination — could be affected if the shutdown drags on. As with every shutdown, the agency’s essential functions will continue to operate, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant Homeland Security secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. But employees performing those functions at agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration could go without pay if the shutdown stretches for weeks. The heads of those agencies told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday that the shutdown is expected to create severe and lasting challenges.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [2/13/2026 4:24 PM, Riley Beggin and Theodoric Meyer, 24826K]
Breitbart [2/14/2026 3:58 AM, Staff, 2238K]
Breitbart [2/13/2026 8:21 PM, Staff, 2238K]
FOX News [2/14/2026 12:00 AM, Elizabeth Elkind and Alex Miller, 37576K] Video: HERE

New York Times [2/14/2026 3:11 AM, Karoun Demirjian and Madeleine Ngo, 148038K] funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed early Saturday morning, with no breakthrough in negotiations and no clear sign of when it might be revived. The 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 the lapse in funding is not expected to bring the department’s immigration enforcement operations to a screeching halt. And the department is home to several agencies unrelated to immigration, including the Coast Guard and FEMA, that will be affected. During last fall’s record-long federal shutdown, more than 90 percent of the department’s employees were required to work. The department has not updated its public guidance for funding lapses since then, but it is expected to handle a D.H.S.-focused shutdown similarly. “D.H.S. essential missions and functions will continue as they do during every shutdown,” the department said in a statement. “However, during a shutdown, many employees will be forced to work without pay, putting strain on the frontline defenders of our nation.”

Reported similarly:
CBS News [2/13/2026 7:32 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE

USA Today [2/13/2026 1:43 PM, Terry Collins, 70643K] reports that with the federal government on the verge of another shutdown, the Coast Guard’s top official pleaded with lawmakers this week not to defund the Department of Homeland Security, warning it will not only prevent paychecks but also hurt morale. "Shutdowns cripple morale," Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, the Coast Guard’s acting vice commandant, testified during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Feb. 11. "The Gunner’s Mate manning a weapon in the Strait of Hormuz should not have to worry if their family will be able to pay rent while being shadowed by Iranian vessels. "Our aviation survival technician deploying from a helicopter into treacherous seas should not have to worry if their family can buy groceries this week," Allan continued. Allan’s comments came two days before Congress attempts to strike a deal on Homeland Security funding. If lawmakers fail to act before midnight on Feb. 13, DHS would enter a partial shutdown, potentially causing havoc across disaster response, border security, and travel. A shutdown would affect agencies including the Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Transportation Security Administration.

The Wall Street Journal [2/14/26 125:01 AM, Anvee Bhutani, 646K] reports funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET, triggering a shutdown of the agency, though many operations continue. Senate Democrats recently blocked a bill to fund DHS, saying the Republican counteroffer made by the White House regarding immigration enforcement didn’t address many of their key concerns. The House and Senate are on break in the week ahead, with many lawmakers out of town, making a quick resolution unlikely. The White House released a memo Friday mandating the DHS to “undertake orderly shutdown activities” and added it will provide further guidance as needed. Here is what that means for the department, which includes transportation security, the Coast Guard and immigration enforcement. Congress deliberately split DHS off from the rest of the government’s appropriations, owing to unresolved disagreements over immigration enforcement and oversight. Rather than delaying funding for other parts of the government, congressional leaders opted to pass 11 of the 12 annual appropriations bills and isolate the DHS fight, instead funding it on a short-term continuing resolution that expired after Friday, Feb. 13. Under federal law, employees may work during a shutdown only if their jobs are deemed essential or are funded outside the annual appropriations process. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection continue working in a shutdown because they are considered essential law-enforcement agencies. Transportation Security Administration airport employees continue working, but without pay. Travelers could face longer security lines if there is a longer shutdown and staffing shortages develop because of missed paychecks. Air-traffic controllers are funded through the Transportation Department and aren’t affected. DHS workers are scheduled to receive their next full paycheck on Feb. 17 for work completed through Feb. 7. The paycheck after that, due March 3, covers work through Feb. 21 and will be a partial paycheck for many employees. Government employees typically receive back pay once a shutdown ends. CBS News [2/13/2026 3:10 PM, Kathryn Watson, 51110K] reports that the shutdown will affect the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency and other agencies within DHS that safeguard national security. About 13% of the total federal civilian workforce is implicated, with most forced to work without pay, according to DHS and Office of Personnel Management data.

NewsMax [2/13/2026 4:29 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday he will be getting personally involved in negotiations with Democrats over Department of Homeland Security funding, which is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Senate Democrats blocked a stand-alone DHS funding package Thursday because their demands weren’t met regarding changes to immigration enforcement. Although funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and other Trump administration 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 other agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration. Trump said "we’ll see what happens" when asked about the prospects for a deal to restore DHS funding.

FOX News [2/14/2026 6:00 AM, Elizabeth Elkind, 40621K] reports the federal government has entered its third partial shutdown of the last half-year after Congress failed to reach an agreement on all 12 of its annual spending bills. Unlike past shutdowns, however, this one just affects the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It comes after Democrats walked away from a bipartisan deal to fund the department amid uproar over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. And while some 97% of the federal government has been funded at this point, a DHS shutdown will still have effects on everyday Americans — effects that will become more apparent the longer the standoff continues. Disruptions to the TSA, whose agents are responsible for security checks at nearly 440 airports across the country, could perhaps be the most impactful part of the partial shutdown to Americans’ everyday lives. Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday that around 95% of TSA employees — roughly 61,000 people — are deemed essential and will be forced to work without pay in the event of a shutdown. "We heard reports of officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet," she said of the last shutdown. But it would take some time before TSA funding could translate to delays. TSA agents, like other essential federal workers, received back pay once the shutdown was over. Those who did not miss shifts also got a $10,000 bonus for added relief. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is one of the largest and most critical recipients of federal funding under DHS. Associate Administrator of the Office of Response and Recovery Gregg Phillips told lawmakers on Wednesday that FEMA has enough funds to continue disaster response through a shutdown in the immediate future, but that its budget would be strained in the event of an unforeseen "catastrophic disaster." That means Americans hit by an unexpected natural disaster during the shutdown could see delayed federal reimbursement for their homes and small businesses. American business owners who rely on certain types of worker visas could see processing times extended during a DHS shutdown.

New York Times [2/13/2026 5:03 AM, Pooja Salhotra, 148038K] reports much of the Department of Homeland Security is likely to run out of money on Friday, caught in an impasse between Senate Democrats determined to put guardrails on the department’s immigration agents and Republicans insistent on giving agents a free hand. From the streets of Minneapolis to the far suburbs of the Twin Cities, the looming shutdown is not hard to fathom. The senators are merely reflecting their voters. “They need to completely defund ICE and Border Patrol and start from scratch,” Patty Taylor, 76, a Democrat, said as she protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a south Minneapolis street corner this week. A former trauma nurse, Ms. Taylor wore a skeleton costume and held a sign demanding that Congress “grow a spine.” Karl Olson, 65, a Republican who lives in a west Minneapolis suburb, was just as adamant as he declared himself “appalled” by people in the city who trailed immigration agents in their vehicles and attempted to interfere with arrests. “The people of Minneapolis cannot nullify federal law,” Mr. Olson said. “I certainly support peaceful protests from a safe distance, but if they don’t like the fact that our federal authorities are enforcing federal law they should make their concerns known to Congress.” The technicalities of Homeland Security’s funding are complicated. President Trump’s signature domestic spending and tax cut law, which he signed last year, has already funded the most politically charged agencies under the Homeland Security umbrella — ICE and Customs and Border Protection — with billions of dollars. When funding for the department runs out at midnight, it will be the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and other smaller programs that will suffer. But even as the surge of federal immigration agents recedes in Minnesota, after weeks of smashed car windows, angry protests and bloodshed, emotions are raw. Democrats are in no mood to give Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, another penny for any of her department.

NewsMax [2/13/2026 10:21 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 3760K] reports Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., warned Friday that a shutdown-driven lapse in Department of Homeland Security funding would send the wrong signal abroad — and he said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has it right. "Sen. Fetterman is spot on, and what’s sad is these Democrats who are voting to do this, to shut this down, they know that as well," Moore said on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America." "They know that they are jeopardizing the safety of Americans and American families by doing so.” He then accused the Democrat lawmakers of putting partisan politics ahead of public safety. "But they don’t care," Moore said. "They are so beholden to the radical extreme that has just creeped in and taken over the Democratic Party they are literally willing to risk the lives and the safety of Americans here again, to try to score points and push this radical agenda.” Moore argued that America’s adversaries are always watching for signs of domestic instability or weakness. "Our enemies do not sleep, our enemies do not shut down," he said. "And the fact that Democrats are basically siding with, making it easy for enemies to hurt us, should tell Americans all they need to know about where we are as a country.” Moore also pointed to what he described as a broader pattern of behavior from those across the aisle on Capitol Hill. "Let’s don’t forget, this is the same crowd that was standing up and defending all of this fraud that was happening up in Minneapolis for the Learning Center and all this stuff," he said. "I’m starting to think with some of these political positions, some of these folks actually graduated from the Learning Center.”

NewsMax [2/13/2026 10:37 AM, Staff, 3760K] reports Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, on Friday hit out at Democrats for blocking a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, saying they are "playing a very dangerous game of chicken" in an interview with Newsmax. The funding fight centers on a House-passed short-term bill to keep DHS operating that Senate Democrats blocked in a 52–47 procedural vote Thursday, preventing it from advancing to the floor. Democrats say they want new limits and oversight for Immigration and Customs Enforcement after high-profile killings by federal officers in Minnesota, but Gonzales rejected that argument, claiming the standoff is not truly about immigration enforcement. "Here we have the Democrats holding it up, all because they say it’s [about] immigration, has nothing to do with immigration," Gonzales told Newsmax’s "Wake Up America." "They don’t care about that. This is all about politics and stopping President [Donald] Trump’s agenda." Gonzales warned that a DHS shutdown could create risks for disaster response and security functions, noting that a funding lapse would affect the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Coast Guard. "If something were to happen in this country, like an emergency, where FEMA has to respond and we’re not paying our FEMA employees, that is dangerous," the Texas Republican said.

Washington Examiner [2/13/2026 7:00 AM, David Sivak, 1147K] reports the Department of Homeland Security’s broad reach means that everything from disaster relief to airport security could be hampered if funding runs out on Saturday, but it might take weeks before the public feels the impact. The dispute over how to reform the agency, sparked by the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month, centers on immigration enforcement. But swept up in negotiations are several sub-departments responsible for critical national security functions, including the Coast Guard and Secret Service. The White House is negotiating a set of guardrails that congressional Democrats want to place on the tactics used by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The two sides are still far apart, however, and Democrats are refusing to keep DHS limping along with a temporary funding patch. The impasse means that DHS is expected to enter a shutdown on Friday at midnight, forcing the agency to conserve resources and keep only essential personnel working. Still, the administration has access to rainy day funds and time to spare before paychecks go out for thousands of employees. Immigration enforcement, meanwhile, will continue to operate due to billions of dollars set aside in President Donald Trump’s tax law last year. Lawmakers left town for a week-long recess on Thursday after Senate Democrats blocked an attempt to pass DHS funding, but they could be called back on short notice should a deal with the White House come together. In terms of disaster relief, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be forced to furlough some workers, but it can continue to cut checks for state recovery efforts with the $7 billion it still has at its disposal. ICE, the sub-agency at the center of the funding dispute, received a $75 billion infusion of cash from Republicans to staff up its deportation operation last July, meaning the impact on immigration enforcement will be muted, though acting ICE director Todd Lyons testified in a Tuesday House oversight hearing that the disruption could still be "significant.”

Breitbart [2/13/2026 9:27 PM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) responded to a question on ensuring that TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard get funding even if there is a DHS shutdown by stating that “What I support is making sure we have a comprehensive agreement to ensure that we rein ICE in and make sure that their abusive practices stop.” She also stated that legislation to ensure funding for TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard isn’t needed and “I don’t know that, at the moment, I want to give any more money to Kristi Noem.” [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Breitbart [2/13/2026 5:39 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports that on Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) responded to a DHS shutdown hurting the Coast Guard and FEMA while not impacting ICE at all by saying that “it’s the principle. And at some point, you have to take a stand.” Host Audie Cornish asked, “[H]ow long would you allow DHS funding to be shut down? Because, to be honest, okay, your district is still recovering from the Palisades and Eden Fires, and we’re talking fire programs, Coast Guard, FEMA. Those are the things that are going to be shut down. And ICE, which [the] House has approved stacks and stacks of money for, not a single operation will stop.” Kamlager-Dove answered, “Audie, it’s the principle. And at some point, you have to take a stand. We know that they have been funded, but we also know that the majority of the American people say that ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have gone too far. So, why are we going to roll over? I get on a plane every week, and I have to go through TSA. They’re also impacted if we have a shutdown. And I have to tell you, the TSA officer that works with me, he said, you know what, Congresswoman, do what you have to do, because the videos that I see on the television are too much. And this is someone who just came off of a shutdown where they hadn’t gotten a paycheck for over a month.”

New York Times [2/14/2026 6:00 AM, Reid J. Epstein, 148038K] reports the three-way battle between Democrats running for Senate in Illinois has evolved into an argument about the best way to combat President Trump’s deportation agenda. Is it better to “abolish ICE,” as Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton offers, or to “abolish Trump’s ICE,” as Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi promises? The contest’s third candidate, Representative Robin Kelly, said the country could not just abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a plan to replace the agency’s border enforcement function, but she introduced legislation last month to impeach Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary — a bill Mr. Krishnamoorthi quickly signed onto. The tenor of the Illinois race had a focus on immigration when the Trump administration sent federal agents to Chicago last fall and then shifted fully to deportation policy after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The three Senate candidates, who aren’t split by major ideological or policy differences, now offer a window into how Democrats could approach dismantling Mr. Trump’s immigration enforcement structure if they win back full control in Washington. Early voting has begun for the March 17 primary race, and there is evidence in other contests that a strong anti-ICE agenda can work in low-turnout Democratic primaries. Last week in New Jersey, Analilia Mejia won a 13-candidate special primary election running as the most progressive candidate in the field on a pledge to abolish ICE. Democratic anger over Mr. Trump’s deportation policies led to a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security when its funding expired this weekend. And yet ambitious Democrats who saw how calls to “abolish ICE” and “defund the police” hurt the party in recent years are concerned that running on a definitive message to abolish the agency is risky politics — if not in 2026 then beyond.

AP [2/13/2026 8:16 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports the U.S. military said Friday that it has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. Southern Command said on social media that the boat "was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations." It said the strike killed three people. A video linked to the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames. Friday’s attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to 133 people in at least 38 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared last week that "some top cartel drug-traffickers" in the region "have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean." However, Hegseth did not provide any details or information to back up this claim, made in a post on his personal account on social media.

The Washington Post [2/13/2026 6:06 PM, Jeremy Roebuck and David Nakamura, 24149K] reports two immigration officers have been suspended and are facing a criminal investigation into whether they lied under oath about the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis last month. The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that a recent review of video evidence revealed that the officers “appear to have made untruthful statements” in sworn testimony given as part of a case charging two men — including the shooting victim, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis — with attacking immigration agents. A federal judge dismissed the charges against Sosa-Celis and his co-defendant Thursday after the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis said that “newly discovered evidence” was “materially inconsistent with the allegations” the officers had made. Both of the officers have since been placed on administrative leave and are facing a Justice Department inquiry as well as an internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement probe, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. McLaughlin did not identify the suspended officers, but said in a statement that “lying under oath is a serious federal offense.” NBC News [2/13/2026 4:32 PM, Tim Stelloh, 42967K] reports that in a statement, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons said the agents could be fired and criminally charged after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota completes an investigation into the matter. "Lying under oath is a serious federal offense," he said. The announcement came two days after a federal prosecutor in Minnesota sought to dismiss criminal charges against the men, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna. A filing from the U.S. Attorney’s Office cited newly discovered evidence that he says is “materially inconsistent” with preliminary hearing testimony and an affidavit filed Jan. 16 against Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna. The motion sought to dismiss the charges with prejudice, indicating they cannot be refiled. A judge granted the request Friday. A lawyer for Sosa-Celis called the government’s motion "extraordinary" and said his client is relieved. "Nevertheless, he is determined to seek justice and hold the ICE officer accountable for his unlawful conduct," said the lawyer, Robin Wolpert, in an email. Sosa-Celis plans to cooperate with an investigation by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Wolpert said. The Hill [2/13/2026 4:13 PM, Sophie Brams, 12595K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the officers — who were not named — had been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation. “A joint review by ICE and Department of Justice of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” McLaughlin said. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” she added, noting that the U.S. attorney’s office was “actively investigating these false statements.” The announcement came hours after a federal judge dismissed the case against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who had been accused of assaulting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during the Jan. 14 scuffle that began with an attempted traffic stop. Politico [2/13/2026 2:37 PM, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 21784K] reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating these false statements.” Agents had initially said that two men — Alfredo Aljorna and Julio Sosa Celis – assaulted them with a broom and a shovel before one of them shot Sosa Celis. But that account was quickly called into question, and prosecutors now say “newly discovered evidence” contradicts the officers’ story. Local law enforcement and prosecutors are also investigating the incident. The reversal by ICE comes a day after the White House announced it was ending its surge of federal immigration enforcement officers in the Twin Cities and after a judge excoriated the Trump administration for violating rights of immigration detainees held at a local facility.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/14/2026 2:50 AM, Mitch Smith and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K]
Bloomberg [2/13/2026 3:32 PM, Myles Miller, 18082K]
NPR [2/13/2026 5:04 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 28764K]
ABC News [2/13/2026 7:39 PM, Staff, 34146K] Video: HERE
CBS News [2/13/2026 3:56 PM, Aki Nace, 51110K]
USA Today [2/13/2026 5:55 PM, Michael Loria, 70643K]
NewsMax [2/13/2026 6:14 PM, Staff, 3760K]

AP [2/13/2026 8:07 PM, Michael Biesecker, Jim Mustian and Jack Brook, 3833K] reports federal authorities have opened a criminal probe into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis last month, as all charges were dropped against two Venezuelan men. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said Friday that his agency opened a joint probe with the Justice Department after video evidence revealed “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements” about the shooting of one of the Venezuelan men during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The officers, whose names were not disclosed, are on administrative leave while the investigation is carried out, he said. Lyons said the two ICE officers could be fired and face criminal prosecution. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” said Lyons, adding that the U.S. attorney’s office is actively investigating. “The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct,” Lyons said. “Violations of this sacred sworn oath will not be tolerated. ICE remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and the fair enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.” Earlier Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson dismissed felony assault charges against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who were accused of beating an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during a Jan. 14 fracas. The officer fired a single shot from his handgun, striking Sosa-Celis in his right thigh. The cases were dropped after a highly unusual motion to dismiss from U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen, who said “newly discovered evidence” was “materially inconsistent with the allegations” made against the two men in a criminal complaint and at a hearing last month. After the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attacked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing the Democrats of “encouraging impeding and assault against our law enforcement which is a federal crime, a felony.” “What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” Noem said in a Jan. 15 statement. “Our officer was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him with snow shovels and the handles of brooms. Fearing for his life, the officer fired a defensive shot.” The Department of Homeland Security did not responded Friday to questions about whether Noem stands by those statements, which ICE — part of DHS — says are now under investigation.

AP [2/13/2026 8:30 PM, Hannah Schoenbaum, 35287K] reports federal authorities announced an investigation Friday into two immigration officers who appeared to have made untruthful statements under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis last month. It is among at least five shootings in which initial descriptions by the immigration officials were later contradicted by video evidence. Those included the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, where bystander video quickly raised questions about how they were initially described. The probe Friday came hours after a federal judge dismissed felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men who were accused of beating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel on Jan. 14. The officer, who is not named in court filings, fired a single shot from a handgun that struck one of the men, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in the thigh. In an unusual reversal, prosecutors asked to dismiss the cases because they said new video evidence contradicted allegations made against the men in a criminal complaint and at a hearing last month. What federal officials said initially: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the immigration officer was "ambushed" by Sosa-Celis and others, and fired a "defensive shot" out of fear for his life. "What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement," she said. What came out later: Investigators have not released the new evidence that led charges to be dropped, but cracks were already apparent in a Jan. 21 court hearing. The immigration officer’s testimony recounting the moments before the shooting differed significantly from that of the defendants and three eyewitnesses. Available video evidence did not support the officer’s account of being assaulted with a broom and shovel.

The Hill [2/13/2026 3:29 PM, Sophie Brams, 13586K] reports a federal judge dismissed charges against two men who were accused of assaulting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a scuffle in Minnesota last month that resulted in one of them being shot in the leg. U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson granted federal prosecutors’ motion to have the charges against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis dropped. Prosecutors wrote in a Thursday filing that there was “newly discovered evidence” in the case that was “materially inconsistent with the allegations” in the initial affidavit and preliminary testimony that was “based on information presented to the Affiant.” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Friday the two officers involved in the incident had been placed on administrative leave and are being investigated the Justice Department over allegations that they may have lied under oath. “A joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” McLaughlin said. Magnuson’s order dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning the case is closed. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] CBS News [2/13/2026 3:35 PM, Jacob Rosen, Joe Walsh] reports Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said Friday that two officers have been placed on administrative leave after a review of video evidence indicated they provided "untruthful statements" in their sworn testimony. Asked about ICE’s decision to investigate two officers for allegedly making false statements, Goetz said Aljorna will "fully cooperate in any and all ongoing investigations."

Reported similalry:
The Hill [2/13/2026 3:29 PM, Sophie Brams, 18170K]

The Hill [2/13/2026 11:51 AM, Fiona Bork, 18170K] reports that a federal judge in Minnesota found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isolated detainees in Minnesota from seeing their attorneys, ruling the action likely violated their constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who was appointed by President Trump during his first term, on Thursday ordered detainees — most of whom are being kept at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building — be granted immediate access to their phones and attorneys after finding a number of logistical barriers made it “difficult—if not impossible” for attorneys to represent their clients. Brasel’s temporary restraining order will last two weeks unless she decides to expunge it before that time. “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,” Brasel wrote in her decision. Brasel’s order came hours after the federal government announced it would pull federal agents from the state following ICE’s surge there resulting in thousands arrested and mass protests. Last month, two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were fatally shot by officers or agents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

New York Times [2/14/2026 5:02 AM, Mitch Smith and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] reports when an immigration agent shot Julio C. Sosa-Celis in the leg last month in Minneapolis, touching off hours of tense protests, the Trump administration rushed to sell a version of events that demonized the wounded man and defended the agent. About two hours after the gunfire, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman claimed that three people had attacked an agent with a broom and snow shovel. She said the agent “fired a defensive shot to defend his life” as he was “being ambushed.” The next day, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, accused the men of trying to kill the agent. But the federal government’s account soon shifted. And by Friday, it had fully unraveled. When assault charges were filed days after the shooting against Mr. Sosa-Celis and one of the other men, Alfredo A. Aljorna, officials changed their narrative, saying it was not three people who attacked the agent, but two. Several other details revealed in court records also differed from the original account. Then on Thursday, the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota asked a judge to drop the case, saying that “newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations.” On Friday, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, said two agents had been placed on leave for providing accounts that appeared to conflict with video footage of what happened. Those agents, he said, could eventually face termination and prosecution. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” Mr. Lyons said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating these false statements.”

FOX News [2/13/2026 10:51 AM, Marc Tamasco, 37576K] reports that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded to border czar Tom Homan’s announcement Thursday that the Trump administration will withdraw ICE agents from the city, saying, "I’ll believe it when I see it." During an appearance on "The Daily Show," Frey was asked by host Jordan Klepper whether he actually believes ICE agents will be removed from Minneapolis, or if he’s calling "bulls---" on Homan’s pledge. "I will believe it when I see it," he replied. "And if you’re looking for anybody to give credit to for the end of Operation Metro Surge — for the pressure that was put on the federal government for these incredible patriotic acts that have taken place over the last month and a half — give it to the 435,000 Minneapolis residents." Homan announced Thursday that the administration will conclude Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. He told reporters during a news conference at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis that the operation had reduced public safety threats with "unprecedented levels of coordination" from state officials and local law enforcement. "As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals," Homan said. "I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude," he continued.

NewsMax [2/13/2026 10:23 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K] reports that Sheriffs across Minnesota say they have not changed their immigration enforcement policies since border czar Tom Homan arrived in the state to lead "Operation Metro Surge," according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The newspaper reported Friday that it contacted sheriffs in all 87 counties to determine whether they had signed new agreements with federal officials or altered their immigration policies following Homan’s high-profile visit. As of Thursday afternoon, roughly 40% had responded, and none said they had made changes. The findings come as Homan announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is concluding the large-scale surge operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area after what he described as major public safety gains. While some local officials insisted their policies remain unchanged, Homan said the operation achieved "significant cooperation" from state and local authorities. In a Thursday news conference broadcast live on Newsmax, Homan said the effort led to more than 4,000 arrests, including convicted murderers, sex offenders, gang members, and other violent criminal aliens. "As a result of this surge operation, we have greatly reduced the number of targets for enforcement action," Homan said, adding that the Twin Cities were now "much safer."

AP [2/13/2026 4:59 PM, Mark Vancleave and Hannah Fingerhut, 35287K] reports that the Trump administration’s drawdown of its immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities area has been met with relief, but state officials and residents say its effects on Minnesota’s economy and immigrant communities will linger. Thousands of officers were sent to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for Operation Metro Surge, which the Department of Homeland Security called its " largest immigration enforcement operation ever " and touted as a success. But President Donald Trump’s enforcement campaign came under increasing criticism as the situation grew more volatile. The shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers drew condemnation and raised questions over officers’ conduct, prompting changes to the operation. And despite the announced end to the surge, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz urged Minnesotans to remain vigilant and said the damage would be lasting. "The fact of the matter is they left us with deep damage, generational trauma," Walz said. "They left us with economic ruin, in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions." Following the announcement Thursday, some residents held a vigil at a makeshift shrine that went up where Good was shot in Minneapolis. Border czar Tom Homan told reporters Thursday that "extensive engagement" with state and local officials allowed for a formal end to the operation.

FOX News [2/13/2026 12:22 PM, Elizabeth Elkind and Kiera McDonald, 37576K] reports that the highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is arguing that President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his state is already producing incredible results. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Operation Metro Surge, the federal law enforcement action in Minneapolis, helped recover some 3,000 migrant children who were previously thought to be missing. "Do you realize that Operation Metro Surge picked up 4,000 illegal alien criminals? Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers — 4,000!" Emmer said. "And by the way, I was told that, coming down here from the [House floor], that they’ve also located 3,000 missing migrant children. I mean, that’s just in the Minneapolis area. You gotta be kidding me." Emmer, who has emerged as one of Trump’s most outspoken congressional allies during his second White House term, is also an aggressive critic of his state’s Democratic leadership. He accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison of rooting against the success of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. "Their crazy sanctuary state and sanctuary city policies literally have allowed these criminals to roam our streets and put our law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizens’ — good Minnesotans’ — lives at risk," Emmer said.

Wall Street Journal [2/13/2026 6:03 PM, Victoria Albert, 646K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has for months been the headline-grabbing, TV-ready face of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign. She has aimed to burnish her personal stardom at every turn, staging aggressive crackdowns and sidelining officials who suggested a more cautious approach. Simmering criticism of her tactics exploded during the immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, jeopardizing her relationship with the president and her grip on the department. Here are the key findings from Wall Street Journal reporters Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey and Tarini Parti’s investigation into the Homeland Security chief. Noem, who had little experience in immigration policy before becoming secretary, got the job in part because of a quiet lobbying effort by Corey Lewandowski, who helped the former South Dakota governor build her national profile. Noem’s close relationship with her top adviser has raised concerns. Noem and Lewandowski have worked to curry favor with Trump and sideline rivals, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and border czar Tom Homan. Officials at DHS said they believe Lewandowski and Noem see DHS as a steppingstone to an even bigger perch. The pair have fired or demoted roughly 80% of the career U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field leadership that was in place when they started. The DHS spokeswoman said all officials are on the same page and in agreement on the president’s immigration crackdown. After the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis intensified criticism of Noem, she and Lewandowski moved quickly to solidify their relationship with Trump. The pair successfully requested an Oval Office meeting with the president two days after the shooting. Her team scheduled press conferences on other matters, including airport security and the border wall. Noem and Lewandowski have recently been traveling in a luxury 737 MAX jet, with a private cabin in back, according to people familiar with the matter. Homeland Security is leasing the plane but is in the process of acquiring it for roughly $70 million. The purchase would be double the cost of each of seven other commercial planes the department is also buying at the pair’s direction to carry out deportations. The Homeland Security spokeswoman said the plane was used for both deportations and cabinet-level travel. She said it was cheaper than military aircraft for deportations and saved American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Hill [2/13/2026 10:47 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday said she’s “still in charge” of her department as White House border czar Tom Homan has taken more control over President Trump’s immigration agenda. Noem has come under fire after two deadly shootings by immigration officials in Minneapolis spurred an outcry toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its heavy-handed tactics in carrying out deportations. At a press conference in Phoenix, Noem was asked if she or Homan currently oversees Trump’s mass deportation program. “I am still in charge of the Department of Homeland Security. That includes all 23 different agencies under our umbrella, including ICE and CBP but also FEMA, TSA, Secret Service, the Coast Guard, many many more,” she said, referring to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration. Noem held the press conference to pitch the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill requiring individuals to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote and requiring voters show identification before casting their ballot. The bill is now in the Senate after the House passed it on Wednesday.

NewsMax [2/13/2026 9:34 PM, Staff, 3760K] reports Kari Lake praised Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to Arizona to promote the SAVE America Act, telling Newsmax on Friday the trip has rattled those she accused of overseeing flawed elections in the state. "I thank her deeply for that," Lake, acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight." Noem traveled to Arizona to discuss the SAVE America Act and election integrity efforts, appearing in a state that has remained at the center of national debate over election administration since 2020. The House passed the SAVE America Act on Wednesday by a 218-213 vote. The legislation requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification when voting. It also requires states to purge noncitizens from voting rolls. The bill’s chances in the Senate depend upon whether Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., can either muster enough support from Democrats or change filibuster rules that would require only a simple majority vote to pass it.

NewsNation [2/13/2026 6:15 PM, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports the Department of Homeland Security dismissed a report about Secretary Kristi Noem’s alleged use of a specialized jet and the firing of a pilot over a weighted blanket Friday and defended the use of the aircraft as a savings to American taxpayers. NewsNation asked DHS about a Wall Street Journal report claiming Noem and White House advisor Corey Lewandowski routinely travel on a 737 Max Jet, which the newspaper reported is being leased by DHS. The report indicated that the agency is in the process of purchasing the luxury for a reported $70 million. The report indicated that some within DHS have jokingly referred to the aircraft as “the big, beautiful jet” — a reference to President Donald Trump’s 2025 mega-funding bill, which pumped tens of billions of dollars into the funding available to DHS to carry out the administration’s mass deportation mission. Previous DHS secretaries have routinely traveled on Gulfstream jets operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies. In the case of the fired pilot, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Noem and Lewandowski moved from one plane to another due to a maintenance issue, and a weighted blanket was not moved to the new plane. The paper reported that the Coast Guard pilot of the plane was fired and told to take a commercial flight. Shortly after the pilot was reinstated because there was no one else to fly them home, the outlet said. A DHS spokesperson did not respond to multiple specific NewsNation inquiries about the report of the Coast Guard pilot being fired or about whether DHS is in the process of acquiring the 737, which is outfitted with a private cabin, according to the WSJ report. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told NewsNation on Friday that the 737 serves a “dual mission” and is used for ICE deportation flights and cabinet-level travel. She said the jet flies at 40% cheaper than what military aircraft flies for deportation flights, which “saves the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars.” McLaughlin said that Noem’s “broader efforts to clamp down on inefficiencies” have led to a “roaring success” which has, to date, saved taxpayers $13.1 billion.”

New York Post [2/13/2026 11:44 AM, Steven Nelson, 40934K] reports Corey Lewandowski fired a Coast Guard pilot for leaving Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s blanket on a plane — but was forced to rehire them upon realizing there was nobody else to fly the party home, according to a stunning new report. Lewandowski, an unpaid special government employee who unofficially acts as chief of staff for Noem — with whom he’s had a years-long affair — has overseen a reign of terror over department workers since President Trump took office last year. According to the Wall Street Journal, Noem had to switch planes during an official trip due to a maintenance issue, but her blanket was not moved to the replacement aircraft. Lewandowski fired the pilot and told them to find a commercial flight home when they reached their destination, only to reinstate them due to the lack of a backup. The report did not specify when or where the incident occurred. A spokesperson for DHS did not deny the story to the Journal, but said Noem has "made personnel decisions to deliver excellence.” The account was one of a number of anecdotes of vicious in-fighting involving Noem and Lewandowski, who briefly appeared on thin ice with President Trump after the fatal shooting last month of two anti-deportation activists in Minneapolis. That led Trump to send Noem’s great rival, border czar Tom Homan, to Minnesota to restore order. On Thursday, Homan announced the end of the immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities, citing improved cooperation with local officials. As a special government employee, Lewandowski technically is capped at working 130 days per year, but has managed to creatively stretch that timeframe by avoiding being logged arriving at headquarters — including by hitching rides in Noem’s motorcade, for which campus gates open without badge checks. Noem lives in the former Coast Guard Commandant’s residence in Southwest Washington. While the Journal reported that Lewandowski "spends time at the house," multiple sources inside and close to the administration tell The Post it’s understood that Lewandowski lives with Noem — "if living means spending nights regularly," as one source put it. Trump is well-known for enjoying presiding over a team of rivals competing for his approval, and sources told The Post they believe Noem is likely to remain in her position at least through the midterm elections — after which she might get "promoted" elsewhere. "President Trump and Secretary Noem have ensured the most secure border in our Nation’s history, and our homeland is undoubtedly safer today than it was when the president took office last year," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "The president continues to have full confidence in the secretary.”

Reported similarly:
CNN [2/13/2026 9:46 PM, Eliza Talmadge, 19874K]
Washington Times [2/13/2026 11:09 AM, Mary McCue Bell, 1323K]

Breitbart [2/13/2026 7:03 PM, Pam Key, 2238K] reports Friday on MS NOW’s "The Beat," legal commentator and Trump critic Ty Cobb claimed President Donald Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi have committed impeachable offenses. Cobb said, "If there’s one fraudulent, unsupported indictment that’s brought for personal reasons, political reasons in which the facts are distorted and the law is abused that alone should be impeachable. You know, the multitude of cases that we’ve had now certainly provides a wealth of evidence that could be used to impeach Pam Bondi.” He continued, "The president on impeachment alone, you know, that issue, there’s so many things in the column that deserve impeachment.” He added, "Certainly with regard to Bondi she’s obviously unfit for office based on her performance yesterday. Kristi Noem who’s, supervising the execution of American citizens and lying about them as being alleged terrorists, Hegseth and the multitude of classified violations that he has as well as the war crimes being committed, at his behest, all of those people should be impeached, for sure. And I expect that we’ll see articles introduced if the Democrats, are lucky enough to, take over the House. But I think with the president you’ve got really extraordinary information out there, the $500 million bribe from the UAE in exchange for our AI chips, the $480 million plan from Qatar in exchange for Air Force Base and him parking his Venezuela oil revenue account in Qatar. You know the facts here are just extraordinary and unprecedented.”

NewsNation [2/13/2026 12:21 PM, Meg Hilling, 4464K] reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pushed back against criticism of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act during a press conference in Arizona on Friday. “There is only one reason that anyone would oppose this bill, and that’s because they would want to cheat,” Noem said. “They want illegal people and aliens in this country to be able to vote for them and to rob the United States citizens of their vote.” The House passed the SAVE America Act on Wednesday, and it now heads to the Senate for a vote. “It is common sense that our elections should belong to the American people. That they should be the ones who get to vote, whose votes are counted,” Noem said. “That they get one vote. Not more, not less.” Noem pushed back against allegations that the act would disenfranchise newly married women who change their names as well as service members deployed overseas. “Well, that is completely false as well, for all of those procedures that are in place today and continue to stay that way after this act is passed and signed into law,” Noem said. In addition, Noem also took issue with reports that the federal government would remove people from state voter rolls. “Well, that’s just simply not true. That state and local election officials do the registration and they list, they maintain these lists going forward,” Noem said. “We just help them do their job and make sure that they are doing it correctly.”

Blaze [2/13/2026 5:51 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference in Arizona on Friday to urge the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. Noem addressed reporters after attending a roundtable discussion with local officials, including Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright, and state Rep. John Gillette (R). The secretary emphasized that President Donald Trump has made election integrity one of the administration’s top priorities of its Make America Great Again agenda. Noem stated that the nation’s election system "needs a lot of work," adding that America currently has a "golden opportunity" to demonstrate that it is "serious about securing our elections and that we care about making sure that we preserve our sacred republic." She noted that the House of Representatives passed the SAVE America Act earlier this week, contending that its passage would implement "common-sense, straightforward" measures, including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and states’ removal of noncitizens from voter rolls.

Reported similarly:
Axios [2/13/2026 1:52 PM, Jessica Boehm, 17364K]

DailySignal [2/13/2026 4:14 PM, Fred Lucas, 474K] reports advocating for an election reform measure that passed the House this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said elections are a basic infrastructure responsibility for her department. "It’s a fact that noncitizens have been voting in our elections," Noem said Friday during a press conference in Phoenix. "They’ve been registered, and they have voted from state to state." She called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which cleared the House this week. Noem rebutted what she called "conspiracy theories" from opponents of the bill that it would lead to vast disenfranchisement of women, minorities, and U.S. military service members.

The Hill [2/13/2026 7:27 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports President Trump on Friday indicated he will issue an executive order seeking to require voters to present proof of citizenship if the Senate does not pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which passed in the House this week. “There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on Truth Social around 4:30 p.m. EST. “Also, the People of our Country are insisting on Citizenship, and No Mail-In Ballots, with exceptions for Military, Disability, Illness, or Travel.” He followed up with a second post 30 minutes later floating an executive order. “This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW!” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.” He accused Democrats of being “horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS” who have “all sorts of reasons why it shouldn’t be passed, and then boldly laugh in the backrooms after their ridiculous presentations.” “Republicans must put this at the top of every speech — It is a CAN’T MISS FOR RE-ELECTION IN THE MIDTERMS, AND BEYOND!” he continued. “Even Democrat Voters agree, 85%, that there should be Voter I.D.” The SAVE Act passed in the House Wednesday in a 218-213 vote. However, it faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where the only Democrat to indicate support for the legislation is Sen. John Fetterman (Penn.). Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has come out against the bill.

Washington Examiner [2/13/2026 7:51 PM, Brady Knox, 1147K] reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has cracked down on the employer, school, and certifier of an illegal immigrant who killed four people in an Indiana crash. The Trump administration has shifted its attention to cracking down on poor standards that allowed illegal immigrants to become a significant part of the trucking industry in the U.S. In a Friday post on X, Duffy outlined the Department of Transportation’s response to a recent crash featuring an illegal Kyrgyz immigrant, who killed four Amish people in a van with his truck. Duffy announced that the trucker’s employer, AJ Partners; two "SHADY" carriers connected to AJ Partners, Tutash Express and Sam Express; and the "Sham school" Aydana that had certified and helped him get a license, had all been shut down or had their certification revoked. "This crackdown is JUST GETTING STARTED. We will not rest until every bad actor is held ACCOUNTABLE," he said, thanking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for their "quick work.” "Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "It is incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating semi-trucks on America’s roads. These sanctuary governors must stop giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses before another American gets killed," she added.

Washington Examiner [2/13/2026 6:00 AM, Jack Birle, 1147K] reports lower court judges are finding ways to order the release of illegal immigrants apprehended by the Trump administration, despite a critical appeals court ruling that affirmed the administration’s detention policy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit handed the administration that major victory late last week, when a panel ruled 2-1 in favor of the administration’s illegal immigrant mandatory detention policy, rejecting claims by opponents of the administration that bond hearings are required for undocumented immigrants. While it was the highest court to greenlight the administration’s policy of keeping illegal immigrants in detention during their deportation proceedings, the 5th Circuit’s rulings only bind judicial districts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Even so, lower court judges in those states have still crafted orders for the release of illegal immigrants in an effort to skirt the appeals court’s ruling. Despite the win for the administration at the appellate level, some district court judges under the 5th Circuit have still found other ways to attempt to justify releasing illegal immigrants from detention. U.S. District Judges Kathleen Cardone and David Briones have both issued orders since the 5th Circuit’s Friday ruling, seemingly skirting the finding that the mandatory detention policy is lawful. Briones said illegal immigrants and noncitizens who have been in the country for longer periods of time should be exempt from the mandatory detention policy. "The Court reiterates its original holding that noncitizens who have ‘established connections’ in the United States by virtue of living in the country for a substantial period acquire a liberty interest in being free from government detention without due process of law," Briones said in a Monday order. "Because the Government released Petitioner and permitted him to live in the United States for over a year, they cannot revoke that liberty without an individualized determination of the need to do so," the ruling reads. Both federal judges cited constitutional due process rights as the rationale for releasing the illegal immigrants from indefinite detention. The rulings claim the 5th Circuit’s finding last week does not affect their previous holdings — something legal experts do not believe will hold up under scrutiny

The Washington Post [2/13/2026 8:00 AM, David Nakamura, 24826K] reports the Trump administration spent more than $40 million last year to send hundreds of migrants to at least two-dozen countries that are not their own, a tactic Senate Democrats described in a report Friday as a costly strategy aimed at sowing fear and intimidation in the president’s mass deportation campaign. The 30-page analysis from the minority members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accuses the administration of entering into opaque financial agreements with foreign governments — including some with poor records on corruption and human rights — to rapidly expand a program for “third country” removals that once had been reserved for exceptional circumstances. Its authors contend that the State Department has failed to conduct sufficient oversight to ensure that payments to those countries are not being misspent and that migrants transferred to their custody are not being abused or mistreated. The administration “has expanded and institutionalized a system in which the United States urges or coerces countries to accept migrants who are not their citizens, often through arrangements that are costly, inefficient and poorly monitored,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), the top Democrat on the committee, wrote in a letter to colleagues. “Deporting migrants to countries they have no connection to … has become a routine instrument of diplomacy.” Administration officials have said they have no choice but to partner with foreign governments that are willing to accept undocumented immigrants whose native nations are not willing to take them back. In most cases, the migrants have criminal records, authorities said, though public records have shown that some have not been convicted of crimes in the United States. The report from Senate Democrats, which provides the most comprehensive look at the administration’s third-country removal program, found that the U.S. government has sent migrants to two-dozen third countries. The analysis focused primarily on five nations — El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Eswatini and Palau — with which the Trump administration has entered into direct financial payments totaling $32 million, a committee member involved in the report said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the analysis ahead of its release. Under those agreements, U.S. authorities sent about 250 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador last spring, while 29 migrants have been deported to Equatorial Guinea, 15 to Eswatini and seven to Rwanda, the report said. None has been sent to Palau. The report also estimated that the administration has spent more than $7 million in costs related to deportation flights to ten of the third countries. Bloomberg [2/13/2026 8:00 AM, Myles Miller and Hadriana Lowenkron, 18082K] reports that the figures from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats average out to a cost of roughly $133,333 per person deported. In Rwanda, which received seven deportees, the total cost reached about $1.1 million per person, the report found. The report outlines the cost of President Donald Trump’s controversial policy of sending non-citizens to countries other than their own. The White House has argued that this method is necessary to remove undocumented criminals whose home nations won’t take them. Immigration groups that have challenged the practice in court have said the practice has wide-ranging effects on law-abiding non-citizens who are at risk of being sent to unfamiliar countries with little, if any, opportunity to fight it. A US official told Senate committee staff in a private interview that the program was intended as an intimidation strategy and a costly deterrent aimed at pressuring migrants to drop asylum claims, according to the report. The person said destinations such as Palau, a Pacific island nation, or Eswatini, a kingdom in southern Africa, were selected in part to signal that migrants could be sent to remote locations far from home. The bulk of the money went to five countries — Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Palau and Eswatini — which collectively received $32 million.

ABC News [2/13/2026 2:23 PM, Emily Chang, 34146K] reports that the Trump administration’s deportations last year are estimated to have cost taxpayers "upward of $40 million," with some third-country migrants costing more than $1 million each, according to a Democratic congressional report released Friday. The 30-page report is the result of a ten-month review by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who examined third-country deportations undertaken by the administration. In particular, the report found that over $32 million was sent directly to Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini, and Palau -- with some funds sent before any third-country national arrived. "The total costs of the Trump Administration’s third country deportations through January 2026 are unknown but are likely upward of $40 million," the report said. Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the State Department, did not comment directly on the figures used in the report. "Contrary to what they might have hoped, this report only underlines much of the unprecedented work that the Trump administration has done to enforce our immigration laws. Astonishingly, some in Congress still want to go back to a time just 14 months ago when cartels had free rein to poison Americans and our border was open," he said in a statement.

CBS News [2/13/2026 1:34 PM, Jennifer Earl, 51110K] reports that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told CBS News immigration is an issue the country has "punted on for a very long time" amid the nation’s heated debate over federal enforcement. While he has publicly condemned the Trump administration’s immigration policies as a "cruel and reckless political agenda," he told CBS News senior correspondent Norah O’Donnell that former President Joe Biden "did not have this right." "We needed to do more. That, I don’t think anyone can argue that we had the system worked out under President Biden – that immigration was worked out," he said during a town hall, airing Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, right after 60 Minutes. During the Biden administration, the southern border saw record numbers of migrant apprehensions by Border Patrol, as officials grappled with a humanitarian, political and operational crisis. At points during Biden’s tenure, the agency recorded thousands of apprehensions per day, with totals climbing to around 10,000 on peak days in late 2023. That’s why Mr. Trump made immigration a central part of his 2024 presidential campaign, pledging a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration policy and the largest deportation in the nation’s history. The tally of unlawful crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2025 dropped to the lowest annual level in more than five decades, CBS News reported in October.

NBC News [2/13/2026 1:34 PM, Nicole Acevedo and Julia Ainsley, 42967K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has no immediate plans for more large-scale immigration operations focusing on specific cities, two senior DHS officials told NBC News. The news comes a day after President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced the end of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. DHS had billed it as its largest immigration enforcement operation to date. The Trump administration deployed more than 3,000 officers and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies into the Twin Cities area beginning in November — resulting in the arrests of 4,000 people and triggering anti-ICE demonstrations. The fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were U.S. citizens, by immigration agents in Minneapolis brought national attention and scrutiny to the massive deployment of ICE and CBP officers in American cities. The two senior DHS officials said that moving forward, ICE will focus on arresting serious criminals with immigration violations nationwide, rather than focusing on specific locations. There are also no future plans to have Border Patrol agents actively involved in immigration enforcement operations in the interior of the country, according to the two DHS officials, who added that those agents will be returned to their sectors along the nation’s borders.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/13/2026 12:27 PM, Amy Maxmen, 1257K] reports that Rebekah Stewart, a nurse at the U.S. Public Health Service, got a call last April that brought her to tears. She had been selected for deployment to the Trump administration’s new immigration detention operation at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This posting combined Donald Trump’s longtime passion to use the offshore base to move "some bad dudes" out of the United States with a promise made shortly after his inauguration last year to hold thousands of noncitizens there. The naval base is known for the torture and inhumane treatment of men suspected of terrorism in the wake of 9/11. "Deployments are typically not something you can say no to," Stewart said. She pleaded with the coordinating office, which found another nurse to go in her place. Other public health officers who worked at Guantánamo in the past year described conditions there for the detainees, some of whom learned they were in Cuba from the nurses and doctors sent to care for them. They treated immigrants detained in a dark prison called Camp 6, where no sunlight filters in, said the officers, whom KFF Health News agreed not to name because they fear retaliation for speaking publicly. It previously held people with suspected ties to al-Qaida. The officers said they were not briefed ahead of time on the details of their potential duties at the base. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said: "President Donald Trump has been very clear: Guantanamo Bay will hold the worst of the worst." However, several news organizations have reported that many of the men shipped to the base had no criminal convictions. As many as 90% of them were described as "low-risk" in a May progress report from ICE.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/13/2026 9:00 AM, Steven Greenhut, 1257K] reports in authoritarian Russia, critics of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have an odd habit of falling out of windows. These likely acts of defenestration serve as a stark warning for other critics, although the official line is usually that they tripped or committed suicide. In the democratic United States, opponents of ICE agents in Minneapolis sometimes also meet unusual fates. For instance, court documents show that ICE agents claimed Mexican immigrant Alberto Castañeda Mondragón experienced bone fractures and head injuries after he "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall" — an explanation that was disputed by the medical staff that attended to his injuries and a judge ordered the man released immediately. Critics of the Trump administration have yet to fall out of windows, but after a Philadelphia man emailed a Department of Homeland Security prosecutor to support an Afghan man involved in a deportation case, he "received an email from Google notifying him that an administrative subpoena had been sent to them from the Department of Homeland Security ‘compelling the release of information related to your Google Account,’" according to The New Republic. Donald Trump is free to express his admiration for Putin, but it would be nice if he better understood that the United States operates under the rule of law, guided by the Constitution. Instead, the president is doubling down on ICE raids that obliterate the concepts enshrined in our founding document and engaging in the kind of disinformation more closely associated with Moscow. As others have noted, the Trump administration’s outrageous whoppers regarding myriad ICE incidents — that, say, victims of ICE violence were insurrectionists or terrorists — are a loyalty test. The more preposterous the claim, the more it separates blind MAGA followers from everyone else. The distortions echo the Kremlin’s approach: they’re a warning to its foes. Trump is notorious for spreading easily debunked nonsense on everything from stolen elections to economic statistics to absurdly inflated numbers about drug interdictions, but his ICE claims are heading into uncharted territory. For instance, the administration claims the feds are merely going after the worst of the worst. But as CBS News recently reported, "Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump’s first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses.”

Bloomberg [2/13/2026 7:00 AM, Staff, 18082K] reports that Operation Metro Surge, the aggressive and legally dubious immigration enforcement campaign that has upended life in Minnesota since December, was supposed to be the most powerful example yet of the mass deportations President Donald Trump has been promising since he first ran for the White House more than a decade ago. Instead, it has turned into one of his biggest political humiliations. On Thursday, border czar Tom Homan said that the administration would pull most of its 3,000 immigration agents out of Minneapolis and St. Paul as of next week. “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week,” he said, “and will continue.” There is ample reason for skepticism. Homan has promised a “drawdown” before, and residents of the Twin Cities say it didn’t happen. As Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne told the Star Tribune, “this administration has lied about every aspect of this surge,” so “I’ll believe it when I see it.” However, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says he is “cautiously optimistic” that the drawdown will actually happen this time. The president, ever in favor of the maximalist approach, rarely flinches. But it appears he just did. The question now is what that means for the future of the immigration policies on which Trump has staked so much political capital and Congress has staked so much taxpayer money.

A recent poll from NBC News found that 60% of Americans disapprove of how Trump has handled border security and immigration. Of particular note is the rise of those who strongly disapprove — up to 49% from 34% last April.

Bloomberg [2/13/2026 11:08 AM, Adam Minter, 18082K] reports that a few hours after White House border czar Tom Homan announced the end of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, a steady stream of mourners gathered on the city’s south side. Their destination was the community-built memorial to Renée Nicole Good, located at the spot where her SUV came to a stop after she was shot in the head by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Some wiped away tears; others muttered in frustration; a few stared blankly at the flowers, notes, signs, and stuffed animals that were spread out along the curb. Mark Foresman, a 66-year-old retiree who’d arrived from a nearby suburb with his wife, Kathy, captured the mood in a single word: “Skepticism.” It’s understandable. Over the last two months, this community has built informal support networks for vulnerable kids walking to and from school, and neighbors have warned one another about agents on their streets. Those scars won’t suddenly heal with a policy shift, especially under a fickle administration that can reverse course with a social media post. Standing beside the memorial, Foresman told me, “Most Americans are ok with lawful immigration enforcement.” But what Minnesota has experienced, he assured me, is not that. “The administration has increased distrust in government, and that’s the last thing we needed.”

Reuters [2/13/2026 4:05 PM, Ryan Patrick Jones, 38315K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend $38.3 billion by the end of the year on detention centers to detain and process tens of thousands of immigrants slated for deportation, according to an overview of the plan published by New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte’s office on Thursday. The document was provided by the Department of Homeland Security after an inquiry Ayotte made following a U.S. Senate hearing on Thursday, her office said in a press release. ICE plans to buy 16 existing buildings and renovate them to serve as regional processing centers that can hold 1,000 to 1,500 detainees for average stays of three to seven days, according to the plan. The agency will also open eight large detention centers capable of holding 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for an average of around 60 days that will serve as the "primary location" for immigrants being deported abroad. In addition, ICE will acquire an additional 10 "turnkey" facilities where the agency already operates, according to the plan. The plan states that the centers are necessary as ICE prepares for an expected surge of arrests in 2026 after the hiring of 12,000 more agents. ICE expects the facilities to be in operation by the end of November 2026, and they would increase the agency’s total bed capacity to 92,600 beds, according to the document.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [2/13/2026 5:26 PM, Joseph De Avila, 646K]
Washington Post [2/13/2026 12:17 PM, Douglas MacMillan and Jonathan O’Connell, 24826K]
Bloomberg [2/13/2026 1:14 PM, Alicia A. Caldwell, 18082K]
Axios [2/13/2026 2:47 PM, Brittany Gibson, 17364K]

Bloomberg [2/13/2026 5:01 AM, Isabel Gottlieb, 50K] reports that the Trump administration’s rush to open new immigrant detention centers is unfolding with an unusual lack of transparency, as officials buy hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of property with little congressional oversight or paper trail. The Department of Homeland Security has spent more than $500 million to buy at least a half-dozen warehouses for new detention centers in less than a year. Bloomberg News and others have reported the administration is eyeing about 20 sites in multiple states as it accelerates the Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaign to find, arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants. Many of the purchases have stirred pushback from local officials and members of Congress who say they were given little notice or chance for feedback. The transactions are occurring at a faster pace than normal government real estate acquisitions, and the agency hasn’t publicly released details on its plans. Government real estate transactions are usually handled by the General Services Administration, and take several years to complete. "If GSA wanted to go out and purchase 50 acres of land, Congress would generally put them through the ringer to find out whether it’s absolutely necessary," and what other options are available, said a former GSA real estate official, who asked not to be identified to avoid repercussions at their current job. Proposals for such purposes would normally go through the House and Senate committees for review and approval.

FOX News [2/13/2026 5:38 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 37576K] reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday the latest "worst of the worst" criminal illegal immigrants convicted of crimes nationwide, including murderers, pedophiles and drug traffickers. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) highlighted the convictions of five illegal immigrants from Vietnam, Honduras, Cuba and Mexico. "While sanctuary politicians release criminal illegal aliens from their jails to victimize more American families and children, our officers continue to arrest criminals," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Yesterday, ICE arrested criminal illegal aliens convicted for murder, sexual assault of a CHILD, and drug trafficking.” McLaughlin added that nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a crime. "This statistic does not even include foreign fugitives, gang members and terrorists who lack a rap sheet in the U.S.," she said. Muoi Van Duong, an undocumented immigrant from Vietnam, was convicted of murder with a firearm in San Diego, California, according to DHS. DHS said that Roberto Xochimitl-Flores, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, was found guilty of second-degree sexual abuse: sexual contact with a person less than 14 years old in New York City. Lisandro Omar Borjas-Aguirano, an illegal resident from Honduras, was convicted of sexual assault of a child in Collin County, Texas, according to DHS. DHS announced that Rigoberto Salvia-Ricardo, a Cuban national, was convicted of sexual battery of a juvenile in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Ricardo Rosas-Tapia, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, was convicted of possession with intent to sell or distribute cocaine in Wake County, North Carolina.

FOX News [2/13/2026 12:41 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports that acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told Fox News Digital he stands by his response to Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, after the California gubernatorial candidate demanded he resign and find work as an "otherwise employable" law enforcement officer. Swalwell, who made the comments during a hearing this week, was the latest in a slew of Democrats calling on Lyons to resign after an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis led to the agent-involved shooting deaths of two agitators. "Leading this agency is a choice, and it’s one I make to stand side-by-side with the brave men and women who enforce this nation’s immigration laws," Lyons said. "I’m proud of the work they do every day to keep our country, our communities, and our families safe — and like them, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States." Lyons said that if lawmakers want to "mischaracterize" ICE’s mission and use their recollection as grounds for resignation demands, they are "misleading their constituents and doing our nation a disservice." "I will not resign, because I believe in the rule of law and will continue to uphold my oath," he told Fox News Digital. Beyond the outspoken Alameda congressman, several other Democrats have demanded Lyons’ ouster — and often followed up with the same request to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Times [2/13/2026 6:20 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports a federal judge said Friday that ICE’s policy of allowing arrests at churches tramples on religious rights, and he issued an order blocking arrests unless there is an immediate threat to public safety. Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, a George W. Bush appointee to the court in Massachusetts, said it was “profoundly troubling” to imagine a deportation officer conducting a “raid” during a church service, or waiting outside the church to accost a migrant entering or leaving. “It is of course true that the presence of millions of illegal immigrants within the borders of the United States justifies a substantial government response. But the need to address that problem cannot override the fundamental liberties on which our nation was founded,” the judge wrote. He said the policy violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, though he declined to rule on whether First Amendment rights were also implicated. Judge Saylor said that if U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement is making an arrest pursuant to an administrative warrant, that is still allowed. His bar applies to “warrantless arrests, searches, interrogations, and related activities.” The legal challenge was brought not by congregants but by associations of churches. They include several synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, several Quaker meetings, two Baptist Church associations and Metropolitan Community Churches, an LGBTQ-friendly association of houses of worship. The judge’s ruling applies only to plaintiffs who showed their attendance had suffered out of fear of the ICE policy. That excluded the Quaker congregations. At issue is a policy adopted early in the new Trump administration permitting arrests at so-called sensitive locations. It overturned a Biden policy that had restricted arrests at — and near — churches, schools, clinics, day cares, bus stops, community centers and other places where families and children might congregate.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg Law News [2/13/2026 4:10 PM, Brian Dowling, 50K]

Reuters [2/14/2026 5:47 AM, Nate Raymond, Kristina Cooke and Brad Heath, 38315K] reports hundreds of judges around the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that President Donald Trump’s administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully, a Reuters review of court records found. The decisions amount to a sweeping legal rebuke of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Yet the administration has continued jailing people indefinitely even after courts ruled the policy was illegal. "It is appalling that the Government insists that this Court should redefine or completely disregard the current law as it is clearly written," U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston of West Virginia, an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote last week, ordering the release of a Venezuelan detainee in the state. Most of the rulings center on the Trump administration’s departure from a nearly three-decade-old interpretation of federal law that immigrants already living in the United States could be released on bond while they pursue their cases in immigration court. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is "working to lawfully deliver on President Trump’s mandate to enforce federal immigration law." Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said the increase in lawsuits came as "no surprise" - "especially after many activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations." The department did not respond to more specific questions about the cases and data findings in this story.

Breitbart [2/13/2026 4:06 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports a record number of illegal aliens are leaving the United States, proving the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s financial incentives to those who self-deport. According to figures reviewed by CBS News, in 2025, almost 3-in-10 deportation cases ended with illegal aliens choosing to self-deport from the U.S. — the highest share of self-deportations in such cases on record. In January, DHS officials said they were upping the stipend to $2,600 in addition to a free flight home for illegal aliens. Officials have suggested that about two million illegal aliens have self-deported within the last year.

New York Times [2/13/2026 6:24 PM, Sheera Frenkel and Mike Isaac, 148038K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is expanding its efforts to identify Americans who oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement by sending tech companies legal requests for the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other identifying data behind social media accounts that track or criticize the agency. In recent months, Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security, according to four government officials and tech employees privy to the requests. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Google, Meta and Reddit complied with some of the requests, the government officials said. In the subpoenas, the department asked the companies for identifying details of accounts that do not have a real person’s name attached and that have criticized ICE or pointed to the locations of ICE agents.

AP [2/13/2026 11:19 AM, Moriah Balingit, 2238K] reports that in one testimonial after another, teachers detailed all the ways President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has shaped their work and the lives of their students. In a court filing Thursday, educators around the country described rumors of immigration raids that scared away students, immigrant parents who stopped sending their children to school altogether, and stories of parents and students — including one middle schooler — being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at school bus stops. The stories were shared as part of a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy that opened up schools, houses of worship and medical facilities to immigration enforcement. The lawsuit was filed last year by an Oregon farmworkers union and a group of churches that argued the policy change was "arbitrary and capricious." The American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and three preschool employees joined the suit in September. As the impacts of immigration enforcement on schools and healthcare facilities grew, the plaintiffs filed a petition asking a judge to halt the Trump administration policy as the lawsuit proceeds. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

New York Times [2/13/2026 7:24 PM, Hannah Ziegler and Mattathias Schwartz, 148038K] reports a federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to return a college freshman to the United States within two weeks after she was mistakenly deported to Honduras in November. The judge, Richard G. Stearns, had previously recommended that the administration issue a visa to the student, Any Lucia López Belloza, 19, that would allow her to continue studying at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., while her immigration case was handled in court. The immigration authorities detained Ms. López on Nov. 20 at Boston Logan International Airport, where she was awaiting a flight home to Houston to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. She was flown to Honduras two days later, despite a court order signed on Nov. 21 barring her deportation while her case was pending. The order on Friday by Judge Stearns in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts came after a federal prosecutor acknowledged in January that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer had made a mistake when the government deported Ms. López. After Ms. López was moved out of Massachusetts, an ICE employee failed to activate a system that would have alerted officers in other jurisdictions that her case was subject to judicial review, according to the order. “In this unfortunate case, the government commendably admits that it did wrong,” Judge Stearns wrote. “Now it is time for the government to make amends.” The government has acknowledged its mistake but refused to voluntarily correct it, Judge Stearns wrote. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to provide Ms. López an expedited student visa, which prompted further intervention from the court. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department, has previously said that Ms. López received full due process before her deportation, including a final order of removal. Ms. McLaughlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Reported similarly:
AP [2/13/2026 6:16 PM, Michael Casey and Mark Scolforo]
ABC News [2/13/2026 3:46 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K]
Univision [2/13/2026 7:55 PM, Staff, 4937K]

CBS News [2/13/2026 9:12 PM, Tom Hanson, 51110K] Video: HERE reports a 10-year-old boy recounted fleeing Thursday morning as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation began near his school bus stop in Lindenwold, New Jersey, saying, "We all were scared.” Dylan, who is a U.S. citizen, told CBS News it started as a normal day — until he heard his classmates suddenly start shouting "ICE.” "Out of nowhere, people just start running, saying that ICE is over there, and everybody was running," Dylan said. He told CBS News that agents started following him as he ran home. In a home security video, Dylan is seen frantically banging on the door, pleading for his mom to let him in. He said he was afraid ICE was trying get inside his home. Doorbell video from an apartment complex shows children running through the parking lot on Thursday morning. The Lindenwold School District said fourth- and fifth-graders were waiting at their bus stop when an ICE operation began at the complex. CBS News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. "The presence of multiple enforcement vehicles caused significant fear and confusion, and several students ran from the bus stop," the district told families in a social media post Thursday morning. "Our bus driver acted quickly and responsibly, circling back multiple times to ensure as many children as possible were safely transported to school.” "ICE Agents are NOT at the Lindenwold School District," the district added.

CBS Baltimore [2/13/2026 4:07 PM, J.T. Moodee Lockman, 51110K] reports a group of Maryland lawmakers is pushing for Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leaders to address "deeply disturbing" conditions at an ICE facility in Baltimore. In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons on Friday, the lawmakers expressed their concerns about "inhumane conditions and reported violations of legal rights" in holding rooms at the George H. Fallon Federal Building. Several of the lawmakers have visited and toured the facility in the past year amid ongoing concerns of overcrowding and lack of food, water and bed space. ICE previously denied the allegations of inhumane conditions, and said it "remains committed to enforcing immigration laws fairly, safely and humanely." In the letter shared Friday, the lawmakers referred to a video that was shared on social media last month, which they said shows dozens of detainees in a small holding room. A spokesperson for DHS previously told WJZ that the video was taken after winter weather delayed the transfer of some detainees, and said transfers would resume after the weather cleared. Since the video was shared, at least two of the lawmakers have visited the ICE facility. The letter includes a list of more than 20 questions, including the average time that people are being held, what food options are provided, when families are notified of detainee transfers and a request for statistics on how many detainees have criminal convictions.

FOX News [2/13/2026 5:21 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports a suburban Maryland board meeting was taken off the air after whistling and protests erupted moments after officials approved a resolution endorsing cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including the purchase of a warehouse in Williamsport that sparked Democratic outrage. A few miles south of the meeting, DHS had completed the purchase of the $102 million property in Williamsport, just across the Potomac River from Falling Waters, West Virginia, and about 75 miles from Washington, D.C. The property soon became the site of protests, including a video posted by Total Wine billionaire David Trone, who is running for his former U.S. House seat, in which he stood by a snowbank behind the center and declared ICE was "executing people" and did not belong in Maryland. Washington County Board President John Barr slammed his gavel Tuesday as outrage erupted over the resolution, declaring the "safety and security of our community is of utmost importance" and that "DHS [and] ICE play a crucial role in safeguarding our nation’s borders and is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, protecting the country from potential threats and maintaining the rule of law for public safety." Maryland federal lawmakers urged the county not to pass the resolution.

CBS News [2/13/2026 11:37 AM, Dan Raby, 51110K] reports that Sen. Raphael Warnock is attempting to stop the construction of immigration detention facilities that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to open in two small Georgia towns. In an amendment Warnock filed to a House spending bill regarding the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, the Georgia senator proposed language that would block any of the bill’s funding for the proposed detention centers. "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Homeland Security, by this Act, by Public Law 119-21, or by any other Act may be used by the Department of Homeland Security for the acquisition, construction, renovation, or expansion of any U.S. Immigration and Enforcement detention center located in Social Circle, Georgia or Oakwood, Georgia unless such action in either such location is explicitly authorized by an Act of Congress," the amendment reads. Warnock also added language that would require any facilities "intended to be used for the detention of noncitizens" to be subject to inspection requirements and environmental laws, including requiring site assessments. "The people of Georgia want secure borders; they do not want massive immigration detention centers in their backyards," Warnock said. "If the Trump Administration focused on getting violent criminals out of the country, we would not need new detention centers straining Georgia’s rural communities. That’s why I’m standing with the residents of Social Circle and Oakwood and fighting to BLOCK these detention facilities from towns that don’t want them."

Reported similarly:
USA Today [2/13/2026 1:53 PM, Irene Wright, 70643K]

Univision [2/13/2026 9:14 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports a Venezuelan immigrant was arrested after being accused of stealing a package valued at $70 from a Lakeland home . Authorities confirmed that he lost his immigration status and could now face deportation proceedings, even before a possible conviction. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect was identified as Carlos Silva, who allegedly stole a box containing sheets worth approximately $70. Security camera footage shows the man with his back to the camera and carrying the package away. According to authorities, the victim later found the discarded box near the home’s trash containers . Investigators stated that fingerprints were found that matched Silva’s. Sheriff Grady Judd explained that when a person is in the country without legal status or commits a crime, his office notifies Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ), which determines whether removal proceedings are warranted.

Breitbart [2/13/2026 4:01 PM, Amy Furr, 2238K] Video: HERE reports a woman is accused of trying to burn down a building that was proposed to be a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Kansas City, Missouri. The incident happened Thursday when the KMBC News crew recorded a woman spraying the building with a liquid and lighting matches.

AP [2/13/2026 8:08 PM, Heather Hollingsworth, 35287K] reports Federal immigration officials plan to spend $38.3 billion to boost detention capacity to 92,600 beds, a document released Friday shows, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly purchases warehouses to turn into detention and processing facilities. Republican New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte posted the document online amid tension over ICE’s plans to convert a warehouse in Merrimack into a 500-bed processing center. It said ICE plans 16 regional processing centers with a population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees, whose stays would average three to seven days. Another eight large-scale detention centers would be capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods averaging less than 60 days. The document also refers to the acquisition of 10 existing “turnkey” facilities. Plans call for all of them to be up and running by November as immigration officials roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by President Donald Trump’s recent tax-cutting law. More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by ICE as of mid-January, up from 40,000 when Trump took office a year earlier, according to federal data released last week. The newly released document refers to “non-traditional facilities” and comes as ICE has quietly bought at least seven warehouses — some larger than 1 million square feet (92,900 square meters) — in the past few weeks in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas. Warehouse purchases in six cities were scuttled when buyers decided not to sell under pressure from activists. Several other deals in places like New York are imminent, however. City officials are frequently unable to get details from ICE until a property sale is finalized. Tensions boiled to the surface after interim ICE Director Todd Lyons testified Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security “has worked with Gov. Ayotte” and provided her with an economic impact summary.

The Hill [2/13/2026 8:41 AM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports Border czar Tom Homan signaled Thursday that the decision to end President Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement officers to Minnesota does not mean they will be leaving the state entirely. Homan told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that “hundreds of special agents” will continue the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) investigation into fraud allegations tied to the state’s social services programs. The administration will also continue to investigate a protest at a St. Paul, Minn., church last month that led to multiple arrests, including those of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. “This is ending the surge, but we’re not going away,” Homan said Thursday on the “Ingraham Angle.” “And let me say this, over 800 flights a day land in St Paul, Minn.; if we need to come back, we’ll come back,” he added. The border czar announced the day before that Operation Metro Surge was set to conclude following weeks of growing unrest sparked by the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal agents. Tensions over the tactics being used in immigration enforcement operations spilled onto Capitol Hill, where Democrats have stonewalled bills to fund DHS over demands for new restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. All but one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), voted against advancing a full-year DHS spending bill on Thursday, a day before the deadline, paving the way for a likely shutdown of the department.

Breitbart [2/13/2026 11:11 AM, Staff, 2238K] reports that the city of St. Paul, Minn., which has been occupied by thousands of ICE agents from Operation Metro Surge, has joined a growing list of state and local jurisdictions around the country seeking to prevent federal immigration enforcement agents from wearing masks while carrying out aggressive sweeps and arrests, even though the legality of such bans remains in question. Just before the Trump administration’s announcement Thursday of an imminent end to the operation in Minnesota, which resulted in the killings of two people, residents in the capital city of St. Paul emotionally testified in favor of a proposed new ordinance that would prohibit the use of masks by all law enforcement officers, including federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The testimony came as Democratic city leaders, including St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and all seven council members, sought to join a growing list of at least 17 states, as well as local jurisdictions such as Los Angeles County, Denver and Portland, Ore., in introducing legislation banning law enforcement agents from wearing masks — even though those bans are already facing legal challenges from President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice. Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who have characterized ICE as an "out-of-control paramilitary force," are also demanding that its agents stop wearing masks — among other key reforms — as a price for continuing to fund the Department of Homeland Security and avoid a partial government shutdown.

New York Times [2/13/2026 7:35 PM, Jonah E. Bromwich, 148038K] reports on a subzero Tuesday last month, Daniel Woo, a 29-year-old sound designer incensed by the Trump administration’s immigration surge in Minnesota, drove to a St. Paul supermarket parking lot to monitor federal agents gathered there. A gray SUV turned out of the lot. Mr. Woo checked in with his fellow monitors, a network of civilians tracking agents’ movements and alerting potential targets. The group confirmed the vehicle had been associated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Mr. Woo followed as it traveled through the city. The SUV reached a freeway and headed west, and Mr. Woo became suspicious. He felt he knew where it was going. And sure enough, the SUV soon reached his neighborhood in Plymouth, Minn., about 40 minutes from where it had started, and pulled up in front of his house. “They just came over to intimidate me,” Mr. Woo said in an interview this week. “To say, ‘We know where you live.’” His was not an isolated experience. Among nearly 100 sworn statements filed in federal court on Friday are more than a dozen accounts like Mr. Woo’s, in which federal agents deployed to Minnesota singled out protesters, finding the addresses of their homes and showing up there. It is not entirely clear how the agents determined the monitors’ home addresses; some assumed the agents had used their vehicles’ license plates. But whatever the case, the sworn statements describe a remarkable projection of police power. The Trump administration began the immigration surge in December, ultimately deploying 3,000 agents to Minnesota in what it said was an effort to root out and deport criminal illegal immigrants. Minnesotans quickly responded, miring the federal agents in protests on the Twin Cities’ frozen streets and disrupting the city with chaotic clashes. The statements described a fraught dynamic between protesters who often began the interactions by trailing agents, and were then threatened with dire consequences.

Washington Examiner [2/13/2026 1:27 PM, Mia Cathell, 1147K] reports that officials in Hennepin County, Minnesota, home to Minneapolis, are prosecuting only a handful of protest-related cases amid the mass uprisings against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At the county level, officials have not yet filed any charges. As of Feb. 3, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has received 21 referrals for prosecution stemming from the recent wave of disruptive and sometimes violent protests against ICE. Of those cases, 11 submissions are in "a review stage," nine were charged directly by law enforcement officers via citation, and one was dismissed, the county disclosed this week in response to a Washington Examiner data request regarding current prosecutions. Prosecutions generally arise from charging recommendations proposed by police. However, police in Minnesota can issue a citation that directly charges a suspect, typically with a low-level crime, absent a formal criminal complaint returned from city or county prosecutors. When contacted by the Washington Examiner about the lack of prosecutorial action, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office explained that most misdemeanors and other less serious offenses are referred to the Minneapolis city attorney, whereas the county prosecutor charges felonies. But the Minneapolis chief prosecutor’s office has taken up few cases.

FOX News [2/13/2026 2:31 PM, Brian Flood, 37576K] reports that former CNN anchor Don Lemon was formally arraigned on Friday, pleading not guilty to charges related to the viral takeover of a Minnesota church by anti-ICE agitators. Lemon, who last month livestreamed aggressive agitators storming St. Paul’s Cities Church under the suspicion that its pastor had collaborated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was charged with conspiracy to deprive religious freedom rights and a violation of the FACE Act. Prosecutors did not seek to detain Lemon, who flashed peace signs to photographers as he entered the Warren E. Burger Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse alongside his legal team and husband Tim Malone. He appeared before Minnesota Magistrate Judge Douglas L. Micko, who imposed standard release conditions, including not violating laws. Lemon’s legal team said it planned to file a joint motion for grand jury proceeding and has "serious concerns" about the statues of the allegation. Lemon’s legal team also requested the return of a cell phone taken during his arrest. "I will require that if Mr. Lemon’s phone has been seized and is no longer of evidentiary value that it will be returned," the judge said. Prosecutors said the phone is in the custody of the DHS, and a search warrant has been obtained, but the process is not complete, and they are not ready to hand it over. Lemon was arraigned alongside far-left agitators including William Kelly and Nekima Levy Armstrong, who have been accused of helping organize the church takeover. All five people arraigned on Friday pleaded not guilty. Bloomberg [2/13/2026 4:09 PM, Erik Larson, 18082K] reports former CNN anchor Don Lemon pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from his coverage of a protest against federal immigration enforcement activities in Minnesota, in a case that has escalated the Trump administration’s clash with the press. Lemon entered his plea on Friday in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, denying charges of conspiracy to disrupt the religious freedom of worshipers. The charges stem from his coverage of a Jan. 18 protest inside a St. Paul church that was purportedly connected to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which sparked major protests across the state and led to the shooting deaths of two US citizens. Lemon was arrested two weeks ago in Los Angeles, where he was preparing to cover the Grammy awards. At the time, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said she’d ordered the arrest of Lemon and three others for participating in a “coordinated attack” on the church in St. Paul.

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CBS News [2/13/2026 6:19 PM, Adam Duxter, 51110K]

Axios [2/13/2026 7:20 AM, Kyle Stokes, 17364K] reports that in a standoff with Minnesota, the Trump administration blinked. The big picture: President Trump exhausted huge amounts of political capital on an operation that killed two American citizens, caused "catastrophic" damage to businesses and schools, and terrorized immigrant communities. As federal immigration officials announced Thursday they will wind down their mass deportation blitz in Minnesota, it’s not clear whether state or local officials conceded any policy changes to trigger the federal retreat. Friction point: The same polls that show the Trump administration’s crackdown has been deeply unpopular in Minnesota and nationwide also show that most voters want at least some level of cooperation between local and federal law enforcement on immigration. State of play: Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said Thursday he had secured commitments from local jails "throughout the state" to hand over immigration suspects while still in custody. "I have not met one county jail that says no to us," Homan told reporters. Yes, but: Homan didn’t say which agencies had agreed to deeper cooperation. The state’s largest jail operator — the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which has long ignored ICE’s requests to hold immigration suspects or inform agents of their pending release — issued a statement saying that its policies "remain unchanged." "We have not made any changes to the policies that guide our engagement with ICE," a spokesperson for Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise told Axios. "We remain dedicated to collaborating with all our law enforcement and justice partners." After Axios asked which local agencies had committed to cooperate, a White House spokesperson referred Axios to Homan’s statement on X.

San Francisco Chronicle [2/14/2026 7:01 AM, Jacqueline Keeler, 3800K] reports the attention may largely be off Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Minnesota, but the violent “surge” of agents that drew international headlines for its savagery is ongoing. I was particularly struck by the video of a recent suburban standoff as a woman whose house was surrounded by immigration agents livestreamed the encounter. Federal authorities entered her property without permission after the delivery driver of her food order ran inside to avoid capture. Confronted by these armed agents and fearful of the threat of them breaking down her door and shooting her in front of her child, the woman pleaded for help to the camera: “I have a baby here … they have guns pointing everywhere in my house … I have my child barricaded.” The black masked figures — outside her window, in her backyard, at her front door, on the street, hands on their guns — appeared to trigger a genetic memory of past atrocities. “I’m Native American!” the woman screamed. “My family already died for y’all to work here … hung by Abraham Lincoln, 38 plus two!" She was referring to the Dakota 38 — the 38 tribal citizens executed in Mankato, Minn., on Dec. 26, 1862, the largest mass execution in U.S. history. In linking the agents to this history, the woman was making a statement that their activities weren’t about justice; they were a brutal, public performance of state terror, with the intent of deciding who is allowed to belong through violence. For many white Americans, ICE’s actions under President Donald Trump are seen as a departure from American values. But for many Native Americans, they are the American value system. For my tribes, the Dakota and Diné people, seeing federal agents disappear people from their communities isn’t a new crisis. To look at ICE today — its physical violence, extrajudicial kidnapping and inhuman detention — is to witness a terrifyingly familiar ghost. It is a recurring nightmare rooted in state terror that began before this country was founded. This terror is a core part of the republic’s foundation. For immigrants, that terror is now the dread pulsing behind every unexpected knock at the door, or an errand turning into a beat down and the destruction of everything they achieved pursuing the American dream. For the Dakota in Minnesota, they live with the memory that the state sought to erase their very existence. Now, ICE’s arrival in their communities is yet another relentless threat that won’t stay in the past.

CBS New York [2/13/2026 5:53 PM, Doug Williams, 51110K] reports a Palestinian woman who had been living and working in Paterson, New Jersey, has been held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas for nearly a year. Her legal team says her health is in danger because of it. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 33-year-old Leqaa Kordia, from the West Bank, was arrested on March 13, 2025, for overstaying her student visa, adding that she was "found to be providing financial support to individuals living in nations hostile to the U.S." Kordia’s legal team said an immigration judge has twice ordered her release. Abushaban, who is a U.S. citizen living in Florida, said he tried to post bail for his cousin both times, but the money was either returned to him or not accepted. The legal team accused DHS of simply ignoring the orders because Kordia participated in a 2024 protest against the Israeli military at Columbia University, where she was arrested by the NYPD. When CBS News New York asked a DHS spokesperson for an explanation as to why Kardia has been held in Texas for as long as she has and whether they had plans to deport her, they did not address either question in their response.

USA Today [2/13/2026 12:15 PM, Hannan Adely, 70643K] reports that after suffering a seizure inside a Texas immigration detention center, Leqaa Kordia said, she was kept in chains that weighed down her hands and legs in a hospital room, while barred from contacting her family or attorneys. The Paterson, New Jersey, resident described the "terrifying" ordeal in a statement shared days after she was released from a hospital and sent back to the Prairieland Detention Facility. Kordia, 33, has been held there for nearly a year, even though an immigration judge twice ordered her released, in what her attorneys say is retaliation for pro-Palestinian advocacy. "On February 6th, I woke up in the Prairieland Detention Facility’s medical unit terrified and confused after having experienced the first seizure of my life," Kordia said. "Not until enduring nearly a year of cruel confinement in inhumane conditions had I ever suffered one before. All I felt was fear, not knowing what was happening to me." She fell down twice, witnesses told her, before she started to seize. As an ambulance drove her to the hospital, she was "dizzy, nauseous, and in pain." Her family said they learned from another detainee about what happened but could not get any information about her condition or where she was taken until the day she was released. A lawyer rushed to the location but was not allowed to see her.

NBC News [2/13/2026 1:18 PM, Mike Hixenbaugh, 42967K] reports that Nikita and his wife, Oksana, fled Russia in desperation two years ago, believing America was their only hope of giving their three children a life free of fear and oppression. Instead, those children are growing up behind the razor-wire fences of a South Texas detention center, among hundreds of other families swept up in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Over their four months at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center — a remote, prisonlike facility that has drawn mounting scrutiny over what human rights advocates describe as inhumane conditions — Nikita and Oksana say their children have endured indignities they never imagined possible in the United States. Worms in their food. Guards shouting orders and snatching toys from small hands. Restless nights under fluorescent lights that never fully go dark. Hours in line for a single pill. "We left one tyranny and came to another kind of tyranny," Nikita said in Russian. "Even in Russia, they don’t treat children like this." In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security defended holding the family while their asylum case is pending. It said the Dilley facility "is retrofitted for families" to ensure children’s well-being and accused the media of "peddling hoaxes" about poor conditions in immigrant detention centers.

New York Times [2/13/2026 10:44 PM, Jesus Jiménez, 148038K] reports the Department of Homeland Security said that three federal officers were injured on Friday during a clash with demonstrators in downtown Los Angeles that left one federal agent hospitalized with a concussion. The demonstration formed outside Los Angeles City Hall in the early afternoon, the Los Angeles Police Department said. It said the demonstrators then began marching toward a nearby federal building where those arrested by federal immigration agents in the Los Angeles area have been processed. The protest grew to a group of about 200 to 300 people, some of whom began to throw objects, including rocks, at law enforcement officers outside the federal building, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. One Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was injured after being hit in the head with a rock, and two Federal Protective Services officers were also injured, the department said. One was hospitalized with a concussion, while the other had a cut over his eye. The D.H.S. statement said that the “rioters” had not been located and arrested.

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FOX News [2/13/2026 11:11 PM, Brie Stimson, 37576K] Video: HERE

Blaze [2/13/2026 5:25 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1556K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is not impressed with the latest effort by Los Angeles activists to warn illegal aliens about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Anti-ICE activists regularly employ whistles to help illegal aliens evade federal officers, but Amanda Alcalde is planning to install ICE warning sirens in the Highland Park neighborhood. Alcalde said the sirens would be installed on private property and at businesses since the plan is not sanctioned by the city. In an email statement to Blaze News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin ridiculed the siren plan. "This is quite literally 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. Seems like a public nuisance!" McLaughlin replied. She went on to document "some of the criminals the residents of Highland Park are trying to protect and help evade arrest."

Reuters [2/13/2026 11:13 AM, Staff, 38315K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has ended temporary protected status for Yemen, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on Friday, the latest move targeting immigrants. The decision to end humanitarian protections that grant deportation relief and work permits to more than a thousand Yemeni nationals was taken after determining that it was against the U.S. "national interest", Noem said. TPS provides relief to people already in the U.S. if their home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event. The Trump administration has sought to end most enrollment in the program, saying it runs counter to U.S. interests. "After reviewing conditions in the country and consulting with appropriate U.S. government agencies, I determined that Yemen no longer meets the law’s requirements to be designated for Temporary Protected Status," she said. The Daily Caller [2/13/2026 9:00 AM, Ashley Brasfield, 803K] reports that "Allowing TPS Yemen beneficiaries to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interest," Noem wrote. "We are prioritizing our national security interests and putting America first." The decision affects approximately 2,810 current TPS holders and another 425 with pending applications. A win for the rule of law and vindication for the US Constitution. Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation. The move is the latest in a series of TPS terminations by the Trump administration. DHS ended protections for Somali nationals in January amid a fraud scandal in which some diaspora — particularly in Minnesota — have been accused of stealing millions in taxpayer dollars. In November, the department revoked status for South Sudanese nationals — some of whom face deportation after more than 14 years.

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New York Times [2/13/2026 3:08 PM, Ashley Ahn, 148038K]
Bloomberg [2/13/2026 11:16 AM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 50K]
Breitbart [2/13/2026 3:57 PM, John Binder, 2238K]
The Hill [2/13/2026 12:20 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18170K]

Breitbart [2/13/2026 6:35 PM, Neil Munro, 2238K] reports President Donald Trump’s deputies have sharply reduced the win rate by economic migrants in asylum courts, ensuring that only 10 percent of migrants won their asylum claims in December 2025. Under President Joe Biden, slightly more than 50 percent of migrants won their cases for asylum in the fall of 2023, even though most were economic migrants and did not face government persecution. Asylum wins are important because they allow illegal migrants to compete against Americans for wages and housing, to get green cards, file for citizenship, and put their back-home family relatives on the chain-migration waiting list. Roughly 2.3 million migrants have asylum cases, amid an imported population of at least 15 million illegal migrants. The 10 percent asylum-approval rate is expected to drop further in 2026 as Attorney General Pam Bondi removes many older, pro-migration judges who have supported most asylum claims. This drop in approval rates has a huge impact on President Trump’s ability to deport more illegal migrants. For example, the rejection of asylum claims allows judges to issue a "Final Order of Deportation" to illegal migrants. The final order can be swiftly enforced by ICE, regardless of the raucous street protests by pro-migrant activist groups. Trump’s ICE officials can also use the low asylum approval rate to persuade detained migrants that it makes sense to leave the United States well before their asylum court date.

Reuters [2/13/2026 2:07 PM, David Shepardson, 38315K] reports that two Democratic senators urged the Trump administration on Friday to abandon a proposal to require millions of foreign visitors to provide social media handles used over the past five years. The proposed policy from U.S. Customs and Border Protection would require travelers from countries in the visa waiver program to submit the social media data. "By requiring travelers to disclose their personal social media information, CBP will force people who simply want to visit family in the United States, conduct business with U.S. companies, or attend events such as the upcoming World Cup to submit to sweeping digital surveillance," said Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden. "No doubt many Americans would be outraged if countries such as Great Britain, France, or Australia imposed a similar policy on American tourists." The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment. In December, the department said the proposal could take effect as early as this month. Earlier, a group representing the U.S. travel and tourism industry warned the proposal could have a "chilling effect" on visits to the United States. "If we get this policy wrong, millions of travelers could take their business and the billions of dollars they spend elsewhere, only making America weaker," the U.S. Travel Association said.

Blaze [2/13/2026 7:00 PM, Staff, 1556K] reports on Tuesday, February 10, during a heated reports House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar (Mich.) told U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, "You better hope you get pardoned.” "That’s a threat," says Glenn Beck, who was deeply disturbed by Thanedar’s words. "He didn’t say, ‘You violated the law, and you should be investigated.’ What he said was, ‘When power changes hands, we’re going to punish you for enforcing the law.’ That distinction is everything," he warns. "The moment the enforcement itself becomes criminalized retroactively," Glenn says, "the rule of law does not merely weaken; it completely flips.” "The message is no longer, ‘Follow the law.’ The message becomes, ‘Guess who’s going to be in charge later? You better act accordingly,’" he explains. "That is not a democracy. That’s a legitimacy war.” Thanedar’s threat, he says, is evidence that accelerationism — "the belief that everything needs to be burned down" — is migrating from fringe street movements into the halls of government itself. In the streets, accelerationism sounds like, "Burn it down," but in the government, it sounds like, "We’ll deal with you later," Glenn explains. "[Thanedar’s threat] is nothing I have ever heard ever in my lifetime in America, and it should chill all of us to the bone," he says. "When lawmakers openly promise prosecutions after elections, they’re not talking about justice; they’re signaling veto power — the rule by anticipation of punishment.” Glenn warns that some people are engaging in "casual talk" about "Nuremberg-style trials" that would treat "domestic opponents" as Nazi war criminals deserving execution or lifelong imprisonment after a power shift. This should terrify everyone, he says.

CBS News [2/13/2026 7:27 PM, Eleanor Watson, 51110K] reports the unexpected and ultimately short-lived flight ban near El Paso this week stemmed from disagreements within the federal government over the use of a high-energy laser weapon system to take down drones, multiple sources told CBS News. After training by the U.S. military, Customs and Border Protection used a palletized high-energy laser system earlier this week, even though the Federal Aviation Administration still has safety concerns, according to sources who were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the matter. The system CBP used has been deployed overseas, according to two of the sources, but had not been considered for regular domestic use until recently. The system works by detecting an aerial threat, emitting a laser beam that can quickly zero in on the target, like a drone, and the beam’s heat damages or disables the object. High-energy lasers are one of several systems the government could use to counter drones. "The laser, of course, is essentially instantaneous, and so it’s relatively easy for something that’s doing the speed of light to hit exactly the point on the object that it wants to do," said Tom Karako, a senior fellow and the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for International and Strategic Studies. After Wednesday’s flight restriction was lifted, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said "the threat has been neutralized" by the FAA and praised the Pentagon, which he said "acted swiftly to address a cartel incursion." But the Pentagon said it had nothing to add when asked when or how the threat was eliminated.

FOX News [2/13/2026 11:45 AM, Alex Miller Fox, 37576K] reports that a Senate Republican is demanding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigate whether illegal Chinese ingredients are making their way into weight loss drugs in the United States. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called on FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to probe how far unregulated and illegal Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients have penetrated the U.S. supply chain — and whether they have ended up in popular weight loss drugs. "China’s access to America’s pharmaceutical supply chain presents national security risks as well as significant health risks to American patients," Cotton wrote in a letter to Makary first obtained by Fox News Digital. Cotton’s concern follows recent reports from the FDA and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that between September 2023 and January 2025, authorities intercepted 195 illegal shipments of active pharmaceutical ingredients. He noted that the ingredients were "likely used in compounded weight loss medications" that entered the U.S. market. Of those shipments, roughly 60 originated from China and Hong Kong. "It is estimated that as of January 2026, up to 1.5 million American patients could be using unregulated compounded weight loss medications that may contain potentially dangerous ingredients from Chinese manufacturers," Cotton wrote. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [2/14/2026 5:02 AM, Karoun Demirjian, Kate Kelly, Eric Schmitt, and Tyler Pager, 148038K] reports last spring, in the early months of Steve Feinberg’s tenure as deputy defense secretary, Pentagon staff members briefed him on plans to employ new high-energy laser weapons to take out drones being used by Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs across the southern U.S. border. But their use was conditioned on getting a green light from aviation safety officials. The law, the staff members at the Pentagon explained to him, required extensive coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Department, which could slow the testing of the system. Transportation officials could even block the system’s use if they determined that it posed risks to aviation safety. Two people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive matters, said they recalled that Mr. Feinberg felt the Pentagon had the authority to proceed anyway. Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, denied their account, saying it was “a total fabrication.” The meeting took place at an especially sensitive time for those regulating air safety as well as for the Pentagon. Just months earlier, an Army helicopter collided with a passenger jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport above Washington, killing 67 people and putting the military’s safety protocols under intense scrutiny. Now the question of whether the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security followed proper procedures and the law in deploying the laser weapon has become a flashpoint within the Trump administration. Working alongside military personnel, agents from Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, used the weapon this week not far from El Paso International Airport, prompting fury inside the F.A.A. and a brief shutdown of the airport and airspace in that region. Late Tuesday night, the F.A.A. administrator, Bryan Bedford, caught off guard that the system was being used without authorization and concerned for public safety, believed he had little choice but to close the airspace for 10 days, according to more than a half-dozen people. It was an extraordinary decision that surprised the flying public and local officials. Under pressure from the White House, Mr. Bedford rescinded the order on Wednesday, setting off a bout of finger-pointing within the administration that continued throughout the week. Administration officials told reporters that the F.A.A. did not warn the White House or the Pentagon that it was about to severely limit flights over a city of nearly 700,000 residents. But internal government communications reviewed by The New York Times tell a very different story.

AP [2/13/2026 8:40 PM, Josh Funk, 35287K] reports the government’s ability to deal with drones that pose a threat on American soil has been questioned this week after the use of a laser designed to shoot down drones near the border in Texas led to the abrupt closure of the airspace over El Paso, sources familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The details of exactly what happened before the Federal Aviation Administration shut down the busy airport in the Mexican border city on Wednesday aren’t entirely clear, but a source familiar with the situation told AP that the laser was deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection without coordinating with the FAA. Two months ago, Congress agreed to give more law enforcement agencies the authority to take down rogue drones as long as they are properly trained. That could make situations like the one in El Paso more likely. Previously, only a select few federal agencies had that power. The government would say only that the airspace was shut down when an incursion by Mexican drug cartel drones was neutralized. But the two people who discussed sensitive details on condition of anonymity said the FAA grounded every aircraft in the El Paso area over concerns about the safety of the laser system being used near commercial planes. The restrictions were initially expected to last 10 days, but then they were lifted a few hours later. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday that the government agencies involved in El Paso are working to address the concerns that led to the cancellation of more than a dozen flights and sent travelers scrambling. “This was a joint agency task force mission that was undertaken and we’re continuing to work on the communication through that,” Noem said in Arizona. But drone warfare expert Brett Velicovich said the dysfunction in Texas raises questions about whether the U.S. will be prepared to deal with a significant drone threat. “We need to simplify the authorities for who is really in charge and get these egos out of the way from these different agencies before an American gets hurt,” said Velicovich, who founded drone maker Power.us and consults on ways to mitigate their threats.

USA Today [2/13/2026 5:10 AM, Rex Huppke, 70643K] reports I’m a bright-red party balloon from the greater El Paso area in Texas, and I have deep concerns for myself and my extended mylar family in the wake of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials’ unconscionable use of an anti-drone laser on a member of the party balloon community. In case you missed it, the airspace over El Paso was suddenly shut down Feb. 10 without explanation, creating chaos and widespread confusion throughout El Paso County. The closure was initially blamed on an "incursion" of drones controlled by Mexican drug cartels. But news reports since then found the closure stemmed from immigration officials in the area using a high-powered anti-drone laser without first coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration.

USA Today [2/13/2026 12:54 PM, Jeanine Santucci, 70643K] reports a Customs and Border Protection supervisor has been arrested and charged with harboring an undocumented immigrant he was in a romantic relationship with, authorities said. Supervisory CBP Officer Andres Wilkinson, 52, was living in Laredo, Texas, with a woman who overstayed her travel visa and "provided financial support" to the woman, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Wilkinson had worked for CBP since 2001 and was promoted to a supervisory position in 2021, prosecutors said. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. An attorney representing Wilkinson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Wilkinson was arrested on Feb. 10 and is on administrative leave, according to CBP. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a criminal complaint viewed by USA TODAY, the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles allegations of wrongdoing by its officers, learned in April 2025 that the undocumented woman was living with Wilkinson and that he was aware of her immigration status. The woman entered the United States in August 2023 and was admitted as a tourist to visit San Antonio, and after that had multiple entries into the country, according to a criminal complaint against Wilkinson. The last entry was granted for tourism to Eagle Pass, Texas, and expired in March 2025. In late 2023, she was living with her husband, who later filed a petition for her to become a resident, the complaint said. However, that petition was later withdrawn in 2025, the complaint said.

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NewsNation [2/13/2026 4:28 PM, Sean Noone, 4464K]
Univision [2/13/2026 3:47 PM, Staff, 4937K]

NewsNation [2/13/2026 6:42 PM, Julian Resendiz, 4464K] reports federal officials last year reported seizing more than a million fentanyl pills at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry during a 30-day period ending September 24. In January, they seized the same amount in one day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported this week. And the potentially deadly synthetic opioid continues to come across in February. With each pill weighing approximately 1 gram, that’s 125,000 fentanyl pills. A little more than two weeks earlier, border officers seized 111,200 fentanyl pills and 95 pounds of methamphetamines during another vehicle inspection at the port. That same Jan. 26, officers discovered 124,000 fentanyl pills and 17 pounds of fentanyl powder in yet another conveyance, CBP said. But the height of the traffic came Jan. 17. On that day, vehicles trying to enter the U.S. through either the DeConcini or Mariposa border crossings were stopped with concealed loads of 522,000 blue pills, 406,000 pills and 106,600 more. The first vehicle had an additional 29 pounds of heroin, 29 pounds of cocaine and 5 pounds of meth, according to J. Acuña, senior CBP official performing duties of area port director in Nogales. Acuña gave a K-9 officer named Roki credit for the second bust – a vehicle where border officers also found 55 pounds of meth.

New York Times [2/14/2026 6:20 PM, Eileen Sullivan and Christine Chung, 148038K] reports when the Department of Homeland Security ran out of funding early Saturday, employees at the Transportation Security Administration assumed an unfortunately familiar role: the face of the latest impasse in Congress. Lawmakers left town this week without a deal to fund the department over a disagreement about reining in the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration enforcement tactics. Most of the hardships faced by employees — who are working without pay — will go unnoticed by the public with a few possible exceptions, including the people who check IDs, scan baggage and complete other security tasks at U.S. airports. Several previous government shutdowns ended when the T.S.A.’s work force began to buckle in a way that started to inconvenience travelers, a pressure point that could come in about two weeks from now when T.S.A. employees will miss their first full paycheck while continuing to incur normal costs of living. It is an especially hard hit for T.S.A. employees this time around, because many are just coming out of the financial strain they suffered during last year’s 43-day shutdown. Some were evicted from their homes, others could not afford gas to commute to and from the airport, and some could not afford medicine or day care for their children. And some are still bitter they did not receive a $10,000 bonus that the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, said would be awarded to those with “exemplary service” during the last shutdown. “Everybody’s really nervous,” said Roberto Echeverria, a lead transportation security officer at Salt Lake City International Airport. He said some of his colleagues had been preparing for this scenario for the past month, trying to pick up as much overtime as possible to have somewhat of a cushion for when they missed their first full paycheck. Mr. Echeverria, a member of a local union chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, said T.S.A. employees in the Salt Lake region made a base pay ranging from $36,480 to $49,920 a year. Pay varies based on location. He said that he and many of his colleagues were asking themselves the same question: “How many more times am I going to be able to do this?” Even though they will eventually be paid back for the hours they worked, it is an extremely stressful situation, he said, adding that Salt Lake lost nearly 100 officers since the beginning of the last shutdown. Officers are frustrated that they have to pay the price for a political fight that has nothing to do with them. It’s even worse this time, because they have to work without pay while immigration officers will continue to be paid through a separate fund.

Reuters [2/13/2026 12:07 PM, David Shepardson, 16072K] reports that major airlines and travel groups on Friday urged Congress to avoid a partial government shutdown, which would result in about 50,000 airport security officers not getting paid ahead of the busy U.S. spring break travel period. Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to work unpaid starting Saturday without an agreement on funding Homeland Security Department agencies. "Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay, which increases the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights," said Airlines for Amer: “Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay, which increases the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights," said Airlines for America, U.S. Travel and American Hotel & Lodging Association in a joint statement. Last fall, airport security screeners went without pay for 43 days. Unlike last fall’s shutdown, Congress has approved legislation to fund air traffic control operations through September 30. Absences of air traffic controllers led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays after October 1, when the shutdown began and prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to impose significant flight cuts at 40 major airports.

Bloomberg [2/13/2026 10:40 AM, Allyson Versprille, 18082K] reports that the US Transportation Security Administration will now refer to non-US citizens as “aliens” in its regulations, according to a change announced Friday. The decision was included in a final rule signed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The government said it was making the change to “align TSA’s regulatory language with statutory terms and definitions in the Immigration and Nationality Act,” a law enacted in 1952. President Donald Trump’s administration has already been using the term “alien” in executive orders and on government websites. The TSA’s change further expands its usage, which some advocates and prior administrations have said dehumanizes non-US persons. The policy reverses US government moves under former President Joe Biden to reduce the use of the word, such as removing in 2021 references to “aliens” from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services policy manual. TSA’s change didn’t go through the normal notice-and-comment period required of most government regulations, according to the final rule, because it “has no substantive effect on the regulatory requirements and places no stamp of approval or disapproval on any type of behavior.”

AP [2/14/2026 12:05 AM, Rio Yamat, 31753K] reports a shutdown of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that took effect early Saturday impacts the agency responsible for screening passengers and bags at airports across the country. Travelers with airline reservations may be nervously recalling a 43-day government shutdown that led to historic flight cancellations and long delays last year. Transportation Security Administration officers are expected to work without pay while lawmakers remain without an agreement on Homeland Security’s annual funding. TSA officers also worked through the record shutdown that ended Nov. 12, but aviation experts say this one may play out differently. Trade groups for the U.S. travel industry and major airlines nonetheless warned that the longer DHS appropriations are lapsed, the longer security lines at the nation’s commercial airports could get.

AP [2/13/2026 12:02 PM, Alex Rozier, 35287K] reports that North Mississippi senators pleaded for an improved disaster response from the state Thursday as thousands of their constituents still lacked power nearly three weeks after the January winter storm. Sen. Rita Potts Parks, a Republican from Corinth, repeatedly told her colleagues “we have work to do” to better prepare for future disasters. Her district includes Alcorn and Tippah counties, two of the hardest-hit areas in Mississippi. “I hope you remember how my people were cold, and we as a state, we failed them,” she said during an emotional speech on the Senate floor. “I’m included.” In her district, hospitals and nursing homes went more than four days without power or water, Parks said. “Can you imagine what those smells were like, what those cries were like by that second day?” she said. “And those people being placed with more and more blankets on them just to keep them warm.” Parks and her colleague Sen. Neil Whaley, a Republican from Potts Camp, mentioned the response times of specific agencies as areas for improvement. “Us getting resources from (the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) took days,” she later told Mississippi Today. “I’m not throwing darts, I’m just saying it was a fact we didn’t see supplies coming to us until Tuesday. That’s water, MREs, cots. This event happened on Saturday, Sunday. You’re Tuesday night, Wednesday getting us what we needed.” She said about five or six counties went over two days without any power transmission because Tennessee Valley Authority lines were down. “That’s historical, that’s never supposed to happen,” Parks said.

Los Angeles Times [2/13/2026 6:00 AM, Noah Haggerty, 12718K] reports crews finally are removing fire debris from the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Estates, a roughly 170-unit, rent-controlled mobile home park along Pacific Coast Highway. Cleanup of the property — the largest site in Pacific Palisades still filled with fire debris — is starting more than a year after wildfire destroyed the park, and more than four months after the city of Los Angeles declared the site a public nuisance. The sights of excavators and hazmat suits this week prompted a sigh of relief from Palisadians worried about the health risks of the potentially toxic debris. But for residents of the Bowl, it’s hardly a step toward returning home. "The owner, still, is not communicating with us ... and the only reason they’re doing this is because the city eventually threatened them," said Jon Brown, who lived in the Palisades Bowl for 10 years and now helps lead the fight for residents to return home. "But once they get it cleaned up, they’re able to just sit on their hands again.” In the Bowl, like in many mobile home parks in the U.S., residents rent their lots but own the homes on them. The Palisades Bowl’s owners still are disputing whether residents’ leases remain intact. Further, the owners need to fix or replace damaged foundations as well as the electric and water utilities before residents could start rebuilding. On Thursday, mangled metal screeched as an excavator compacted the skeletons of former homes. Crews in white hazmat suits laid out tarps and sorted through potentially hazardous materials. Cars on PCH raced past pink and red posters adorned with flowers and fixed to the construction fence. "WE WANT TO GO HOME," one read in thick, hand-drawn letters. After local officials lobbied, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ cleanup efforts, agreed to include Tahitian Terrace but not the Bowl. In a letter last July, FEMA argued that in contrast to Tahitian Terrace, it could not conclude that the Bowl "represents a preserved or guaranteed source of long-term affordable housing.”

Blaze [2/13/2026 2:30 PM, Rebeka Zeljko, 1556K] reports that judicial Watch obtained heavily redacted documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation showing that law enforcement broadcast radio warnings about an "unknown male acting suspiciously" prior to the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The FBI was forced to release the first records after President Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, following Judicial Watch’s lawsuit against the bureau. A year and a half after the shooting, very little is known about the assassination attempt, the failures leading up to it, and the shooter himself. In the lawsuit, Judicial Watch asked for all records and communications related to Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, after the FBI failed to comply with a July 2024 FOIA request. As a result, the FBI was forced to release 37 heavily redacted pages revealing the extent to which law enforcement was aware of "suspicious" activity leading up to the deadly shooting. One investigative report found that law enforcement flagged a suspicious male wearing a gray T-shirt with "Demolition Ranch" written on the front like the one Crooks was wearing. The same report found an unknown male scouting out a law enforcement sniper position, leading several officials to communicate about his activity.

CBS News [2/13/2026 5:48 PM, Doug Myers, 51110K] reports a Mansfield woman has admitted to producing sexually explicit videos of a 9‑year‑old child, pleading guilty this week to four federal counts of child sexual exploitation, prosecutors announced. Marissa Witkop, 31, now faces 15 to 30 years per count, with a maximum possible sentence of 120 years in federal prison, according to Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. A federal grand jury indicted her in October 2025. Prosecutors say Witkop produced four sexually explicit videos of a 9‑year‑old child, distributing some of them through a social media app. Sentencing is set for June 9 before Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means in Fort Worth. The U.S. Secret Service and the Mansfield Police Department led the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, is prosecuting the case.

Reuters [2/13/2026 7:57 PM, Lisa Baertlein, 16072K] reports Tthe Trump administration on Friday released ⁠its ⁠plan to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding ⁠and other maritime businesses, paid for in part by port fees on cargo ​delivered to the United States on ships made in China - levies the U.S. and China agreed to pause for one ‌year. The Maritime Action Plan offers a ‌road map for the revival of U.S. shipbuilding, which has shrunk since World War Two and now ⁠severely lags China ⁠and other nations. Coming in at more than 30 pages, the plan calls ​for establishing maritime prosperity zones to bolster investment, reforming workforce training and education, expanding the fleet of U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged commercial ships, establishing a dedicated funding stream through a Maritime Security Trust Fund and reducing regulations. The Trump administration early last ​year announced plans to levy fees on China-linked ships to loosen the country’s grip on the global ⁠maritime ⁠industry and help pay for ⁠a U.S. shipbuilding ​renaissance. The so-called Section 301 penalties followed a U.S. probe that concluded China uses unfair policies and ​practices to dominate global shipping. The ⁠fees, which sparked intense pushback from the global shipping industry and intensified tensions between the world’s two largest economies, hit on October 14 and were expected to generate an estimated $3.2 billion annually from Chinese-built vessels sailing to U.S. ports. But China retaliated with its own port fees on U.S.-linked ships and the tit-for-tat fees disrupted ⁠global shipping. Soon after, the two sides struck a deal to put the levies on ⁠hold for 12 months. On Friday, Shipyard owners, investors and the bipartisan sponsors of the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act welcomed President Donald Trump’s maritime plan, which landed months later than hoped.

Daily Caller [2/13/2026 1:56 PM, Hudson Crozier, 803K] reports that defense lawyers in a Texas Antifa terrorism trial want to sway jurors with "experts" who study supposed right-wing extremism, downplay Antifa tactics or support "anti-fascist" causes. Attorneys picked longtime activists and left-leaning thinkers to help fight federal charges against nine people over a July 2025 terrorist attack at an Alvarado immigration facility, court documents show. The proposed lineup includes a self-described "anarchist," a "male supremacism" researcher and those who criticize the Trump administration’s labeling of the Antifa movement as a terrorist organization. The trial, scheduled for Tuesday, revolves around a planned protest at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center where a band of activists arrived together, started vandalizing the building, shot fireworks, and tried to flee after one of them shot and injured a police officer, according to authorities. Seven pleaded guilty to federal crimes in aiding the Antifa cell’s activities, such as hiding the alleged shooter from law enforcement. Some experts for the defense will argue that carrying firearms, wearing black "paramilitary" gear, staging a "noise demonstration" and other alleged protest tactics do not constitute criminal intent, according to a defense lawyer’s court filing. They will also emphasize that protesters launching fireworks is not "unusual" and that "the actions of the defendants do not bear the hallmarks of an ANTIFA attack."

Reuters [2/13/2026 7:57 PM, Lisa Baertlein, 16072K] reports Tthe Trump administration on Friday released ⁠its ⁠plan to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding ⁠and other maritime businesses, paid for in part by port fees on cargo delivered to the United States on ships made in China - levies the U.S. and China agreed to pause for one year. The Maritime Action Plan offers a ‌road map for the revival of U.S. shipbuilding, which has shrunk since World War Two and now ⁠severely lags China ⁠and other nations. Coming in at more than 30 pages, the plan calls ​for establishing maritime prosperity zones to bolster investment, reforming workforce training and education, expanding the fleet of U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged commercial ships, establishing a dedicated funding stream through a Maritime Security Trust Fund and reducing regulations. The Trump administration early last ​year announced plans to levy fees on China-linked ships to loosen the country’s grip on the global ⁠maritime ⁠industry and help pay for ⁠a U.S. shipbuilding ​renaissance. The so-called Section 301 penalties followed a U.S. probe that concluded China uses unfair policies and ​practices to dominate global shipping. The ⁠fees, which sparked intense pushback from the global shipping industry and intensified tensions between the world’s two largest economies, hit on October 14 and were expected to generate an estimated $3.2 billion annually from Chinese-built vessels sailing to U.S. ports. But China retaliated with its own port fees on U.S.-linked ships and the tit-for-tat fees disrupted ⁠global shipping. Soon after, the two sides struck a deal to put the levies on ⁠hold for 12 months. On Friday, Shipyard owners, investors and the bipartisan sponsors of the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act welcomed President Donald Trump’s maritime plan, which landed months later than hoped.

FOX News [2/13/2026 11:26 AM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports that joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft and vessels have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, Sen. Dan Sullivan said in an interview with Fox News Digital, warning the activity amounts to coordinated pressure on America’s northern defenses. Sullivan, R-Alaska, said data compiled by his office shows mostly airborne incursions — and at times joint patrols — along with several naval and "research" vessels operating inside the ADIZ, a buffer zone where aircraft must identify themselves but are not automatically denied access. "They were spying on us," Sullivan said, arguing the missions amount to strategic surveillance and have accelerated efforts to reopen the Navy base at Adak and expand Arctic infrastructure. Sullivan led a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last month that secured $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for infrastructure upgrades such as a deepwater port in Nome — one of the closest U.S. cities to Russia — and additional Arctic icebreakers. The U.S. currently operates two icebreakers, one of which is out of service, compared with Russia’s reported 54.

FOX News [2/13/2026 6:26 PM, Emma Colton Fox, 37576K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the U.S. delegation to the high-profile Munich Security Conference — one year after Vice President JD Vance took the German stage in a speech that stunned many in Europe and became one of the defining moments of Trump’s early second term abroad. "President Trump has assembled the most talented team in history, including Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio, who are working in lockstep to notch wins for the American people," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital ahead of Rubio’s speech. "The President and his team have flexed their foreign policy prowess to end decades-long wars, secure peace in the Middle East, and restore American dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The entire administration is working together to restore peace through strength and put America First.” The Munich Security Conference is an annual high-level forum in Germany that draws hundreds of senior decision-makers — including heads of state, top ministers, military leaders and policy influencers — for closed-door and public talks on global security crises. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California are among notable Democrats attending the conference, in addition to Rubio. Vance became one of the central figures at the 2025 Munich gathering after a widely publicized speech that drew heavy attention and applause from conservatives following the Biden administration. It also sparked backlash among some European officials who viewed his remarks as confrontational. Rubio’s attendance at the 2026 meeting follows a lengthy history of the State Department chief earning a series of different roles under the second administration, including acting national security advisor, secretary of state, acting archivist of the United States and acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Amid rising trans-Atlantic tension, the secretary of state issued a warning to Europe as he departed for his trip to Germany Thursday.

CNN [2/14/2026 4:06 AM, Evan John, 19874K] reports US Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened his much-anticipated remarks at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday by recognizing the historical significance of the alliance between Europe and America that “saved the world” from past threats. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [2/14/2026 6:00 AM, Warren P. Strobel and Ellen Nakashima, 24149K] reports working in strict secrecy, a government scientist in Norway built a machine capable of emitting powerful pulses of microwave energy and, in an effort to prove such devices are harmless to humans, in 2024 tested it on himself. He suffered neurological symptoms similar to those of “Havana syndrome,” the unexplained malady that has struck hundreds of U.S. spies and diplomats around the world. The bizarre story, described by four people familiar with the events, is the latest wrinkle in the decade-long quest to find the causes of Havana syndrome, whose sufferers experience long-lasting effects including cognitive challenges, dizziness and nausea. The U.S. government calls the events Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs). The secret test in Norway has not been previously reported. The Norwegian government told the CIA about the results, two of the people said, prompting at least two visits in 2024 to Norway by Pentagon and White House officials. Those aware of the test say it does not prove AHIs are the work of a foreign adversary wielding a secret weapon similar to the prototype tested in Norway. One of them noted that the effects suffered by the Norwegian researcher, whose identity was not disclosed by the people familiar, were not the same as in a “classic” AHI case. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity. But the events bolstered the case of those who argue that “pulsed-energy devices” — machines that deliver powerful beams of electromagnetic energy such as microwaves in short bursts — can affect human biology and are probably being developed by U.S. adversaries. “I think there’s compelling evidence that we should be concerned about the ability to build a directed-energy weapon that can cause a variety of risk to humans,” said Paul Friedrichs, a retired military surgeon and Air Force general who oversaw biological threats on the White House National Security Council under President Joe Biden. Friedrichs declined to comment on the Norway experiment.

New York Times [2/13/2026 10:27 AM, Eric Schmitt, 148038K] reports the military’s Central Command said on Friday that it had completed the transfer of some 5,700 Islamic State prisoners to jails in Iraq from custody in Syria. The military said last month that as many as 7,000 ISIS prisoners could ultimately be moved to Iraqi-run facilities. That would constitute most of the roughly 9,000 detainees held in Syria, U.S. military officials said. The transfers are a significant shift in the U.S.-backed system for detaining Islamic State fighters since the terrorist group lost the territory it held in the region in 2019. “We appreciate Iraq’s leadership and recognition that transferring the detainees is essential to regional security,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command, said in a statement. The transfer flights were conducted under the military’s Operation Inherent Resolve, which is responsible for counterterrorism operations in the region. Iraqi officials have said the United States agreed to cover the cost of jailing the prisoners and processing their future trials. “The successful execution of this orderly and secure transfer operation will help prevent an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Lambert, the commander of the Inherent Resolve task force, said in a statement. The decision last month by the U.S. military to transfer these prisoners reflected growing concern about the security of detention sites in northeastern Syria, which for years have been guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or S.D.F. That status quo unraveled in mid-January, as Syrian government troops launched a lightning offensive against Kurdish-led forces, forcing the S.D.F. to relinquish control over much of its territory. Under a fragile cease-fire, the S.D.F. agreed to hand over control of prisons and other infrastructure as part of a deal to integrate Kurdish-held regions into the Syrian state.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/13/2026 8:17 AM, Staff, 38315K]
Washington Times [2/13/2026 9:30 AM, Mike Glenn, 1323K]

AP [2/13/2026 4:30 PM, Konstantin Toropin, Aamer Madhani and Jon Gambrell, 42967K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday that a change in power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen” as the U.S. administration weighs whether to take military action against Tehran. Trump made the comments shortly after visiting with troops in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and after he confirmed earlier in the day that he’s deploying a second aircraft carrier group to the Mideast for potential military action against Iran. “It seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters when asked about pressing for the ouster of the Islamic clerical rule in Iran. “For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking.” Trump said earlier that the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is being sent from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to join other warships and military assets the U.S. has built up in the region. The planned deployment comes just days after Trump suggested another round of talks with the Iranians was at hand. Those negotiations didn’t materialize as one of Tehran’s top security officials visited Oman and Qatar this week and exchanged messages with U.S. intermediaries. “In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it,” Trump told reporters about the second carrier. He added, “It’ll be leaving very soon.” Already, Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict in a Mideast still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iranians are beginning to hold 40-day mourning ceremonies for the thousands killed in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month, adding to the internal pressure faced by the sanctions-battered Islamic Republic. The Ford, whose new deployment was first reported by The New York Times, will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers, which have been in the region for over two weeks. U.S. forces already have shot down an Iranian drone that approached the Lincoln on the same day last week that Iran tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/13/2026 6:36 PM, Tyler Pager, 148038K]

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