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 AP [2/25/2026 4:36 PM, Michael Kunzelman] reports the Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no ties is unlawful and must be set aside, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a case that already reached the nation’s highest court. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts agreed to suspend his decision for 15 days, giving the government time to appeal his latest ruling in the case. Murphy noted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the administration’s favor last year, pausing Murphy’s previous decision and clearing the way for a flight carrying several migrants to complete its trip to war-torn South Sudan, where they had no ties. Murphy said migrants challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s policy have the right to “meaningful notice” and an opportunity to object before they are removed to a third country. The policy “extinguishes valid challenges to third-country removal by effecting removal before those challenges can be raised,” the judge concluded. Murphy said President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly violated — or tried to violate — his orders. The Washington Post [2/25/2026 4:17 PM, David Nakamura, 24826K] reports that the ruling could make it more difficult for the administration, which immigration experts said has sent thousands of migrants to so-called third countries, to continue to use the practice as widely, as authorities seek to speed up President Donald Trump’s mass deportation program. In an 81-page ruling, Murphy said the administration must give migrants “meaningful notice before removal to any third country” and allow them time to raise a country-specific objection. The judge criticized the government for implementing a policy that relies on vague “assurances” that the migrants will not be persecuted or harmed once they arrive in the third countries. The judge did not define how much advance notice the administration must provide before seeking to deport migrants to countries where they are not citizens. He stayed his decision for 15 days to allow the administration to seek an appeal, which government lawyers have said they are likely to do. CBS News [2/25/2026 7:45 PM, Melissa Quinn, Jacob Rosen, 51110K] reports "The Supreme Court previously issued two separate emergency stays against Judge Brian Murphy in this case, and we are confident we will be vindicated again," DHS said Wednesday in a statement, also saying the Trump administration "has the constitutional authority to remove these criminal illegal aliens and clean up this national security nightmare.". "DHS must be allowed to execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them," the department added. Under the policy issued last March and reaffirmed last July, immigration officers did not need to give notice or an opportunity for migrants to contest their removal to third countries, so long as the government had received word from that country that deportees would not be persecuted or tortured. Third countries are those other than the ones designated on an immigrant’s order of removal. As part of President Trump’s immigration agenda and mass deportation campaign, his administration had approached nations like Costa Rica, Panama and Rwanda about accepting migrants who are not their citizens. It also entered into an arrangement with the government of El Salvador to detain Venezuelan migrants at its notorious mega-prison known as CECOT. The policy allowed for migrants to challenge their removal, but only in cases where they "affirmatively" state a fear. Immigration officers, the policy said, "will not affirmatively ask whether the alien is afraid of being removed to that country." If the government determined that the migrant would "more likely than not" be persecuted or tortured in the country of removal, the government could then designate another country for deportation or refer the case to immigration court. But Murphy ruled that the Trump administration’s third-country removal policy violates federal immigration law and migrants’ right to due process. "This new policy — which purports to stand in for the protections Congress has mandated — fails to satisfy due process for a raft of reasons, not least of which is that nobody really knows anything about these purported ‘assurances.’ Whom do they cover? What do they cover? Why has the Government deemed them credible? How can anyone even know for certain that they exist?" Murphy wrote. "These are basic questions that the Constitution permits a person to ask before the Government takes away their last and only lifeline.".

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/25/2026 5:49 PM, Mattathias Schwartz, 148038K]
Bloomberg [2/25/2026 7:59 PM, Brian Dowling, 50K]
Reuters [2/25/2026 12:51 PM, Nate Raymond, 38315K]
NBC News [2/25/2026 5:12 PM, Gary Grumbach and Daniella Silva, 42967K]
FOX News [2/25/2026 2:08 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 37576K]
Washington Examiner [2/25/2026 4:25 PM, Jack Birle, 1147K]
Daily Caller [2/25/2026 2:18 PM, Jason Hopkins, 803K]
Daily Wire [2/25/2026 12:07 PM, Jennie Taer, 2314K]
USA Today [2/25/2026 8:06 PM, Amanda Lee Myers, 70643K]

FOX News [2/25/2026 4:00 PM, Taylor Penley, 37576K] reports the parents of 7-year-old Dalilah Coleman spoke out Wednesday after their daughter was honored during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, sharing details of her recovery and their push for Congress to pass legislation in her name. Dalilah was critically injured at age 5 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer traveling at least 60 mph slammed into the vehicle she was riding in. The crash left her with a fractured skull, a broken femur and a traumatic brain injury. Trump said the driver of the tractor-trailer was in the country illegally. Now a first-grader, Dalilah is relearning how to walk and continues to rely on a feeding tube as she recovers. As of Wednesday, the family remained in Washington, D.C., working to build congressional support for what Trump called the "Dalilah Law." The proposal, outlined by the president during Tuesday’s address, would bar states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to people in the country illegally.

FOX News [2/25/2026 3:02 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem threw her support behind President Donald Trump’s proposed "Dalilah Law" after Tuesday’s State of the Union address, arguing the legislation is needed to prevent more tragedies like the crash that left a young girl unable to walk or talk. The Dalilah Law is named after Dalilah Coleman, a young girl who sustained life-changing injuries in a June 2024 California crash allegedly caused by Partap Singh, an illegal immigrant from India. The legislation would bar all states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to illegal immigrants. Singh is accused of causing a multi-car pileup while driving a commercial tractor-trailer in the sanctuary state of California. His CDL was issued by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Department of Motor Vehicles. According to Dalilah’s father, Marcus Coleman, the crash resulted in her inability to walk, talk, eat orally and attend kindergarten as planned. "Under President Trump’s leadership, we have worked to deliver justice for the families impacted by illegal alien crime and have ensured that the tragedies they endured will no longer continue," Noem told Fox News Digital. "What happened to Dalilah Coleman is a tragedy that could have been prevented if California did not grant commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens who should have never been here in the first place. DHS is working every single day to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens who are unlawfully in the U.S." Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents obtained an arrest warrant and took Singh into custody in Fresno, California, Aug. 29. He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

CBS News [2/25/2026 4:57 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51110K] reports federal immigration agents arrested 261 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, during the first 10 months of the second Trump administration, according to official U.S. government statistics that were shared with Congress and obtained by CBS News. The statistics indicate the vast majority of DACA recipients taken into federal immigration custody during that period had criminal records. The government figures provide the most comprehensive official accounting so far of how many DACA recipients, also known as "Dreamers," have been swept up by President Trump’s nationwide deportation crackdown. In a letter to Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Department of Homeland Security said that between Jan. 1 and Nov. 19, 2025, ICE arrested 261 DACA beneficiaries and deported 86 of them. That timeframe includes the final 19 days of President Joe Biden’s term, though it is unclear how many of the arrests occurred under his administration, which rarely targeted DACA beneficiaries. DHS said in its letter that 241 — or 92% — of the 261 DACA enrollees taken into ICE custody had "criminal histories" outside of civil immigration violations. DHS typically considers pending criminal charges and convictions as criminal histories. The letter, signed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, did not specify the severity of the alleged criminal records. The Democratic senators also questioned the criminal figures provided by DHS, noting they’re demanding more details.

NBC News [2/25/2026 3:14 PM, Natasha Korecki, 42967K] reports in a rare meeting amid a partial government shutdown affecting her agency, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., on Wednesday afternoon as the Chicago congresswoman pushed for a shift in tactics from immigration agents, according to Ramirez’s office. A Ramirez staff member described the meeting as "combative." Ramirez, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee who has railed against the Trump administration’s deportation and detention tactics, called on Noem to commit to six broad policy areas, according to her office. Among them: Revoke the warrantless home entry memo for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers, reaffirm guidelines to respect the Fourth Amendment, codify minimum use of force standards, and adhere to better conditions of detention, including providing adequate medical support for immigration detainees. The meeting involved Ramirez, her chief of staff and legislative director, as well as Noem, a senior counselor, two deputy chiefs of staff and an undersecretary, according to Ramirez’s office.

AP [2/25/2026 5:53 PM, Jesse Bedayn and Michael Biesecker, 35287K] reports a grand jury on Wednesday rejected indictments over the fatal shooting last year of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent during a traffic encounter in Texas, prosecutors said. The shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez on March 15, 2025, by a Homeland Security Investigations agent wasn’t publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security until The Associated Press and other media outlets reported it last week. The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that a grand jury declined to hand up indictments after being presented the case. The office did not provide additional details. DHS has alleged that Martinez "intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent," causing another agent to fire "defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public." The shooting would mark the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since a nationwide immigration crackdown was launched in President Donald Trump’s second term. A passenger who was in the car with Martinez, Joshua Orta, had disputed DHS’ account in a draft affidavit prepared last year, according to attorneys for Martinez’s family. Orta, a key witness to the encounter, died in a car crash last weekend.

AP [2/25/2026 7:42 PM, Michelle L. Price and Ali Swenson, 12718K] reports Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration would "temporarily halt" some Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota over fraud concerns, as part of what he described as an aggressive crackdown on misuse of public funds. Vance, who made the announcement with Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the administration was taking the action "in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.". Oz, who referred to people committing fraud as "self-serving scoundrels," said the federal government would hold off on paying $259.5 million to Minnesota in funding for Medicaid, the health care safety net for low-income Americans. "This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota, it’s a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously," Oz said. Wednesday’s move is part of a larger Trump administration effort to spotlight fraud around the country. That effort comes after allegations of fraud involving day care centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis prompted a massive immigration crackdown in the Midwestern city, resulting in widespread protests. President Trump, in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, announced Vance would spearhead a national "war on fraud.".

Reuters [2/25/2026 2:34 PM, Daniel Trotta, 474K] reports Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a Florida-registered speedboat on Wednesday and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the Cuban government said at a time of heightened tensions with the United States. Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the group was comprised of anti-government Cubans, some of whom were previously wanted for plotting attacks. They came from the United States dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights, Cuba said. An additional Cuban suspect was detained inside Cuban territory in connection with the plot, the statement said. "According to preliminary statements from the detainees, they intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes," the Interior Ministry said in an official statement. The wounded were evacuated and receiving medical attention, while the Cuban patrol commander was also wounded, the ministry said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters it was not a U.S. operation and that no U.S. government personnel were involved. Cuban authorities made the U.S. aware of the incident, but the U.S. embassy in Havana would attempt to independently verify what happened, Rubio said. "We are going to have our own information on this, we are going to figure out exactly what happened, and there are a number of things that could have happened here," Rubio said. "Suffice to say it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that," he said. The incident took place as the United States has blocked virtually all oil shipments to the island, increasing pressure on the Communist-run government. CNN [2/25/2026 4:07 PM, Mauricio Torres, Hira Humayun, Lex Harvey, German Padinger, 612K] reports Cuban border guard troops approached the boat after it entered their territorial waters in Falcones Cay, Villa Clara province, just over 100 miles from Florida, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement. A passenger on the speedboat shot at the Cuban vessel, wounding its commander, and prompting Cuban forces to return fire, according to the statement. Six other people aboard the speedboat were wounded and are in custody and receiving medical attention. The passengers were Cuban residents of the US and were armed with assault rifles, handguns and Molotov cocktails, and had "intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes," according to a later statement from the ministry. Two of the surviving passengers were previously wanted by Cuba for terrorism, the ministry added. The vessel was not carrying US government personnel and was not on a US government operation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier. The registration number given by Cuban authorities, FL7726SH, matched a 24-foot power boat that was manufactured in 1981, according to maritime database records. Another individual who was sent from the US to "facilitate the reception of the armed infiltration" was arrested and has since confessed, the Cuban interior ministry statement said. CNN has reached out to the White House regarding the latest Cuban statement. The shootout comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Cuba. Following the US ousting in January of Venezuelan leader and Cuban ally Nicolás Maduro, the administration of US President Donald Trump has set its sights on Cuba, blocking all oil deliveries to the island and talking of regime change. The blockade has brought Cuba’s economy to its knees, with the Caribbean nation experiencing its worst era of economic uncertainty in decades and the UN warning of a potential humanitarian "collapse.". The US eased the embargo slightly on Wednesday, saying it would grant licenses to private Cuban entities looking to resell oil from Venezuela, the main supplier of crude and fuel to the Cuban market. That market is largely dominated by the public sector. Breitbart [2/25/2026 10:25 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports that the attorney general of Florida, which lies just 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Cuba across the Florida Straits, ordered an investigation into the killings. The Cuban interior ministry earlier said the coast guard encountered the "illegal" US vessel, whose registration number it gave as FL7726SH, one nautical mile from Cayo Falcones island off Cuba’s northern coast. As the coast guard vessel approached, "shots were fired from the illegal speedboat," injuring the commander of the Cuban vessel, the ministry said. "As a result of the clash, at the time of this report, on the foreign side, four aggressors were killed and six others were wounded," the ministry said, adding that the injured were evacuated and received medical assistance. In its second statement the ministry released the names of seven of the people on the speedboat. It said most of the 10 had records in Cuba for "criminal and violent activity.". A man sent from the United States to take part in this operation was arrested on Cuban soil and confessed, it added. The Cuban government frequently reports incursions by speedboats from the United States into its territorial waters. Incursion incidents are often related to people-smuggling to the United States or drug trafficking, and have included chases, shootouts and armed attacks on border guards. Shortages of food and medicine and daily blackouts drove an exodus from the island in recent years, with many heading to southern Florida, which has received waves of Cuban migration since the 1960s.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/26/2026 4:18 AM, Patricia Mazzei, Frances Robles, Jack Nicas, Eric Schmitt, and Yan Zhuang,148038K]

Bloomberg [2/25/2026 9:44 PM, Daniel Cancel, 18082K] reports Cuba says a boat with 10 people near its coast early Wednesday was carrying weapons, and its occupants — Cubans living in the US — were intent on entering the country to fight against the government. The Cuban Coast Guard shot and killed four of the passengers while another six were injured and detained after the Florida-registered boat opened fire, according to an Interior Ministry statement. Cuba’s government said most of the passengers had a known criminal record. An eleventh person who had arrived earlier from the US and planned to meet up with the group was detained within Cuba, according to the statement. Those with previous records “are wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in promoting, planning, organizing, financing, supporting, or carrying out acts of terrorism within the national territory or in other countries,” the interior ministry said. Seven of the 10 occupants were identified by name in the statement, which listed supplies on the boat that included assault rifles, Molotov cocktails, bullet-proof vests, telescopes and camouflage uniforms. The incident threatens to escalate an already tense standoff, with President Donald Trump’s administration seeking to topple Cuba’s communist government after capturing its main patron, Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, at the start of January. Asked about the deadly confrontation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Wednesday that US agencies are conducting their own investigations to figure out what happened before commenting further. The White House is trying to squeeze the regime, which has ruled the Caribbean nation of 10 million people 90 miles south of Florida, for 67 years since Fidel Castro led a revolution that toppled a US-backed dictator. Trump has imposed an energy blockade and the Cuban government is digging in even as its electricity grid buckles and its citizens struggle to meet basic needs. “We are going to find out exactly what happened here and we will respond accordingly,” Rubio said Wednesday evening before leaving St. Kitts, where he attended the Caricom summit. “We’re going to have our own information,” the secretary added. “Suffice to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that.”

Telemundo [2/25/2026 6:52 PM, Staff, 2524K] reports the island’s regime said its coastguard acted after the ship’s crew, which they claim has Florida registration, disobeyed instructions. The state prosecutor is investigating and lawmakers are asking to clarify the facts. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [2/25/2026 6:32 PM, Daymaris Taboada, 162K] reports U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attends the CARICOM Summit in San Cristobat and Nevis and where he appeared before the 15 heads of state of the Caribbean Community, spoke about what happened on Wednesday in Cuba where border guards killed 4 crew members of a speedboat from Florida. “We are going to verify this independently to know what happened exactly here,” Rubio said, in a statement this afternoon regarding the armed confrontation that also left 6 injured people on the South Florida vessel that entered Cuban national waters, according to reports from island authorities. The head of U.S. diplomacy denied having talks with the Cuban government on this matter and ruled out the involvement of U.S. government personnel in the shooting. He said the U.S. embassy in Havana has requested access to survivors, allegedly U.S. citizens, to learn about their situation. "The authorities in Cuba have constant contact with the Coast Guard, and for now "the initial reports are incomplete and while the days pass I will be investigating and verifying the version of Cuba," said Rubio who said that they would use the official channels that exist between both countries and the embassy of Havana to determine exactly what happened. "We have to reach our own conclusions," said Rubio, who could not clarify whether they were U.S. citizens or permanent residents, those involved in this incident. According to the Cuban Interior Ministry, the speedboat from the United States did not obey when it was discharged in territorial waters and opened fire on the border guard. The official statement also indicated that he was also injured in the exchange, "the commander of the Cuban vessel", in which a total of five people were patrolled. Rubio did not respond when questioned if it was a private boat that was going to look for relatives, but he did mention that there have previously been clashes between the Cuban authorities and private boats, but never with exchange of fire.

Telemundo [2/25/2026 6:38 PM, Staff, 2524K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday after news that the Cuban regime had killed four crew members of a Florida boat who were still unknown many details of the incident and that the United States would respond based on the fact in its own investigation. “We will find the information and we will respond according to what happened. We will determine based on our research. We are not going to act based on what someone else tells us,” he said. “We can’t get carried away by what the Cuban authorities say,” Rubio said. Rubio expanded that the authorities in Cuba are in constant contact with the U.S. Coast Guard. “Many times in these incidents, initial reports are incomplete [...] We have several elements in the U.S. government that are trying to verify Cuba’s version,” he said. “There are many details about this incident that we don’t know yet,” he said. He said that at the moment, the U.S. government has no idea who is in possession of the ship involved in the event, and that it must still be determined whether the crew members were citizens or residents of the United States. Responding to a question of whether they were U.S. government personnel on the vessel, Rubio said U.S. authorities had no link to the incident.

New York Times [2/25/2026 6:29 PM, Frances Robles, 148038K] reports a gunfight in Cuba’s territorial waters on Wednesday was not the first time in recent years that the Cuban government has fired on a U.S.-based vessel. In 2022, Cuba’s Ministry of Interior announced that it had intercepted a total of 13 American speedboats engaged in migrant-smuggling that year and exchanged gunfire with two of them. In June of that year, one of those two boats was sailing west of Cayo Fragoso, a small island on the northern coast of Cuba, and entered the country’s waters. While being pursued by border guards, a person aboard the boat opened fire at close range with an automatic rifle, the Cuban government said, and an officer was wounded. The U.S. Coast Guard ultimately intercepted the boat. One of the accused shooters was taken to Cuba nine days after the encounter. That same day, the Cuban border authorities engaged in a gunfight with another vessel, this one registered in Florida, three nautical miles north of Bahía Honda, a town in the northwest province of Artemisa. As the Cuban authorities approached, the traffickers opened fire, the Cuban government said. One of the accused traffickers died in the gunfight.

FOX News [2/25/2026 8:32 AM, Ashley Carnahan Fox, 37576K] Video: HERE reports President Donald Trump delivered a sweeping to-do list to Congress during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, urging lawmakers seven separate times to take action on priorities ranging from drug pricing and border security to crime and housing policy. Trump urged Congress to enshrine his "Most-Favored-Nation" drug pricing policy into law as part of his "Trump Rx" initiative. After highlighting the story of a Houston mother outbid on 20 homes by investment firms, Trump asked Congress to make permanent his executive order banning large Wall Street-backed firms from buying single-family homes in bulk. "We want homes for people, not for corporations," he said. While outlining retirement policy changes and pledging to protect Social Security and Medicare, Trump pivoted to ethics reform, calling on lawmakers to "pass the ‘Stop Insider Trading Act’ without delay." Following the story of a young girl seriously injured in a crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver, Trump called on Congress to pass what he dubbed the "Dalilah Law," barring states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to people in the country illegally. Trump accused Democrats of cutting off funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is currently operating under a partial shutdown after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a funding bill. The president also urged lawmakers to end so-called sanctuary city policies, calling for "serious penalties" against public officials who block the removal of criminal illegal immigrants. Closing his legislative appeals, Trump asked Congress to pass stricter sentencing laws to ensure "violent and dangerous repeat offenders are put behind bars — and, importantly, that they stay there."

Los Angeles Times [2/25/2026 6:00 AM, Andrea Castillo, 12718K] reports to defend an increasingly unpopular immigration crackdown during his State of the Union speech, President Trump highlighted the victims of crimes perpetuated by undocumented immigrants. But as Democrats pointed out, the president’s lengthy speech made no reference to the U.S. citizens, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, who were killed by immigration agents. Recent polls show public approval of Trump’s immigration policies has fallen to record lows level since he returned to the White House. One poll, released Feb. 17 by Reuters and the market research firm Ipsos, showed just 38% of respondents felt Trump was doing a good job on immigration. Another poll, published last month by Fox News, showed 59% of voters say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is "too aggressive." Within the first few minutes of his address on Tuesday night, Trump highlighted "the strongest and most secure border in American history, by far." He also offered — at least momentarily — a softer tone, adding that "We will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country." In reality, the administration has restricted legal immigration. It has revoked humanitarian benefits for hundreds of thousands of people, and an indefinite pause on all asylum applications filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Guests invited by various lawmakers to attend Trump’s speech offered dueling visions of the administration’s mass deportation effort.

Washington Times [2/25/2026 6:13 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports as they struggled to fill their ranks amid a backlash to the blue, some local police departments turned to an unorthodox source: illegal immigrants, including those in the Obama-era DACA program, who have been issued badges and guns and sent into communities. It turns out that although federal law generally bans illegal immigrants from possessing guns, it contains a quirky exception that allows them to carry firearms issued by a government agency. Congressional Republicans say it’s time to close that loophole. Led by Sen. Tedd Budd of North Carolina and Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, a group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday is set to introduce the Stop Illegal Alien Cops Act, which would rewrite gun laws to shut down the police exception. “Illegal aliens have no Second Amendment rights. It is irresponsible for police departments to arm illegal aliens who have blatantly ignored our immigration laws with firearms and ammunition, let alone on the taxpayers’ dime,” Mr. Budd said. The bill, shared first exclusively with The Washington Times, wouldn’t stop departments from hiring illegal immigrants who have work permits, but it would deny them the authority to carry guns as sworn officers. “Illegal aliens do not have the right to possess firearms or ammunition in America. The Stop Illegal Alien Cops Act would ensure local police departments that try to hire illegal aliens cannot provide them with guns or ammunition,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, a co-sponsor of the Senate bill.

CBS Boston [2/25/2026 6:19 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports Milford teenager Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who was a guest at the State of the Union address, was escorted out after the Department of Homeland Security threatened to deport him.

New York Post [2/26/2026 3:35 AM, Chris Bradford, 40934K] reports Rep. Ilhan Omar said that one of the guests she invited to the State of the Union on Tuesday was arrested and "forcibly removed" from the House gallery — as she slammed the "heavy-handed" Capitol police response. Omar (D-Minn.) claimed software engineer Aliya Rahman, who was dragged out of her vehicle while driving to a doctor’s appointment during a Minnesota anti-immigration protest last month, was hauled out of the House gallery after standing up "silently" during President Trump’s address. "My guest, Aliya Rahman, stood up silently in the gallery during the president’s speech for a short period of time, part of which other guests were also standing," Omar said in a statement on Wednesday. For that, she was forcibly removed, despite warning officers about her injured shoulders and ultimately charged with ‘Unlawful Conduct.’ The "Squad" member, 43, said "reports indicate she was aggressively handled until someone intervened to secure medical attention." Capitol Police confirmed Rahman was arrested on an unlawful conduct charge, as reported by NBC News, but Omar blasted the police response – branding it "heavy-handed.".

NBC News [2/25/2026 11:45 PM, Frank Thorp V, Inshara Ali and Raquel Coronell Uribe, 42967K] reports that, Aliyah Rahman, a Minnesota woman whom Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., took as her guest to the State of the Union address Tuesday, needed hospital treatment after she was arrested during the speech, Rahman and Omar said. Rahman silently stood up during the part of President Donald Trump’s speech in which he called on Democrats to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The people around her remained seated. When U.S. Capitol Police approached and asked Rahman to sit down, she refused. During her conversation with Capitol Police officers, the crowd around her gave a standing ovation, which Rahman tried to explain to the officers was a reason she should not be forced to leave. Capitol Police took Rahman, who was walking with the help of a crutch, and started pulling her toward the exit — a move that faced protest from one of the other guests in the gallery, who called on the police to be less aggressive with Rahman. Rahman said in an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that she was in the custody of Capitol Police and then in the hospital until just before 4 a.m. "I was not just removed and arrested. I was arrested so physically that two other attendees upstairs attempted to intervene in officers pulling on my shoulders after I told them I have a torn rotator cuff tendon and multiple cartilage tears in both of my shoulders," she said. Rahman told Goodman that the House sergeant-at-arms told her she was arrested because "I was standing up. Silently. No buttons, no facial expressions, no gestures, no signs. Not one sound. Standing up.". "There are only two things you can do at the State of the Union, and they are sit down and stand up. All kinds of people were standing up all night. Me, too," Rahman said. She said in the interview that she has a torn rotator cuff and cartilage tears after federal agents in Minneapolis dragged her out of her car last month when she drove down a street where an anti-immigration protest was happening. Rahman said she had been trying to get to a doctor’s appointment. Capitol Police said Rahman was arrested on a charge of unlawful conduct, disruption of Congress. "All State of the Union tickets clearly explain that demonstrating is prohibited," Capitol Police said in a statement. "The guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders. It is illegal to disrupt the Congress and demonstrate in the Congressional Buildings.".

Washington Times [2/25/2026 5:17 PM, Tom Howell Jr, 1323K] reports the Trump administration said Wednesday it will reconstruct its trade system with “very durable” duties that penalize nations for unfair practices, one day after President Trump told Congress that import levies would remain front and center in his midterm-year economic agenda. Mr. Trump said in his State of the Union address that lawmakers’ input on tariffs “would not be necessary” as he deploys a grab bag of executive authorities to backfill tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court last week. His decision to forge ahead drew a rebuke Wednesday from China, which said it would not hesitate to retaliate. Mr. Trump is recalibrating his trade agenda after the justices ruled that he usurped Congress’ taxing power by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose nation-by-nation levies.

ABC News [2/25/2026 7:40 AM, Staff, 34146K] reports Shelter-in-place orders for U.S. tourists in Mexico were lifted, but travel uncertainty is growing after a cartel’s violent response to the government killing one of its most notorious leaders. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [2/25/2026 7:12 AM, Armando Regil Velasco, 37576K] reports firsthand accounts are emerging from Americans trapped by this week’s cartel-related violence in Mexico following the death of cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho.". As news spread of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) cartel boss’s murder, reports described armed clashes between rival criminal organizations and Mexican security forces, as well as coordinated vehicle burnings and temporary highway blockades. Mexican authorities say that such operations are often linked to internal cartel disputes or targeted law enforcement actions. With the situation improving, Americans in the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta and beyond shared their experiences of the violent scenes they were caught up in.

Telemundo [2/25/2026 5:42 PM, Staff, 162K] reports Mexican authorities arrested Isaac Moreno Romero, alias "El Hacha", who was responsible for the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Cartel and linked to kidnappings, extortion, homicides and illegal fuel trafficking as the state of Tlaxcala, 117 kilometers east of Mexico City. According to official sources, members of the Secretariats of the Navy, Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), arrested alias “El Acha”, in the municipality of Santa Cruz, Tlaxcala, and seized “drug doses and a grenade”. In a statement, the SSPC reported that the arrest was the result of field investigation work, after which federal forces located the suspect aboard a vehicle without road plates. The agency said that, after arresting him for a preventive inspection, he was found several doses of drug and a fragmentation grenade. He added that the detainee is identified as one of the main responsible for a criminal organization with a strong presence in the region. In addition, he was serving as head of a criminal faction originating in the state of Nayarit, 800 kilometers northwest of the Mexican capital, where he allegedly "coordinated criminal activities such as kidnappings, extortion, floor collection, homicides and illegal hydrocarbon trade in the area."

FOX News [2/25/2026 11:53 AM, Rachel Wolf, 37576K] reports that Democrats were not happy with President Donald Trump’s State of the Union remarks on implementing voter ID requirements and the SAVE America Act. A dial test administered by Lee Carter, the president of Maslansky & Partners, showed Democrats taking a serious dive when the president spoke about the issue. During his speech, Trump asked lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act in order "to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections." He decried allegedly "rampant" cheating in American elections. "It’s very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote. And no more crooked mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel. None," Trump said. "Why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason, because they want to cheat," Trump added, referring to Democrats. "They make up all excuses. They say it’s racist. They come up with things. You almost say what imagination they have! They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat." While Democrats reacted negatively, Republicans had a positive response to Trump’s call for the passage of the SAVE America Act. While Independents did not react as positively as Republicans, their line in the dial test remained above the Democrats.

USA Today [2/25/2026 8:27 PM, Trevor Hughes, 70643K] reports hundreds of thousands of truckers could be removed from American roads under the Trump administration’s newly aggressive enforcement and safety campaign. President Donald Trump on Jan 24 brought new attention to his administration’s crackdown by highlighting the catastrophic injuries of young Dalilah Coleman, who was severely injured when the car she was riding in was hit by a foreign-born truck driver speeding through a construction zone in California. Coleman, who was 5 at the time, attended the State of the Union speech on Feb. 24 as a guest of Trump, who noted she has a traumatic brain injury and cerebral palsy as a result of the crash. "Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs," Trump said during his address. "That’s why tonight, I’m calling on Congress to pass what we will call the ‘Dalilah Law,’ barring any state from granting commercial drivers licenses to illegal aliens.". According to federal officials, the trucker who hit her family’s car had crossed into the United States from Mexico in 2022, was released by the Biden administration and ultimately acquired a commercial driver’s license (CDL) from California. As with regular driver’s licenses, states can issue CDLs to truckers even if they lack legal permission to live in the country. The White House recently warned states to stop issuing CDLs to unvetted foreigners, with exceptions for Canadian and Mexican truckers who routinely cross the border for deliveries.

AP [2/26/2026 12:06 AM, Travis Loller, 2238K] reports attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia will try to persuade a federal judge in Tennessee on Thursday to throw out human smuggling charges against him. Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has galvanized both sides of the immigration debate, claims that the criminal prosecution is vindictive, pushed by officials from President Donald Trump’s administration to punish him after they were forced to bring him back to the United States. While Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen, a court order from 2019 prevents him from being deported to that country. That’s because an immigration judge determined he faced danger in El Salvador from a gang that had threatened his family. Abrego Garcia, 30, immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager but has an American wife and child. He has lived and worked in Maryland for years under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After he was deported to El Salvador last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration had to work to bring him back. He was eventually returned to the U.S. only to face criminal charges of human smuggling based on a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia after he was pulled over for speeding. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw previously found some evidence that the prosecution against Abrego Garcia “may be vindictive.” The judge said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.” He specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have been sparring with prosecutors for months over whether officials like Blanche would be required to testify at Thursday’s hearing and what emails Justice Department officials would have to turn over to them. First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued that he alone made the decision to prosecute, so the motives of other officials were irrelevant. Crenshaw personally reviewed many of the disputed documents. In an order that was unsealed in late December, he wrote, “Some of the documents suggest not only that McGuire was not a solitary decision-maker, but he in fact reported to others in DOJ and the decision to prosecute Abrego may have been a joint decision.”

Washington Post [2/26/2026 5:01 AM, Jeremy Roebuck, 24826K] reports the Justice Department faces what could be one of its last chances to salvage its criminal case against Kilmar Abrego García at a pivotal court hearing Thursday. Prosecutors must convince a federal judge that their decision to charge the 31-year-old undocumented immigrant and Maryland resident in a years-old human trafficking case was not made to punish him for successfully challenging his illegal deportation to El Salvador last year. Abrego’s lawyers have urged U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw to throw out the case, contending that it amounts to little more than a retaliatory effort driven by top Trump administration officials. Such “vindictive prosecution” arguments are notoriously difficult to win in court and require defense attorneys to prove that charges would not have been brought but for improper motives on the part of government lawyers. But Crenshaw, in a ruling last year, already determined that the timing of Abrego’s indictment and public statements about the case from administration officials established “a realistic likelihood of vindictiveness” that the government must now rebut. If it fails, one of the more high-profile Justice Department prosecutions of President Donald Trump’s second term could crumble before any evidence is put before a jury. “If there has ever been a case for dismissal on those grounds,” Sean Hecker, an attorney for Abrego, wrote in recent court filings, “this is that case.”

Bloomberg [2/25/2026 12:04 PM, Zach C. Cohen, 111K] reports that Senate Democrats asked Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper for an accounting of the $152 billion the Department of Homeland Security got from Republicans’ tax-and-spending law last year. Twenty-one senators sent a letter to Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel Wednesday seeking "an independent assessment of" how much of the long-term funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol have spent during the ongoing shutdown of DHS. "Congress has a responsibility to ensure that federal agencies are not using taxpayer dollars in ways that vitiate Americans’ civil rights or expand executive overreach," the senators, led by Senate Budget Committee ranking member... [Editorial note: consult extended commentary at source link]

Washington Post [2/26/2026 5:01 AM, Anna Liss-Roy, 24826K] reports it was a rare day for the Senate. Despite their differences, the unlikely crew forged ahead, one at a time, persevering through delays and distractions toward a shared destination. One stole a whiff of another’s bottom. Another laid down on the floor. Wednesday was a memorable day to be a dog on Capitol Hill. Dozens of dogs paraded through the Senate in Mardi Gras costumes and beads. Never mind that the government is partially shut down, or that Mardi Gras was last Tuesday, or that dogs probably don’t know what Mardi Gras is. The event —”Doggi Gras” — was for humans, and was held by North Carolina’s retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R). The parade is silly, he concedes, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. “Having Democrat, Republican offices, lobbyists, whoever has a dog that wants to come and participate ... you end up building better relationships,” Tillis said. “It makes for a better environment, a more productive environment.” The event was not without its critics, who argued that congressional officials’ time would be better spent passing legislation, or solving the shutdown that was on its 12th day. There’s little sign that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the only department affected by the shutdown, will reopen soon. Senators remain stuck at an impasse after another vote on reopening failed Tuesday, meaning the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard remain unfunded. A post from Tillis advertising the event drew jeers: “Passing the Save America Act is crucial to our country and you are holding Mardi Gras pet parades. Sad,” one message read, referring to a bill that would require voters to show ID to cast ballots. “The USA is a failed nation and you are spending time on this type of dog s---,” read another. A third, which summed up the disdainful tone of the complaints, said in part, “Who the hell cares about this?”

Wall Street Journal [2/25/2026 5:30 PM, Staff, 646K] reports the Senate on Tuesday failed to advance a bill to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security, and over the next week the nation’s airport-security workers, Coast Guard employees, and other staff are bracing for partial paychecks. Yet Democrats insist their price for ending the shutdown, as Rep. Hakeem Jeffries put it Sunday, is “dramatic changes to ICE.” What a strategy: The party out of power inflicts pain on the public to grasp for policy outcomes that voters have put out of reach otherwise. Or a more cynical read is that Democratic leaders feel they need to show fired-up progressive voters that they’re not too afraid to “fight” President Trump. This is the bad logic of shutdown politics, whichever party is doing it at the moment. Mr. Trump’s debacle in Minneapolis with Immigration and Customs Enforcement encouraged the Democratic belief that this is a good moment to exert political leverage. On the other hand, ICE was given a $75 billion fillip last year by the GOP’s big, beautiful bill, so Mr. Trump’s immigration enforcement will go on, even if the Transportation Security Administration’s luggage screeners don’t get paid, which could result in more headaches for weary travelers. Not everything on Mr. Jeffries’s list of demands is a nonstarter. In a Feb. 4 letter to Republicans, he and Sen. Chuck Schumer called for ICE to wear body cameras, and the Trump Administration is already moving to do that. Perhaps there’s a deal to be made on increasing training for officers or standardizing uniforms and equipment. But the more sweeping Democratic demands can’t get enough Republican votes to pass.

The Hill [2/25/2026 8:00 AM, Sheldon H. Jacobson, 18170K] reports the Department of Homeland Security announced this week that it would be suspending the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program for domestic travelers and Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry for international travelers while the partial government shutdown remains in effect. Just hours later, Homeland Security reversed itself on PreCheck. It would be wise to backtrack on suspending Global Entry as well. Decisions like this make the air system less secure. It is also characteristic of how dysfunctional the department has become, and how the agency no longer protects the American people but acts as a political pawn within a toxic administration.

The AP [2/25/2026 8:22 PM, Nicholas Riccardi, 3760K] reports a Department of Homeland Security official on Wednesday told state election administrators that immigration agents will not be stationed at the polls during November’s midterm elections, trying to swat down one of Democrats’ greatest fears about possible election interference from the Trump administration. Heather Honey, who serves as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, told the group of secretaries of state that “any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true,” according to a statement from Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat. A spokeswoman for Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read also said Honey made the pledge, and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, posted on the social media site X that the promise came from “DHS.” The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. ABC News [2/25/2026 10:55 PM, Staff, 34146K] reports, responding to the California secretary of state during the call, Heather Honey, deputy assistant secretary for Elections Integrity at the Department of Homeland Security, called the suggestion that ICE would be present at polling places "disinformation," according to one person briefed on the call. In a statement following the call, a DHS official said in a statement: "ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations. ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.". Sources described the first part of the call as routine, with state officials hearing from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service about security for the midterms. Honey, who spread false information about the 2020 election before being appointed to her DHS position last year, also addressed the state officials, which included many secretaries of state. A source said Honey pushed for officials to adopt a database run by DHS called SAVE and also said that hand counts were the best way to certify the results of the election -- something many secretaries of state panned on the call. SAVE is an online service for registered federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies to verify immigration status and U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses, according to DHS. The system is used by agencies that provide health care benefits, Social Security benefits and state driver’s licenses, among other uses, according to DHS. Honey did not say what the department does with the data, according to sources. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, told reporters she did not walk away feeling "reassured" the federal government would protect the state sovereignty over the election. "When we asked about state sovereignty and could the federal government make public statements reinforcing the constitutional principle that the states, not the federal government, were in charge of elections, there was a stunned silence," Bellows told reporters. Arizona Secretary of States Adrian Fontes said in a statement after the call: "The vast majority of election, law enforcement, and investigative professionals in these agencies are working hard to maintain secure and accountable American elections. It was deeply unsettling the DOJ and DHS refused to acknowledge that, according to the U.S. Constitution, states run elections in America.". President Donald Trump has suggested the federal government "get involved" in running elections, although the Constitution gives states the authority to run and administer federal elections, subject to laws passed by Congress. Trump has also pushed the SAVE America Act -- a measure passed by the House -- that would require states to obtain proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote for a federal election.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/25/2026 8:06 PM, Jasper Ward, 38315K]
NPR [2/25/2026 4:38 PM, Miles Parks, 28764K]
NBC News [2/25/2026 4:37 PM, Jane C. Timm and Kevin Collier, 42967K]
CNN [2/25/2026 7:19 PM, Staff, 612K]
FOX News [2/26/2026 3:46 AM, Landon Mion, 37576K]
Chicago Tribune [2/25/2026 12:32 PM, Jim Mustian and Jason Dearen, 5209K]

AP [2/25/2026 11:44 AM, Rebecca Santana, 35287K] reports that President Donald Trump promoted his immigration and border security record during his State of the Union address, highlighting how the number of migrants arriving at the southern border plummeted since he returned to office in January 2025. But he made scant mention of the fallout from enforcement operations in places such as Minneapolis and Chicago, where residents demonstrated against tactics by federal officers. Two U.S. citizens were shot and killed in Minneapolis in January, leading to widespread opposition to the operation and more broadly how immigration officers were fulfilling their mandate from the Republican president. “Today our border is secure,” Trump told Congress in his speech Tuesday night. “We now have the strongest and most secure border in American history by far. In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.” Immigration has long been Trump’s signature issue and a top reason he won a second term in 2024. His first year back in the White House saw sweeping changes in enforcement and an infusion of billions of dollars to the agencies tasked with carrying out his agenda. That is reshaping how enforcement will look for the rest of Trump’s tenure, from the number of immigrants detained to how few are winning asylum cases. The number of people arrested trying to enter the U.S. illegally hit a high of nearly 250,000 in December 2023 and then started to fall throughout the rest of Biden’s term.

Bloomberg [2/25/2026 9:30 AM, Alexia Fernandez Campbell, 50K] reports that House Democrats moved Wednesday to ban immigration officers from using a full-body restraint device that Bloomberg Law found was repeatedly used in incidents where people died. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) introduced the Full Body Restraint Prohibition Act, which would bar agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from buying and using restraint devices like The Wrap, which immobilizes people from their feet to their shoulders. A summary of the bill cites a January investigation by Bloomberg Law which identified 41 deaths following law enforcement’s use of The Wrap within the past 10 years. Bloomberg Law found law enforcement officials often used the device on individuals who were experiencing a mental health crisis or had used illegal drugs. The investigation also found seven people who were injured when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bound them in The Wrap during deportation trips. One individual, a Cameroonian asylum seeker, was partially disabled after ICE officers strapped him into The Wrap for four hours on a flight in 2020, ignoring his pleas to loosen the overtightened restraint. "We understand that DHS is a threat to our collective safety and that funding it fuels destruction in our communities and human suffering," Ramirez’s office wrote in a statement to Bloomberg Law. "This legislation is an additional step to end the pain and violence caused by [the Department of Homeland Security].". The bill summary also cited a 2025 Associated Press investigation that linked the device to more than a dozen deaths. ICE spent more than $268,000 on Wrap restraints since 2017 to use on flights, according to federal contracting data.

The Hill [2/25/2026 5:35 PM, Max Rego, 18170K] reports a federal appeals court on Tuesday denied a migrant advocacy group’s request to temporarily block the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from sharing immigrants’ data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request, filed by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos and other advocacy groups after the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., denied their motion for a preliminary injunction in May.

In Wednesday’s 35-page ruling, Judge Harry T. Edwards wrote the appellants are “unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claims,” since the IRS is legally able to disclose addresses if they are not “taxpayer return information.”

Newsweek [2/25/2026 9:57 AM, Sam Stevenson, 52220K] reports a new Democratic‑led congressional proposal would require federal approval from local and state leaders before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can open new detention or processing facilities. Newsweek contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email for comment. The bill follows growing backlash from communities that say ICE moved ahead with detention plans without consulting local officials. Lawmakers argue the proposal responds to transparency concerns as the Trump administration seeks to expand detention capacity nationwide. A new bicameral proposal in Congress would sharply limit the federal government’s ability to open new ICE processing and detention facilities without the approval of local communities.

NPR [2/26/2026 4:41 AM, Wailin Wong and Darian Woods, 34837K] reports as more ICE agents hit U.S. city streets, law enforcement experts are raising concerns about their training. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

FOX News [2/25/2026 1:53 PM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports that Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a progressive "Squad" member, is taking heat for an "unhinged" take comparing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to members of the Ku Klux Klan. In an interview, Pressley accused federal immigration enforcement officers of unleashing a "campaign of terror" that she said "does not care who is in its wake." "In the same way that the KKK cannot be reformed, another — you know, masked militia group — I do not believe that ICE can be reformed and that this has anything to do with training and protocols," said Pressley. In response, RNC Research, the Republican National Committee’s official X account, called out Pressley in an all-caps post calling her "UNHINGED." Pressley has previously received criticism for similar rhetoric with regard to ICE. In January, Pressley called for ICE to be abolished, saying the agency was "racist" and "rogue." "The actions of ICE — they are unconstitutional, unlawful, they are cruel," Pressley said on MS NOW. "They are rogue, they are racist and they are terrorizing communities." Pressley called the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis "horrific and unacceptable." Good was killed in a confrontation with ICE agents after federal authorities said she attempted to run over one of the officers.

Washington Examiner [2/25/2026 11:28 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1147K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has scrapped its plans to detain illegal immigrants in a converted warehouse in New Hampshire following pushback from the state’s Republican governor. Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration would not move forward with its plan to buy a 324,000-square-foot warehouse in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and turn it into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention site where approximately 400 to 600 detainees would be held pending deportation proceedings before a judge. "I’m pleased to announce that the Department of Homeland Security will not move forward with the proposed ICE facility in Merrimack," Ayotte said in a post to X. "During my trip to Washington last week, I had productive discussions with [DHS] Secretary Kristi Noem." Ayotte said her decision to lobby against the purchase of the site came after learning of concerns from the Town of Merrimack. The governor thanked the DHS for its work along the Canadian border, where Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection field officers are based, as well as ICE officers’ work inside the state. The DHS told Fox News Digital that Noem met with Ayotte last week and that the Merrimack site would not proceed, but the state-federal partnership on immigration efforts would continue.

Breitbart [2/25/2026 10:19 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2238K] reports a Biden-appointed judge says Trump’s deputies cannot deport migrants to an unfamiliar country without allowing them to argue against the destination. But, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy "paused his ruling for 15 days" to allow the administration to file an appeal, according to CBS News. Murphy’s ruling comes after "a group of noncitizens" filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to the outlet. Murphy then ended up issuing a preliminary injunction, under which immigration officials were required to give "written notice of the third country" migrants were being sent to, as well as a chance to "raise fears of torture.". "This new policy — which purports to stand in for the protections Congress has mandated — fails to satisfy due process for a raft of reasons, not least of which is that nobody really knows anything about these purported ‘assurances,’" Murphy wrote. "Whom do they cover? What do they cover? Why has the Government deemed them credible? How can anyone even know for certain that they exist? These are basic questions that the Constitution permits a person to ask before the Government takes away their last and only lifeline.". Per the outlet, under the removal policy, "immigration officers did not need to give notice or an opportunity for migrants to contest their removal to third countries": Under the policy issued last March and reaffirmed last July, immigration officers did not need to give notice or an opportunity for migrants to contest their removal to third countries, so long as the government had received word from that country that deportees would not be persecuted or tortured. Third countries are those other than the ones designated on an immigrant’s order of removal. Under the policy, accused illegal aliens are allowed "to challenge their removal" from the United States, but only if they have expressed "a fear," according to the outlet. However, immigration officers "will not affirmatively ask whether the alien is afraid of being removed" to a certain country.

AP [2/25/2026 10:03 PM, Staff, 34146K] reports a car chase involving federal immigration enforcement officers led to a muti-vehicle crash Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey, city officials said. Mayor Ras Baraka said on social media that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to pull over a van in the state’s largest city when the driver fled. He said the ICE agents gave chase, resulting in an accident involving several vehicles, including one carrying three children. Baraka said the driver of the van was injured and taken to the hospital. It was not immediately clear the extent of the driver’s injuries or why the person was being pursued by ICE. Baraka said Newark police were not involved with ICE’s investigation and only responded to the crash. Spokespersons for Baraka, Newark police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment. But the Democratic mayor, in his statement on X, criticized ICE’s actions as reckless and dangerous. He noted that New Jersey state law bans law enforcement officials from chasing vehicles unless a suspect poses an immediate threat. “Federal authorities should adhere to local laws regarding vehicle pursuits and exercise common sense,” Baraka said. “Based on the damage they are inflicting on our communities, ICE has no business engaging in chases at anytime, anywhere — but especially in densely populated areas, and on roads still being cleared from a significant snowstorm.” Baraka was arrested and charged with trespassing while protesting last May in front of Delany Hall, a newly opened federal immigration detention center in his city. The charge was later dismissed.

Reported similarly:
Univision [2/25/2026 10:33 PM, Staff, 4937K]

Blaze [2/25/2026 12:00 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports that the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the sanctuary state of New Jersey after its governor banned Immigration and Customs Enforcement from some state property. On Feb. 11, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) signed Executive Order No. 12, which declared that federal immigration agents cannot access "nonpublic areas of State property for the purpose of facilitating federal enforcement of civil immigration law" without a judicial warrant or order. The governor claimed that the action would "protect against ICE raids on state property." "I take seriously my responsibility to keep New Jersey residents safe, and as a Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor, my commitment to upholding the Constitution will never waver," Sherrill stated. "This executive order will prohibit ICE from using state property to launch operations. To strengthen public safety, we will also give New Jersey residents the tools to report ICE activity to the attorney general’s office and ensure residents know their constitutional rights." The governor’s office accused the Trump administration’s ICE agents of "violently abusing power and violating Constitutional rights." The DOJ responded to Sherrill’s executive action by filing a lawsuit against New Jersey on Feb. 23, stating that the state’s leadership has insisted "on harboring criminal offenders from federal law enforcement."

NewsNation [2/25/2026 5:14 PM, Alton Northup, 4464K] reports Harrisburg City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday that bans police and city employees from enforcing federal immigration laws unless required by state or federal law. It’s the first time Harrisburg will have a city-wide policy on the use of its resources and employees for federal immigration enforcement. The ordinance prohibits city employees from detaining anyone because of their immigration status, and it blocks the use of any city funds, property or data to assist in investigating, detaining or arresting someone for the same. It also requires federal immigration agents to obtain a judicial warrant to access non-public city facilities or individuals in city custody. The bill now heads to Mayor Wanda Williams’ (D) desk.

Washington Post [2/25/2026 6:15 PM, Jenny Gathright, 24826K] reports that when 37-year-old Jose Argueta reported his car stolen in Maryland in November, he did not realize he had set off a chain of events that would eventually lead to him spending Christmas at an immigrant detention center. But, he recently alleged as part of an ongoing lawsuit, that’s what happened. Argueta said that in early December, he received a call from someone claiming to be with D.C.’s police department, telling him they had found his stolen car and asking that he pick it up at a station in Northeast Washington. After he walked in to the police station, he said he was handcuffed and taken into custody by officers, one of whom had the word “ICE” on his shirt. They told him they had used information from the stolen vehicle report to determine Argueta was in the country illegally. “They tricked me into coming to the station to arrest me,” he said. “I was just trying to get my car back, but it was all a lie.” Argueta was detained for about a month in various detention centers before being released on bond in early January, he said.

NewsNation [2/25/2026 4:46 PM, Ryan Nadeau, 4464K] reports Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) did not ban all of Virginia’s law enforcement agencies from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claiming otherwise. On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the DHS issued a press release claiming that “Sanctuary Governor Spanberger” has “terminated all 287(g) agreements in the state of Virginia, making her state less safe as a direct result.” While Spanberger has ordered state-level agencies like Virginia State Police (VSP) to terminate their existing 287(g) agreements with ICE, she has not taken aim at any local or municipal law enforcement agencies’ 287(g) agreements. Spanberger issued two executive actions relating to Virginia law enforcement and ICE: Executive Order 12 and Executive Directive 1.

NewsNation [2/25/2026 4:37 PM, Matt Stell, 4464K] reports on Tuesday morning, a long line filled with people attempting to be seen by U.S. immigration services formed outside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security office in southwest Charlotte. Noticeably, there are no bathrooms or Porta Potties on the property outside of the DHS office, forcing people to use the bathroom in a nearby dumpster or in the outer shrubs of the property.

Daily Caller [2/25/2026 5:03 PM, Hailey Gomez, 803K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging local Kentucky law enforcement not to release an illegal immigrant charged with sexual assault after placing a detainer on him, the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned. On Feb. 5, Yordan Basilio Diaz Vera, a 34-year-old Lyft driver, was arrested by Louisville authorities and charged of first-degree sodomy and kidnapping a mother of four. Since his arrest, ICE has placed a detainer on Diaz Vera and is now pleading with the Louisville police to not release the suspect back onto the city streets. DHS officials confirmed to the DCNF that Diaz Vera illegally entered the U.S. under former President Joe Biden’s administration in November 2022 from Cuba. Despite admitting that he entered the country illegally, Diaz Vera’s attorney told WLKY that he held a work permit and was waiting to receive legal status. After the alleged assault, police said Diaz Vera dropped the victim off at her doctor’s appointment, WLKY reported. Upon exiting the vehicle, she called police, with Diaz Vera later being arrested and charged with 1st degree sodomy, menacing, and kidnapping. Diaz Vera pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his bond set at $100,000. He remains in custody at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.

Tampa Free Press [2/25/2026 10:04 PM, Maria Hernandez, 88K] reports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has filed an arrest detainer for Yordan Basilio Diaz Vera, a Cuban national facing multiple felony charges in Louisville, Kentucky. The move follows an investigation into a February 4 incident involving a local Lyft passenger. Law enforcement officials report that the incident began when the victim, a mother of four, hailed a ride to a scheduled doctor’s appointment. According to police records, Diaz Vera picked up the woman but allegedly diverted from the route to a parking lot. Once there, he is accused of locking the vehicle doors, brandishing a firearm from the glove compartment, and moving to the backseat where the assault occurred. Diaz Vera currently faces several criminal charges, including first-degree sodomy, kidnapping, and menacing. Following his arrest by local authorities, ICE officials intervened to ensure the suspect remains in custody for federal immigration proceedings. According to DHS records, Diaz Vera entered the United States in November 2022. The filing of a detainer is a formal request from ICE to local jail facilities, asking them to notify federal agents before a suspect is released from local custody so that they may be taken into immigration detention. “Yordan Basilio Diaz Vera was released into our communities under the Biden administration before he went onto to brutally sodomize a mother of four at gunpoint in Louisville. This criminal illegal alien is a monster who has no right to be in our country and this crime was entirely preventable,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “We have lodged an arrest detainer requesting local authorities notify ICE law enforcement instead of RELEASING this predator from jail into Louisville neighborhoods. President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow sexual predator illegal aliens to roam free in America.”

FOX News [2/25/2026 6:00 AM, Rachel del Guidice, 37576K] reports an academic counselor at an Ohio school was photographed holding a sign that read, "You cannot love God and ICE," in an image shared on social media. In a Feb. 16 post on X, Jack Windsor, editor-in-chief of TheOhioPressNetwork.com, shared a photo identifying the woman as Selena McKnight, an academic counselor at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio, about 30 minutes from Columbus. McKnight appears in the photo holding a sign that says, "You can’t love God and ICE." While the full sign is not completely visible in the image, it also appears to reference Exodus 22:21, which states, "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt." She is pictured alongside what appears to be other students. Windsor reported in his post that the walkout divided students and made some uncomfortable. Olentangy Schools told Fox News Digital that on Feb. 12, there was "a student-led, voluntary walkout," at Olentangy High School. One student in the photo held a sign that said, "Fight ignorance, not immigrants." Ohio Republican state Rep. Beth Lear reacted to the counselor’s sign, saying it indicated a lack of knowledge of the Bible in schools, while popular right-wing X account Libs of TikTok fumed she was "getting paid with YOUR tax dollars to indoctrinate students to protest against ICE."

Federalist [2/25/2026 7:11 AM, Todd Rokita, 540K] reports as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) goes about its lawful and necessary role of deporting illegal aliens, left-leaning leaders are doing everything they can to frustrate and thwart the enforcement of federal law. That is a serious problem. Trying to make it impossible for ICE to do its job in certain states and cities is a transparent attempt to interfere with a legitimate exercise of federal authority. Policies that give sanctuary to illegal aliens are, in effect, an attempt to nullify federal law and are not all that different from past attempts by certain states to frustrate the enforcement of federal law, such as when southern states resisted desegregation. Such behavior is reckless and wrong, and it jeopardizes the safety of all Americans. Unfortunately, even in Republican-run Indiana, some local entities have joined this effort to give sanctuary to illegal aliens and frustrate federal law enforcement. As Indiana’s attorney general, I take seriously the authority given to me by the legislature to enforce our state’s anti-sanctuary law — which prohibits local governments, law enforcement, and state educational institutions from having policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration laws and detainer requests. I am doing everything in my power under the law to eliminate the remaining sanctuary jurisdictions in our state. But Indiana could do more to combat illegal immigration and support federal law enforcement. That is why I have been a strong, vocal advocate for the Indiana General Assembly to pass the Fairness Act. That bill, Senate Bill 76 in the current session, would mandate compliance with ICE detainers and authorize my office to take legal action against companies that knowingly or intentionally hire, recruit or employ illegal aliens. I am encouraged that the General Assembly has made good progress this session in moving the Fairness Act, and hope to see this bill signed into law very soon.

CNN [2/25/2026 5:30 AM, Samantha Delouya, 19874K] reports roofers are turning down jobs. Painters are locking themselves inside the homes they’re finishing. Concrete crews have monthslong waiting lists. In the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has slowed home construction to a crawl – at a time when Minnesota, like much of the country, faces a steep housing shortage. The White House has begun scaling back its monthslong enforcement surge in the state. But across the housing market, the aftershocks are still unfolding. "I think most of us would probably take Covid over this," said one large homebuilder in the Minneapolis area who asked for his name not to be shared since some of his job sites have been targeted by immigration officers over the last few weeks. "This is misery for us in the housing industry." President Donald Trump has made housing affordability a central pillar of his domestic agenda, and the US House of Representatives passed legislation this month intended to encourage more homebuilding. But the president’s stepped-up immigration enforcement threatens to undercut that effort, sidelining the workers needed to build new homes. As in many other states, the construction industry in Minnesota is heavily reliant on immigrant labor. The homebuilder, who oversees hundreds of residential projects across the Midwest, said many of his jobs are now facing monthslong delays as dozens of construction crews hesitate to return. He said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were stationed at the site of one of his large apartment construction projects for weeks, waiting to make arrests. More than nine crews walked off the job after seeing the officers, he said. At one point this month, only six of the 80 roofers he had contracted were still showing up, regardless of their immigration status.

Daily Caller [2/25/2026 12:37 PM, Jack Cowhick, 803K] reports that an alleged Minnesota churchgoer filed a lawsuit against former CNN anchor Don Lemon and protesters for "emotional distress," TMZ reported Tuesday. Ann Doucette alleged in court documents that Lemon and protesters "unlawfully interfered" with her right to "freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship" when he stormed her church during a Jan. 18 service to protest federal immigration enforcement, according to TMZ. She claimed to suffer "severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma" as a result of the protest, and is suing for an unspecified amount of money, according to the outlet. Lemon and a group of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters entered The Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota following the shooting death of Renee Good in an attempt to confront the church’s pastor, who was believed to be connected to the law enforcement agency. Lemon live-streamed the event on YouTube and acknowledged, "It’s uncomfortable and traumatic for the people here, but that’s really… that’s what protesting is about." The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Lemon in late January with violations against the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and Ku Klux Klan Act. The DOJ’s indictment alleged that the move was part of a "clandestine operation" called "Operation Pullup," during which defendants "oppressed, threatened, and intimidated" churchgoers and the pastor. The former CNN anchor was then arrested in Los Angeles for what he called "an act of journalism."

Newsweek [2/25/2036 3:58 PM, Jenna Sundel, 52220K] reports a judge appointed by President Donald Trump found Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials in contempt and ordered them to pay an immigrant detained by ICE. Judge Eric C. Tostrud of the U.S. Minnesota District Court, who was appointed by Trump in 2018, on Monday granted a motion seeking civil-contempt compensation filed by the immigrant, who is identified as “Fernando T.” “I find that Respondents’ conduct constitutes civil contempt, and Respondents (as defined herein) are jointly and severally liable for compensatory civil contempt sanctions for airfare costs Fernando incurred because of the violation,” Tostrud wrote. The judge ordered the respondents, who include DHS Secretary Krist Noem and Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, to pay Fernando $568.29.

Washington Post [2/25/2026 7:28 PM, Robert Klemko, 24826K] reports a grand jury on Wednesday declined to indict a federal immigration agent who killed a man accused of striking an agent with his car in Texas last March, a shooting death not disclosed by Department of Homeland Security for nearly a year. Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz released a statement shared with local media saying that a grand jury had declined to charge anyone in the case. A DHS spokeswoman said the a grand jury had “unanimously found no criminality.” The involvement of a federal agent in the death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was only revealed this month, when American Oversight — a nonprofit watchdog group — published federal documents obtained via public records request. Martinez is the third U.S. citizen known to have been fatally shot by DHS personnel since President Donald Trump launched an aggressive immigration crackdown in January. The other two are Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed days apart in January while monitoring and protesting immigration enforcement activity. Martinez was killed on March 15 in South Padre Island, where Homeland Security Investigations personnel were conducting immigration enforcement with local police. During that effort, officers and agents responded to a major vehicle accident in a commercial area populated with bars and beachwear stores. The internal documents said Martinez declined instructions to stop his vehicle while approaching a roadblock and struck a Homeland Security Investigations agent, “who wound up on the hood of the vehicle.” An agent then fatally shot Martinez through the open driver’s side window, the documents say. A witness to the shooting, Joshua Orta, 25, disputed the government’s version of events in a written statement provided to lawyers for Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes. Martinez was given conflicting instructions from multiple law enforcement officers, Orta wrote, and never struck an agent.

The Hill [2/25/2026 11:23 AM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports that the witness of a disputed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shooting in Texas last year died in a car crash in San Antonio on Saturday, according to multiple news reports. A lawyer for Ruben Ray Martinez, a U.S. citizen who was fatally shot in 2025, told The Associated Press that Joshua Orta died in a fiery crash over the weekend. Orta and Martinez rode with each other in South Padre Island, Texas, last March when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed Martinez “intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent.” Alex Stemm, who represents Martinez’s mother, called Orta’s death “an awful tragedy for his family and friends.” “In terms of Ruben’s death, the world has also now lost a critical eyewitness,” he added in a statement to The Hill. “We believe Joshua’s account, and, as we have seen recently in Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere, it is critical that the public be shown every piece of evidence in the government’s possession, and that any witness come forward.” Orta previously told Martinez’s family lawyers about the events of the crash in September and planned to work with investigators before his death. A DHS spokesperson told The Hill that Homeland Security Investigation special agents were helping South Padre Island police officers after a “major accident” when Martinez’s blue Ford “intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle.” “Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public,” the spokesperson said. “The driver was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. The agent who was ran over sustained a knee injury and was taken to the hospital.”

FOX News [2/25/2026 12:35 PM, Stephen Sorace, 37576K] reports that the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to shield a major private prison company from a lawsuit alleging immigration detainees in Colorado were forced to work for little or no pay. In a unanimous procedural ruling, the justices rejected an appeal from the Florida-based GEO Group, which sought to quickly overturn a lower court decision allowing the case to proceed. The ruling does not decide the merits of the lawsuit but clears the way for it to continue. If GEO Group loses the case, it can file its appeal then. The lawsuit, first filed in 2014, alleges that detainees at a facility in Aurora were required to perform unpaid janitorial work and other jobs to maintain living conditions and supplement inadequate meals. Some detainees earned just $1 a day, according to the lawsuit. GEO has defended its labor program and argued that, as a federal contractor, it should be immune from such lawsuits because they were carrying out government instructions. After a federal judge ruled the company was not entitled to immunity, GEO turned to the Supreme Court, but to no avail. Similar lawsuits have been filed in other states. In Washington, a court previously ordered GEO to pay more than $23 million in a case involving detainee labor practices. The Colorado case will now continue in a lower court.

FOX News [2/25/2026 5:32 PM, Greg Wehner, 37576K] reports California’s sanctuary policies are under renewed scrutiny after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nine previously convicted sex offenders in Los Angeles, accusing state officials of releasing thousands of criminal migrants instead of honoring federal detainer requests. ICE said Wednesday the nine individuals – all convicted of sex crimes – were taken into custody during a targeted operation aimed at removing dangerous offenders from local communities. All nine "will face justice for their crimes and will be removed from the United States, never to terrorize our communities again," the agency said. Since Jan. 20, 2025, ICE said California has declined to honor 4,561 immigration detainers on criminal illegal immigrants, releasing offenders – including murderers and sex offenders – back into communities instead of transferring them to federal custody. The agency added that it currently has more than 33,000 active detainers lodged in California’s local, state and federal jails and urged officials to cooperate so dangerous offenders can be removed from the U.S.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/26/2026 1:22 AM, Stacy Brandt, 1257K] reports that, after more than four hours of public speakers, a majority of the Escondido City Council Wednesday said they support maintaining a contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for use of the city-owned firearms training range. Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald said as a former law enforcement officer that she knows how important training is and that she strongly supports maintaining the contract with the agency, better known as ICE. “We should welcome any opportunity to create spaces for officers to improve their abilities,” she said. Consuelo Martinez was the only council member who spoke in opposition to the contract. She made a motion to cancel the contract, but failed to get a second needed for a vote. “I do believe that ICE is a rogue agency. It’s unaccountable,” she said. “I want to protect you. I hear you. I see you.” Before the council’s discussion at the often-chaotic meeting, members of the public pleaded with council members to cancel the contract. Anthony DiMartino, an Escondido resident, told the council he gets anxious every time his young son leaves the house with his grandparents, fearful that they’ll be targeted because of how they look. Like more than half of Escondido residents, DiMartino is Latino. “I no longer feel safe in my city,” he said. “It shouldn’t be this way, and it doesn’t have to be this way.” Before public comments, Police Chief Ken Plunkett gave an overview of the history of the firing range and the contract. He said there could be legal and financial ramifications if the contract were canceled now. Deputy Mayor Joe Garcia said he was concerned that if the contract was canceled there would be retribution from the federal government. “I am concerned that the violence that has happened other places could come to Escondido,” he said. Escondido Mayor Dane White asked for an informational item on the topic to be placed on Wednesday’s agenda after news broke about the contract. Councilmember Christian Garcia said he doesn’t want “vigilantes or poorly trained people” patrolling Escondido. However, he said that he values the work that the Department of Homeland Security does to curb drug and human trafficking.

Reported similarly:
Univision [2/25/2026 10:44 PM, Staff, 4937K]

Houston Chronicle [2/25/2026 10:00 AM, Blaine Hooper, 2493K] reports that in December, the church I lead was turned upside down when two beloved Iranian Christians from our congregation in Houston were taken into detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without explanation during a routine immigration appointment. While large-scale immigration enforcement actions dominate national headlines, far less visible are the faithful, persecuted Christians quietly being detained and deported to countries where they face persecution, imprisonment, torture and even death. Over the last months, Refuge Church has not only grieved Mehran and Amin’s unjust detention, but also the loss of their presence. Mehran rarely said no to serving friends or those in need at our church, even after working a ten-hour shift. Amin is always ready to laugh, encourage others, and serve skillfully with his hands. He helped prepare our church’s beautiful new sanctuary space, but sadly, missed our move-in celebration last month. Disturbingly, Mehran and Amin now face deportation back to Iran, despite following the legally prescribed process for obtaining lawful status as asylum seekers. They have lived peacefully, served their community, paid taxes, worked legally and diligently, and been issued government documents and work authorization. Right now they’re reluctant to share their last names in case they end up back in Iran. If deported, they face torture and almost certain death under a regime that in recent weeks has reportedly slaughtered thousands of its own citizens in the streets.

NewsNation [2/25/2026 3:57 PM, Andrew Dorn, 4464K] reports the Trump administration is weighing a move that could require banks to collect citizenship information from customers, according to multiple reports. The potential action, reported by the Wall Street Journal and Semafor, could come as an executive order and may apply to both new and existing bank customers. While nothing has been finalized, such a decision would mark an escalation in the president’s illegal immigration crackdown and could ultimately have banks requesting additional documentation, such as passports, from customers. REAL IDs — which do not prove citizenship — would not be considered eligible, Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the talks. A move to require citizenship information would likely face pushback from the banking industry and could be complicated to implement, with one financial services lobbyist telling Semafor the idea is a “complete nightmare” logistically. The requirement could also pose challenges for U.S. citizens who may not have proof of citizenship readily available. Discussions about the potential executive order have alarmed banks, which have questioned the legal basis for the proposal, according to the Journal.

Univision [2/25/2026 9:55 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports María Estrada , a DACA recipient , was deported after attending an immigration appointment in Sacramento . Local and state authorities denounced the deportation as illegal and joined calls for her return to the United States. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [2/25/2026 12:28 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports that a new immigration proposal could drastically change the situation for millions of asylum seekers in the United States. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is considering temporarily suspending the issuance of work permits to those with pending asylum cases, a pause that, according to the agency itself, could last for years. The regulation, which has been opened for public comment, has generated concern among asylum seekers, lawyers, and immigration organizations due to its potential impact on the migrant population. Immigration attorney Claudia Cañizares explained in an interview with N+ Univision that the measure would impact all individuals currently with pending asylum applications. "It could affect all individuals who currently have a pending asylum application with immigration," she warned. According to figures cited by the specialist, the system has between 1.6 and 1.8 million pending applications, both with USCIS and in immigration courts. "It is estimated that the immigration system has between 1.6 and 1.8 million pending asylum applications," he stated. Under the current system, those whose case has been pending for more than six months can apply for a work permit and, after applying, usually receive it within approximately 45 to 90 days. "Once their asylum case has been pending for more than six months, they can apply for a work permit," he explained. If the new provision takes effect, these individuals could become ineligible for work authorization, which would limit their ability to earn income while awaiting a final decision.

ABC News [2/25/2026 5:23 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports Customs and Border Protection agents are attempting to return unaccompanied migrant children -- including some protected by a federal court order -- to their home countries before they can meet with an attorney or appear before an immigration judge, according to a court filing. Attorneys representing a group of Guatemalan minors who were nearly deported over Labor Day weekend as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown alleged on Tuesday that the Trump administration is "engaged in a practice that openly flouts the plain text of the Court’s injunction," which blocks the government from removing the minors from the U.S. Attorneys for the minors argued they were being removed without a final order from an immigration judge, while the government said in court it was removing the children in accordance with the law and at the request of the Guatemalan government and the children’s legal guardians.

Daily Caller [2/25/2026 6:44 PM, Mariane Angela, 803K] reports Federal prosecutors have charged a New Hampshire man with attempted murder after authorities say he opened fire on a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the Canadian border. Blu Zeke Daly, also known as Cullan Zeke Daly, 26, of Manchester, faces one count of attempted murder of a federal officer and one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Daly remains hospitalized in New Hampshire and is under guard. The criminal complaint alleges that on the evening of Feb. 21, a Border Patrol agent encountered Daly driving alone in Stewartstown, N.H., near the Canadian border. When the agent asked whether Daly had used any other names, Daly drove away. The agent followed at a distance. Shortly after midnight on Feb. 22, Daly arrived at the Pittsburg Port of Entry along the U.S.-Canada border. The crossing was closed and the gate locked. The agent activated his emergency lights and exited his vehicle. At that point, Daly turned and fired a handgun at the agent, the complaint alleges. The agent returned fire with his service weapon and struck Daly. The agent was not injured in the exchange. Newsweek reported that shots were fired around 1 a.m. ET in the small northern town. Daly was wounded while the officer escaped harm. Newsweek said Daly was still in the hospital Tuesday evening. There has been an unprecedented surge in threats against federal immigration agents, with Department of Homeland Security data showing an 8,000% spike in death threats targeting ICE personnel. Officials said the threats included doxxing, online harassment and direct threats against officers and their families.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [2/25/2026 7:57 AM, Staff, 51110K]

Reuters [2/25/2026 10:00 PM, Jan Wolfe and Kristina Cooke, 40934K] reports a nearly blind refugee from Myanmar missing since his release from a Buffalo jail into the custody of US Border Patrol has been found dead on a downtown street, city authorities said on Wednesday. Police officers in the upstate New York city located the body of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, on Tuesday evening, a Buffalo Police Department spokesperson said. Shah Alam had been missing since February 19, when US Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a coffee shop miles from his home following his release from a county jail, where he had spent much of the last year awaiting trial on criminal charges that resulted in a misdemeanor plea deal. Homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances of Shah Alam’s death, the spokesperson said. Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday that Shah Alam’s death was preventable and the result of "inhumane" decision-making by federal immigration authorities. "A vulnerable man − nearly blind and unable to speak English − was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location," Ryan said. "That decision from US Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane.". A CBP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to Investigative Post, a Buffalo-based news outlet, a CBP spokesperson said agents dropped Shah Alam off at a coffee shop after agents determined he had entered the country as a refugee and could not be deported. "Border Patrol agents offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station," the agency said. "He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance.". Temperatures in Buffalo, a city near the Canadian border, were below freezing last weekend. The Erie County District Attorney’s Office said Shah Alam was arrested a year ago following an incident that resulted in minor injuries to two Buffalo Police officers. Shah Alam was released on bail this month after he had agreed to a plea deal, the district attorney’s office said. Following Shah Alam’s arrest, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an immigration detainer, a formal request to take custody of a noncitizen after his scheduled release from criminal detention. CNN [2/26/2026 4:58 AM, Hanna Park and Taylor Romine, 19874K] reports “Homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances and timeframe of events leading up to his death, following his release from custody,” the police department said in a statement. The Erie County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined Shah Alam’s cause of death was health‑related. Exposure and homicide have been ruled out, Buffalo city spokesperson Nick Beiling said. “A vulnerable man – nearly blind and unable to speak English – was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location. That decision from US Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane,” Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said Wednesday, calling Shah Alam’s death “preventable,” and insisting CBP “answer for how and why this happened.” Shah Alam, a refugee from Myanmar, had spent much of the previous year in custody awaiting trial on criminal charges that were ultimately resolved with a misdemeanor plea deal, according to Reuters. As Shah Alam’s discharge from jail was being processed, deputies notified US Border Patrol, which had earlier placed him under an immigration detainer, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “U.S. Border Patrol arrived at the Holding Center prior to the finalization of Mr. Shah Alam’s release from Erie County Sheriff’s Office custody,” the statement said. A spokesperson for CBP said the agents later determined Shah Alam had entered the United States as a refugee on December 24, 2024, and “was not amenable to removal.” “Border Patrol agents offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station,” the statement said. “He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance.”

Univision [2/25/2026 5:10 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports a Venezuelan engineer who was hired to perform technological work at a Border Patrol station in South Florida ended up being detained by the same agency that had authorized him to enter the building. Angel Camacho, 43, a systems and telecommunications specialist who has been living in the United States for nearly a decade. According to reports, it has a work permit, Social Security number and valid driver’s license. He is married to a U.S. citizen and is in the process of obtaining permanent residency. The incident occurred when Camacho went to a federal facility in Dania Beach after being hired to inspect an intercom system. His employer had previously submitted his identification for the security verification process and received confirmation that he was authorized to enter. However, when he came to the scene, agents arrested him for his immigration status. He initially spent a night in custody at the station and was subsequently transferred to an immigration detention center in the Everglades. Camacho was transferred to the center popularly known as Alcatraz de los Caimanes (Alligator Alcatraz), located in a remote area of South Florida and surrounded by wetlands. The complex is officially an immigration detention facility and has been singled out by civil organizations due to the conditions and profile of some of the detainees. The Hispanic remained for approximately 30 days in detention. According to his testimony to NBC, he described the experience as traumatic and said that he shared spaces with people accused of different crimes, despite having no criminal record. His release did not happen automatically. Lawyers filed a habeas corpus appeal in federal court to challenge the legality of his detention. After the judicial review, he was set a $5,000 bond and released with an electronic monitor on his ankle while his immigration process continues.

New York Post [2/25/2026 12:47 PM, Ariel Zilber, 40934K] reports that a California-basedCatholic bishop allegedly took more than a dozen trips to a Mexican brothel known for human trafficking and misused parish funds, a sensational new report reveals. Bishop Emanuel Shaleta of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of San Diego offered his resignation following allegations detailed in a report by the Catholic news outlet The Pillar. His resignation had not been formally accepted by the Vatican. A private investigator documented Shaleta using a shuttle "exclusive to the club’s patrons" to visit the Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club in Tijuana just across the Mexican border, The Pillar reported. The Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club operates in Tijuana’s Zona Norte red-light district, an area that has long been scrutinized by law enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations. Independent investigative reporting and academic research on the region have documented patterns of coercion, organized criminal involvement and the exploitation of vulnerable women and minors within parts of the city’s commercial sex trade. While there is no public allegation that Shaleta was involved in trafficking activity, prior reporting has identified the club by name in broader examinations of sex-industry operations in Tijuana. The allegations stem from a private investigator’s report that was submitted to Vatican authorities.

New York Times [2/25/2026 5:57 PM, Christine Chung and Ceylan Yeğinsu, 148038K] reports the nearly two-week-old shutdown of Department of Homeland Security funding is hitting one group of travelers particularly hard: members of Global Entry, a program that expedites arrival into the United States. On Sunday, citing staffing issues, the department announced it had suspended Global Entry and T.S.A. PreCheck in order to reassign officers, who are not being paid during the shutdown. While the department quickly reversed its decision to halt PreCheck, Global Entry remains paused. Travelers have reported varying experiences at customs and immigration checkpoints at airports since the announcement. At San Francisco International Airport, Global Entry kiosks are not working, but Customs and Border Protection, part of D.H.S., is allowing Global Entry members to use the priority lane, said Doug Yakel, an airport spokesman. C.B.P. is also still processing interviews for conditionally approved Global Entry applicants, he added. At the airports in the New York metro area, however, Global Entry has been fully shut down, said James Allen, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airports. Mr. Allen noted that passengers could still use Mobile Passport Control, an app that offers U.S. citizens and many other travelers shorter waits at customs and immigration checkpoints. Global Entry also appears to still be operational at some international airports approved to process travelers in the program, including Toronto Pearson International Airport. The D.H.S. trusted traveler programs, which include Global Entry and PreCheck, are popular, with more than 40 million subscribers as of 2024, according to the T.S.A. Thirteen percent of all arriving air travelers use Global Entry, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the country.

CNN [2/25/2026 10:46 AM, Manu Raju, 612K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security may again suspend TSA PreCheck by prioritizing "standard" security lanes at the airport amid the partial government shutdown, Secretary Kristi Noem told CNN. It comes after the department walked back its decision over the weekend to pause TSA PreCheck, which allows travelers to get through airport security more quickly, amid an ongoing DHS shutdown. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program remains paused. "As we go forward and without funding for DHS, if we end up in a situation where these TSA officers have to go get other jobs and provide for their families, we’ll have to prioritize where the most travelers go through their security checkpoints," Noem told CNN. "We prioritize security lanes as we can staff them. So the ones that use the most travelers, which is the standard lanes, will be prioritized because most of the traveling public goes through those lanes," she added. Meanwhile, Noem denied that the department reversed its decision on halting PreCheck, saying, "We never reversed the decision. We just talked about it. What priorities we’d have to make if we had the situation where call outs went high." TSA PreCheck and Global Entry were not paused during last year’s government shutdown, which lasted 43 days.

USA Today [2/25/2026 5:34 PM, Dinah Voyles Pulver, 70643K] reports Hurricane Melissa, which claimed at least 95 lives last fall, got an upgrade from the National Hurricane Center in a post-season review. As the record-breaking hurricane approached Jamaica, its estimated highest sustained winds topped out at a terrifying 190 mph on Oct. 28, tying with 1980’s Hurricane Allen as one of the two hurricanes with the highest wind speed on record in the Atlantic basin. With less than 100 days until the start of the 2026 hurricane season on June 1, the hurricane center is finishing up its reviews of the 2025 season. The new information about Melissa’s wind speeds was revealed in the final report the center posted on Feb. 25.

AP [2/25/2026 3:52 PM, Freida Frisaro] reports crews in South Florida were trying to contain a wildfire in Big Cypress National Preserve that had burned more than 25,000 acres (100 square kilometers) near the immigration detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” as of Wednesday. The fire caused periodic lane closures due to smoke and poor visibility on the stretch of Interstate 75 known as Alligator Alley, which connects Florida’s east and west coasts and runs through the vast Everglades wetlands. However, the wildfire posed no threat Wednesday to the state-run “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail, said Stephanie Hartman, director of communications for the Florida Department of Emergency Management.

New York Times [2/25/2026 3:59 PM, Santul Nerkar, 148038K] reports a man arrived in New York in April 2024 to discuss plans with an old acquaintance to sell traditional, yarn-dyed clothes from Pakistan to American customers. But investigators believed his business venture was merely a ruse for assassination plots backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, targeting leaders including then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. The man, Asif Merchant, aimed to hire hit men for his targets, prosecutors said. Mr. Merchant, 47, was arrested in New York on July 12, 2024, as he was trying to leave the country. He is now on trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn and faces up to life in prison if he is convicted of terrorism charges. During the trial’s opening statements on Wednesday, Nina Gupta, a federal prosecutor with the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, said that Mr. Merchant used a clothing business as “cover for his murder plot,” focused on people who he thought were “hurting Pakistan and the Muslim world.”

Stars and Stripes [2/25/2026 12:48 PM, Staff, 1251K] reports that Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan was presented the Legion of Merit during the State of the Union address on Tuesday for his role in the service’s response to deadly floods in Texas last July. The aviation survival technician has been credited with helping to save 165 people, including those at Camp Mystic. Heavy rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to swell, and the resulting floods killed more than 130 people in the area, including 28 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic. "As the waters threatened to sweep her away, 11-year-old Milly Cate McClymond closed her eyes and prayed to God, she thought she was going to die," President Donald Trump said at his address. "Those prayers were answered when Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskin descended from a helicopter above... And he lifted not just Milly Cate, but 164 others to safety." "It was Scott’s first ever rescue mission — young guy, but very brave," Trump continued, adding that McClymond was present at the address, reuniting her with her savior. "Petty Officer Ruskan, I’m pleased to inform you that I am now awarding you the Legion of Merit for extraordinary heroism." Ruskan was also recognized shortly after the flooding, along with the other three members of his aircrew. Ruskan and the aircraft commander received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism during flight, while the co-pilot and aviation maintenance technician received the Air Medal.

MeriTalk [2/25/2026 3:06 PM, Grace Dille, 27K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive on Wednesday calling on federal civilian agencies to take immediate steps to secure Cisco Software-Defined Wide-Area Networking (SD-WAN) systems. The agency said the directive comes in response to “a significant cyber threat targeting federal networks utilizing certain Cisco systems and software.” CISA is requiring agencies using Cisco SD-WAN products to identify affected systems and report an initial inventory to CISA by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 26, and then apply Cisco-provided updates addressing two vulnerabilities by 5 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2026. “Based on collaboration with international partners and CISA’s forensic analysis, the ease with which these vulnerabilities can be exploited demands immediate action from all federal agencies,” said Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA’s acting director, in a press release. “We urge all entities to implement the measures outlined in this Emergency Directive without delay,” Gottumukkala added. “CISA leadership and all (excepted) staff remain committed to fulfilling our mission while protecting the American people.” In addition to the emergency directive, CISA also released joint guidance, Cisco SD-WAN Threat Hunt Guide, with the National Security Agency and international partners – the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre, and United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre. CISA and the authoring organizations strongly urged organizations to immediately identify Cisco SD-WAN systems; collect artifacts, including virtual snapshots and logs the systems; patch the systems; hunt for evidence of compromise; and implement Cisco’s guidance to harden the systems.

Reported similarly:
Federal News Network [2/25/2026 5:03 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K]

Reuters [2/25/2026 6:05 AM, Raphael Satter and Alexandra Alper, 38315K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered U.S. diplomats to lobby against attempts to regulate U.S. tech companies’ handling of foreigners’ data, saying in an internal diplomatic cable seen by Reuters that such efforts could interfere with artificial intelligence-related services. Experts say the move signals the Trump administration is reverting to a more confrontational approach as some foreign countries seek limits around how Silicon Valley firms process and store their citizens’ personal information - initiatives often described as "data sovereignty" or "data localization." In the State Department cable, dated February 18 and signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the agency said such laws would "disrupt global data flows, increase costs and cybersecurity risks, limit Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud services, and expand government control in ways that can undermine civil liberties and enable censorship.". The cable said the Trump administration was pushing for "a more assertive international data policy" and that diplomats should "counter unnecessarily burdensome regulations, such as data localization mandates." The State Department did not return a request for comment.

CyberScoop [2/25/2026 6:30 AM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports "Decimated.” “Amateur hour.” “Pretty much fallen apart.” “It’s really hard to find something positive to say right now.” It’s been a little more than one year into the second Trump administration, and there’s a large consensus, if not total unanimity, among those who have worked with and for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: It has suffered significantly during that time. CISA has lost roughly a third of its personnel and shuttered entire divisions. Observers across the political spectrum told CyberScoop for this story that even on its core missions, like coordinating with industry and protecting federal networks, the agency is significantly diminished. Many sources that spoke with CyberScoop did so under the condition of anonymity, in order to be more candid or avoid retribution. They told CyberScoop that CISA’s biggest problems, and their consequences, include: Trump’s ire over the 2020 election results has led to the agency being deprioritized within the administration. Congress has yet to approve the administration’s permanent pick to lead the agency, Sean Plankey, and lawmakers have failed to do other things to strengthen it. CISA’s capabilities have been significantly diminished by the loss of personnel, expertise and programs. In the absence of a permanent leader, Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala has struggled to lead the agency. “I don’t think anybody would argue he’s doing a great job,” one industry source said. Organizations that previously turned to CISA for help now seek alternatives, like industry alliances, outside consultants or government-to-government partnerships. Where to assign blame varied from source to source. Most criticized both the administration and Congress, though some faulted one more than the other.

Reuters [2/25/2026 6:04 AM, A.J. Vicens, 38315K] reports Google disrupted a Chinese-linked hacking group that breached at least 53 organizations across 42 countries, the company said Wednesday. The hacking group, tracked as UNC2814 and "Gallium," has a nearly decade-long history of penetrating government organizations and telecommunications companies, the company said in findings shared exclusively with Reuters. "This was a vast surveillance apparatus used to spy on people and organizations throughout the world," John Hultquist, chief analyst with Google Threat Intelligence Group, said. Google and unnamed partners terminated Google Cloud projects controlled by the hacking group, identified and disabled internet infrastructure it was using and disabled accounts the group used to access Google Sheets, which it used to carry out its targeting and data theft operations.

Washington Examiner [2/26/2026 5:00 AM, Mia Cathell, 1147K] reports the nine suspected members of a Texas antifa cell standing trial on federal terrorism charges are deploying a familiar left-wing phrase that gained notoriety during the destructive antifa riots of 2020. Attorneys for the defendants, accused of carrying out an assassination mission meant to murder Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel at a detention center in Alvarado, Texas, are framing the alleged July 2025 ambush as a mostly “peaceful protest” that just so happened to turn violent. According to charging documents, more than a dozen heavily armed anti-ICE militants had descended on the site that night and opened fire from various vantage points. The jury heard those competing narratives from the defense and federal prosecutors during opening arguments on Tuesday. Laying out their respective legal strategies for the rest of the trial, Justice Department officials said the jointly charged co-conspirators sought to assassinate the security guards in an apparent terrorist attack, while the defendants insisted that they were simply protesting in support of the illegal immigrants detained inside the facility. Lawyers for the alleged antifa operatives described the late-night event, which ended in the nonfatal shooting of a local Alvarado police officer who was called to the scene, as a "noise demonstration" that involved fireworks shot in the air as a show of solidarity. Authorities said the fireworks were set off as a trap intended to lure law enforcement officers, responding accordingly to the disturbance, outside and into the line of fire.

CNN [2/26/2026 2:43 AM, Brad Lendon, 612K] reports a former US Air Force fighter pilot with more than two decades of experience with nuclear delivery systems and aircraft, including advanced F-35 stealth jets, has been arrested and charged with conspiring to help the Chinese military. Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., 65, was arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana, on Wednesday and charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act by providing training to pilots in China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. "Providing US military training to our adversaries represents a significant threat to national security," Lee Russ, executive director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Office of Special Project, said in the statement. Before his retirement at the rank of major in 1996, Brown served 24 years in the US Air Force. "During his military career, Brown commanded sensitive units with responsibility for nuclear weapons delivery systems, led combat missions, and served as a fighter pilot instructor and simulator instructor on a variety of fighter and attack aircraft," the statement said. He also flew a range of jets, from the Vietnam-era F-4 Phantom to more modern F-15s and F-16s, according to the statement. After retirement, Brown flew commercial cargo aircraft before joining two US defense contractors to work as an instructor in flight simulators training US pilots to fly the US F-35 stealth fighter and A-10 attack jet, the statement said. The Lockheed Martin F-35 is one of the US’s most-advanced aircraft. About 600 of the fifth-generation jets were in service as of the beginning of the year across the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, with more than 1,600 on order, according to FlightGlobal’s World Air Forces 2026. Nineteen allied and partner nations are also part of the F-35 program, according to Lockheed Martin. It is expected to be a workhorse in the US and allied fleets for decades to come. Brown allegedly spent more than two years in China training PLA pilots, traveling there in December 2023 and staying until earlier this month, the US Attorney’s statement said. "Brown answered questions for three hours about the U.S. Air Force on his first day in the PRC and then, on his second day, prepared and presented a brief about himself for the PLAAF," the statement said. The rest of the time he trained Chinese pilots, it said. "Brown’s alleged betrayal exposed sensitive military tactics, threatening the security of our nation, our armed forces, and our allies," said FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle. Aviation analyst Peter Layton of the Griffith Asia Institute, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer, told CNN that China could have learned a range of things from Brown. "If I was China, I would also be most interested in ‘nuclear weapons delivery systems’ and the tactics planned to deliver nuclear weapons," Layton said.

AP [2/25/2026 4:37 PM, Ed White, 3833K] reports that China’s government intervened and helped get charges dropped against three Chinese scientists at the University of Michigan who were accused of helping a colleague smuggle biological materials into the U.S., defense lawyers said. The materials turned out to be mostly tiny, transparent worms — nothing dangerous — though U.S. officials last year hailed the arrests as a victory for national security. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the government must be vigilant when foreign nationals try to “advance a malicious agenda.” Xu Bai and Fengfan Zhang were charged with conspiring to help another scientist who shipped packages to them from China before she arrived in 2025 for temporary lab research at the University of Michigan. A third man, Zhiyong Zhang, was charged with making false statements. Bai, Fengfan Zhang and Zhiyong Zhang were in jail for more than three months while the case was pending in federal court in Detroit. A judge suddenly dismissed the charges on Feb. 5 at the Justice Department’s request and the three traveled home to China. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit said it would not comment on China’s role or the government’s retreat. An email seeking comment from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago was not immediately answered Wednesday. “The dismissal came as a pleasant surprise,” defense lawyer John Minock said. “We don’t know the details. What we were told was there was some kind of intervention by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago.” Another attorney, Ray Cassar, said he was working toward a misdemeanor plea deal to resolve the case against Fengfan Zhang when prosecutors simply dropped it.

Washington Examiner [2/25/2026 10:46 PM, Claire Carter, 1147K] reports former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s lawyer said the Trump administration is blocking Venezuela’s government from paying for his legal defense as the former leader faces sweeping drug trafficking charges in a federal court. According to the letter sent by Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, to a Manhattan federal judge, the Treasury Department initially authorized Venezuela to cover Maduro’s legal fees but reversed course days later without an explanation. Pollock said the move now threatens Maduro’s ability to defend himself adequately in the criminal prosecution. In the letter, Pollock explains that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted Venezuelan state funding on Jan. 9, still restricted under sanctions. The authorization was later withdrawn, even as permission reportedly remained in place for attorney Mark Donnelly, who is representing Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, his co-defendant. Maduro’s son is also facing charges, and the family could face life in prison if found guilty. The family will remain in custody until their next court date on March 17.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [2/26/2026 4:51 AM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2238K]
CBS News [2/25/2026 10:28 PM, Staff, 51110K]

CNN [2/25/2026 11:27 AM, Nadeen Ebrahim, Charbel Mallo, and Eyad Kourdi, 612K] reports that a "mass escape" took place last month from Syria’s al-Hol camp that holds families linked to the Islamic State following the withdrawal of Kurdish forces, according to Syrian TV, amid reports thousands of people may have fled. Nureddin Baba, a Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson, was cited as saying that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from the camp without coordination with the Syrian government or the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS. In January, the SDF said it withdrew from al-Hol camp due to "international indifference" to ISIS and "the failure of the international community to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter." Baba said Syrian authorities "identified more than 100 breaches in the camp’s perimeter wall, which facilitated smuggling operations," adding that the number of escapees needs verification. An internal memo sent to the member states of the European Union raised security concerns that thousands of people — the majority of those living in the camp — may have escaped, according to a Reuters report that was confirmed to CNN by an EU official. The memo said the status of third-country nationals who fled the camp at al-Hol "remained unclear."

AP [2/26/2026 4:49 AM, Jamey Keaten, Jon Gambrell and Melanie Lidman, 31753K] reports Iran and the United States prepared to meet Thursday in Geneva for nuclear negotiations, talks viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal. U.S. President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month. Iran meanwhile has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits in ruins following Trump ordering an attack in June on three of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites. If an American attack happens, Iran has said all U.S. military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack Israel following a bruising 12-day war last year, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East. "There would be no victory for anybody — it would be a devastating war," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva. "Since the Americans’ bases are scattered through different places in the region, then unfortunately perhaps the whole region would be engaged and be involved, so it is a very terrible scenario.".

The AP [2/25/2026 12:32 PM, Fatima Hussein, 34146K] reports that the Trump administration on Wednesday imposed another tranche of sanctions on people and companies accused of enabling Iran’s ballistic missile program, drone production and illicit oil sales as the U.S. presses Tehran to make a deal ahead of nuclear talks this week. The sanctions against 30 people, companies and ships come as President Donald Trump has massed the largest U.S. buildup of warships and aircraft in the region in decades and has threatened to use military action in a bid to get Iran to constrain its nuclear program. The latest round of talks between U.S. officials, including envoy Steve Witkoff, and Iranian negotiators via mediator Oman are scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. The new sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control include a list of ships accused of being part of Iran’s "shadow fleet," which refers to rusting oil tankers that smuggle oil for countries facing stiff sanctions. Also targeted are drone manufacturing firms, including Qods Aviation Industries, which has supplied drones "to all branches of the Iranian military and buyers in Africa and Latin America," the Treasury Department said. "Treasury will continue to put maximum pressure on Iran to target the regime’s weapons capabilities and support for terrorism, which it has prioritized over the lives of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Breitbart [2/25/2026 2:35 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports that the sanctions are part of the federal government’s pressure campaign against Iran. The vessels targeted are part of Iran’s "shadow fleet," which the department said in a press release "serve as the regime’s primary source of revenue for financing domestic repression, terrorist proxies and weapons programs." "Iran exploits financial systems to sell illicit oil, launder the proceeds, procure components for its nuclear and conventional weapons programs and support its terrorist proxies," said Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent in a statement. "Treasury will continue to put maximum pressure on Iran to target the regime’s weapons capabilities and support for terrorism, which it has prioritized over the lives of the Iranian people." The vessels sanctioned are: Hoot, Ocean Koi, North Star, Felicita, Ateela 1, Ateela 2, Niba, Luma, Remiz, Danuta 1, Alaa and Gas Fate. The organizations sanctioned are: Poros Maritime Ventures S.A., Ocean Kudos Shipping Co Ltd., Mistral Fleet Co Ltd., Vast Marine Inc., Behengam Tadbir Qeshm Shipping and Maritime Services Company, Paros Maritime S.A., Wansa Gas Shipping Co., Goldwave Maritime Services Inc. and Ithaki Maritime and Trading S.A.

NBC News [2/25/2026 10:33 PM, Dan De Luce and Courtney Kube, 42967K] reports in his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Donald Trump seemed to offer another rationale for possible military action against Iran, saying it was working to develop missiles that could "soon" be able to strike the U.S. "They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America," he said. It was the first time the president or any other U.S. official has portrayed Iran as poised to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. Until now, U.S. intelligence agencies and European governments have said Iran could eventually build an ICBM under the cover of its military space program if it chose to. But U.S. intelligence and military commanders have not publicly warned of an imminent threat due to a possible ICBM program. A Defense Intelligence Agency report released last year said Iran "has space launch vehicles it could use to develop a militarily-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to pursue the capability." A U.S. official told NBC News that Iran has been building toward an ICBM for years and making advances but that there was no indication of dramatic new progress.

FOX News [2/25/2026 10:49 AM, Efrat Lachter, 37576K] reports that Iran lashed out after President Donald Trump put the regime on notice in his State of the Union address, delivering a forceful warning about Tehran’s ambitions while world leaders largely stayed silent in the immediate aftermath of the speech. Speaking amid the largest deployment of U.S. aircraft and warships to the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War buildup, Trump said he wanted to resolve tensions with Iran through diplomacy while accusing Tehran of expanding its missile capabilities. "They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas," he said. "And they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America." "My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy," Trump added. "They want to make a deal. But we haven’t heard those secret words: we will never have a nuclear weapon." "But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror… to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen." Trump argued that previous U.S. action, including the "Operation Midnight Hammer" strike in June, had severely degraded Iran’s capabilities but warned the threat had not disappeared. "We wiped it out and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions," he said.

Washington Examiner [2/25/2026 1:56 PM, Mabinty Quarshie, 1147K] reports that Vice President JD Vance pushed for Iranian leaders to negotiate seriously with U.S. officials this week, even as the United States is building up the largest force of warships and aircraft in the Middle East. President Donald Trump warned that military action against Iran is possible if negotiations over its nuclear program collapse, but also said he is still seeking a diplomatic solution with Iran, during his State of the Union address Tuesday night. "The president has been as crystal clear as he could be. Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, that would be the ultimate military objective if that’s the route that they chose," Vance said during a Fox News interview on Wednesday. "That is, of course, what we’re trying to accomplish, as the president said, through the preferred route of diplomacy. I think most Americans understand that you can’t let the craziest and worst regime in the world have nuclear weapons." "But it’s very simple. We have to get to a position where Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, cannot threaten the world with nuclear terrorism," he continued. "That’s what the president is accomplishing. That’s what the president has set as our goal. He’s going to try to accomplish it diplomatically." Vance also said that Trump has "a number of other tools at his disposal" to dissuade Iran from having a nuclear weapon and is willing to use them.

FOX News [2/25/2026 1:19 PM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 37576K] reports that President Donald Trump warned in his State of the Union address that Iran has "sinister ambitions" with its nuclear program and that the U.S. has not yet heard from Tehran that it will "never have a nuclear weapon." The remarks come as the U.S. and Iran are gearing up for another round of negotiations on Thursday. "After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program and, in particular, nuclear weapons. Yet they continue starting it all over. We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions," Trump said Tuesday, referencing the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer. "We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’" Trump added. "My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen." Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said following Trump’s address that, "No one should be fooled by these prominent untruths." "Whatever they’re alleging in regards to Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January’s unrest is simply the repetition of ‘big lies,’" Baghaei claimed on X.

New York Post [2/25/2026 11:33 AM, Josh Christenson, 40934K] reports that the Treasury Department slapped sanctions Wednesday on Iran’s "shadow" oil fleet and other networks propping up the regime’s ballistic missile arsenal. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the penalties targeting more than 30 individuals, entities and vessels enabling the illicit sale of Iranian energy — a "primary source of revenue for financing domestic repression, terrorist proxies and weapons programs.". At least 12 vessels were listed for having moved millions of barrels of oil on behalf of the Ayatollah’s regime amid a bloody crackdown on protesters across Iran. Among the targeted entities — based in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as well as Iran — were also suppliers of "precursor materials and sensitive machinery" for Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). In 2020, the State Department revealed that employees of some of the sanctioned entities had also traveled to Russia and Venezuela for technical assistance. "Iran exploits financial systems to sell illicit oil, launder the proceeds, procure components for its nuclear and conventional weapons programs, and support its terrorist proxies," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Reuters [2/25/2026 5:47 AM, Liz Lee, 38315K] reports China said on Wednesday it had already met obligations linked to Washington’s Section 301 unfair trade practices statute, after the U.S. Trade Representative signalled he would continue investigations that could lead to more tariffs. Beijing made an agreement with the United States linked to that statute in 2020, a spokesperson from China’s Commerce Ministry said. China hoped the U.S. would not "shift responsibility" or "provoke trouble" but will instead see that the agreement had been implemented, the spokesperson added in a statement. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said last week his office would continue probes under Section 301 involving China and Brazil among others that could lead to tariffs if unfair trading practices were found. China was willing to work with the U.S. via the economic and trade consultation mechanism between both countries, the ministry spokesperson said. Beijing would defend its rights and interests if the U.S. insisted on advancing the investigations and imposing restrictive measures, the spokesperson added.

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