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.

Reuters [1/12/2026 5:52 PM, David Jeans, 36480K] reports the U.S. will invest $115 million in counter-drone measures to bolster security around the FIFA World Cup and America’s 250th Anniversary celebrations, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday, the latest sign of governments stepping up drone defenses. The FIFA World Cup will be a major test of President Donald Trump’s pledge to keep the U.S. secure, with over a million travelers expected to visit for the tournament and billions more watching matches from overseas. "We are entering a new era to defend our air superiority to protect our borders and the interior of the United States," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. Defense companies are developing a range of technologies aimed at countering drones, including tracking software, lasers, microwaves and autonomous machine guns. The DHS did not specify which technologies it would deploy to World Cup venues. The announcement comes weeks after the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which sits under DHS, said it granted $250 million to 11 states hosting World Cup matches to buy counter-drone technologies. CNN [1/12/2026 10:00 AM, Sean Lyngaas, 606K] reports that the money will be overseen by a new DHS office focused on quickly buying and deploying drone and counter-drone technologies. It’s a big bet on high-tech tools for a department under pressure to secure those high-profile events but also aiming to meet President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown demands. The news also comes as a response to the increasing technological sophistication of drug cartels, which have used their own drones and cyberattacks to help ship narcotics and surveil US officials. "Drones represent the new frontier of American air superiority," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. The announcement comes as drug cartels are increasing their technological sophistication, having used their own drones and cyberattacks to help ship narcotics and surveil US officials. The US co-hosting one of the biggest sporting events on the planet, the FIFA World Cup, this summer has intensified pressure on federal officials to do more to prevent drones from disrupting proceedings. Eleven US cities will host matches. Over a million international visitors are projected to come to the US for the tournament. FedScoop [1/12/2026 5:28 PM, Lindsey Wilkinson, 57K] reports that the department is also fielding proposals from industry partners for a $1.5 billion contract that will facilitate the procurement of these technologies for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The new Program Executive Office has "already begun its work," according to DHS. The drone-focused entity is finalizing a $115 million investment in counter technologies that will support the two upcoming celebrations. The funding and focus comes amid heightened risks regarding threat actors’ use of unmanned aircraft systems. DHS said Monday that the agency has conducted 1,500-plus missions to address illicit drone activities since 2018. Unauthorized drones have impeded sporting events, disrupted public gatherings and sparked concern among residents. Still, advocacy groups want to avoid heavy-handed federal intervention on the public’s drone use.

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The Hill [1/12/2026 4:19 PM, Max Rego, 24K]
Univision [1/12/2026 12:49 PM, Staff, 5004K]

The New York Times [1/12/2026 6:17 PM, Mitch Smith, 135475K] reports state and city officials in Minnesota and Illinois filed federal lawsuits against the Trump administration on Monday, claiming that the mass deployment of immigration agents to the Minneapolis and Chicago regions violated the U.S. Constitution and infringed on states’ rights. Illinois asked a judge to block U.S. Customs and Border Protection “from conducting civil immigration enforcement” in the state without “express congressional authorization.” The Minnesota lawsuit asked a judge to block the federal government from “implementing the unprecedented surge in Minnesota.” The lawsuits, filed separately in U.S. District Courts in the two Democratic-led states, came a week into a stepped-up immigration enforcement blitz in Minnesota and following a highly visible campaign in Chicago in recent months. Both the Illinois and Minnesota lawsuits claimed that the federal deployments violated state sovereignty under the Constitution’s 10th Amendment. Federal officials have repeatedly defended their work in both states, calling the campaigns necessary to carry out President Trump’s immigration agenda in the face of uncooperative state and local governments. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement responding to the Illinois case that “this is a baseless lawsuit, and we look forward to proving that in court.” The newly filed lawsuits ask federal judges to impose sweeping limits on the conduct of federal agents in both states. The Washington Examiner [1/12/2026 5:47 PM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports that Illinois’s lawsuit, joined by Chicago, questioned ICE’s tactics, particularly throughout the immigration enforcement effort "Operation Midway Blitz." Officers utilized violent and unlawful tactics in violation of the 10th Amendment and federal statutes, alleged the lawsuit, which was filed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Minnesota and the Twin Cities, known as the metropolitan hot spot encompassing Minneapolis and Saint Paul, filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. If it passes legal muster, ICE, and other government agencies aiding immigration enforcement through "Operation Metro Surge," including Customs and Border Protection agents, would be ordered to halt or limit operations. The attorney general’s efforts to limit further action from the DHS through the lawsuit came just hours after Secretary Kristi Noem revealed the agency will be sending hundreds more agents on Sunday and Monday to Minneapolis to allow ICE and Border Patrol agents to do their work "safely" amid demonstrations marking Good’s death. The lawsuit names Noem, ICE Director Todd Lyons, and Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, among other federal officials. It asks the court to block federal agents from arresting U.S. citizens and visa holders without probable cause that they have committed a crime. And it seeks a ban on agents threatening to use physical force or brandishing weapons against people who are not subject to an immigration arrest, such as Good. Politico [1/12/2026 5:54 PM, Aaron Pellish, 13586K] reports that both lawsuits argued the Trump administration is violating the Tenth Amendment, which protects the sovereignty of states. In a statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin criticized the legal argument used by both states. “It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law — which is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause — and then go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power. Spare us,” McLaughlin said.

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Reuters [1/12/2026 6:52 PM, Daniel Trotta, 36480K]

The Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 7:57 PM, Victoria Albert, Kris Maher, and Jack Morphet, 646K] reports Minnesota has filed a lawsuit against U.S. immigration officials, seeking to end what the state called an unlawful surge of federal agents. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges agents have acted illegally while carrying out enforcement operations and have sparked fear and distress among residents. An ICE agent’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good last week inflamed tensions between federal officials and residents of the blue-leaning city. It also created a rift between federal and local law enforcement, raising questions about whether state officials would try to prosecute the agent involved in the deadly encounter. “What we are seeing right now is not normal immigration enforcement,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Monday. “We are not asking ICE not to do ICE things. We are asking this federal government to stop the unconstitutional conduct that is invading our streets each and every day.” The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, blamed local leaders for the situation in Minnesota and said the administration was acting lawfully. “We have the Constitution on our side on this, and we look forward to proving that in court,” said department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. The Trump administration has ordered ICE agents en masse to Minnesota. The surge follows a sprawling welfare-fraud scandal that brought the state’s Somali immigrants into the national spotlight. DHS said it is the largest operation in the department’s history. The Minnesota suit names agencies including ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as Trump administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino. The suit asks a federal judge to stop the surge of immigration officials and to prevent conduct such as excessive arrests and violence against protesters carrying out protected speech. The lawsuit argues the administration used fraud as a pretext for Trump to retaliate against his political opponents and sow discord in left-leaning cities. Minneapolis and the city of Saint Paul are also plaintiffs in the case. The Hill [1/12/2026 6:06 PM, Ella Lee and Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K] reports that local officials confronted the administration’s claims that the surge was needed to combat fraud. “It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. The suit names DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials as defendants. Bloomberg [1/12/2026 6:20 PM, Zoe Tillman, 91K] reports that protests have erupted across the country after Renée Nicole Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7 as she was driving her car. Minnesota officials have denounced the shooting as unjustified, pointing to video footage of the confrontation, while the administration has defended the officer. "President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "That’s what the Trump administration is doing; we have the Constitution on our side on this, and we look forward to proving that in court.” Noem signaled Sunday that hundreds more federal agents were being deployed to Minnesota "to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely.” She renewed warnings by senior administration officials that people who try to hamper federal law enforcement risk arrest and criminal prosecution.The Washington Post [1/12/2026 6:51 PM, David Nakamura, Brianna Tucker and Ben Brasch, 24149K] reports that in their suit, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are asking a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop or limit the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge.” The Minnesota officials allege that “thousands of armed and masked DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids” at sites including schools and hospitals. DHS said last week that its Minnesota effort would be the agency’s largest immigration enforcement operation ever, with 2,000 federal agents and officers involved. Defendants named included Noem, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd M. Lyons, and Customs and Border Protection commander Gregory Bovino. Asked about the Minnesota lawsuit, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the agency’s activities are authorized under Articles I and II of the Constitution and the supremacy clause.

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NPR [1/12/2026 6:51 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán and Meg Anderson, 28013K]
CBS News [1/12/2026 5:00 PM, Nick Lentz, 39474K]
NBC News [1/12/2026 6:02 PM, Tim Stelloh, 34509K]
DailySignal [1/12/2026 5:59 PM, Virginia Allen, 549K]

The Chicago Tribune [1/12/2026 6:11 PM, Jason Meisner and Jack O’Connor, 4829K] reports saying immigration agents have acted more like an occupying military force than law enforcement, lawyers for the state of Illinois and Chicago sued the Trump administration in federal court Monday seeking to bar agents from using tear gas without sufficient warning, making warrantless arrests, and randomly stopping people to question them about their citizenship. The 103-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court also seeks to ban agents from immigration enforcement operations from "sensitive" areas such as schools, courthouses and hospitals, and limit the use of "biometric" scanning of fingerprints and other personal information. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker similarly spoke out against ICE and CBP’s tactics in Chicago and said in a post on X that the state was "standing up for our people." The suit, which comes less than a week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, borrows heavily from two pending cases in the same courthouse, one dealing with use-of-force tactics on protesters and media, and the other a consent decree involving so-called warrantless arrests. Among those named as defendants in the suit was U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem, ICE Director Todd Lyons, and Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, who has became the public face of Midway Blitz and other similar operations around the country. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an email statement that the department’s agents have acted lawfully and Illinois can not legally interfere with the federal government’s deportation efforts. The lawsuit also alleges ICE agents violated state law by routinely concealing and swapping out license plates. Bloomberg Law [1/12/2026 5:18 PM, Megan Crepeau, 803K] reports that among the defendants in Monday’s suit are Bovino and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. In addition to violating 10th Amendment sovereignty protections, the suit says immigration agents violated the Administrative Procedure Act, arbitrarily overstepping federal authority with tactics including tear-gassing residential neighborhoods, capturing residents’ biometric data without consent, and making arrests without warrants or probable cause. In a statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the suit is "baseless." The plaintiffs want US Customs and Border Protection barred from conducting civil immigration enforcement in Illinois without the authorization of Congress. They’re also seeking an injunction on practices including warrantless arrests, immigration enforcement in places like daycares and shelters, and dispersing tear gas without warning. Monday’s suit claims immigration agents’ "organized bombardment" of Chicago is part of a pressure campaign aimed at sanctuary cities, which has also included attempts to cut off federal funding. CBS Chicago [1/12/2026 4:59 PM, Sara Tenenbaum, 39474K] reports that the lawsuit, which is more than 100 pages long, accuses the administration of unleashing "an organized bombardment" on Illinois and the City of Chicago, "causing turmoil and imposing a climate of fear." The state argues the "occupation" of Illinois and Chicago by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and especially U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents "is intended to coerce Plaintiffs to abandon their policies, which value and respect the State’s immigrants, and devote their resources to further the immigration policies of the current administration. Illinois and Chicago have refused to do so." The lawsuit is brought by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and supported by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

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Axios [1/12/2026 5:30 PM, Carrie Shepherd, 12972K]

NewsNation [1/12/2026 9:50 PM, Damita Menezes, 6811K] Video: HERE reports the Department of Homeland Security is deploying additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration enforcement officers facing what officials describe as coordinated violent attacks, a top DHS official said Monday. Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, told NewsNation that the surge of agents — already numbering 2,400 with hundreds more expected — is necessary because Minneapolis’ sanctuary city policies prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with or protecting federal officers conducting immigration operations. “What we’ve been seeing is a highly coordinated campaign of violence against our law enforcement officers,” McLaughlin told NewsNation, citing what she said were 10 vehicle rammings in one week and an increase in assaults against agents. The deployment comes as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit against DHS to halt what he called an “unlawful, unprecedented surge” of federal agents into the state. McLaughlin defended the operation, saying DHS has arrested more than 2,000 people in Minneapolis over five weeks, with 70% having either pending criminal charges or prior convictions. She said arrests have included a murderer from Ecuador, child predators and a kidnapper. When asked why the administration doesn’t pursue legal action against sanctuary cities rather than deploying more agents, she noted concerns about citizens being detained and the lack of local law enforcement coordination creating dangerous situations. McLaughlin said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has released 470 people from local jails, including those charged with murder and rape, necessitating federal intervention. She said agents use reasonable suspicion protected by the Fourth Amendment and only arrest citizens who obstruct or assault officers. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [1/12/2026 10:17 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin blasted a Minnesota lawsuit seeking to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, saying Monday that the legal challenge is "meritless" and "legally illiterate.” McLaughlin joined Newsmax’s "Finnerty" hours after Minnesota officials sued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in an effort to halt a federal immigration enforcement surge that intensified after last week’s fatal shooting in Minneapolis. "It’s meritless. It’s also legally illiterate from everything I’ve read," McLaughlin said. "I don’t think that this will stand in court, but we’ll fight tooth and nail to do so.” The lawsuit accuses the Department of Homeland Security and ICE of overstepping state authority by dramatically expanding enforcement operations, a move federal officials say was necessary to address years of unchecked illegal immigration and criminal activity enabled by sanctuary-style policies. McLaughlin accused state and local leaders of politicizing immigration enforcement instead of prioritizing public safety following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent. Noem last week described the incident as an "act of domestic terrorism" carried out against ICE officers by a woman who "attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle.” McLaughlin said, "It’s a shame, though, in a moment of what really should be a serious moment for the country and for the state of Minnesota, they choose to politicize it and put politics ahead of public safety — though we’ve seen that time and time again, and I’m sure we’ll continue to see it.” Under Noem and President Donald Trump, DHS remains committed to enforcing federal immigration law and protecting both communities and law enforcement officers on the ground, she said. "Secretary Noem and President Trump will lead with seriousness," McLaughlin said. "And we are surging our law enforcement officers on the ground so that we can continue to protect the public safety, but also our law enforcement officers who will continue to conduct operations in the area.” She pointed to recent ICE arrests in Minnesota as evidence of why enforcement operations are necessary, saying agents have taken dangerous criminals off the streets. "A lot of your viewers may have seen the reports on who in the last five weeks we’ve picked up: known or suspected terrorists, multiple murderers, scores of pedophiles, child rapists, kidnappers — really vile individuals who you would not want to be your neighbor, you would not want to be on the street, regardless of your political persuasion," McLaughlin said.

The Daily Signal [1/12/2026 11:15 AM, Virginia Allen, 549K] reports hundreds more federal law enforcement officers are arriving in Minneapolis following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement-involved shooting in the city last week. The new officers began arriving Sunday and will continue to arrive in Minneapolis Monday, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The new arrivals will "allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely," Noem said on Fox News Sunday, adding that immigration enforcement operations will "continue" in the city despite protests and opposition from elected Democrat leaders. Anti-ICE protests have continued in Minneapolis since Wednesday, when an agent shot and killed a woman who appeared to obstruct immigration enforcement operations there. The New York Times [1/12/2026 6:36 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Madeleine Ngo, 135475K] reports the Trump administration is sending roughly 1,000 more immigration officers to Minnesota, expanding its law enforcement surge in the state and potentially escalating already tense relations between federal and local officials in Minneapolis. The Customs and Border Protection officers are joining 2,000 other officers and agents at the Department of Homeland Security who have been deployed to the Minneapolis-St. Paul region recently, said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said last week that the effort was its “largest operation to date.” Local officials in Minneapolis have urged federal forces to leave the city, saying their efforts to arrest immigrants were sowing chaos and danger. Protests have also erupted nationwide after the killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman who was shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis last week. Ms. Good had been participating in a protest in response to immigration agents who had been spotted in the city. On Monday, state and city officials in Minnesota and Illinois filed federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing that the mass deployment of immigration officers to the Minneapolis and Chicago regions violated the U.S. Constitution. The Minnesota lawsuit asked a judge to block federal officials from “implementing the unprecedented surge” in the state. Trump administration officials have repeatedly defended their enforcement operations in both states. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that the department was sending more immigration officers to the Minneapolis region, which would allow federal law enforcement there to work safely. Ms. Noem added that people who conducted “violent activities against law enforcement” or impeded operations would be held accountable. “We’re going to keep doing our jobs,” Ms. Noem said. “Criminal illegal aliens in this country are going to be brought to justice.” The increase in immigration officers adds to an already massive federal law enforcement presence in the Minneapolis region. In comparison, the Minneapolis Police Department has roughly 600 officers.

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Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 8:25 PM, Sarah Nassauer and Hanna Krueger, 646K] reports the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota has descended on the stores and parking lots of Target, putting the hometown retailer in a tough political spot as it faces pressure from some locals to keep border protection agents out. That pressure came to a head after immigration officials detained two Target employees inside the vestibule of a suburban store late last week after what appeared to be some verbal sparring in the parking lot. “I’m literally a U.S. citizen!” one shouted as they escorted him into a van. Both are American citizens and were later released, local officials say. In a social-media post on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said an individual in the video had been “arrested for assaulting a federal law enforcement offers [sic].” Video of the incident quickly circulated, sparking an outcry on social-media and calls from local residents and politicians for Target to protect employees and customers from immigration agents patrolling its store lots. On Saturday, demonstrators protested outside the Richfield, Minn., store, demanding a response from Target and additional training for staff when interacting with immigration officials. A spokesman for Target declined to comment, but retailers have said they can’t stop law enforcement, including immigration officials from entering public areas of stores and parking lots. Target has issued no public statement on the Richfield incident or other scenes at Target stores caught on video. In one, immigration officials leave a Target bathroom as shoppers and activists with whistles yell at them to leave the store.

New York Post [1/12/2026 5:18 PM, Chris Nesi, 42219K] reports ICE captured another round of illegal immigrant criminals in Minneapolis over the weekend — including child abusers and drug pushers — as the largest-ever operation of its kind will reportedly soon be reinforced by up to another 1,000 agents. The agency charged ahead with "Operation Metro Surge" even in the face of headwinds from anti-ICE protesters emboldened by lefty pols following last week’s deadly shooting of Renee Good, who was killed when she veered her SUV into the path of an agent while attempting to flee after blocking the street. "As rioters and sanctuary politicians demonized and attempted to obstruct our brave ICE law enforcement, they continued to remove the worst of the worst from Minnesota," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "We will not let rioters or sanctuary politicians slow us down from arresting and removing the worst of the worst from Minnesota neighborhoods." Some 2,000 immigration agents have been deployed to the Twin Cities over the last week, the largest such enforcement operation ever in the region, netting hundreds of arrests so far. But the surge of agents is still ramping up, according to sources cited by CNN, which say another 1,000 immigration officers are joining the effort.

USA Today [1/12/2026 11:30 AM, Ariana Triggs, 67103K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said additional ICE agents being deployed to Minnesota will ensure agents’ safety amid protests. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NPR [1/12/2026 4:56 PM, Meg Anderson, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports a snapshot of ICE actions around Minneapolis Monday, and the various ways the community is responding.

CBS News [1/12/2026 12:30 PM, Nicole Sganga, 39474K] reports Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino defended the actions and training of federal agents as immigration raids intensified in Minnesota on Sunday, days after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in the state’s capital. At one ICE raid at a gas station in St. Paul on Sunday, federal agents dragged a man from his car then tackled a bystander who was filming. Protests have taken place amid the raids, including one on Sunday outside an ICE facility in St. Paul, Minnesota, where CBS News saw federal agents deploy pepper balls and tear gas against protesters – led by Bovino. Bovino claimed in an interview with CBS News that agencies within the Department of Homeland Security are working to de-escalate situations, saying, "every day we de-escalate.” CBS News witnessed agents confronting the protesters outside of the facility, telling demonstrators to move back and antagonizing them. CBS News pointed out to Bovino that it didn’t look like de-escalation. "The agitators and the rioters here in Minneapolis need to understand that our operations will continue unabated despite the violence they perpetrate against law enforcement," he responded. Bovino blamed local officials for escalating tensions between protesters and law enforcement. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [1/12/2026 11:57 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports amid nationwide protests against their enforcement of U.S. laws, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested more "worst of the worst" criminal illegal migrants over the weekend, Newsmax has learned. The Department of Homeland Security informed Newsmax on Monday that ICE said its officers made arrests around the country of illegal aliens previously convicted of serious crimes ranging from murder to child sex offenses and violent assaults. The agency highlighted arrests, including of Nelson Ayala-Gomez, an illegal alien from El Salvador convicted of murder in Harris County, Texas; Alfredo Murillo-Fernandez, an illegal from Mexico convicted on four counts of indecent liberties with a child in Union County, North Carolina; and Diego Cardona, a migrant from Guatemala identified as an 18th Street gang member convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Los Angeles. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the arrests came even as officers face a sharp rise in threats and attacks. "Even while facing a 1,300% increase in assaults, 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them, ICE continues to risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst," McLaughlin told Newsmax in an email, adding that DHS "will not let agitators slow us down from making America safe again." Those numbers were also cited in a separate DHS statement blaming "radical rhetoric" and "sanctuary" politics for creating an environment that encourages violence against federal officers. Breitbart [1/12/2026 6:31 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports "While Americans enjoyed their weekends, ICE law enforcement arrested murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members from across the country. We will not let agitators slow us down from making America safe again and getting these heinous criminals out of our country," [said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin].

Breitbart [1/12/2026 4:30 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has added some 5,000 illegal alien convicts to its public database, where Americans can search the so-called "worst of the worst" of the nation’s illegal population, Breitbart News has exclusively learned. On Monday, DHS officials said thousands had been added to wow.dhs.gov, the public database where the agency lists those illegal alien convicts arrested, and oftentimes deported, by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Since its launch, the Worst of the Worst website has given Americans greater transparency into who the wicked and dangerous criminal illegal aliens DHS law enforcement has removed from their communities," DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "To the open-borders and anti-ICE activists, would you like to have these murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists living next door?" McLaughlin said. "This update is just a fraction of who we have arrested — and who we will continue to lock up — under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem."

The National News Desk [1/12/2002 12:35 PM, Charlotte Hazard] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of dozens of illegal migrants in the state of Minnesota. “Regardless of staged political theatrics, ICE is going to continue to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota and elsewhere,” said ICE Director Todd M. Lyons said in a press release over the weekend. He said that some of those they arrested had final orders of removal for 30 years, but nothing was done. “ICE’s arrests prevent recidivism and make communities safer, but it feels like local politicians want to ignore that part and drum up discontent rather than protect their own constituents,” Lyons’ statement concluded. ICE posted pictures and descriptions of the recent arrests, with some convicted of sexual assault and murder. “While ICE fights to remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota – including child rapists, murderers, and more – violent rioters and agitators are actively trying to protect these vicious criminals by interfering and obstructing ICE operations,” ICE said in a statement. Over the weekend, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that hundreds more federal agents would be sent to Minneapolis for immigration crackdown. Right now, there are over 2,400 federal agents in the Minneapolis area.

FOX News [1/12/2026 9:33 AM, Elizabeth Elkind and Kelly Phares, 40621K] reports that House and Senate lawmakers unveiled a new funding package on Sunday night totaling roughly $80 billion in federal spending, but questions still loom about averting another government shutdown at the end of this month. The package combines two of Congress’ 12 annual appropriations bills in what’s called a "minibus." It covers funding for the State Department and related national security, as well as federal financial services and general government operations. Notably excluded from the package, however, is funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — which had been expected to be part of the legislation earlier this month. It comes as Democrats threaten to hold up DHS funding in the wake of an incident in Minneapolis where an ICE agent shot a U.S. citizen in her car. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other GOP officials have accused the woman of being at fault and of hitting the agent with her vehicle, while Democrats are charging ICE with a reckless and unprovoked use of force. While a DHS funding bill only needs a simple majority to pass the House, any spending legislation needs at least 60 votes in the Senate — meaning Democratic support is critical for passage. The package released totals just over $76 billion in federal funds and is expected to get a House vote sometime this week. The State Department and national security bill includes $850 million for an "America First Opportunity Fund," aimed at giving the Secretary of State funding to respond to potential unforeseen circumstances.

FOX News [1/12/2026 11:16 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump said that he believes the woman fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis last week may have been a professional agitator, and indicated that the government will uncover the funding sources behind such anti-law enforcement agitation. "The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement," Trump said during a Sunday gaggle aboard Air Force One. "They were harassing," he said, noting, "I think frankly, they’re professional agitators.” The president added that he would "like to find out, and we are gonna find out, who’s paying for it, with their brand-new signs, and all the different things.” "But these are professional agitators. And law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff. What that woman, and what her friend, and what their other friends were doing to law enforcement — not just ICE — law enforcement, is outrageous," he said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security retweeted a post in which Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas asserted that anti-ICE protesters are being funded. A person "weaponized her vehicle" against law enforcement in Minneapolis, DHS announced last week. "This individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle against @ICEgov. The officer dutifully acted in self-defense," DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin noted in a post on X last week.

Breitbart [1/13/2026 1:50 AM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports ICE’s deportation agents are driving down rents for Americans by sending more illegal migrants back to their home countries, according to data posted by the White House’s "Rapid Response 47" social media account. "Mass deportations = lower housing costs for Americans," said the tweet after noting: FACT: In 14 of the top 20 metro areas with the largest illegal migrant populations, home list prices DECLINED year-over-year in December. The three metro areas that saw modest price increases are all "sanctuary cities.” For example, rents dropped sharply in San Antonio after construction companies built many apartments in expectation of more migrants in 2o25. But rents climbed slightly in Seattle, where far-left Democrats are promising to protect migrants from law-enforcement operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "My message to our immigrant neighbors: This is your city, you should be safe here, and I’m determined to make it that way," Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson declared on January 8. "When you crack down on immigration, legal and illegal, housing costs naturally drop," said Kevin Lynn, founder of U.S. Tech Worker. "Supply and demand, baby," said Lynn, who opposes the visa programs that deliver roughly 2.5 million foreign visa workers into white-collar jobs and apartments throughout the nation. By subscribing, you agree to our terms of use & privacy policy. You will receive email marketing messages from Breitbart News Network to the email you provide. You may unsubscribe at any time. Here in Lancaster County, which was dubbed the refugee capital of America by the BBC, I was going down Prince Street, and there’s a [remodelled building] with very nice little one-bedroom apartments [with signs saying] "First Three Months [Rent] Free!" That’s what happens … when you take the immigrants out of the equation. Breitbart News has closely tracked the damaging impact of migration on housing costs and interest rates. Housing and rents spiked when former President Joe Biden welcomed a flood of roughly 14 million legal and illegal migrants. Similarly, the costs of autos, gasoline, and auto insurance climbed — and drove up the inflation rate — as a huge number of Biden’s migrants rushed into Americans’ cities and towns. In contrast, Trump’s deportations and resulting decline in housing costs help Trump and his deputies as they rebut the Democrats’ 2026 media-amplified "affordability" talking point. "Rents are down … [because] the mass unfettered immigration … pushed up rents, especially for working Americans," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in December.

Politico [1/12/2026 5:20 PM, Alfred Ng, 2100K] reports the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has been meticulously documented through smartphones — most recently, in the anonymous bystander videos of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shooting Renee Good in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security, under Trump, has argued that recording and publishing images of its officers while on operations is a crime that threatens officials’ safety. As DHS tries to crack down on accountability videos, and as protests against ICE escalate, the ability to post videos of ICE anonymously is being challenged in a California court this week. On Wednesday, a judge for the US District Court of the Northern District of California will hear DHS’s argument in a case that — though unrelated — could have repercussions for groups that have filmed and uploaded sightings of officers on social media over the last year. The agency wants Meta to hand over the personal information of whoever runs Montco Community Watch, an anonymous Instagram account that posts sightings of ICE agents and arrests in Pennsylvania. DHS argues that the account’s posts threaten to impede ICE enforcements. The anonymous Meta user is challenging the request as an assault on the First Amendment.

Breitbart [1/12/2026 11:52 AM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports that billionaire Bill Ackman said he supported fundraisers for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot a Minneapolis woman on Wednesday and also tried donating to her family. Ackman donated $10,000 to the GoFundMe created to help ICE Officer Jonathan Ross who fatally shot Renee Good, the woman who allegedly "weaponized her vehicle" against agents as they performed immigration operations in Minneapolis, the New York Post reported Sunday. In a social media post, Ackman wrote, "I am big believer in our legal principal that one is innocent until proven guilty. To that end, I supported the @gofundme for Jonathan Ross and intended to similarly support the gofundme for Renee Good’s family (her gofundme was closed by the time I attempted to provide support)." "The whole situation is a tragedy. An officer doing his best to do his job, and a protester who likely did not intend to kill the officer but whose actions in a split second led to her death. Our country is stronger if we work together to resolve the complex issues that are tearing us apart," he added: The fundraiser for Ross shows a $10,000 donation from a William Ackman. As of Monday morning, the page had raised over $390,000. Following the shooting, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, "one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism. An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers."

Reported similarly:
USA Today [1/12/2026 12:20 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 67103K]

NewsMax [1/12/2026 3:16 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent linked to last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Good has gone into hiding, the Daily Mail reported. A Special Response Team entered agent Jonathan Ross’ five-bedroom house in Minneapolis and removed five large plastic crates, a computer tower, and a stack of picture frames, the Daily Mail reported Friday. Agents then returned to their unmarked trucks, forming a protective perimeter around a vehicle that was driven out of the garage. Since then, the house has remained empty amid reports that the couple and their children have gone into hiding. The Department of Homeland Security has not identified Ross as the ICE agent responsible for the shooting.

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 12:00 PM, Jason Cohen, 835K] reports that Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said on Monday that Rebecca Good may have committed a serious crime during the Jan. 7 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) incident in Minneapolis that left her wife, Renee Good, dead. "It is true that [Renee Good] impeded the officers and they have footage of her doing it the entire day," Jones said. "But how do you link that to a broader push for domestic terrorism?" Jarrett said it depended on her motive. He noted Renee Good could not be prosecuted due to her death, but argued her wife could be. "Was this done to be anti‑government and to try to change the behavior of ICE? And if the answer is yes, and there’s considerable evidence that that was her motive, she was part of the resistance involved in trying to obstruct and block and hinder ICE, then sure, that’s domestic terrorism," he said. "It would be important if there was a prosecution here. But of course, the driver Renee Good is deceased." "Although, you know, you heard the videotape in which her wife was saying, ‘Drive, baby, drive.’ Well, that could be aiding and abetting fleeing police with a domestic terrorism motive," he added. "So, you know, it still is relevant." The agent was trying to film Renee Good’s license plate number as her vehicle blocked a roadway. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin both accused Renee Good of committing "an act of domestic terrorism."

FOX News [1/12/2026 7:52 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports Fox News legal analyst Greg Jarrett explains the legal standard for an officer’s use of deadly force and weighs the domestic terrorism debate after new video emerged in the Minnesota ICE shooting. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/12/2026 8:44 AM, Taylor Penley, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons delivered a pointed message to Democrats on Sunday, pushing back as officials like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., insisted 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was "assassinated" by an officer in Minneapolis. "Look at the video, look at this situation. It wasn’t an assassination. That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not a short time, to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents," Lyons told "The Sunday Briefing." "I think a lot of the political rhetoric is where we’re at right now in the first place. There’s just so many attacks on ICE and, unfortunately, it does come from a lot of elected officials," he added. Lyons blasted lawmakers determined to impede ICE’s operations rather than "work with" the agency to hold individuals accountable for doxxing agents or exposing them to harm. "For elected officials to call upon the impediment of ICE, to resist ICE, that only stokes these fires and gets these individuals who aren’t trying to do the right thing when it comes to ICE… [it] gets them fired up more," he said. Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic lawmakers have condemned the shooting that claimed Good’s life last week after she reportedly accelerated her vehicle in a federal agent’s direction. The "Squad" Democrat fired back at Vice President JD Vance with remarks on Capitol Hill last Friday, slamming his defense of ICE. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/12/2026 11:11 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports that President Donald Trump suggested the woman fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis was a professional agitator, and indicated the government will uncover who is funding the agitation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/12/2026 6:46 PM, Alan Feuer, Glenn Thrush and Devlin Barrett, 135475K] reports Federal investigators assigned to the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman are looking into her possible connections to activist groups protesting the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement, in addition to the actions of the federal agent who killed her, people familiar with the situation said. It seems increasingly unlikely that the agent who fired three times at the unarmed woman, Renee Nicole Good, will face criminal charges, although that could change as investigators collect new evidence, the people added. On Sunday, President Trump described Ms. Good and her wife, Becca Good, as being “professional agitators,” adding that the authorities would “find out who’s paying for it.” He offered no evidence to support his claims. The decision by the F.B.I. and the Justice Department to scrutinize Ms. Good’s activities and her potential connections to local activists is in line with the White House’s strategy of deflecting blame for the shooting away from federal law enforcement and toward opponents they have described as domestic terrorists, often without providing evidence. Justice Department officials under Mr. Trump have long maintained that investigating and punishing protesters who organized efforts to physically obstruct or disrupt immigration enforcement is a legitimate subject of federal inquiries. But casting a broad net over the activist community in Minneapolis, former department officials and critics of the administration said, raises the specter that forms of political protest traditionally protected by the First Amendment could be criminalized. Federal officials, who have blocked local investigators from reviewing the evidence they are collecting, have said that they are conducting a thorough inquiry that includes an analysis of the actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross and of physical evidence, including the handgun he used to kill Ms. Good. Mr. Trump and his adviser Stephen Miller have repeatedly described those protesting the administration’s immigration crackdown as a shadowy and violent cabal.

AP [1/12/2026 6:46 PM, Jesse Bedayn, 31753K] reports a new video shows more of what happened before a federal immigration officer shot and killed a woman during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis, adding context to a shooting that has sparked national debate on whether the officer acted in self-defense or recklessly. The video, which is 3 1/2 minutes long and was filmed by a bystander, was posted Sunday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on X.

New York Times [1/12/2026 8:32 PM, Luke Broadwater and Katie Rogers, 135475K] reports President Trump has added another justification for the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minnesota: She behaved badly. “At a very minimum, that woman was very, very disrespectful to law enforcement,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening. In the days since Ms. Good, 37, was shot and killed by Jonathan Ross, an ICE agent, Trump administration officials have used a variety of arguments as they have tried to justify the episode. They have called it an act of self-defense, and Mr. Trump has falsely claimed Ms. Good “ran over” the agent. JD Vance, the vice president, has argued that Mr. Ross has “absolute immunity.” While Mr. Trump still says the ICE agent was acting in self-defense, his latest comments suggest that disrespecting law enforcement could help to justify the killing. The comments raise serious questions about the use of force by those carrying out Mr. Trump’s crackdown on immigration, and they underscore the extent to which Mr. Trump’s impulse is to condemn anything done by his critics and to defend the actions of his supporters. Asked by a reporter if he believed deadly force was necessary in this case, Mr. Trump said: “It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement.” The federal government has defended the shooting as lawful and necessary, while local officials have dismissed that narrative. Mr. Trump referred to a “crunch” he heard in footage of the shooting to buttress his claim that the ICE agent was in danger. “It seems like the big picture is to control the narrative and suggest to the public that she was in the wrong, and they were in the right,” said Barbara L. McQuade, a former U.S. attorney and a law professor at the University of Michigan. “And also, I think, to send a message that the public needs to obey law enforcement on the streets, and to intimidate protesters.” She added: “If people are afraid they’re going to be shot or arrested for observing or peacefully protesting, or even for mouthing off, I think the thought is that will cause people to self-censor or chill their behavior, cause them to stay home.”

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 11:48 AM, Harold Hutchison, 835K] reports independent journalists Nick Sortor and Cam Higby escaped an attack by a mob while attempting to cover protests against immigration enforcement operations in the Minneapolis area Sunday. Protests against the operations led by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escalated after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good while carrying out an enforcement operation in Minneapolis Wednesday, prompting angry reactions from Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis. Sortor and Higby posted videos of the mob’s attack, which was allegedly incited by a left-wing streamer, on X. Sortor was attacked by anti-ICE rioters while covering the violent protests at an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, in October, yet was the one arrested by Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers on a disorderly conduct charge, according to multiple posts on X. Sortor expressed concern that he could be unjustly imprisoned in Minnesota. "The problem is we’re in Tim Walz’s Minnesota and every minute we’re here [increases] the risk he’s going to take us as political prisoners," Sortor posted. Sortor also said he believed Walz would "rather us just die" instead of taking action to stop the rioters.

FOX News [1/12/2026 10:22 PM, Emma Bussey, 40621K] reports Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., called for the arrest and prosecution of the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good in a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Jan. 7. Khanna also urged Congress to back his legislation with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to require ICE agents to wear body cameras, display visible identification, stop wearing masks during operations and be subject to independent oversight. In a post shared on X, the former Obama administration official said: "I am calling for the arrest and prosecution of the ICE agent that shot and killed Renee Good.” "I am also calling on Congress to support my bill with @JasmineForUS to force ICE agents to wear body cameras, not wear masks, have visible identification, and ensure ICE has independent oversight," Khanna added. An ICE agent shot and killed the 37-year-old Minneapolis woman during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense. Good’s death sparked widespread protests in Minneapolis and across the U.S. as demonstrators called for changes to federal immigration enforcement. Local officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, criticized the federal account of the incident and rejected the claim that the officer acted in self-defense. Minnesota has since sued the Trump administration, claiming the immigration enforcement surge in the state is "unlawful" and "unprecedented.” "What we are seeing right now is not normal immigration enforcement," Frey said. "The scale is wildly disproportionate, and it has nothing to do with keeping people safe.” The Trump administration pushed back sharply against the lawsuit, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accusing Minnesota leaders of undermining public safety and obstructing federal law enforcement. Federal officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, maintained that the agent fired in self-defense. Noem critisized Democrats on Sunday amid an Illinois lawmaker’s push to impeach her following the deadly shooting. "These law enforcement officers are trained to be in situations that are dangerous, and they rely on that training each and every day to make the right decisions," Noem said during "Sunday Morning Futures.”

FOX News [1/12/2026 12:23 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports that DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responds to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s calls for her removal, discusses new video footage from the Minneapolis ICE shooting and more on ‘The Faulkner Focus.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision Chicago WGBO [1/12/2026 4:53 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports during an interview with CNN, Governor JB Pritzker called the death of Good, a 37-year-old mother who was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis, a “tragedy” and stated that it is not an isolated incident, but rather “a pattern that has already been repeated in Illinois and other cities across the country.” According to Pritzker, after each serious incident involving ICE agents, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issues statements “within minutes” with versions that, he claims, later turn out to be false. The governor directly pointed to Secretary Kristi Noem and her spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, as responsible for disseminating unsubstantiated information. Given this scenario, Pritzker was emphatic: he asserted that the president is not complying with the law and that Kristi Noem “must resign or be impeached.” The governor also harshly criticized DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, calling her a "pathological liar" and stating that she should not hold her current position. Pritzker accused ICE and Customs and Border Protection of "breaking their own protocols," not only by using excessive force, but by shooting and killing people who, in some cases, according to him, were not committing any crime. Faced with the federal government’s refusal to hand over information, Pritzker announced the creation of an Accountability Commission in Illinois, headed by federal judges and former judges, with the goal of gathering evidence and witness testimony. The governor called on citizens to document the operations and share videos and accounts so that accountability can be demanded in the future. Meanwhile, he asserted that his administration has already taken the federal government to court to halt ICE and CBP operations in Illinois cities.

FOX News [1/12/2026 6:36 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 40621K] reports House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., directed some heated remarks at a Trump administration Cabinet official whose department has been dominating headlines in recent weeks. "What is clear is that Kristi Noem is completely and totally unqualified. She should have never been confirmed by Senate Republicans," Jeffries said of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary during a Monday press conference. "It’s disgraceful that she’s there. She should be run out of town as soon as possible.” Criticism against Noem, DHS, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified on the left in the wake of a deadly ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis last week. An ICE agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who allegedly presented a threat to ICE agents as they attempted to conduct enforcement operations. Partisan fissures have since erupted over which side was acting improperly when the deadly incident occurred. "Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, they’re totally out of control. And the American people want these extremists to be reined in," Jeffries said on Monday. He said Good "should be alive today" and accused both Noem and the ICE agent who shot Good of a "depraved indifference toward human life.” Video of last week’s incident appears to show Good’s car making contact with the ICE agent who shot her before he opened fire. Arguments have since raged over whether she was deliberately getting in the way or even weaponizing her car, or whether she was trying to drive away. Federal officials like Noem have defended the agent as acting in self-defense while accusing Good of trying to actively impede ICE activity in the Democrat-controlled city. Democrats, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have accused ICE and Republican officials of stoking fear and tension in the city while demanding the federal government cease current operations there immediately. Now Democrats in Congress have been threatening to withhold support from funding DHS unless significant reforms are made — a threat Jeffries alluded to during his press conference. "What’s in front of us right now is a spending bill that will go either one of two ways. Either Republicans will continue their my-way-or-the-highway approach as it relates to the Homeland Security bill — and if that happens, then it’s going to be on them to figure out a path forward," Jeffries began.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [1/12/2026 10:06 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 42219K] r

NewsMax [1/12/2026 11:25 AM, Jim Mishler, 4109K] reports that GOP Minnesota State Rep. Mike Wiener told Newsmax that Gov. Tim Walz means trouble for his state. During an appearance on "National Report" on Monday, Wiener said, "He is on the edge of sedition if he hasn’t crossed that line already, and we’re working on it right now. "He needs to be impeached." Wiener said Walz making a recent comment referencing being at war with the Trump administration is just one factor showing the governor’s intentions. "He’s called this basically a civil war. He said we’re at war with our federal government," noted Wiener. Walz last week suggested his state is "at war with the federal government" in the wake of the shooting death of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Wiener said that since then, other state political figures have also weighed in on the situation, and from his view, they have been inciting violence. "It shows really poor leadership or lack of leadership on [Minneapolis Mayor] Jacob Frey’s part, on Tim Walz’s part, on [Minnesota Rep.] Ilhan Omar’s part," said Wiener. "Because when you have these individuals who are basically inciting this violence, they are, instead of following the rule of law and presumed innocence, they are instigating the violence themselves.” Wiener said his primary focus now is on Walz and his comments. "He needs to be out of office as soon as possible before more people are hurt in these protests."

Washington Post [1/12/2026 6:57 PM, Salvador Rizzo, Perry Stein and Steve Thompson, 24149K] reports a veteran prosecutor who was recruited to help run a key U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia was abruptly dismissed last week after disagreements with the Trump administration, according to two people with knowledge of the firing. Robert K. McBride was first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia for about two months, starting after President Donald Trump and his administration purged the top prosecutors in the office and ordered that criminal charges be filed against two of the president’s perceived political opponents, former FBI director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. McBride had been second-in-command to Lindsey Halligan, the Trump administration lawyer who leads the office but who was disqualified from her position by a judge in late November. His ouster provides the latest sign of upheaval in what has long been regarded as one of the most prestigious U.S. attorney’s offices in the country, and which has seen a raft of firings and resignations after the Comey and James prosecutions. A federal judge dismissed indictments against both last year after finding that Halligan was not lawfully appointed. McBride had been a federal prosecutor in Kentucky for more than 15 years before moving into private practice. He was recruited last year to the Virginia prosecutor’s office as a seasoned legal hand who could assist Halligan — who had no experience as a prosecutor — in managing about 300 lawyers and support staff dealing with national security issues, leaks of classified information and international terrorism cases. McBride could not be reached for comment Monday. His firing followed several disagreements with Halligan, including over how to proceed with the Comey case after the indictment against him was dismissed, according to the people familiar with the ouster. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel issue. Halligan and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to emailed questions about why McBride was dismissed. McBride’s dismissal coincided with the hiring of Patrick Hopple, who was most recently an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security at its D.C. headquarters. Hopple will be working on the executive floor of the U.S. attorney’s office, alongside Halligan, according to a person familiar with the matter. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, McBride automatically would have become the acting U.S. attorney if Halligan vacated her position. In addition to the ruling disqualifying her from holding the job, Halligan could be forced to resign when the statutory limit on her 120-day appointment passes next week.

Washington Post [1/12/2026 6:16 PM, Jenny Gathright, 24149K] reports D.C.’s interim police chief responded over the weekend to a D.C. Council letter with broad assurances that D.C. police do not patrol the city with the goal of enforcing civil immigration laws. However, the response contained little of the detailed information lawmakers requested on how many times the department had shared information with immigration authorities. The letter — and incomplete response — comes as the nation’s capital and cities across the country are grappling with how to position their police departments during the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, during which many immigrants without criminal records have been arrested. It also came days after a blistering report from a D.C. Council committee accused Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s administration of obfuscating details about its collaboration with federal immigration agencies. Jeffery Carroll, who began as interim police chief last week, reaffirmed in a letter to the council on Saturday that it is against department policy to enforce civil immigration laws without a criminal warrant or an order from a judge. But Carroll did not answer the vast majority of nearly 30 specific questions the council asked about collaboration with federal law enforcement — including how many civil immigration arrests occurred during joint patrols D.C. police held with federal agents, and how many times police have shared information with or provided transportation to federal immigration authorities.

AP [1/12/2026 7:10 PM, Safiyah Riddle and Valerie Gonzalez, 31753K] reports as the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement nationwide, a wave of high-profile arrests — many unfolding at private homes and businesses and captured on video — has pushed one legal question into the center of the national debate: When can federal immigration agents lawfully enter private property to make an arrest? That question has taken on new urgency in cities like Minneapolis, where thousands of federal agents are operating on the streets amid protests, confrontations and a fatal shooting, sharpening scrutiny of the legal authority immigration officers rely on when they arrive at the front door. At the heart of the debate is a legal distinction largely unfamiliar to the public but central to immigration enforcement. Most immigration arrests are carried out under administrative warrants, internal documents issued by immigration authorities that authorize the arrest of a specific individual but do not permit officers to forcibly enter private homes or other non-public spaces without consent. Only criminal warrants signed by judges carry that authority. Legal experts say the administration’s aggressive enforcement push, combined with public awareness of those limits, is increasingly turning door-knock encounters into flashpoints, fueling confrontations that are now playing out in cities across the country. All law enforcement operations — including those conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — are governed by the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects all people in the country from unreasonable searches and seizures. That means law enforcement is required to have a warrant before searching one’s private property or arresting someone, regardless of immigration status. But not all warrants are the same. Typically, arrests carried out by Department of Homeland Security agencies are authorized by administrative warrants — sometimes known as immigration warrants — not judicial warrants. The thorny legal distinction between judicial and administrative warrants came to the fore on Sunday when immigration law enforcement raided a private home to make an arrest in Minneapolis, after clashing with protesters who confronted the heavily armed agents. Documents reviewed by The Associated Press revealed that the agents only had an administrative warrant — meaning there was no judge that authorized the raid on private property. When asked, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin didn’t provide a legal justification for the forced entry and arrest of the man, who is a Liberian national with a deportation order from 2023. She said his arrest was part of the administration’s efforts to arrest "the worst of the worst" and added that he had that a criminal history including "robbery, drug possession with the intent to sell, possession of a deadly weapon, malicious destruction and theft.” McLaughlin didn’t specify whether he was convicted of any of those crimes, or whether his arrest was related to any criminal activity. Vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center, Heidi Altman, said she couldn’t comment on that specific raid, but said that generally an officer entering a home without consent or permission could result in serious consequences. "That is not just an illegal arrest. It’s numerous illegal actions by the officer themselves that could open up liability, not just for being sued, but potential criminal actions under state law as well," she explained.

CNN [1/13/2026 4:58 AM, Staff, 18595K] reports an anti-ICE protester was tackled by Border Patrol agents during an immigration enforcement operation in St. Paul, Minnesota. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [1/12/2026 6:33 PM, Esteban L. Hernandez, 12972K] reports the Department of Homeland Security says it won’t comply with a Denver City Council proposal targeting ICE agents who wear face coverings. Council’s proposal would ban face coverings for any law enforcement officer operating in the city, including Denver police and sheriff’s deputies, according to a presentation Monday. Councilmembers Flor Alvidrez and Shontel Lewis say the practice of officers wearing masks erodes public trust and sparks fear. DPD would be responsible for enforcement, including arresting officers who violate the law, deputy legislative counsel Jon Griffin said. Marley Bordovsky, a lawyer at the City Attorney’s Office, told council she’s concerned about whether Denver police officers arresting ICE agents would mean local officers are violating federal law by interfering with federal agents’ duties. Undercover work, SWAT duties and tactical operations would still allow for face coverings under the proposal — carveouts bill sponsors said were made after hearing feedback from local law enforcement. "Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from wearing masks is despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers," DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Axios. "To be crystal clear: we will not abide by a city council’s unconstitutional ban," McLaughlin said, saying masks protect agents from doxxing.

The Hill [1/12/2026 1:42 PM, Lindsey Granger, 12595K] reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went on CNN to defend the actions of ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Noem insisted the Trump administration is committed to enforcing the law evenly. But the more she talked, the harder that claim was to believe. Noem repeatedly alleged that Good was “breaking the law by impeding and obstructing a law enforcement operation.” She went further, accusing Good of having “weaponized” her vehicle in what she called an “act of domestic terrorism.” Those are extraordinary accusations were Noem’s immediate response the day of the shooting — and ones that she is sticking to while investigations are still ongoing. This moment during the CNN interview exposed the contradiction at the heart of her argument. Take a look. Tapper: Those are officers being physically attacked [on Jan 6th] — by this standard, would any of those officers be justified in shooting and killing the people, causing them physical harm? Noem: Every single situation is going to rely on the situation those officers are in. They know that when people are putting hands on them or using weapons against them, when they are physically harming them, they have the authority to arrest those individuals. Noem: That’s one thing that President Trump has been so focused on, is making sure that when we’re out there, we don’t pick and choose which situations, which laws are enforced and which ones aren’t.

FOX News [1/12/2026 12:49 PM, Alec Schemmel, 40621K] reports Democrats have come out against federal law enforcement’s use of lethal force following shootings involving federal immigration officials in Minneapolis and Portland last week, with some going so far as to accuse them of murder. However, their attitudes about lethal force after a U.S. Capitol police officer killed Ashli Babbitt paint a very different picture of these Democrats’ views on police using lethal force. As recently as this year, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who have rebuked Trump administration arguments that shootings involving federal immigration officials last week were justified, also rebuked a multi-million dollar settlement awarded to the family of Ashli Babbitt earlier this year, calling it a "slap in the face" and a "sickening message to police." Babbitt was shot and killed by a U.S. Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 riot as she was pushing and beating against a door that led into the Speaker’s Lobby just outside the House chamber along with a mob of others. Several other Democrats who supported law enforcement’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, have gone off on federal border patrol officials following the Portland and Minneapolis shootings last week, with some going so far as calling them murderers. In Minneapolis, a woman accused of interfering with federal deportation efforts was fatally shot by ICE in Minneapolis, while an illegal immigrant couple who DHS said were deeply involved in criminal activity were shot by CBP agents in Portland after the driver of the car tried to ram his vehicle into agents. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., referred to the actions of ICE in Minneapolis as "murder" in a post on X. However, just days before, on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, Goldman reintroduced legislation to "honor those who defended the capitol" when a mob took it over in 2021. Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., were also among those Democrats praising Capitol Police for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021 last week, while condemning the federal officer involved shootings that occurred as well. Crow complained that a plaque honoring U.S. Capitol Police officers who protected people on Jan. 6 was not hung up because of GOP obstruction, but was unafraid to condemn federal officials for "kill[ing]" someone. Raskin, who has also condemned the multi-million dollar settlement to the Babbitt family, said he was "sickened" at ICE agents for "killing" a woman in Minneapolis. Raskin also demanded in his comments to Fox News Digital that, following the Minnesota ICE shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "must appear to answer questions" before lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 10:34 AM, Nicole Silverio, 835K] reports CNBC host Joe Kernen confronted Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner on Monday as the senator criticized the surge in arrests of illegal immigrants made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The panelists on "Squawk Box" discussed the response to the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, who was shot by an ICE officer while allegedly accelerating her vehicle forward during a confrontation with agents. Warner claimed that ICE agents are detaining illegal immigrants who have not committed any crimes, but rather are arresting mothers dropping off their kids at school and people heading to work. "[Seventy-five] percent of the people, no criminal record, secure the border absolutely, have masked ICE agents picking up moms, dropping off kids or folks going to work. I don’t think that’s what the American people signed up for. And now we’ve got this split in city after city across America. That is not good for the sake of law enforcement. That is not good for the sake of actually having a rational immigration process," Warner said. Kernen pointed out that Democrats did not seem outraged when former President Barack Obama deported over 2.7 million people throughout his eight years in office. "You would agree that going city to city to try to disrupt authorities from lawfully executing whatever their job is, disrupt, stop, obstruct what they’re trying to do," Kernen said. " That’s against the law. That’s not something that Democrats or anyone should be ginning up and telling people to do.

Breitbart [1/13/2026 2:55 AM, Pam Key, 2416K] reports Monday on MS NOW’s "The Last Word," Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said the incident involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shooting a protester in Minneapolis was "absolute murder." Gallego said, "At some point, whenever this administration is done, I hope the state of Minnesota will actually prosecute him for murder. It’s clear that man committed murder, and it’s clear that man has some level of issues that he feels he has to empty you know, his gun, a sideways into a woman that was no longer a threat, to him. He continued, "The reason you see all these ICE agents acting the way they are, the Border Patrol, acting the way they are is because they know that there’s no accountability, they know that nobody from the Trump administration is going to hold them accountable. So they just do whatever they want. There’s a difference between our local police, who you know, I think people have a lot of complaints, but 99% of like local police are actually very well professional. They’re trusted. And it’s because they’re trained well. They don’t go through the hasty training that these guys went through. And number two, they know there’s a level accountability. They have to answer to the police chief. They have to answer to the local populace, and they have to answer to a city council. These guys know that, you know, Donald Trump, JD Vance and all these guys are going to make excuses for them even when they literally murder an American. They literally murdered an American. What happened that day was absolute murder. It was unjustified.” Gallego added, "That ICE officer should be in jail." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/12/2026 6:51 PM, Alex Miller Fox, 40621K] reports the Senate took its first step toward averting a government shutdown, but there’s still a long way to go on an increasingly shorter path to keep the lights on in Washington, D.C. Lawmakers advanced a $174 billion, three-bill package through its first procedural hurdle on Monday evening with an 81-14 vote, teeing up a vote to send the tranche of funding bills, known as a minibus, to President Donald Trump’s desk later this week. The package, which easily sailed through the House last week, similarly cruised through the key test vote on a wave of bipartisan support — a sign that neither party wants to thrust the government into another shutdown just months after the longest closure in history. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., noted that Senate Democrats weren’t looking for another shutdown last week and said that "Democrats want to fund the appropriations, the spending bills, all the way through 2026.” "We want to work in a bicameral, bipartisan way to do it and the good news is our Republican appropriators are working with us," Schumer told ABC Sunday morning. While the successful procedural vote acted as a good sign for final passage of the package, it doesn’t mean that lawmakers are completely out of the woods when it comes to preventing another shutdown. They have until Jan. 30 to fund the rest of the government, and some in the Senate believe that they won’t have time to finish their work before the deadline. That means another continuing resolution (CR) will likely be in the cards. There is another, smaller funding package that could soon make its way through the House. But the $77 billion two-bill bundle that includes funding legislation for Financial Services and National Security still won’t be enough to prevent a shutdown. Notably, the package lacks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, which was supposed to be included. That bill is a perennial headache for lawmakers and often acts as a lightning rod for political enmity. "The DHS bill is always one of the most difficult ones," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. "And creates more, seems like more of a kind of a political conflict of all the appropriations bills.”

AP [1/12/2026 8:51 PM, Christopher Weber, 34509K] reports a man accused of steering a U-Haul truck toward a Los Angeles demonstration over the weekend in support of Iran’s protests was released Monday, authorities said. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a press release that officers monitoring the protest Sunday stopped the box truck and directed the driver to turn around as he was approaching a large crowd. Video posted on social media shows the truck speeding down a road where protesters were gathered on the sidewalk, as some shout in surprise. After police stopped the truck, protesters descended on it and tore off a banner on it that read “No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don’t Repeat 1953. No Mullah.” The crowd attacked the driver who then drove toward a group of officers as demonstrators jumped out of the way, the department said. Officers then formed a line between the crowd and the driver before taking him into custody. Police initially said one person was hit by the truck, but on Monday the department said no one was struck. Two people declined treatment after paramedics evaluated them at the scene, the fire department said. The sign on the box truck was an apparent reference to a U.S.-backed coup in that year that toppled then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized the country’s oil industry. The coup cemented the shah’s power and lit the fuse for the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which saw Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini usher in the theocracy that still governs the country. From exile in the United States, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah who fled Iran just before the Islamic Revolution, has called on Iranians to join the demonstrations. Some Iranians have chanted pro-shah slogans, which were once punishable by death, highlighting the anger fueling demonstrations that began over Iran’s sanctions-crippled economy. The protesters gathered Sunday afternoon in Westwood, a Los Angeles neighborhood that’s home to the largest Iranian community outside the country.

Breitbart [1/13/2026 2:27 AM, Staff, 2416K] reports police have arrested a 48-year-old man accused of being the driver of a box truck that was driven through a crowd protesting the Iranian government on Sunday in Los Angeles’ Westwood neighborhood. Calor Madanescht was arrested Sunday and booked Monday on charges of reckless driving, a misdemeanor offense, according to jail records. His bail was set at $0. The incident occurred Sunday afternoon near the Federal Building at Veteran Avenue and Ohio Avenue where an anti-Iran regime protest was being held. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Monday that officers were monitoring the protest when the U-Haul truck approached the intersection. On the side of the box truck was signage that read, "No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don’t repeat 1953. No Mullah," which the LAPD said was in opposition to the views being expressed during the protest. The protesters tore the signs from the truck and attacked Madanescht, who allegedly drove the vehicle toward a group of LAPD officers while members of the crowd jumped out of its way. Officers cordoned off the truck, and they took Mandanescht into custody. The truck was searched and impounded by LAPD officers who discovered "nothing of significance" in the vehicle, authorities said. Two people were injured in the incident, though neither accepted transport to the hospital, the Los Angeles Fire Department said following the incident. Officers have since contacted possible victims and none reported being struck by the truck.

Yahoo! News [1/12/2026 10:57 AM, Liesel Nygard, 49624K] reports that high-profile celebrities used the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night as a platform to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the policies of President Donald Trump. Actors Mark Ruffalo and Wanda Sykes were among several attendees seen wearing black-and-white pins with the slogans "BE GOOD" and "ICE OUT," according to the Associated Press. The pins were part of a national campaign organized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in response to the recent fatal shootings of two individuals involving ICE agents. The protest centers on the deaths of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, and Keith Porter, who was fatally shot by an off-duty agent on New Year’s Eve. "This is for Renee Nicole Goode, who was murdered," Ruffalo told USA TODAY on the red carpet, proceeding to call out Trump: "We’re in the middle of a war with Venezuela that we illegally invaded. He’s telling the world that international law doesn’t matter to him. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have vowed an assertive response, demanding a range of actions including immediate policy changes regarding law enforcement raids, the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to the Associated Press. The investigation of Good’s killing remains ongoing by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Breitbart [1/12/2026 11:58 AM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports country Star Zach Bryan, who had long-avoided political content in his music, has finally released his song attacking ICE and ripping President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Bryan released a teaser of the song in October that caused many of his fans to blast him for being pro-illegal migrant and anti-police. The song, entitled ‘Bad News," starts out trying to make Bryan look like a tough guy and saying he didn’t "wake up dead or in jail" that morning. The verse notes that he is "missing" his girlfriend, says the cops came, and then features Bryan calling the police "cocky motherfuckers." But in the next verse, he goes after ICE and Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and accuses ICE of "busting down" people’s doors, scaring kids. He is giving the "middle finger" to the government, and then claims that America is "fading" because of it all.

The Hill [1/12/2026 11:13 AM, Judy Kurtz, 12595K] reports Dave Matthews is blasting President Trump and the “monsters that are running the show right now,” ripping the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and as well as its military action in Venezuela. “I think about how lucky I’ve been in my life here in this land. And so then I think of how I repay it, and the way I repay this land is my taxes,” Matthews said in a video posted on Instagram on Friday. “And they can raise my taxes, far as I’m concerned,” continued the “Too Much” singer, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in South Africa. “But that’s if they spend my taxes on bridges, and the national parks, and maintaining the highways and libraries, and raising the minimum wage, or at least paying nurses, free university for those who can’t afford it, free health care — things that are reasonable.” “I don’t want my taxes to pay for invading foreign countries under false premises, kidnapping presidents to steal their natural resources, and threatening to do it to more countries claiming that somehow sovereign nations belong to us or something’s owed to us,” said Matthews, 59. “‘We’re a superpower, so therefore we deserve whatever we want,’“ the musician said in a mocking tone. “God, how entitled and revolting is that?” “It’s disgusting. It’s so unimaginative. It’s so small-minded. I don’t want my taxes to pay for that,” he said. The Dave Matthews Band frontman also tore into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in the wake of one of its officers fatally shooting a woman in Minneapolis. “I don’t want my taxes to pay for ICE to mask thugs to roam our streets and terrorize our communities and rip families apart,” Matthews said.

The Hill [1/12/2026 12:00 PM, Jos Joseph, 12595K] reports like many Americans, I was aghast by the videos coming out of Minnesota which shows an American citizen being shot as she is turning her car to flee Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Even with the situation developing, I was struck by how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was eager to defend the shooting by claiming the woman driving away from the officers was engaged in “an act of domestic terrorism.” As a veteran of the “Global War on Terror,” I have seen the Trump administration use the word terrorist to describe Renee Good, any non-Republican protesters in the U.S., captured Venezuelan ruler Nicholas Maduro, civilians in Gaza, Antifa, Democrats, and just about anyone else that he doesn’t like. It invites the question: What exactly is a terrorist nowadays? Surely, MAGA Republicans can’t be this frightened of their fellow Americans that they have to accept this definition and be okay with dropping bombs on people or shooting mothers. I was supposed to go to the World Trade Center on 9/11 but didn’t because my friend bailed. Instead, I watched from my hometown of Clifton, N.J., as the towers burned and then collapsed. Having a tremendous amount of anger toward the perpetrators. I decided I would do something about it. I enlisted in the Marines partly because I felt we needed to protect our country from this ever happening again. I told myself that Islamic terrorism wasn’t just a threat to the U.S., but to the Islamic world as well. I enlisted with the notion that we were going to defeat terrorism and keep the world safe. Then I got deployed to Iraq. It turns out the U.S. “war on terror” created many more terrorists in the world than existed before 9/11. And as we engaged in nation building a nation that was already built, we had to deal with some nefarious characters. Although many bought into the idea of global jihad, I had a suspicion that a lot of Iraqis became “terrorists” because they simply didn’t want us in their country. Coming home, I struggled to make sense of what exactly we had done over there and whether it was truly going to make us safe. I watched as we sent more Americans like me in wave after wave of deployments. When we killed Osama Bin Laden, I was thrilled. I also figured that the job was done and we could bring people home. But that was in 2011. As we know now, we kept fighting terrorists in Afghanistan until we withdrew in 2021. We have since bombed terrorists in Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, and many other places. Then the word “terrorist” started to be used as a catch all for anyone President Trump didn’t like. By Trump and company’s definition, anyone in America is now a domestic terrorist. Did you ever protest the government, march for civil rights, vote for a Democrat, have an opposing viewpoint, exercised your right to free speech, reported the news, or just had an opinion? Did you resist when your constitutional rights were violated by a lack of due process and federal overreach? Then you may be a domestic terrorist.

The Hill [1/12/2026 10:30 AM, Svante Myrick, 12595K] reports that I was just starting my political career as a member of Ithaca’s City Council when Barack Obama said in a 2008 campaign trail speech that voters were just a few days from “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” The context made it clear what he meant: prioritizing policies that benefited Main Street and not just Wall Street, “so that everyone has a chance to succeed — not just the CEO, but the secretary and janitor, not just the factory owner, but the men and women on the factory floor.” Right-wing pundits and politicians ran with that phrase. They claimed it was a sure sign that Obama was indeed the crypto-communist or secret Islamist of their fevered imaginings. I’ve been thinking about the right’s dishonest response to that phrase, given the terrible transformations President Trump has made since he returned to power last year. The recent killing of an American poet and mother of a young child by an ICE agent in Minnesota sadly encapsulates many of the ways American principles and people have been sacrificed to the maniacal obsessions of Trump, Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and the rest of the authoritarian team. ICE campaigns terrorizing communities have been fueled by the same kind of fearmongering directed against Obama — witness Trump supporters’ rhetoric about “invasion” by immigrants and the supposed threat of “white genocide.” This strategy has been deployed widely, including against secularists and gay and transgender people.

New York Post [1/12/2026 7:35 PM, Kirsten Fleming, 42219K] reports that, during the riots of 2020, many of the agitators, who burned down cities and assaulted cops were shadowy Antifa types and anti-social wackos, mostly male and in their 20s or early 30s. But as anti-ICE protests ramp up across the country, we’re seeing a new archetype of trained instigators: regular moms and women of all ages, who are forming reckless resistance forces to disrupt and antagonize federal law enforcement. The escalation of tactics resulted in the tragic shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent last week. The mother of three was reportedly an anti-ICE "warrior" trained to physically intervene in arrests. She had been using her SUV to block ICE as her wife filmed the altercation, in the minutes before her death. A decade ago, bored females were radicalized by Mid Level Marketing scams, selling unsightly leggings from Lularoe or Rodan + Fields moisturizer. Now many are finding their purpose and identity through aggressive activism: becoming anti-ICE social media influencers, undergoing training as "legal observers," and creating physical chaos to obstruct federal law enforcement. It’s as naive as it is dangerous. Since Good’s death last week, there are videos of women punching ICE vehicles in Minneapolis, aggressively confronting agents. Some are acting out for the cameras, obviously hoping for social media cred or perhaps communion with other social justice types in their neighborhoods. One mother, who brought her baby to a protest in Minneapolis, told a reporter she wanted her to "feel the energy.” Across the country, training on how to disrupt ICE operations are being staged in houses of worship and community centers. Last month, NY1 reported that over 1,300 attendees showed up to a Brooklyn church to become newly minted agitators. The piece described them as "armed with whistles, know your rights cards and their training, these New Yorkers are now better prepared to respond to any ICE action.” In a Charlotte, North Carolina church, a video of one such session showed a group of mostly women role playing ICE agents arresting someone as they recorded the mock altercation. "I’m here tonight to try to learn what I can do. I’ve never participated in this kind of direct action before," said Charlotte resident Donna Lanclos.

The Hill [1/12/2026 7:00 AM, Becket Adams, 12595K] reports an immigration enforcement officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota last week, plunging the scandal-plagued state further into civil unrest. With the advent of 24-hour surveillance and the ubiquity of cellphone cameras and crackerjack armchair analysts, it is crucial that our elected leaders, as well as those with platforms to speak, remain cool, calm, and collected. Or, as my friend Noah Rothman said, “This is one of those moments where we could use a minimally responsible commentary/political class. Wish we had one of those.” Unfortunately, we do not. The commentary this week has been abysmal. The politicians’ reactions have been even worse — so bad, in fact, that one might reasonably assume that what happened in Minnesota will likely happen again very soon. The best the political class has to offer is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), who seemingly suggested he might use the state National Guard against federal agents. Late Thursday evening, the governor ordered the guard to support local and state police, some of whom have been explicitly instructed not to cooperate with federal officials. Walz also claimed that Minnesota is “under assault” by federal forces and that they are at “war with our federal government.” The former vice presidential candidate also said he’s a victim of political retribution from the Trump administration. Then there’s Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, who demanded after the shooting that ICE “get the f— out” of the city. The Department of Homeland Security maintains the officer acted in self-defense. The footage is inconclusive, as evidenced by the fact that we now have two groups interpreting the same footage very differently. This is on top of the fact that we now have several conflicting accounts of what happened, including that the slain woman was a “legal observer” tracking ICE officers that morning. Others claim she was just on her way home after dropping off her son at school. Nevertheless, despite the absence of a conclusive legal ruling, both Frey and Walz have taken clear positions on the issue, with the former calling Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a “judge, jury, and … executioner” and the latter dismissing the federal agency’s self-defense argument as “bulls—” and “garbage.” So in sum, it’s nice to see that no one said anything needlessly provocative or incendiary. Otherwise, things could really get out of hand in the North Star State.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/12/2026 1:58 PM, Sal Rodriguez, 1538K] reports that the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last week sure has prompted a lot of indefensible responses. The right, led by the Trump administration, threw everything they could think of out there in defense of the ICE agent before even basic facts could be established. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem denounced Good as engaging in “domestic terrorism.” Noem is probably the only person in the country who thought that made sense to say. Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire opined to his 4 million X followers: “This lesbian agitator gave her life to protect 68 IQ Somali scammers who couldn’t give less of a s— about her.” Yes, this is the state of right-wing commentary in 2026. The president and vice president immediately declared the ICE agent did nothing wrong and in any case had “absolute immunity” because “he was doing his job,” which is quite the shield to give to people with guns if you think about it for more than a few seconds. No, really, think about it. In a reasonable world, the president and vice president would call for calm and note that proper investigations would take place. Matt Walsh would be unknown outside of crank religious right circles still fixated on “the gay agenda” or whatever. And Kristi Noem definitely would not be the head of Homeland Security and instead would have peaked with a term or two in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Alas, here we are. And it’s indeed because of the weird politics of today that Renee Good is dead.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/12/2026 1:30 PM, Richard Kiy, 1538K] reports that there are legitimate reasons why many Venezuelans — and many beyond Venezuela — have long argued that Nicolás Maduro should be brought to justice. His government has been credibly linked to large-scale corruption, authoritarian repression and longstanding ties to illicit drug trafficking networks that have destabilized the region. Compounding this record is the widely held view that Maduro no longer held a legitimate mandate after Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, which he lost but refused to recognize. For millions of Venezuelans forced into exile, accountability has felt not only overdue, but essential. These realities explain why reports of Maduro’s recent capture by U.S. forces were met in some quarters with relief. Yet even when the objective appears morally compelling, the means by which it is pursued still matter. They matter especially when those means risk upending international norms and reshaping the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere. President Donald Trump’s subsequent declaration that the U.S. would "run the country" until a proper transition could be arranged transformed a question of accountability into one of governance and geopolitics. At that point, the issue ceased to be solely about Maduro and became about precedent. A unilateral seizure of a sitting head of state — absent explicit international authorization under the U.N. Charter — tests those principles, regardless of the individual involved. This collision between power and law comes at a moment when global rules are already under strain.

The Hill [1/12/2026 1:00 PM, Harlan Ullman, 12595K] reports that it has been a week and a half since President Donald Trump ordered the raid that captured and arrested Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife. One expected consequence is that far more questions have arisen about what this seizure will mean for Venezuela, the region, U.S. policy and the world at large than have been answered. Let’s begin with this hemisphere. Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy cited homeland defense as a top priority. It is unclear what that means. However, assuming the Venezuelan intervention is proof of this priority, will the U.S. continue to deploy substantial military forces in the region to ensure stability and give the president the options for carrying out future operations along the lines of the Caracas snatch? Given that the U.S. Navy is already stretched thin, where will it not go? What parts of the globe will no longer be areas where the Navy will sail? Will deployments to the Pacific, the Middle East and Persian Gulf or Europe be cut? If so, what are the possible implications? While it is unlikely that Trump conferred with China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in advance, one implication is possible. With U.S. focus on the Western Hemisphere obvious, does this mean that Xi and Putin will now exert greater influence in their regions? If that is the case, how might allies and friends react?

NewsMax [1/12/2026 11:48 AM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidance requiring lawmakers to provide at least seven days’ notice before visiting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facilities, a policy change that comes soon after an ICE officer fatally shot protester Renee Good during an operation in Minneapolis. Thursday’s memo, issued by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, says visit requests must be submitted during normal business hours to ICE’s Office of Congressional Relations and must include the proposed date, location, duration, and names and titles of all participants. Only lawmakers and confirmed congressional staff would be allowed to participate. The memo follows a Dec. 17 ruling in Neguse v. ICE in which a federal judge in Washington, D.C., stayed DHS’ prior guidance after finding it inconsistent with Section 527(b) of DHS appropriations law. That provision bars DHS from using appropriated funds to prevent lawmakers and certain congressional employees from entering DHS facilities for oversight if they are used to detain or house noncitizens. The court also found that covered facilities include ICE field offices and holding facilities, according to the memo. While the memo states DHS disagrees with the court decision, it argues a separate funding stream is not subject to Section 527’s limits. The document says funds derived from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are not covered by Section 527 restrictions, and it directs ICE to implement and enforce the new policy "exclusively" using that money. The Washington Examiner [1/12/2026 6:01 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports that last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued a new memo that requires lawmakers to submit oversight visit requests to ICE field offices and detention centers at least seven days in advance. The directive follows a June 2025 memo that outlined the same time frame for a valid request to be made. The new policy differs in one key aspect, however. Noem ordered ICE to oversee congressional visits "exclusively with money appropriated" by President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The move is meant to circumvent a court ruling handed down by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb last month in favor of the same group of House Democrats challenging Noem’s revised policy. Section 527 of the DHS appropriations bill grants members of Congress the right to conduct unannounced oversight visits of ICE facilities using congressionally appropriated funds. Noem argued that the funds being used exclusively through Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, instead of an annual appropriations bill, frees DHS from apparent Section 527 limitations. The plaintiffs disagreed, accusing the department of disobeying Cobb’s prior order. The policy prevented three Minnesota Democrats from gaining full access to an ICE detention facility outside Minneapolis on Saturday. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Angie Craig (D-MN), and Kelly Morrison (D-MN) were denied entry to the site after they were briefly allowed into the facility. The plaintiffs are requesting an emergency hearing, where the defendants can provide evidence to explain how the "duplicate notice policy" complies with Section 527 and the court’s prior order.

Reported similarly:
Roll Call [1/12/2026 4:36 PM, Chris Johnson, 548K]
CBS News [1/12/2026 12:26 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 39474K] r

The Hill [1/12/2026 1:15 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K] reports lawmakers are back in court after an earlier legal victory, challenging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after its secretary, Kristi Noem, issued a second order seeking to limit their ability to make unannounced visits to immigration detention facilities. Members of Congress last month won their lawsuit after challenging a June DHS policy seeking to require them to give seven days notice of any intended visit. The lawmaker’s latest filing accuses DHS of having “secretly reimposed” the policy in an order signed by Noem last Thursday. “On Saturday, January 9—three days after U.S. citizen Renee Good was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis—three members of Congress from the Minnesota delegation, with this Court’s order in hand, attempted to conduct an oversight visit of an ICE facility near Minneapolis,” the filing states, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Only upon showing up at the facility were they informed Noem had again tried to impose the policy, they stated. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) is the lead plaintiff on the lawsuit, which is joined by 11 other Democrats, including the ranking members on the House oversight, judiciary and homeland security committees. In a joint statement, the plaintiffs said, “rather than complying with the law, the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to get around this order by re-imposing the same unlawful policy. This is unacceptable. Oversight is a core responsibility of Members of Congress, and a constitutional duty we do not take lightly. It is not something the executive branch can turn on or off at will.” Congress in 2020 inserted language in an appropriations bill barring the DHS from using funds “to prevent” members of Congress “from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight,” any DHS facility “used to detain or otherwise house aliens.” That provision served as the basis of the December decision from U.S. District Court Jia Cobb, who determined that lawmakers could not be denied entry for visits.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [1/12/2026 6:14 PM, Andrea Castillo, 14862K]
FOX News [1/12/2026 2:35 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 40621K]

Reuters [1/12/2026 6:14 PM, Ted Hesson, 36480K] reports four migrants died while in custody of U.S. immigration authorities over the first 10 days of 2026, according to government press releases, a loss of life that followed record detention deaths last year under President Donald Trump. The deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba and another from Cambodia, and occurred from January 3-9, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Trump administration aims to ramp up deportations and has increased the number of migrants in detention. As of January 7, ICE statistics showed that the agency was detaining 69,000 people. The numbers were expected to rise following a massive ICE funding infusion passed by the U.S. Congress last year. At least 30 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest level in two decades, agency figures showed. U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the rate of deaths had remained in step with historic norms as the detention population has climbed.

Federal Newswire [1/12/2026 11:48 PM, C. M. Ingle] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported a series of arrests over the weekend, targeting individuals identified as criminal illegal aliens convicted of serious crimes such as murder, child sexual abuse, manslaughter, and gang activity in various states. According to ICE, its officers have experienced significant increases in threats and violence directed against them. The agency stated that assaults on law enforcement personnel have risen by 1,300%, vehicular attacks by 3,200%, and death threats by 8,000%. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented on the ongoing risks faced by ICE officers: “Even while facing a 1,300% increase in assaults, 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them, ICE continues to risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized American families,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “While Americans enjoyed their weekends, ICE law enforcement arrested murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members from across the country. We will not let agitators slow us down from making America safe again and getting these heinous criminals out of our country.”

NewsMax [1/12/2026 10:04 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports protests targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have crossed a dangerous line and should not be tolerated, Rep. Pete Sessions warned Newsmax on Monday. The Texas Republican told "Wake Up America" that activists are obstructing federal law enforcement and creating unsafe conditions for officers carrying out their duties. Sessions, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said demonstrations involving harassment, intimidation, and interference with ICE agents undermine the rule of law and put officers in untenable situations. "This protesting that goes on, honking of horns, obstructing federal law enforcement should not be tolerated," the congressman said, adding that ICE officers "are being put in a difficult circumstance. Just have someone put an iPhone on your face and follow you around, and yell and scream at you, and at some point that becomes a real problem." The congressman said he fully supports the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy. The comments come as ICE operations and protests against them have intensified nationwide, with immigration enforcement emerging as a central flashpoint between the administration and Democrat officials and activist groups critical of federal policy.

FOX News [1/12/2026 9:50 AM, Hanna Panreck, 40621K] reports Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a member of the progressive "Squad," called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be abolished on Sunday, 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 fatal 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. While the Trump administration is standing firmly behind the officer who shot Good, many Democrats are claiming the killing was unjustified. "This harm does not discriminate. It is coming for everyone," she said. "And that is exactly why ICE must be stopped, because they’re not operating with any constitutional due diligence. They are lawless, they are masked thugs. So, whether you are a White woman, whether you are Black or Brown, certainly our most vulnerable communities are the most vulnerable to the attacks of this rogue agency, but all of our communities are vulnerable to the attacks of this rogue agency.” MS NOW host Jackie Alemany pressed Pressley on whether her long-held belief that ICE should be abolished and the Biden administration’s unpopular border policy had contributed to the moment they’re in now. Pressley argued that the agency couldn’t be reformed. "This has nothing to do with training or new protocols. This is about cultural practices that have been underway for many years," Pressley responded. "I believe in doing that radical work and getting to the root cause of things. Again, Congress has the power of the purse and appropriations. We need to use it in this moment because this harm is coming for everyone.” The White House condemned Pressley’s words. "ICE officers are facing a massive increase in assaults against them because of dangerous, untrue smears from elected Democrats. ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities with the utmost professionalism. Anyone pointing the finger at law enforcement officers instead of the criminals are simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.

Washington Post [1/12/2026 11:55 PM, Andrew Jeong, 24149K] reports a New York City Council employee was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Monday as he attended a routine immigration appointment at a court on Long Island, federal and local officials said. ICE in an emailed statement identified the man as Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez. He works as a data analyst for the council, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said at a news conference. He does not have a criminal record and is authorized to work in the United States until October, she said. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York), speaking at the same news conference, said the man was of Venezuelan descent. “A law-abiding immigrant with work authorization who is allowed to be here does the right thing and goes to their required check-in at an ICE facility,” Goldman said, “and instead of getting rewarded for doing the right thing … he is arrested and detained, and likely on a path to removal.” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, disputed those remarks in an emailed statement sent a few hours after the news conference. She said the Venezuelan had a previous arrest for assault. Washington Post could not immediately confirm whether he was charged with or found guilty of assault. He also had no work authorization, McLaughlin added. The man “entered the United States on a B2 tourist visa in 2017 that required him to depart the U.S. by October 22, 2017,” McLaughlin said. Menin said earlier that she had spoken with a DHS official who confirmed that the man was attending a routine court appointment but “was nevertheless detained.” “They provided no other basis for his detainment,” Menin said. She expressed frustration that there was no way to reach the individual, who was initially detained at a facility in Bethpage, near the court, before being moved to another facility on Varick Street in Manhattan. Homeland security officials “indicated that they are likely to move this individual” but declined to “elaborate on additional information,” she said. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was outraged by the incident. “This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values. I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation,” he said in a post on social media. The arrest adds to growing national tension over immigration law enforcement operations that have quickly mushroomed in recent days after an ICE officer fatally shot a Minnesota woman last week. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem described the officer’s actions as having been carried out in self-defense — claims that have been met with deep skepticism and challenged by video footage.

Breitbart [1/12/2026 5:20 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an Afghan immigrant who attempted to murder his sister nearly a decade ago for being a "bad Muslim girl." On January 1, ICE agents in Rochester, New York, arrested 39-year-old Waheed Allah Mohammad, who legally immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan in May 2004. According to his conviction for attempted murder, in 2008, Mohammad tried to murder his then 19-year-old sister, whom he considered a "bad Muslim girl" for dressing immodestly and going to nightclubs, by repeatedly stabbing her. The following year, Mohammad was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault and sentenced to 10 years in a New York prison as well as five years of supervised release. In April 2009, just months after he was convicted, Mohammad was placed into deportation proceedings, and in May 2012, a federal immigration judge ordered him deported from the United States. Mohammad remains in ICE custody pending deportation.

New York Post [1/13/2026 12:45 AM, David Propper, 42219K] reports a New York City Council staffer was hauled away by ICE officials when he showed up to a routine court check-in at a Long Island immigration center Monday, Big Apple leaders said as feds labeled the employee a "criminal" in the US illegally. Council Speaker Julie Menin called the detainment of the employee, a Venezuelan national, "egregious government overreach" during a Monday evening press conference, claiming he had a work visa good through October. But a top Department of Homeland Security spokesperson rebuked that assertion later Monday night, describing the Council data analyst as a "criminal illegal alien" who should have been out of the country years ago. The staffer, who was identified by the federal government as Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, is currently in a lower Manhattan detention center as local officials called for his release. His court appointment "quickly went awry" in Bethpage, leading to his detainment and later transfer to the Manhattan facility, said Menin, an Upper East Side Democrat. Rubio Bohorquez is a data analyst and has worked in city government for about a year, according to the Council speaker. "Despite every indication that he was doing everything the right way, he still found himself the victim of egregious government overreach," she argued, calling the feds’ actions "unacceptable.” She said she was unable to reach the immigration facility where he was detained, but spoke with the Department of Homeland Security. "DHS confirmed this employee had gone in for a routine court appointment and was nevertheless detained," Menin said. "They provided no other basis for his detainment.” The staffer signed an attestation in January that he has never been arrested, according to Menin, but DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Rubio Bohorquez has a criminal history, including for assault. The Venezuelan national entered the US on a B2 tourist visa in 2017 and was supposed to leave the country by Oct. 22, 2017, McLaughlin said, adding that he didn’t have work authorization. "He had no legal right to be in the United States," she said in a statement. "Under [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”

Blaze [1/12/2026 9:25 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K] reports Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney who was impeached in 2022 for "dereliction of duty and refusal to enforce the law upon assuming office," was among the leftists who condemned the fatal Jan. 7 shooting of anti-ICE activist Renee Nicole Macklin Good. Multiple videos of the incident, including cellphone footage from the agent’s perspective, show the 37-year-old Colorado native drive into a federal law enforcement officer after disobeying repeated orders to exit her vehicle. As Good accelerated into the ICE agent — who had been dragged hundreds of yards by a fleeing suspect during a previous ICE operation — the agent opened fire in self-defense. During a press conference on Jan. 8, where officials held a moment of silence for Good, then engaged in a cultish chant of her name, Krasner claimed the ICE agent’s actions were not only "unlawful" but amounted to a "criminal homicide" executed by a member of an agency that has supposedly taken a "Nazified approach to mass deportation.” Krasner — flanked by fellow anti-ICE radicals Aniqa Raihan of the group No ICE Philly and Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, the latter of whom claimed that ICE was "fake" law enforcement — not only complained about the ICE officer’s decision to fire multiple shots but his location at the time of the vehicular attack. According to Krasner, who referred to the incident in passing as a "murder," the officer’s positioning in front of Good’s speeding SUV was a "violation of police directives in almost every jurisdiction." "Self-defense? So that is one layer of criminality," said Krasner.

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 3:28 PM, Jason Cohen, 835K] reports border czar Tom Homan fired back at Democratic Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal on Monday after she threatened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with arrest. Bilal made the threat during a Thursday news conference, saying, "You don’t want this smoke, because we will bring it to you." Homan responded on "The Charlie Kirk Show," saying, "She can bring the smoke, we’ll bring the fire," and that ICE would not back down. Bilal’s comments followed an ICE agent fatally shooting 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday while conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. She commended Democratic Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who pledged to prosecute ICE agents who allegedly committed crimes in his jurisdiction in the wake of the shooting.

Axios [1/12/2026 3:34 PM, Isaac Avilucea and Mike D’Onofrio, 12972K] reports an unlikely Philadelphia elected official has thrust the city into the national conversation about an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s comments have put her — and possibly Philly — in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which the city’s top leaders have desperately sought to avoid over the past year. The Parker administration has avoided directly criticizing the Trump administration and taken steps that some advocates view as conciliatory, like rebranding Philly from a "sanctuary city" to a "welcoming city" and eliminating diversity benchmarks in awarding public contracts. Good’s death set off demonstrations nationally, including in the Philly region, while Bilal’s remarks spread rapidly online, generating millions of views, international headlines and sharply divided reactions along ideological lines, including one Florida politician saying Bilal should be arrested. The sheriff’s office website has been flooded with thousands of messages from across the country criticizing Bilal, her spokesperson Teresa Lundy tells Axios. The uproar led Philadelphia police to issue a statement clarifying the office’s role, and Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel has stressed the police department is a "separate entity" from Bilal’s office. Bethel says his department will "continue to work professionally with all our law enforcement partners." Bilal denounced ICE agents as "fake" and "probably Trump’s new army to attack citizens" during a news conference alongside District Attorney Larry Krasner and progressive city legislators last week. Bilal warned that ICE agents who commit crimes in Philadelphia could face prosecution. "You will not be able to hide. Nobody will whisk you off," Bilal said during the news conference. "You don’t want this smoke, ‘cause we will bring it to you." Bilal tells Axios she has received death threats over her comments and now has a beefed-up protective detail following her around the clock, including being stationed outside her home.

CNN [1/13/2026 1:04 AM, Karina Tsui, 606K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has altered its account of an immigration enforcement-related shooting in a Baltimore suburb on Christmas Eve after details in its initial statement were contradicted by local police. On December 24, DHS issued a statement saying Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers "defensively fired" at a van occupied by two undocumented immigrants during an enforcement operation in Glen Burnie, Maryland, after the driver rammed ICE vehicles while trying to flee and "then drove his van directly at ICE officers, attempting to run them over.” The driver was shot and wounded, and the passenger was injured when the van crashed seconds later, according to the original statement from DHS. The department now says the injured man was not in the van but "was a passenger in one of the ICE vehicles that was rammed," according to a new statement to CNN from DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. The changed account comes as DHS faces increased scrutiny over the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent last week – and more broadly over the veracity of the information the department puts forward regarding federal officers’ actions while carrying out President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown. The new detail in the Maryland ICE shooting was first announced Thursday by the Anne Arundel County Police Department, which is investigating the incident. "To clarify preliminary information released publicly on the shooting involving ICE agents in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on December 24, 2025: one ICE detainee who was injured during the incident was already in custody in an ICE vehicle, and the other individual injured was struck by gunfire while operating a separate vehicle," the police department said. Anne Arundel County police said their investigation into the incident is ongoing and emphasized that its officers do not enforce immigration law or conduct ICE operations. The ICE officers were conducting "a targeted immigration enforcement operation" in Glen Burnie when they confronted the van, McLaughlin said. The two undocumented migrants were identified as Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, a Portuguese man who was driving the van, and Salvadoran national Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, the man authorities now say was in an ICE vehicle. Officers approached the van and asked Sousa-Martins to turn off the engine, but he refused and attempted to leave the scene, ramming ICE vehicles, and "then (driving) his van directly at ICE officers," McLaughlin said. "Fearing for their lives and public safety, officers defensively fired their service weapons, striking the driver," she said.

Axios [1/12/2026 6:20 AM, Andrew King, 12972K] reports local elected officials and attorneys are working to learn more about the conditions faced by ICE detainees at the Butler County Jail, who have reported overcrowding, limited food and other complaints. December ICE raids in Central Ohio resulted in more than 200 arrests, with Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther calling the presence "unwelcome." Other local and state officials reported little to no contact with federal officials about the operations or those who were arrested. Last week, State Reps. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus) and Mark Sigrist (D-Grove City) joined Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) in sending a letter to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and urged it to "take immediate steps to ensure humane, safe, and lawful conditions for individuals detained at the Butler County Jail." The southwest Ohio jail is one of several in the state with an agreement to help federal immigration enforcement and hold detainees. An Ohio Immigrant Alliance analysis from Dec. 24 found that at least 137 detainees were being held there.

Breitbart [1/12/2026 11:21 AM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was booted from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Saturday where she claimed she and other lawmakers went to exercise "oversight." The incident happened at a facility in Minneapolis, Fox News reported Sunday. Video shows lawmakers gathered in the snow outside the building. Democrat-run Minneapolis is where an ICE agent recently fatally shot a woman, Renee Good, who was accused of using her vehicle as a weapon during an immigration operation, per Breitbart News. After the shooting, leftist groups mobilized to protest ICE in cities across the nation. Omar told reporters, "We were initially invited in to do our congressional oversight and to exercise our Article I duties. When we made it in, it was with the authorization of someone who’s been here for a really long time, who understood that we had a congressional duty to enter the building and see the facility." "Shortly after we were let in, two officials came in and said they received a message that we were no longer allowed to be in the building and that they were rescinding our invitation to come in and declining any further access to the building," the Democrat added. Omar also claimed it was a "blatant attempt to obstruct members of Congress from doing their oversight duties. When we appropriate funds as members of Congress, we are expected by the public to do oversight because the public requires their money be used with transparency and accountability." DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin elaborated on Omar’s removal in a statement to reporters, arguing that the lawmakers entered the facility "with the explicit goal of ‘hunting down’ ICE officers who they believed may have been staying there." Following Good’s shooting death, Omar deemed it a "murder" caused by "state-sanctioned violence." However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called it an "act of domestic terrorism" against the officers, noting the agent feared for his life and the lives of others at the scene.

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 9:34 AM, Jason Cohen, 835K] reports Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday gave a tepid condemnation of violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after MS NOW host Elise Jordan pressed her to do so. Border czar Tom Homan on NBC News’ "Meet the Press" Sunday criticized Democrats’ "hateful rhetoric" against the ICE agent who fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday. After Jordan played a clip of Homan’s remarks on "The Weekend: Primetime," she provided Omar the chance to denounce violence against ICE agents. "Congresswoman, I’ll give you the opportunity right now," Jordan said. "Do you condemn all violence on ICE agents?" Rather than issue a condemnation, Omar attacked Homan and President Donald Trump’s administration. "I mean, I would say this man has to look into the mirror. He has to look into the administration that he serves. These are people who are calling this mother of three a domestic terrorist," Omar said. "They are saying people are out there committing terror. And it is unconscionable the way in which they are describing the American public against law enforcement that are trained to protect and serve them. And, I mean I’m at a loss of words to hear him say what he just said." "But yes or no, you do condemn violence on any ICE agents?" Jordan followed up. Omar then offered a vague and broad condemnation. "Of course, we all condemn any violence, whether it’s on ICE agents or the public," she said. The ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, shot Good during an operation when she allegedly accelerated her car toward him as agents surrounded her vehicle. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a Wednesday press conference that Ross was the victim of a vehicle attack in June when an anti-ICE rioter rammed him with his vehicle and dragged him. She also alleged coordinated groups were teaching individuals to weaponize vehicles during law enforcement operations.

The Hill [1/12/2026 8:58 AM, Max Rego, 12595K] reports Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Sunday slammed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, calling it an “occupying force.” “Federal law enforcement is being sent as an occupying force into Minneapolis,” Omar said on MS NOW’s “The Weekend.” The Minnesota congresswoman went on to say that federal immigration officers are conducting themselves in “lawless” fashion. After ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis last Wednesday, Omar and other Democrats on Capitol Hill criticized the presence of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in cities across the country. The administration has already reportedly sent 2,000 immigration officers to the Twin Cities, amid a federal probe into fraud within Minnesota’s social services programs. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that her department is further ramping up its presence. “We’re sending more officers today and tomorrow that will arrive. There will be hundreds more in order to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely,” Noem told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) have criticized the federal presence in the city. Hours after Good was shot and killed, Frey called on ICE to leave Minneapolis.

Telemundo Amarillo [1/12/2026 3:36 PM, Raquel Martinez and Madison Fisher, 4K] reports the Hartley County Sheriff’s Office is the first office in the Panhandle to complete the training necessary to further assist ICE agents. Hartley County Sheriff Chanze Fowler says this is done through the 2-87 G Program, which allows county departments and jails to collaborate with federal agents. Sheriff Fowler explains that they chose the task force option to give officers limited immigration authority to investigate, verify, and detain undocumented individuals within the county and at the Dallam County Jail. This also allows them to transport detainees to other ICE detention centers, such as the Randall County Jail. Sheriff Fowler says they started the task force in September and made 25 arrests last year. So far this year, more than 9 arrests have been made through the task force.

Breitbart [1/12/2026 8:53 AM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports a Dallas woman is out of a job after recording a TikTok video alerting illegal immigrants to nearby ICE activity, a message that spread rapidly online and raised questions about whether she was attempting to interfere with federal enforcement operations. The video, which quickly spread across TikTok and other platforms, showed the woman driving through a Dallas neighborhood while warning viewers to avoid an area where she claimed ICE officers were operating. The clip drew immediate backlash from law‑enforcement supporters who said she was effectively tipping off illegal immigrants and interfering with federal operations, prompting her employer to move swiftly to terminate her employment. The woman, identified as a 20-year-old named Gia, was employed by the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, KERA News reported. Her initial TikTok video included a comment that she was more concerned about families being separated than about being fired for reporting ICE agents and officers staying in the hotel. In the video, she reportedly told viewers, "I just wanted to give a warning to y’all that there are ICE agents staying at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas." The Hilton brand faced controversy after a Hampton Inn franchise hotel refused reservations for ICE agents and officers, Breitbart reported. As federal operations continue across North Texas, ICE officials say they will not be deterred by online attempts to tip off targets or interfere with lawful enforcement actions.

Telemundo52 [1/12/2026 9:45 PM, Maria Paula Ochoa, 76K] reports that, after spending more than six months in an immigration detention center, a man who was detained during one of the immigration raids at the Burbank Home Depot was finally able to reunite with his family. Juan Carlos Mejía was arrested on June 19 of last year, just after leaving the store after shopping. “Thank you, my Lord, for bringing me back home,” Mejía says, unable to hold back his tears as he hugs his wife and children, who can’t believe he’s home again. Mejía, who was released from a detention center in El Paso, Texas, says he is “very happy; I still can’t believe I’m home, because I was locked up for so long.” Images shared on cell phones show the moment Mejía is chased and arrested by federal agents during an immigration operation outside a Home Depot store in Burbank on June 19. After his arrest, Mejía claims he was transferred to a processing center in El Paso, Texas, where he says he spent more than a month, sleeping on a mat on the ground under a tent. “They would wake you up at 2 or 3 in the morning to go bathe, and if you didn’t bathe, you didn’t have another chance. You didn’t bathe every day… every week, every two weeks was the bath,” Mejía said. He says that, despite suffering from prediabetes and gastritis, it wasn’t until he was in critical condition that he received medical attention and was then transferred to the detention center, where he remained until January 7, when he was released on a $5,000 bond, approved by a federal judge in Texas, after his lawyer demonstrated that he has options under which he could obtain legal status in the future. “He has been in the United States for more than ten years, he currently has citizen children; one of his children has a diagnosed condition,” said Jeremy Anderson of the Anderson Law Group, adding that “he had no criminal record.” Mejía currently only gives thanks to God and to those who helped him even without knowing him. “What our organization did was contact the lawyer so that they could have the services; we also spoke with the lawyer so that he would charge them a little less,” said Mayra Todd, from the organization Women of Today. And think about how lucky he is to be able to be with those he loves most again. “That’s what I never lost, that faith, that hope in God to be able to return to my family,” said Mejía, who now wears an ankle monitor and has his first review appointment with ICE in a few weeks. We contacted the Department of Homeland Security requesting a statement regarding his release, but so far they have not responded. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [1/12/2026 12:38 PM, Daphne Psaledakis, 36480K] reports that the U.S. State Department said on Monday it has revoked more than 100,000 visas since President Donald Trump took office last year, setting what it said was a new record as his administration pursues its hardline immigration policy. The extent of the revocations reflects the broad immigration crackdown initiated when Trump returned to the White House last year, deporting an unprecedented number of migrants including some who held valid visas. The administration has also adopted a stricter policy on granting visas, with tightened social media vetting and expanded screening. "The State Department has now revoked over 100,000 visas, including some 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized visas for individuals who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity. We will continue to deport these thugs to keep America safe," the department said in a post on X. The four leading causes for revocations were overstays, driving under the influence, assault and theft, State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. The revocations marked a 150% increase from 2024, he added. The State Department has also launched a Continuous Vetting Center aimed at ensuring "all foreign nationals on American soil comply with our laws — and that the visas of those who pose a threat to American citizens are swiftly revoked," Pigott said.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/12/2026 9:00 AM, Morgan Phillips, 40621K] Video: HERE

Blaze [1/12/2026 12:20 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K] reports U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, the Massachusetts-based Obama judge who blocked the Trump administration from cutting federal funds to Planned Parenthood last month, issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday preventing the Department of Homeland Security from revoking the legal status of tens of thousands of foreigners. The Trump administration announced last month that it was terminating all categorical family reunification parole programs and corresponding work authorization for aliens from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras as well as for their immediate family members, effective Dec. 15. Per the announcement, the "temporary parole period of aliens who have been paroled into the United States under the FRP programs, and whose initial period of parole has not already expired by January 14, 2026 will terminate on that date." There are two circumstances under which foreign nationals’ parole status would not immediately be revoked: if they have pending applications to register permanent residence or adjust status, or if DHS Secretary Kristi Noem determines otherwise on a case-by-case basis. The DHS indicated that those set to be stripped of status — well over 10,000 noncitizens — who stay in the U.S. beyond their parole termination date with no lawful basis to remain would likely be removed. According to the notice in the Federal Register, the FRP programs failed to achieve the goals set by past administrations and are at odds with President Donald Trump’s current priorities and foreign policy objectives. Not only did the programs fail to sufficiently discourage or reduce unlawful migration, the programs "increased administrative strain across multiple [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] directorates and [Customs and Border Protection] ports of entry," said the notice. "The desire to reunite families does not overcome the government’s responsibility to prevent fraud and abuse and to uphold national security and public safety," the DHS said in a release.

Bloomberg Law News [1/12/2026 11:31 AM, Evan Weinberger, 91K] reports banks and other lenders can consider a potential borrower’s immigration status when reviewing a loan application, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department said, reversing a Biden-era policy. The agencies on Monday withdrew a 2023 joint statement that warned lenders against considering immigration or citizenship status too broadly in mortgage, credit card, auto loan, and other credit applications. The Biden administration had determined such reviews risked violating federal fair lending laws, but the Trump-led agencies now say the joint statement was inappropriate. Lenders are allowed to use immigration and residency status in loan application evaluations under the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Justice Department and the CFPB said in their withdrawal. "We are correcting the last administration’s attempt to ignore these well-accepted and common-sense principles of our nation’s fair lending laws," acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said in a statement. The CFPB is separately looking to roll back fair lending enforcement, including rewriting the ECOA’s rules to make it harder for regulators and private actors to bring discrimination cases.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/12/2026 9:58 PM, Alex Riggins, 1538K] reports a San Diego federal judge on Monday sentenced a Chinese-born U.S. Navy sailor to 16 years and eight months in federal prison for selling military documents to a Chinese spy, telling the sailor that it was a “sad case” but that he was suffering the consequences of his own “foolish behavior.” A jury convicted Jinchao “Patrick” Wei in August on six counts of conspiracy, espionage and charges related to unlawfully sending defense information to a foreign government. The jury acquitted Wei, a naturalized U.S. citizen, of a single count of naturalization fraud, though both the judge and a prosecutor said Monday that Wei will likely face civil denaturalization proceedings. Trial evidence showed a Chinese intelligence officer recruited Wei on social media and paid him at least $12,000 in exchange for dozens of technical manuals that contained information about weapons, defense and propulsion systems for the USS Essex, the San Diego-based ship to which he was assigned, and other similar Navy ships. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego said Wei’s prosecution was the first time San Diego-area prosecutors had charged a defendant with selling defense information to aid a foreign government, saying it’s a statute reserved “for the most serious circumstances.” While both prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed that Wei, 25, was not politically nor ideologically motivated, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley repeatedly told U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff on Monday that Wei was a traitor. “He swore an oath to defend this country, he swore an oath to protect this country, he swore an oath to defend and protect the Constitution, he swore an oath to die and protect this country, if he had to,” Parmley said outside court after Monday’s hearing. “He was on a working Naval warship where they give you a lot of responsibility, even as a junior sailor. So he’s a traitor.” Prosecutors recommended a sentence of more than 20 years, arguing Wei was greedy and sold out his country for “cold, hard cash.” Wei’s attorneys recommended a sentence of less than three years, arguing their client was an emotionally stunted loner who’d been manipulated by a Chinese spy, but who had only turned over basic information about an outdated ship rather than highly classified military secrets. Wei told the judge that he accepted full responsibility for his actions, that there was no excusing his wrongdoing and that he was ashamed of any harm he may have brought to his shipmates. “I hate myself for all this,” he said. Huff told Wei that he deserved some credit for accepting responsibility after being convicted, and she acknowledged that he had a difficult upbringing in China. But she said a lengthy sentence was needed to deter other members of the military from committing similar acts. “I think you violated your oath from the get-go,” the judge told Wei. “This is a very sad case, but we require members of the military to keep their oaths.”

CBS Miami [1/12/2026 5:21 PM, Tania Francois, 39474K] reports sixteen years ago today, on Jan. 12, 2010, a powerful earthquake devastated Haiti. The Haitian government estimated more than 316,000 people were killed or missing. In the aftermath, the U.S. granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians already in the country; that protection now has an expiration date of Feb 3rd. Federal notices and USCIS guidance show Haiti’s TPS designation is set to terminate at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2026, leaving an estimated 350,000 Haitian TPS holders uncertain about their future in the United States. A federal judge is weighing a challenge connected to the end of Haiti’s TPS protections. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security has been promoting voluntary departure through the CBP Home mobile app.

Daily Wire [1/12/2026 4:34 PM, Zach Jewell, 2494K] reports President Donald Trump made his argument for keeping his far-reaching "reciprocal tariffs" on Monday and said that the United States would be "screwed" if the Supreme Court rules against his unprecedented trade policy. The Supreme Court could release its highly anticipated decision on the tariff case as soon as Wednesday, but it remains unknown when exactly the court will rule on the Trump administration’s emergency appeal. Trump said that a ruling against his administration would force the United States to pay back "hundreds of billions of dollars." The United States collected around $200 billion in tariff revenue last year, largely thanks to Trump’s tariffs, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trump has used his so-called reciprocal tariffs to pressure companies to manufacture products in the United States to avoid his hefty import taxes. He argued that, taking foreign investments into account, the repercussions of a ruling against his tariffs could result in trillions of dollars no longer going into the U.S. economy.

The Washington Post [1/12/2026 6:39 PM, Kim Bellware, 24149K] reports a Venezuelan national shot by a Border Patrol agent during a “targeted vehicle stop” in Portland, Oregon, was charged Monday with aggravated assault on a federal officer. Luis Nino-Moncada put Border Patrol agents in harm’s way last week by repeatedly striking one of their unoccupied vehicles and damaging it, according to a criminal complaint. Nino-Moncada, who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the arm and is now in custody, was also charged with damaging federal property costing more than $1,000. Nino-Moncada, also referred to by the Department of Homeland Security as Nico, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Oregon on Monday. Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, who was a passenger in Nino-Moncada’s pickup truck, has been charged with illegal entry into the United States. Zambrano-Contreras was also hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest after the incident. DHS has said both are undocumented Venezuelan nationals and that they had entered the U.S. in 2022 and 2023, respectively. In the Portland shooting, both defendants were described as having ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, though federal prosecutors did not provide documentation and The Washington Post was not able to immediately verify those claims. Nino-Moncada repeatedly crashed into an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle after being ordered out of his car, according to the criminal complaint. The agents were afraid Nino-Moncada might hit him, the complaint said, leading one of them to shoot at Nino-Moncada, who eventually drove away from the scene. There is no video footage of the incident, according to the complaint. None of the federal agents were wearing body cameras, which are not required of Customs and Border Protection personnel, and federal investigators said they were unable to find social media video or surveillance video from the area that captured the incident. The Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 4:11 PM, Jack Morphet, 646K] reports Luis Nino-Moncada was wounded along with a female passenger in the car he was driving when they tried to flee federal agents during an enforcement operation, according to the Justice Department. The two were shot when a Border Patrol officer standing in front of the car moved to the side before firing two rounds into the driver’s side window, according to an investigation into the incident by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The shooting happened a day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in her vehicle in Minneapolis, Minn. The Portland incident was the latest of several involving immigration agents firing at civilian vehicles. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Nino-Moncada is a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member who illegally entered the U.S. in 2022. He has previously been arrested for driving under the influence and was issued a deportation order by a judge in Denver in November 2024, according to court documents. The woman with him, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, entered the country illegally as well and is connected to a recent shooting in Portland, authorities said. “Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Monday when announcing charges against Nino-Moncada. USA Today [1/12/2026 6:35 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 67103K] reports that the Oregon Department of Justice announced last week it would conduct its own parallel investigation of the Portland shooting. Federal authorities allege Nino-Moncada "repeatedly struck a federal law enforcement vehicle, placing Border Patrol agents in harm’s way and resulting in significant damage to federal property." The DOJ also alleged Nino-Moncada is in the country illegally, having previously been ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2024.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [1/12/2026 3:53 PM, John Binder, 2416K]
NewsMax [1/12/2026 12:59 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K]
Washington Examiner [1/12/2026 12:05 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K]

Daily Wire [1/12/2026 1:03 PM, Michael Knowles, 2494K] reports it appears more criminals are trying to run over DHS agents. Last Thursday in Portland, Oregon, two criminals attempting to run over an ICE agent were shot. Now, you’re not hearing quite as much about this story as the story in Minneapolis. That’s because it wasn’t some white lesbian activist. In this case, as the local news in Portland reports, the two people who tried to run over the federal agent were a suspected gangster and his prostitute, both of whom appear to have ties to Tren de Aragua. This is another example of body camera footage and the facts vindicating law enforcement, totally upending the liberal narrative. The same thing happened in Minneapolis. In fact, the Left’s attempt to gin up these kinds of stories against cops goes all the way back to the Michael Brown case. Here we have a very clear case: illegal immigrants associated with a particularly violent Venezuelan gang, running a human trafficking ring, trying to run over cops, who were then shot. It appears they weren’t killed, but they were stopped. And yet, the Police Chief in Portland, Bob Day, had a different take on law enforcement preventing Latin American gangsters from running them over: And what I can say is there is an association with the two folks yesterday and TDA, Tren de Aragua. I hesitated to even share this information initially because I’m very aware of the historic injustice of victim blaming, oftentimes portrayed by law enforcement, including this very agency that I’ve represented so proudly for so many years — for just a moment, specifically to my Latino community. It’s sad and small, my goodness, that we even have to qualify these remarks, because I understand — or at least have attempted to understand through your voices — your concern, your fear, your anger. This information in no way is meant to condone or support or agree with any of the actions that occurred yesterday.

AP [1/12/2026 6:55 PM, Claire Rush and Gene Johnson] reports the FBI said in a court document made public Monday that it had found no surveillance or other video of a Border Patrol agent shooting and wounding two people in a pickup truck during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, last week. Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The truck then pulled forward, and the agents said they feared for their own safety and that of the public, the document said. The Department of Homeland Security has said the two people in the truck entered the U.S. illegally and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. None of the six agents was recording body camera footage, and investigators have uncovered no surveillance or other video footage of the shooting, FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in an affidavit supporting aggravated assault and property damage charges against the driver, Luis David Nino-Moncada. His passenger, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, was hospitalized after being shot in the chest and on Monday was being held at a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to an online detainee locator system maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras are Venezuela nationals and entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and 2023, respectively, the Department of Homeland Security said. It identified Nino-Moncada as an associate of Tren de Aragua and Zambrano-Contreras as involved in a prostitution ring run by the gang.

Daily Wire [1/12/2026 11:29 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports new shocking details have emerged in the case of a suspected member of the notorious Venezuelan prison Tren de Aragua, who federal authorities have charged with attempting to run over U.S. immigration officers in Portland. One Border Patrol agent pulled a gun and fired a “defensive shot” at the vehicle, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The suspected gang member and his passenger, a suspected Tren de Aragua-tied prostitute, sped off. The Daily Wire obtained newly unsealed charges filed against the driver, Luis David Nico Moncada, who is now charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and depredation of federal property in excess of $1,000. Moncada, who crossed the border illegally during the Biden administration and later received a deportation order, was driving the alleged prostitute in a red pickup truck when he was pulled over by six Border Patrol agents. Four of the agents approached Moncada, who appeared “anxious and visibly moving around in the driver’s seat,” and asked him and the alleged prostitute to exit the vehicle. Instead, Moncada reversed his car and hit an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle “with enough speed and force to cause significant damage,” according to the charging documents. He then put his car in drive, “and continued the forward/reverse maneuver multiple times, striking the Border Patrol vehicle multiple times.” One of the agents fired their gun at Moncada before he fled the scene.

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 4:31 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports federal prosecutors officially charged a suspected Tren de Aragua gangbanger for allegedly using a vehicle as a weapon against Border Patrol agents. The Department of Justice (DOJ) lodged criminal charges against Luis Nino-Moncada, a Venezuelan national living unlawfully in the U.S., per a Monday announcement from the agency. During a federal immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, Nino-Moncada allegedly damaged property and put Border Patrol agents in harm’s way when he repeatedly rammed a law enforcement vehicle with another car. Border Patrol agents had initially targeted a vehicle belonging to Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, an illegal migrant allegedly involved in a Tren de Aragua-led prosecution ring, according to prosecutors. Zambrano-Contreras was sitting in the passenger seat when Nino-Moncada, in response to commands to exit the vehicle, placed the car in reverse and intentionally collided with a Border Patrol car, driving forward and reversing multiple times. Acting in self-defense, agents fired back at the assailants, resulting in both of them being hospitalized. Nino-Moncada admitted to intentionally hitting the Border Patrol car in an attempt to escape and acknowledged knowing that it was an immigration enforcement vehicle, according to prosecutors. He’s been charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly weapon and depredation of federal property in excess of $1,000.

AP [1/12/2026 8:04 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports Ontario International Airport (ONT) announced that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now accepts Digital IDs at our TSA security checkpoints, making identification verification faster, more secure, and more convenient for travelers. ONT continues to embrace innovation that enhances the passenger experience. With TSA’s new Digital ID program, eligible travelers can present their identification directly from their mobile device — such as a smartphone or smartwatch — at TSA security checkpoints instead of handling a physical ID. Digital IDs can be stored in secure digital wallets like Apple Wallet, Google Wallet or a state-issued app and are accepted at more than 250 airports nationwide, including ONT. Digital IDs also can be used with the ONT+ Visitor Pass Program, a free system that allows non-ticketed visitors to access the airport’s post-security terminals, making it possible for friends and family to accompany travelers to the gate or enjoy ONT’s restaurants and shops beyond security. Ontario International Airport was the first airport in the nation to introduce a digital visitors pass program and remains one of only a handful of U.S. airports to offer this level of access. "Ontario International Airport is proud to support TSA’s digital identity initiative," said Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer for the Ontario International Airport Authority. "This modern capability aligns with ONT’s commitment to innovation, safety and passenger convenience. Our travelers now have more choice and flexibility when navigating security — and when paired with ONT+, we continue to elevate the journey from start to finish.”

Los Angeles Times [1/12/2026 3:37 PM, Tony Briscoe and Noah Haggerty, 14862K] reports in a remarkable reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for soil testing for lead at 100 homes that were destroyed by the Eaton fire and cleaned up by federal disaster workers. The forthcoming announcement would mark an about-face for FEMA officials, who repeatedly resisted calls to test properties for toxic substances after federal contractors finished removing fire debris. The new testing initiative follows reporting by The Times that workers repeatedly violated cleanup protocols, possibly leaving fire contaminants behind or moving them into unwanted areas, according to federal reports. Local environmental health advocates worry the EPA testing is designed only to justify FEMA’s decision not to undertake comprehensive soil testing, instead of providing real relief to their communities.

FOX News [1/12/2026 11:31 AM, Peter D’Abrosca Fox, 40621K] reports a volunteer radio show host has resigned after authorities confirmed they are aware of a post on left-wing-dominated social media app Bluesky, in which a person advocated for killing Vice President JD Vance. "It’s simple, we kill JD Vance," said the person behind an account named hanslopez.bsky.social. The person identified themselves as a host of a radio show on WUML, which is funded by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. The comment was made in response to another Bluesky user who claimed that, "JD VANCE THINKS BRITAIN & FRANCE ARE AMERICAS [sic] LIKELY ENEMIES.” WUML’s website says that it has "given a voice to both the student body of UMass Lowell, and the greater Lowell community" for more than six decades. "Founded in 1952, WUML functions as a non-commercial FM station located in Lowell, Massachusetts, funded by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and fully managed and operated by student members, broadcasting both terrestrially and online," the description says. "UMass Lowell police promptly coordinated with the FBI, Secret Service and Haverhill police the same day to ensure an appropriate response," the school said. "Contact was made with the individual in question, and the necessary assessments were conducted in collaboration with federal partners. Authorities confirmed there was no immediate threat.” Secret Service confirmed to Fox News Digital that it was aware of the post. The Haverhill Police Department directed Fox News Digital to the FBI, which declined to comment.

The Hill [1/12/2026 9:54 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports President Trump’s motorcade was rerouted Sunday after a “suspicious object” was discovered at Palm Beach International (PBI) Airport. The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) discovered the object during advance sweeps at the president’s usual airport in Florida, prompting the motorcade to take a different route than usual to get to the airport, taking a circular route around town. “During advance sweeps of PBI Airport, a suspicious object was discovered by USSS. A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Police officers on motorcycles were traveling alongside the president’s motorcade. Air Force One parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located. The lights outside the plane were off when the motorcade arrived.

NewsMax [1/12/2026 3:16 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent linked to last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Good has gone into hiding, the Daily Mail reported. A Special Response Team entered agent Jonathan Ross’ five-bedroom house in Minneapolis and removed five large plastic crates, a computer tower, and a stack of picture frames, the Daily Mail reported Friday. Agents then returned to their unmarked trucks, forming a protective perimeter around a vehicle that was driven out of the garage. Since then, the house has remained empty amid reports that the couple and their children have gone into hiding. The Department of Homeland Security has not identified Ross as the ICE agent responsible for the shooting.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [1/12/2026 3:26 PM, Jeremy Louwerse, 42219K] r

NewsMax [1/12/2026 6:46 PM, Carla Babb, 4109K] reports U.S. and Danish officials tell Newsmax that Denmark provided support during the seizure of the sanctioned oil tanker Marinera, previously and more commonly known as the Bella 1, last week in the North Atlantic. The support came even as the administration has ramped up pressure on Denmark over control of Greenland, which has been a territory of NATO ally Denmark for hundreds of years. This collaboration and assistance is typical among NATO allies, with a U.S. official saying allied efforts are critical to U.S. success. The seizure took place on Jan. 7 between Britain and Greenland after the vessel made a U-turn in the Caribbean near Venezuela and fled from the U.S. Coast Guard. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said last week that the U.K. allowed U.S. aircraft to use bases in the country for the operation and provided additional surveillance and refueling during the final capture.

CBS News [1/12/2026 9:03 AM, Emily Mae Czachor, 39474K] reports a missing surfer was rescued in Puerto Rico on Friday, following a huge search effort that involved multiple federal and local agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The surfer had been missing for more than 30 hours by the time he was ultimately found, in a dramatic ordeal that was captured on video. The 68-year-old man had gone surfing near Surfer’s Beach in the city of Aguandilla at around noon local time on Thursday afternoon, his daughter said, according to the Coast Guard. No one heard from him after that, according to the daughter, and the man’s Airbnb host proceeded to report him missing Friday evening, after he failed to return to the rental home for more than 24 hours. Video of the eventual rescue was shared online, showing the Coast Guard crew hovering above the stranded surfer and, later, hoisting him from a reef into the aircraft. Coast Guard watchstanders worked with the Puerto Rico Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, a specialized Puerto Rican maritime unit and local emergency responders as they began to probe land and sea for the lost surfer.

Federal News Network [1/12/2026 5:33 PM, Justin Doubleday, 986K] reports from addressing Volt Typhoon to stemming workforce losses, cyber experts say CISA needs a permanent leader to move forward. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is on the verge of going a full year without a permanent leader, as cyber experts say the void is preventing CISA from moving forward on key issues and leaving an already reeling workforce in the lurch. The Senate earlier this month returned Sean Plankey’s nomination to the White House after lawmakers failed to vote on it during last year’s session. President Donald Trump formally nominated Plankey in March of last year. But his nomination was placed under multiple holds, some of them unrelated to CISA or cybersecurity. Most recently, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) had reportedly placed a hold on Plankey after the Department of Homeland Security terminated a Coast Guard cutter contract with a shipyard in Florida. Plankey has been serving as a senior advisor in the Coast Guard while he awaits confirmation. Now, it’s unclear whether Plankey will be re-nominated or if the Trump administration will go in a different direction. CISA is currently being led in an acting capacity by Deputy Director Madhu Gottumukkala, who was chief information officer for the state of South Dakota when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was governor there.

Homeland Preparedness News [1/12/2026 7:30 AM, Liz Carey] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced recently that it had retired 10 Emergency Directives issued between 2019 and 2024. The emergency directives had been issued, per statute, to mitigate emerging threats and to minimize impact. Officials said the emergency directors were tied to specific Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, and were retired because those vulnerabilities are not included in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. CISA said it had determined their objectives had been met, and their requirements no longer aligned with the current risk posture, rendering them obsolete. “As the operational lead for federal cybersecurity, CISA leverages its authorities to strengthen federal systems and defend against unacceptable risks, especially those related to hostile nation-state actors. When the threat landscape demands it, CISA mandates swift, decisive action by Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies and continues to issue directives as needed to drive timely cyber risk reduction across federal enterprise,” CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala said. “The closure of these ten Emergency Directives reflects CISA’s commitment to operational collaboration across the federal enterprise. Every day, CISA’s exceptional team works collaboratively with partners to eliminate persistent access, counter emerging threats, and deliver real-time mitigation guidance. Looking ahead, CISA continues to advance Secure by Design principles – prioritizing transparency, configurability, and interoperability – so every organization can better defend their diverse environments.”  Officials said it was the highest number of emergency directives retired by the agency at one time.

Washington Times [1/12/2026 1:24 PM, Stephen Dinan, 852K] reports that State and local police never report many of their encounters with people on the FBI’s terrorism watchlist, the government’s chief watchdog said Monday, blaming the feds for failing to give better guidance on how to use the watchlist. Police in every state, the District of Columbia and four tribal governments reported encounters with people on the watchlist from 2019 to 2024. But the Government Accountability Office, the investigative division of Congress, asked 21 police officials and more than half of them said their officers don’t always call to report the encounters to the FBI, even when they should. The watchlist, better known as the Terrorism Screening Dataset, contains people the government has confirmed to be terrorists, suspected of terrorism or associated with terrorism suspects. They are dubbed “known or suspected terrorists,” or KSTs in Washington-speak. When nonfederal police make a traffic stop, for example, they run an identity through their systems and the watchlist is supposed to be queried as part of the National Crime Information Center check. If there’s a potential match, the officer receives an alert and is told to contact the FBI’s Threat Screening Center to confirm the identity. But 12 out of 21 state, local and tribal police officials asked by GAO said their officers don’t consistently make those calls to the screening center “in instances where it was warranted.”

CBS News [1/12/2026 8:57 AM, Lauren Fichten and Julia Ingram, 39474K] reports thirteen-year-old Audree loved to play Nirvana on guitar, draw anime characters and read the series "Spy School," her mother, Jaimee Seitz said. "She had her own personality, her own hobbies, her own everything," said Seitz, who lives in Kentucky. "Audree was one of a kind.” A week after her 13th birthday, Audree died by suicide. "I never believed ever my child would take her life," said Seitz. "I believed it was an accident." Days later, a detective called Seitz to tell her that Audree’s journal contained drawings of school shooters. On Roblox, Discord and TikTok, she had been interacting with children and adults in the online True Crime Community, or TCC, who glorify mass shooters and encourage violence and self-harm. Seitz said Audree was only 8 years old when she was first exposed to TCC. "I think she felt a sense of comfort with this group, with being a part of something, and I believe that they pushed her to do it," Seitz said. Extremism experts classify TCC as a subculture of nihilistic violent extremism, in which participants are not motivated by a particular ideology but instead driven by a generally misanthropic worldview. Some are driven by a desire to achieve notoriety within online communities through violence or self harm, while others target and exploit vulnerable individuals. The FBI has seen a 300% increase in nihilistic violent extremism cases from September 2024 to September 2025, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. In December, Patel wrote on X that the FBI is pursuing hundreds of nihilistic violent extremism cases, including many from another network called 764. "This is one of the most serious issues in America," Patel wrote on X. The FBI confirmed to CBS News that it had been in touch with Audree’s family, but declined to comment further on her case or answer general inquiries about nihilistic violent extremism. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [1/12/2026 6:24 AM, Charlie Drape, 67103K] reports Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor John Horhn on Sunday condemned a fire that broke out overnight at Beth Israel, the city’s only Jewish synagogue, calling the incident a targeted attack on religious freedom and the safety of Jackson residents. "Acts of antisemitism, racism and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as threats to our residents’ safety and freedom to worship," Horhn said in a statement. "Targeting people because of their faith, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation is morally wrong, un-American and incompatible with the values of this city." The fire occurred around 3 a.m. Saturday morning at the synagogue. The Jackson Fire Department responded and was able to contain and extinguish the blaze. A suspect has been arrested by JFD’s Arson Division, but their identity has not been released. It was not immediately clear whether the fire has formally been classified as arson or a hate crime. JFD could not be reached for further details Sunday morning. No one was injured. "Jackson stands with Beth Israel and the Jewish community, and we’ll do everything we can to support them and hold accountable anyone who tries to spread fear and hate here," Horhn said. Along with JFD’s Arson Investigation Division, the Jackson Police Department are leading the investigation, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The investigation remains ongoing.

Washington Examiner [1/12/2026 10:07 PM, Salena Zito, 1394K] reports Russ Latino, a native Mississippian and founder of the Jackson-based Magnolia Tribune Institute, said an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi alleges Pittman admitted to law enforcement that he set the fire at Beth Israel because of its "Jewish ties." Latino added that Pittman referred to the synagogue as the "Synagogue of Satan" and detailed the steps he took leading up to the arson. Latino noted that "Synagogue of Satan" is an antisemitic phrase that both Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens have used in recent years. "Nothing in his personal profile points out anything political. There is no Trump or Biden or Harris. There are just a lot of bible verses," he said, adding, "But ‘Synagogue of Satan’ well, that is a pretty specific alliteration and the same phraseology used by Fuentes and Owens," he said. His social media presence on X shows a young man posting about his Christian faith and baseball, where he was a standout player in both high school and college. Latino said the entire Jackson community has rallied around the Beth Israel congregants. "Many different faith organizations had reached out and offered their houses of worship for the Beth Israel members so they can practice their faith," he said. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves echoed that community sentiment, saying the state of Mississippi stands with the members of the congregation. "This heinous act will never be tolerated, and the perpetrator should face the full and solemn weight of their actions. I have directed the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to support our federal law enforcement partners in any manner necessary as they investigate this horrible situation and pursue state charges," he said. Public Safety Commissioner Sean Lindell said the department was fully engaged and working closely with its federal and local partners to hold those responsible accountable. "We will pursue charges at both the state and federal levels to see that justice is served," Lindell said. The arson follows years of violent attacks against the nation’s Jewish community, dating back to October 2018, when Robert Bowers murdered 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the worst massacre of Jews in American history.

AP [1/12/2026 9:46 AM, Jim Vertuno, 852K] reports that the trial of a Texas police officer charged in the halting law enforcement response to the attack on Robb Elementary heads into a second week Monday with prosecutors continuing to press their case that he did nothing in the early moments to stop the gunman. Adrian Gonzales, 52, a former Uvalde schools police officer, was among the first officers to arrive on the scene as the gunman approached the school. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment. The May 24, 2022, attack is one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. It left 19 students and two teachers dead. The opening days of the trial included dramatic replays of the initial emergency calls, testimony from teachers who huddled with terrified students, and the mother of one of the victims recounting how her daughter had asked to leave school early that day. The trial’s second week could include testimony from experts in police training and more families of the victims. It was unclear if Gonzales planned to testify in his own defense. Gonzales was among the first of more than 370 federal, state and local officers to arrive at the school. It would take more than an hour for a tactical team to go into a classroom and kill 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos.The trial is tightly focused on Gonzales’ actions. Prosecutors allege he abandoned his active shooter training and did not try to engage or distract the gunman outside the school. They said he failed again minutes later when a group of officers went inside the school only to retreat when they came under heavy gunfire. Prosecutors noted how students made 911 calls from inside the classroom with the gunman.

Reported similarly:
CNN [1/12/2026 11:12 AM, Shimon Prokupecz,Matt Friedman, Matthew J. Friedman, and Rachel Clarke, 18595K]

Washington Post [1/12/2026 11:56 PM, Noah Robertson, Tara Copp and Ellen Nakashima, 24149K] reports the Trump administration’s first deadly strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat, in early September, was conducted by a secretive military aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane, multiple officials confirmed to Washington Post on Monday. The crewed aircraft did not have any weapons showing when the attack occurred, two officials said, speaking, like some others, on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Instead, the munitions were fired from a launch tube that allows them to be carried inside the plane, not mounted outside on the wing. Use of the plane prompted legal debate after the Sept. 2 operation over whether the concealment of its military status amounted to a ruse that violated international law, said current and former officials familiar with the matter. Eleven people were killed, including two who survived the initial attack by U.S. forces but died in a controversial follow-on strike. Feigning civilian status and then carrying out an attack with explicit intent to kill or wound the target is known as “perfidy” under the law of armed conflict, a war crime, according to legal experts. “If you arm these aircraft for self-defense purposes, that would not be a violation” of the law of war, said Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised U.S. Special Operations forces for seven years at the height of the Pentagon’s counterterrorism campaign that followed 9/11. “But using it as an offensive platform and relying on its civilian appearance to gain the confidence of the enemy is.” The Trump administration has claimed that its lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the waters around Latin America are lawful because President Donald Trump has determined the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. That contention is widely disputed by legal experts, who say the U.S. is not at war with drug traffickers and that killing suspected criminals in international waters is tantamount to murder. Several analysts and former national security officials have said the entire campaign is, at its foundation, unlawful. “This isn’t an armed conflict,” said Huntley, director of the national security law program at Georgetown Law. “But what makes this so surprising is that even if you buy their argument, it’s a violation of international law.” The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for U.S. Special Operations Command, which carried out the Sept. 2 operation, declined to comment. New York Times first reported the plane’s civilian paint scheme earlier Monday. The Sept. 2 military strike was the first of almost three dozen to date. The attacks have killed more than 100 people. The initial strike raised questions — among Democrats and law of war experts, principally — about whether a crime was committed when U.S. forces returned to the boat wreckage after the first strike to fire again and kill the two survivors as they clung to the hull. While the “double tap” to kill the survivors has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill, the military has closely guarded specifics of the aircraft involved in the operation.

CNN [1/13/2026 12:01 AM, Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Priscilla Alvarez, Jim Sciutto, Zachary Cohen, 18595K] reports the Defense Department has spent more than a year testing a device purchased in an undercover operation that some investigators think could be the cause of a series of mysterious ailments impacting US spies, diplomats and troops that are colloquially known as Havana Syndrome, according to four sources briefed on the matter. A division of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, purchased the device for millions of dollars in the waning days of the Biden administration, using funding provided by the Defense Department, according to two of the sources. Officials paid "eight figures" for the device, these people said, declining to offer a more specific number. The device is still being studied and there is ongoing debate — and in some quarters of government, skepticism — over its link to the roughly dozens of anomalous health incidents that remain officially unexplained. CNN has asked the Pentagon, HSI and the DHS for comment. The CIA declined to comment. The device acquired by HSI produces pulsed radio waves, one of the sources said, which some officials and academics have speculated for years could be the cause of the incidents. Although the device is not entirely Russian in origin, it contains Russian components, this person added. Officials have long struggled to understand how a device powerful enough to cause the kind of damage some victims have reported could be made portable; that remains a core question, according to one of the sources briefed on the device. The device could fit in a backpack, this person said. The acquisition of the device has reignited a painful and contentious debate within the US government about Havana Syndrome, known officially as "anomalous health episodes.” The mysterious illness first emerged in late 2016, when a cluster of US diplomats stationed in the Cuban capital of Havana began reporting symptoms consistent with head trauma, including vertigo and extreme headaches. In subsequent years, there have been cases reported around the world. In the subsequent decade the intelligence community and the Defense Department have sought to understand if those officials were the victims of some kind of directed energy attack by a foreign government — with senior intelligence officials saying publicly that there wasn’t enough evidence to support that conclusion and victims arguing that the US government has gaslit them and ignored important evidence that Russia was attacking American government officials.

CBS News [1/13/26 4:12 M, Staff, 39474K] reports a former U.S. Navy sailor convicted of selling technical and operating manuals for ships and operating systems to an intelligence officer working for China was sentenced Monday to more than 16 years in prison, prosecutors said. A federal judge in San Diego sentenced Jinchao Wei, also known as Patrick Wei, 25, to 200 months. A federal jury convicted Wei in August of six crimes, including espionage. He was paid more than $12,000 for the information he sold, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. Wei, an engineer for the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, was one of two California-based sailors charged on Aug. 3, 2023, with providing sensitive military information to China. The other, Wenheng Zhao, was sentenced to more than two years in 2024 after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of receiving a bribe in violation of his official duties. U.S. officials have for years expressed concern about the espionage threat they say the Chinese government poses, bringing criminal cases in recent years against Beijing intelligence operatives who have stolen sensitive government and commercial information, including through illegal hacking. Wei held a security clearance that gave him access to sensitive national security defense information about the ship’s operations and capabilities. Wei was recruited via social media in 2022 by an intelligence officer who portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, prosecutors said. Evidence presented in court showed Wei told a friend that the person was "extremely suspicious" and that it was "quite obviously" espionage. Wei disregarded the friend’s advice to delete the contact and instead moved conversations with the intelligence officer to a different encrypted messaging app Wei believed was more secure, prosecutors said. Over the course of 18 months, Wei sent the officer photos and videos of the Essex, advised him of the location of various Navy ships and told him about the Essex’s defensive weapons, prosecutors said. Wei sold the intelligence officer 60 technical and operating manuals, including those for weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators. The manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships. After he was arrested in August 2023, Wei was asked by FBI investigators to describe his actions involving the Chinese intelligence agent. "Espionage," he responded, according to prosecutors. They said Wei, during that interview also told investigators, "I’m screwed."

AP [1/12/2026 11:49 PM, Ken Moritsugu and Rob Gillies, 4722K] reports a leader of Canada is visiting China this week for the first time in nearly a decade, a bid to rebuild the country’s fractured relations with the world’s second-largest economy — and reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States. The push by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who arrives Wednesday, is part of a major rethink as ties sour with the U.S. — the world’s No. 1 economy and long the largest trading partner for Canada by far. Carney aims to double Canada’s non-American exports in the next decade in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the American leader’s musing that Canada could become “the 51st state.” “At a time of global trade disruption, Canada is focused on building a more competitive, sustainable and independent economy,” Carney said in a statement. “We’re forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner.” Carney will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and other officials. Canadian officials, in a briefing with reporters, said that it’s an attempt re-energize a dormant strategic partnership and also noted that Washington’s intervention in Venezuela is far reaching. Canadian officials said that there will be progress on trade irritants with Beijing, but not a definitive elimination of some tariffs. Two of Carney’s lawmakers, meanwhile, said they are quitting a sponsored trip to Taiwan early to “avoid confusion” about Canada’s China policy as Carney prepares to visit Beijing. In a joint statement, Liberal lawmakers Helena Jaczek and Marie-France Lalonde said while they are returning to Canada based on “advice from the government,” it does not change Canada’s stance on Taiwan. China views self-governed Taiwan as its sovereign territory and has said it would take it by force if needed. Michael Chong, the opposition Conservative foreign affairs critic, said the Liberal decision to quit the trip early is “nothing short of kowtowing to Beijing’s authoritarianism.” Carney will be in China until Saturday, and then visit Qatar before attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week. Trump’s tariffs have pushed both Canada and China to look for opportunities to strengthen international cooperation, said Zhu Feng, the dean of the School of International Studies at China’s Nanjing University. “Carney’s visit does reflect the new space for further development in China-Canadian relations under the current U.S. trade protectionism,” he said. But he cautioned against overestimating the importance of the visit, noting that Canada remains a U.S. ally. The two North American nations also share a deep cultural heritage and a common geography.

Reuters [1/12/2026 9:25 AM, Natalia Siniawski and Raul Cortes, 4109K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday said she had a "good conversation" with U.S. President Donald Trump on security and efforts to reduce ‍drug trafficking. Sheinbaum said on ‍X the two leaders discussed security with respect for Mexico’s ⁠sovereignty, reducing drug trafficking, as well as trade and investment. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio spoke with Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente about ‍the need for stronger cooperation to dismantle Mexico’s ⁠violent narco-terrorist networks and stop the trafficking of fentanyl and weapons, department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 4:26 PM, José de Córdoba, Steve Fisher, and Santiago Pérez, 646K] reports President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday she rejected an offer from President Trump to use the U.S. military against the country’s drug cartels, as Mexican security officials grow concerned about potential American demands in the wake of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s ouster. It is a proposal that Trump has made before, Sheinbaum said. But Trump has raised the stakes since Maduro’s capture, signaling his displeasure with the security situation in Mexico. In a television interview last week, he said the U.S. is “going to start hitting land with regard to the cartels,” saying the groups run Mexico. Sheinbaum said she told Trump that U.S. participation wasn’t necessary. “We are very clear on the defense of our territory,” she said at a news conference, recounting her conversation with Trump. Trump had a “great conversation with President Sheinbaum” and discussed trade and stopping the flow of illicit drugs, said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “The President’s primary goal is stopping the scourge of narcoterrorism that is destroying communities across the country and he is willing to use any tool at his disposal to save American lives,” Kelly said. The Monday morning call between Trump and Sheinbaum underlined growing alarm among Mexican security officials about the intentions of the U.S. High-level officials have held a series of private meetings since Maduro was deposed where they discussed the possibility of untenable demands from Trump beyond U.S. military action, including the potential arrests of politicians from Sheinbaum’s party the U.S. believes have cartel ties, said people familiar with the discussions. So far, there is no indication that unilateral U.S. military action is in the works, these people say, primarily because Mexican security officials have strong links to the top brass of U.S. law enforcement and armed forces. These channels remain open and bilateral security cooperation is robust, the people familiar with the discussions said. Sheinbaum has drawn praise for her handling of Trump’s threats on trade and security since she took office more than a year ago, but her top security officials worry that she is running out of cards to play, the people said. She is now stuck between two powerful men with big egos: Trump and her own mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her predecessor as president, these people said.

Telemundo51 [1/12/2026 6:38 PM, Staff, 182K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration could serve as "a vehicle for communication" between the United States and Cuba, although she clarified that this issue was not addressed in her recent conversation with President Donald Trump, and that any eventual role of mediation would depend on the acceptance of both parties. During his presidential press conference, Sheinbaum pointed out that the Cuban issue could be discussed later, but stressed that Mexico could only play that role if there is a will of Washington and Havana. “Obviously, if Mexico became a vehicle for communication between the United States and Cuba, because they have to accept both sides, obviously,” he said. Relations with the United States have been strained after a report by the Financial Times reported that Mexico has become the main supplier of crude oil on the Caribbean island, although last week Sheinbaum said that "no more oil is being sent than had been historically sent" and rejected that there is "a particular shipment".

NewsMax [1/12/2026 7:56 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez on Tuesday delivered a defiant defense of the island’s sovereignty, accusing the United States of decades-long aggression and reiterating Cuba’s readiness to defend itself against any external threat. "Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do," Díaz-Canel said in a public statement after President Donald Trump demanded that the Caribbean nation "make a deal" with Washington, as the U.S. president warned that Havana would be cut off from the Venezuelan oil and money it has relied on for decades. Díaz-Canel argued that the country does not pose a threat to others but has instead been the target of sustained pressure from Washington. "Cuba does not aggress; it is aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood," he said. The remarks come amid renewed tensions between Havana and Washington, as the Cuban government continues to blame U.S. sanctions for the island’s deepening economic crisis, marked by shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, as well as prolonged power outages. Cuban officials have long argued that U.S. policy amounts to economic warfare designed to destabilize the government, a claim U.S. administrations have rejected. Díaz-Canel framed Cuba’s military posture as defensive, portraying preparedness as a necessity rather than an act of provocation.

Daily Caller [1/12/2026 11:24 AM, Christine Sellers, 835K] reports the State Department issued a security alert Saturday urging U.S. citizens in Venezuela to leave immediately, citing reports that armed militias known as colectivos are setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of U.S. citizenship following Nicolas Maduro’s capture. Americans who are currently in Venezuela have been instructed to leave the country immediately, according to the same security alert. The State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Venezuela since 2019, labeling the current security situation as "fluid." Venezuela is on Level 4, the highest travel advisory level. A Level 4 or "Do Not Travel" advisory carries "severe risks" to Americans, including "wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure," according to the State Department. Intermittent power and utility outages are also at play. "Before departure, U.S. citizens should take precautions and be aware of their surroundings. There are reports of groups of armed militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of U.S. citizenship or support for the United States. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should remain vigilant and exercise caution when traveling by road," the State Department said.

CNN [1/12/2026 12:05 PM, Alayna Treene, 606K] reports that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, a senior White House official told CNN. Her visit to the White House comes as the president declined to endorse her following the US military strikes in Caracas and capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, whose vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in as acting president. Shortly after the January 3 operation, Trump said it would be tough for Machado to lead Venezuela, saying she doesn’t have the support or the respect of the people. Machado, however, has something Trump has long coveted — a Nobel Prize. She’s suggested she would offer her award to the US president and he’s said it’d be an "honor" to receive it, although the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said the prize cannot be transferred. Asked on Friday whether receiving Machado’s prize would make him reconsider his view of her role in Venezuela, Trump didn’t directly answer. "I’m going to have to speak to her. She might be involved in some aspect of it. I will have to speak to her. I think it’s very nice that she wants to come in. And that’s what I understand the reason is," the president told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during a meeting with oil executives at the White House. "I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me. And I don’t want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars," Trump said. Trump on Sunday also expressed willingness to meet with Rodriguez "at some point.” "We’re working along really well with the leadership, and we’ll see how it all works out," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Breitbart [1/12/2026 10:56 AM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2416K] reports Venezuela’s socialist regime released a new group of at least 24 political prisoners during the early morning hours of Monday, the non-government organization Foro Penal announced. The number represents a minimal fraction of the over 800 confirmed political prisoners that the Venezuelan regime maintained as of the end of 2025, according to Foro Penal. Foro Penal detailed on social media that, as of 02:43 a.m. (local time) on Monday, a group of nine women and 15 men — all political prisoners of the Venezuelan regime — were released. The women had been unjustly imprisoned at the La Crisálida female prison in Los Teques, Miranda, while the men were imprisoned at the Rodeo I Prison in the Miranda municipality of Zamora. "We are verifying other releases of Venezuelans and foreigners that also took place early this morning," Foro Penal wrote.

Breitbart [1/13/2026 2:28 AM, Staff, 2416K] reports Republican Rep. Randy Fine introduced legislation Monday authorizing President Donald Trump to take measures necessary to acquire Greenland, amid renewed White House rhetoric about taking the autonomous Danish island. The Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act, which is anything but assured of passage through the House, would give Trump the power to take the island, including through annexation, and require a report to be submitted to Congress detailing necessary changes to federal law to admit Greenland as the 51st state. "Whoever controls Greenland controls key Arctic shipping lanes and the security architecture protecting the United States," Fine, of Florida, said in a statement. "America cannot leave that future in the hands of regimes that despise our values and seek to undermine our security." President Donald Trump has talked of the importance of Greenland to U.S. national security since his first term, but he has increased rhetoric about acquiring the island since returning to the White House last year. Trump said Sunday that the United States must control the territory, which is an autonomous island of Denmark, a NATO ally. "One way or another, we’re going to have Greenland," he said, adding that "if we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will. And I’m not letting that happen." The threat to Greenland’s sovereignty has drawn staunch criticism from Democrats, Denmark and other European and NATO allies.

Bloomberg [1/13/2026 3:19 AM, Sara Sjolin, 18207K] reports Greenland’s government said it will intensify efforts to ensure the island’s defenses are managed within the NATO military alliance, pushing back on renewed threats from the US about taking over the territory. “All NATO member states, including the United States, share a common interest in the defense of Greenland,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement issued late Monday. “The Government coalition in Greenland will therefore, in cooperation with Denmark, work to ensure that dialogue and further development of Greenland’s defense take place within the NATO framework.” The message comes ahead of a high-stakes meeting of Danish and Greenland foreign ministers with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, according to media reports. The stated aim for the talks is to help defuse President Donald Trump’s renewed threats toward Greenland and begin repairing strained ties with Washington over the strategically important island. “The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland,” officials in Nuuk said. “This is something the government coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstances.” After a meeting with Rubio Monday night, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he is optimistic that Europe can reach a “compromise” with the US over Greenland. Rubio didn’t make any official comments after the meeting. The dispute has also prompted Trump to renew criticism of other NATO members, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that any attempt to take over Greenland would undermine the alliance. The New York Post [1/12/2026 7:45 PM, Victor Nava, 42219K] reports Greenland will not accept a US takeover under "any circumstance" and demanded NATO ensure its defense Monday amid President Trump’s desire to acquire the autonomous territory of Denmark. "Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark," the statement, obtained by multiple outlets, continued. "As a part of the Realm, Greenland is a member of NATO, and the defense of Greenland must therefore be insured through NATO.” Trump, who has set his sights on Greenland for years, told reporters last week that he plans to make a deal for the US to take over Greenland – for national security purposes – one way or another. "We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor," Trump said. "I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way. And I am a fan of Denmark," the president added. Trump administration officials have declined to rule out the use of military force in Greenland, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying last week it "is always an option.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Monday that members of the transatlantic alliance have been discussing ways to keep the Arctic safe, but not from a US invasion. "All allies agree on the importance of the Arctic and Arctic security," Rutte said during a press conference in Croatia. "With sea lanes opening up, there is a risk that the Russians and the Chinese will be more active.” Rutte noted that talks regarding Arctic security have been ongoing since last year, and member countries were now "discussing the next step to that, how to make sure that we give practical follow up on those discussions.”

Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 11:00 PM, Daniel Michaels, 646K] reports President Trump’s assertion that the U.S. must own Greenland to expand its defenses there runs counter to decades of policy and undermines the deterrence of its global network of bases and alliances, say former American military and diplomatic officials. Trump has said the U.S. should have full control of the island, a semiautonomous Danish territory that is larger than Alaska. In recent days, he has said the U.S. needs to own it to assure Arctic and U.S. security. “When we own it, we defend it. You don’t defend leases the same way. You have to own it,” Trump said Friday. “And we’ll have to defend Greenland. If we don’t do it, China or Russia will.” But military officials and diplomats say the U.S. has built the world’s most formidable assembly of overseas military bases without owning foreign soil. The Defense Department manages or uses more than 128 foreign bases in at least 51 countries, according to a Congressional Research Service report from 2024. Independent analyses have said the total number, including smaller facilities, could top 750 installations in 80 countries and territories. Many date to World War II and the Cold War. In almost all cases, land is provided by host countries under bilateral agreements, without a change of ownership. Host countries generally permit the U.S. to build and operate facilities, as spelled out in detailed diplomatic documents. “We don’t need ‘ownership’ in order to conduct all the operations we would like to do,” said retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Overseas bases are the backbone of America’s global defense posture, which a Defense Department document describes as “the fundamental enabler of U.S. defense activities and military operations,” which also advances U.S. strategic interests, according to the Congressional report. Of 1.3 million active-duty U.S. military personnel, almost 13% are based overseas, according to the Defense Department. The biggest U.S. overseas military installations are in Japan, Germany and South Korea. Those countries and other allies not only provide land but also contribute to U.S. operating costs.

Los Angeles Times [1/12/2026 11:58 AM, Jacob Judah, 14862K] reports Maja Overgaard drags her blade back and forth across a sopping wet sealskin. It will take months of back-breaking work before she has transformed the hide into boots ready to venture into a Greenlandic snowstorm. Like most Greenlanders, however, Overgaard is now more preoccupied with the geopolitical storm raging over her vast Arctic homeland. In Nuuk, the snow-swept capital of Greenland, residents worry that President Trump is hell-bent on seizing their island home come what may. Overgaard sighs and says that she has begun discussing with her husband about whether to flee for Denmark in the event of an American takeover. "I don’t want to live in an American Empire," she said. None of her neighbors, assiduously working on skins and intestines, wants to either. "Trump is serious," said Martin Rasmussen, whose sealskin treatment seemed less advanced than that of his neighbor. He has started boycotting American goods. "Trump is going to fight to the bitter end.” The idea that the U.S. might try to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark that is home to 57,000 mainly Inuit inhabitants, was once brushed off as a geopolitical folly. But Trump, who has repeatedly raised the possibility of trying to purchase Greenland and has refused to rule out using military force to acquire the island, has not let the idea drop. Trump insists that securing Greenland, which hosts a small but strategically important American military base, is an urgent national security priority. He says Denmark, which has ruled Greenland for more than 300 years, has failed to adequately defend it and has allowed its waters to become infested with ships and submarines from Russia and China, although this is dismissed as nonsense by Nordic officials and Greenlanders themselves. By the quayside in Nuuk, several trawlers were bobbing in the inky-blue waters. "I have never seen any Russians or Chinese," said a bemused Helte Johannsen, a fisherman in overalls who has been sailing up and down the Greenlandic coastline for almost 40 years. Snowflakes caught in his whiskers as his crew prepared his trawler to go to sea. "I don’t think that Trump knows anything about Greenland," he said.

Reuters [1/12/2026 7:16 PM, Staff, 36480K] reports Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Greenlanders could vote to join Russia if U.S. President Donald Trump did not move quickly to secure the Arctic island, Interfax reported on Monday. “Trump needs to hurry. According to unverified information, in a few days there could be a sudden referendum, at which the entire 55,000-strong Greenland could vote to join Russia," Interfax reported, quoting Medvedev, a former Russian president. "And then that’s it. No new little stars on the (U.S.) flag." Trump has revived his push for the United States to take control of Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, arguing Washington needs to own it to deter Russia. The U.S. president has said its location and resources make Greenland vital for national security, prompting firm objections from Denmark and Greenland. While Russia makes no claim to Greenland, it has long monitored the island’s strategic role in Arctic security, given its position on North Atlantic routes and the presence there of a major U.S. military and space surveillance facility.

CBS News [1/12/2026 10:41 AM, Staff, 39474K] reports that Spanish police announced on Monday their largest-ever seizure of cocaine at sea after impounding a Europe-bound container ship in the Atlantic Ocean carrying almost 10 tons of the drug. Officers last week raided the Cameroon-flagged vessel, which had left Brazil, seizing 9,994 kilograms (22,033 pounds) of cocaine concealed in 294 packages in a shipment of salt, police said in a statement. They arrested the 13 crew members and seized a firearm used to protect the stash in an operation involving U.S., Brazilian, U.K., French and Portuguese authorities, the statement added. Police released a 4-minute video on social media showing officers on a speed boat intercepting the alleged drug-trafficking ship and multiple suspects being escorted off the vessel and into custody. The footage also shows U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents on the scene, where officers are seen digging through mounds of salt to uncover the alleged drugs. "This operation, dubbed White Tide, represents the largest cocaine seizure on the high seas ever made by the National Police," the statement said. The ship ran out of fuel and remained adrift in the water for almost 12 hours before being towed to the Canary Islands, police said. "This represents a decisive blow to international criminal networks involved in maritime cocaine trafficking, demonstrating the effectiveness of international police cooperation in the fight against global drug trafficking," police said in a statement.

Washington Examiner [1/12/2026 11:29 AM, Brady Knox, 1394K] reports that Iranian officials stressed their preparedness for war with the United States while expressing hope that negotiations could prevail. "We are not looking for war, but we are prepared for war — even more prepared than the previous war," Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi told a gathering of ambassadors in Tehran, referring to the 12-day war with Israel, which saw most of its top scientists and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders assassinated and its military and nuclear infrastructure degraded. "We are also ready for negotiations, but negotiations that are fair, with equal rights and mutual respect," Araghchi added. Attention has shifted to U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations after two weeks of increased tensions, triggered by some of the largest and most violent protests against Tehran since the 1979 revolution. President Donald Trump’s threats to intervene to protect Iranian protesters have ratcheted up tensions, with Iranian officials threatening retaliation if any intervention is carried out. Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman, echoed this sentiment on Monday. "Iran has never left the negotiating table, but it will not engage in one-sided negotiations," he said at a news conference. Tehran further indicated on Monday that communications channels are still open between Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Two sources familiar with the situation told Axios that the pair spoke over the weekend and discussed the protests.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [1/12/2026 10:20 AM, Kathryn Palmer, 67103K]

CBS News [1/12/2026 8:24 PM, James LaPorta, 39474K] reports President Trump has been briefed on a wide array of military and covert tools that can be used against Iran that go well beyond conventional airstrikes, according to two Defense Department officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters. The president’s national security team will hold a meeting at the White House on Tuesday to discuss updated Iran options, according to several other sources familiar with the matter. It is unclear whether the president himself will be in attendance. As anti-regime protests sweep Iran, Mr. Trump has warned for weeks that he may intervene if Iranian security forces kill protesters. He told reporters Sunday that Iranian leadership indicated that it wants to negotiate, but the U.S. military is "looking at some very strong options.” Air power and long-range missiles remain central to any potential military response in Iran. But Pentagon planners have also presented cyber operation options and psychological campaigns intended to disrupt Iranian command structures, communications and state-run media, according to the officials. The officials said cyber and psychological operations can occur simultaneously with traditional military force, in what military planners call integrated operations. They could also be deployed as stand-alone options. The defense officials did not detail what digital infrastructure is under consideration for targeting in Iran or what, exactly, the psychological campaign against Iran’s state-run media would look like if Mr. Trump were to authorize it. The two American officials emphasized that no final decision had been made and that diplomatic channels remain open. Still, the expanded menu of options suggests that Washington is preparing for scenarios in which conflict could extend beyond battlefield strikes to include sustained digital and influence campaigns. CBS News has previously reported that Mr. Trump was briefed on options for military strikes in Iran. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that the president is "unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary." She said airstrikes are "one of many, many options that are on the table for the commander in chief.” Leavitt added that "diplomacy is always the first option," and said that "what you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite [different] from the messages the administration is receiving privately.”

Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 11:00 PM, Benoit Faucon, 646K] reports with the government shutting down the internet and throttling phone services, Iranians are leaning heavily on Elon Musk’s Starlink service to share videos of growing protests and the regime’s escalating crackdown with the world. But Iran has intensified efforts to jam the service, which is banned in the country, and users are being hunted. Over the weekend, authorities began searching for and confiscating Starlink dishes in western Tehran, said Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at Miaan Group, a U.S. nonprofit opposed to internet censorship. “It’s electronic warfare,” Rashidi said. He said disruptions are worst in parts of Tehran where protests are taking place and in the evening, when the demonstrators gather. The battle over information—while secondary to the confrontations taking place nightly in dozens of cities across Iran—has potentially serious consequences. President Trump has threatened to intervene in response to a crackdown by the regime. Video from the streets is one of the few ways of getting information out about the scale of the protests and the actions of Iranian authorities. More than 500 people have been killed in the unrest, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Another rights group, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, circulated video footage Sunday showing a large number of bodies at a morgue in south Tehran. Trump is scheduled to be briefed Tuesday on his options. One under discussion is to send in more Starlink terminals. Trump said he would ask Musk about the possibility. “We may get the internet going if that’s possible,” Trump told the reporters.

Washington Post [1/13/2026 5:02 AM, Eva Dou and Faiz Siddiqui, 24149K] reports President Donald Trump has appealed to Elon Musk to help Iranian protesters circumvent a government-imposed internet blackout, underscoring the frontline role Musk’s satellite company Starlink is playing in U.S. foreign policy. Iran’s government disconnected its 90 million people from the internet on Thursday, in a drastic effort to quell massive nationwide protests against the regime. The internet blackout extended to a partial jamming of the Starlink satellite service, which people in Iran have been using to circumvent official internet censorship, organize protests and communicate with the outside world. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that Trump has spoken with Musk about restoring Starlink internet in Iran. The issue was escalated internally to Musk at SpaceX over the weekend, with Musk saying he is fully on board with efforts to restore connectivity in Iran and green-lit his engineers to work on a solution, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door discussions. SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, did not respond Monday to requests for comment. “Starlink is pretty much the only way to connect, to send news out of the country,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, co-founder of NetFreedom Pioneers, of the technology’s role for protesters in Iran. “It’s been very critical. All these videos and pictures that have come out in the past few days have been sent out through Starlink.”

Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 9:38 PM, Alexander Ward and Natalie Andrews, 646K] reports the White House is weighing a last-ditch Iranian offer to engage in diplomacy over curbing its nuclear program even as President Trump currently leans toward authorizing fresh military strikes on Iran, U.S. officials say. Some senior administration aides, led by Vice President JD Vance, are urging Trump to try diplomacy before retaliating against Iran for killing protesters during a two-week uprising over a flailing economy and regime repression, the officials said. Speaking Sunday to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that Tehran messaged Washington a day earlier that it was willing to enter negotiations over its yearslong nuclear program, which the U.S. seeks to limit. Trump said “a meeting is being set up” though the U.S. was still looking at “very strong options” he could authorize before discussions. In a statement issued after The Wall Street Journal’s story published Monday, a spokesman for Vance, William Martin, said that Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “together are presenting a suite of options to the president, ranging from a diplomatic approach to military actions.” Trump hasn’t made a final decision on what he will do, according to officials, and will meet with senior aides Tuesday to determine his approach. The options could include ordering military strikes on regime sites or launching cyberattacks, approving new sanctions and boosting antiregime accounts online. Some officials have voiced concerns that U.S. military strikes could fuel the regime’s propaganda that the U.S. and Israel are secretly orchestrating the protests. The protests, which began in late December and escalated since Jan. 8 with major demonstrators in key cities, are a potentially existential challenge to the regime in Iran that came to power during its own 1979 revolution. Human-rights groups say hundreds of people have been killed in a regime crackdown on demonstrators. Iranian state television on Sunday released footage showing mass casualties inside and outside of a morgue near Tehran. Trump currently favors attacking Iran, officials said, but could change his mind depending on developments in the country and discussions with aides. Some officials said Trump may strike first and then seek serious talks with Tehran afterward, which the president appeared to signal Sunday. “We may have to act because of what is happening before the meeting,” he said. Vance, while generally resistant to engaging in conflicts, remains open to striking Iran, according to a person familiar with his thinking, believing the country is a threat to the U.S. Vance was initially skeptical of bombing Iran during discussions last June before Trump ordered attacks on the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Officials note the U.S. doesn’t have an aircraft carrier in the Middle East but Trump could still deploy bombers, Air Force jet fighters or naval assets to strike Iran.

Wall Street Journal [1/12/2026 5:35 PM, Gavin Bade and Lynn Cook, 646K] reports the U.S. will put a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran, President Trump said on Monday, raising pressure on the Middle Eastern nation after days of protests against the government. “Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social. The president called the order “final and conclusive” but didn’t detail which legal authority would underpin the tariffs, and no executive actions on the matter were immediately posted on the White House website. Trump and his team have weighed how to respond to popular protests against the Iranian government, and the president was slated to meet with senior officials Tuesday on the subject. The White House declined to provide more detail beyond the Truth Social post. It remains unclear whether the 25% tariff would be added to existing duties paid by Iran’s economic partners. Iran’s top trading partner is China, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an open source data distribution platform that started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other partners include Turkey, India, Pakistan and Armenia. Russia and Iran also signed a free-trade agreement in 2025, boosting the amount of business the countries do with each other, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. Increasing tariffs on China could derail a fragile trade truce that Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived at after a meeting in South Korea last October, threatening a planned meeting between Trump and Xi this spring. Hiking levies could also threaten a recent trade and oil development pact Trump struck with Pakistan last year, and derail ongoing talks with India, which is already paying 50% tariffs in part for purchasing sanctioned Russian oil. The tariff move also comes as the Supreme Court weighs whether Trump has overstepped his legal authority in issuing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law that had never before been used to levy tariffs. While the White House didn’t specify which legal authority Trump would use for the Iran tariffs, similar tariff threats in the past have relied on the at-risk Ieepa authority. The Supreme Court could issue its ruling on the case as soon as Wednesday, when it is next expected to hand down opinions.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [1/13/2026 1:48 AM, Abhishek Shanker and Victoria Batchelor, 18207K]

Reuters [1/13/2026 4:51 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports an Iranian parliamentarian said on Tuesday the government will face even bigger protests unless it addresses people’s grievances, after more than two weeks of nationwide demonstrations that have challenged the legitimacy of the country’s clerical rulers. The government has responded to the wave of unrest over dire economic conditions with a crackdown that a rights group says has killed hundreds and led to the arrest of thousands. "We should not forget one point: people have dissatisfactions and officials in government and parliament needs to solve them, otherwise the same events will occur with greater intensity," Mohammadreza Sabaghian, who represents several counties in central Yazd province, said during a parliamentary session. Adding to the pressure on Iran as authorities face one of the biggest challenges since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, President Donald Trump announced late on Monday that exports to the U.S. from any country doing business with Iran - a major oil exporter - will be subject to a new tariff of 25%. Tehran has not yet responded publicly to this move, but it was swiftly criticized by China, the main buyer of Iranian oil.

The Hill [1/12/2026 6:44 PM, Laura Kelly, 12595K] reports President Trump’s top national security officials are set to brief him Tuesday with options for the U.S. to respond to the Iranian regime’s deadly use of force against protests sweeping the country. Trump has threatened military intervention and said he is looking at “strong options” to respond to what human rights groups allege is the killing of hundreds of protesters and injuring of thousands. Former U.S. officials and analysts say a range of options are available to the president that span the spectrum from diplomacy to sabotage and military action. While it’s unclear whether U.S. actions would help protesters break the regime, observers agree the country’s Islamic rulers have rarely been weaker, facing mass economic discontent, severe water shortages a military weakened by conflicts with Israel and the U.S. “All these things matter. Do they matter enough? Nobody knows,” said Ilan Goldenberg, senior vice president and chief policy officer at J Street, an advocacy and lobbying organization centered on U.S. policy toward Israel and the Middle East. Military strikes would likely be calibrated to inflict damage toward specific aims — like protecting protesters or taking out specific leaders — while guarding against retaliation that risks escalation. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, warned on Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Trump ordered military strikes against the country. A less risky option, according to former officials and analysts, is cyber action. “I think cyberattacks going after IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] capabilities would be incredibly meaningful in terms of just taking out their cyber capabilities,” Goldenberg said. One of the major repressive moves by the regime was to shut down internet access in the country beginning between Jan. 8 and 9. Internet monitoring site NetBlocks said various tools could help Iranians get around the internet blackout. Trump on Monday said “effective immediately” he would put a 25 percent tariff on any country doing business with Iran. The move is viewed by analysts as a pressure tactic on Russia and China, Iran’s closest partners, who could potentially have sway with Iranian leadership.

FOX Business [1/12/2026 12:26 PM, Arabella Bennett, 10085K] reports what was once an American-led innovation race has become a high-stakes competition over economic power, national security and technological leadership. FOX Business’ Madison Alworth joined Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria" to report on how America’s lead in artificial intelligence (AI) is being tested as China accelerates its effort to become a global tech powerhouse. Artificial intelligence is no longer just powering search engines and chat tools like ChatGPT. It is reshaping how companies produce goods, analyze markets, secure networks, and move capital. The country that builds the most advanced AI systems will hold a powerful advantage in productivity and global influence, making this rivalry far more consequential than previous technology races. U.S. companies still dominate global AI development, fueled by robust private‑sector investment in chips, cloud computing, and advanced software. That market-driven system helps American firms stay agile and continue pushing innovation ahead of rivals. China, however, is narrowing the gap. Beijing has made artificial intelligence a national priority, aiming to cut its reliance on Western technology. Industry leaders say the race remains far from settled.