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

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

Breitbart [12/31/2025 11:13 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports the US military said Wednesday that eight people were killed in multiple new strikes on alleged drug boats, bringing the death toll in Washington’s campaign against what it says are narcotics traffickers to at least 115. US Southern Command, which is responsible for American forces operating in Central and South America, announced two sets of strikes, which were carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, "three narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy" were targeted in "international waters," it said in a statement on X. "Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels," it said. Accompanying the statement, posted on X, was a video showing the vessels traveling together at sea and then hit by a series of explosions. The exact location of the strikes was not immediately made clear. Previous strikes have taken place in the Caribbean or the eastern Pacific. The military said it had notified the Coast Guard to "activate the Search and Rescue system," without offering more details about the fate of those aboard the other boats. Hours later, it issued a second statement about strikes on two more vessels conducted on Wednesday, killing five people. Again, it was not clear where the strikes took place. Since September, the US military has carried out more than 30 such strikes on what it says are boats used to smuggle drugs to the United States, without providing any concrete evidence that the targeted boats are involved in trafficking. International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States. In recent months, US President Donald Trump has waged a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of running a drug cartel. Maduro denies the allegation and has accused Washington of seeking regime change to gain access to the Latin American country’s massive oil reserves. NewsNation [12/31/2025 7:29 PM, Michael Ramsey, 8017K] reports that the U.S. Coast Guard went into search-and-rescue mode, said SOUTHCOM, which did not offer additional details. Later Wednesday, Southern Command announced a new attack that took place on New Year’s Eve. In this strike, officials said, five narco-terrorists were killed as the U.S. military destroyed two boats. The announcement did not say where the deadly strikes occurred, but the Pentagon has built up forces in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as the Trump Administration puts pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The White House has accused him of aiding drug traffickers in their attempts to flood the U.S. with illegal drugs. In September, the Department of Defense began conducting "kinetic strikes" on dozens of alleged drug boats, killing more than 100 people to date. The Los Angeles Times [1/1/2026 2:04 PM, Ben Finley, 14862K] reports that a video of Tuesday’s attack posted by Southern Command on social media shows three boats traveling in a close formation, which is unusual, and the military said they were in a convoy along known narco-trafficking routes and “had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes.” The military did not provide evidence to back up the claim. The military said three people were killed when the first boat was struck, while people in the other two boats jumped overboard and distanced themselves from the vessels before they were attacked. Southern Command said it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue efforts. Southern Command’s statement did not say whether those who jumped off the boats were rescued. FOX News [12/31/2025 8:59 PM, Jasmine Baehr Fox, 40621K] reports that the Department of War identified the operation as part of Operation Southern Spear. Video released of the operation shows a strike on a vessel at sea. Military officials did not clarify whether additional engagements occurred beyond those shown in the unclassified video. Another strike was announced earlier in the day, but it is unclear if the two are linked at this time. U.S. Southern Command did not provide any further comment to Fox News Digital at this time.

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The AP [12/31/2025 5:09 PM, Ben Finley, 31753K] reports the U.S. military said Wednesday it struck three more boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs, killing three people while others jumped overboard and may have survived. The statement by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees South America, did not reveal where the attacks occurred. A video posted by Southern Command on social media shows the boats traveling in a close formation, which is unusual, and the military said they were in a convoy along known narco-trafficking routes and "had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes." The military did not provide evidence to back up the claim. The military said three people were killed when the first boat was struck, while people in the other two boats jumped overboard and distanced themselves from the vessels before they were attacked. Southern Command said it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue efforts. The attacks occurred on Tuesday. Southern Command’s statement did not say whether those who jumped off the boats were rescued. Breitbart [12/31/2025 8:08 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports "Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels," it said. The military said it had notified the Coast Guard to "activate the Search and Rescue system," without offering more details about the fate of those aboard the other boats. Since September, the US military has carried out more than 30 such strikes on what it says are boats used to smuggle drugs to the United States, without providing any concrete evidence that the targeted boats are involved in trafficking. International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States. In recent months, US President Donald Trump has waged a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of running a drug cartel. Maduro denies the allegation and has accused Washington of seeking regime change to gain access to the Latin American country’s massive oil reserves. FOX News [12/31/2025 5:14 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 40621K] reports that according to Southern Command, the operation was conducted by Joint Task Force Southern Spear at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, using the title cited by the command. The vessels were transiting known narcotics trafficking routes in international waters when U.S. forces took action after intelligence confirmed the transfer of drugs between the boats, Southern Command said. Three individuals aboard the first vessel were killed during the initial engagement, the command said. The remaining individuals aboard the other two vessels abandoned ship before follow-on strikes were conducted, resulting in both boats being sunk. Southern Command said the U.S. Coast Guard was immediately notified following the strikes so the search and rescue system could be activated for individuals who entered the water. The vessels were believed to be part of a coordinated narcotics trafficking operation tied to designated terrorist organizations and were operating outside U.S. territorial waters, the command said. ABC News [12/31/2025 7:52 PM, Chris Boccia, 30493K] reports that the U.S. Coast Guard was notified to begin searching for the survivors in a search and rescue operation, the statement said. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that a search-and-rescue operation was underway, and that Coast Guard C-130 aircraft had been deployed for the operation. The Coast Guard has put out a signal to other mariners for the survivors in distress. In a statement shared with ABC News, the Coast Guard said, "on December 30th, the U.S. Coast Guard was notified by the Department of War of mariners in distress in the Pacific Ocean." "The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search and rescue operations with vessels in the area, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is en route to provide further search coverage," it said. Several hours after announcing the Dec. 30 strikes, Southern Command posted on social media that another series of strikes -- carried out on New Year’s Eve -- had targeted two more vessels alleged to be engaged in drug trafficking. The post did not specify where the strike took place. A total of five people were killed -- three in the first vessel and two in the second, according to the post. There have now been at least 34 strikes -- and at least 115 people killed -- in the U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific targeting alleged drug traffickers since September. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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CBS News [12/31/2025 8:57 PM, Caitlin Yilek, 39474K] reports individuals on board two alleged drug smuggling boats jumped into the water after an initial strike on another boat on Tuesday, the U.S. military said. U.S. Southern Command announced Wednesday that three "narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy" were struck in "international waters" a day earlier. Three people were killed when the first boat was hit, according to Southern Command. "The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels," Southern Command said, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard had been notified for search-and-rescue efforts. In a separate statement, the Coast Guard said it was notified Tuesday about "mariners in distress in the Pacific Ocean.” "The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search-and-rescue operations with vessels in the area, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is en route to provide further search coverage with the ability to drop a survival raft and supplies," the statement said. As many as eight people abandoned the remaining two vessels, three U.S. officials told CBS News. One of the officials said the strikes were conducted in the eastern Pacific Ocean. A 46-second video of the strikes did not appear to show any survivors in the water. The U.S. military also said it conducted strikes Wednesday on two vessels, killing five people, Southern Command said later in the day, bringing the estimated death toll in the monthslong military campaign against alleged drug smugglers to at least 115. "Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of five narco-terrorists were killed during these actions - three in the first vessel and two in the second," Southern Command said. The Trump administration’s handling of survivors has come under intense scrutiny, with some critics accusing it of committing potential war crimes after a follow-up strike on Sept. 2 killed two survivors. Two men who survived a strike in the Caribbean Sea on Oct. 16 were detained by the U.S. Navy and repatriated to their countries of origin, prompting questions about the danger the Trump administration has claimed alleged drug traffickers pose to the U.S. Strikes on Oct. 27 in the Pacific left one survivor, who has since been presumed dead. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Washington Examiner [12/31/2025 7:52 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1394K] reports "On Dec. 30, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted kinetic strikes against three narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy," SOUTHCOM wrote on X of the Dec. 30 strikes. "These vessels were operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes," it added. The alleged drug traffickers fled their vessels after the first strike, creating distance between themselves and their doomed boats. Coast Guard search and rescue were activated after the strikes. "Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels," SOUTHCOM concluded of Tuesday’s strike. It said of Wednesday’s, "A total of five narco-terrorists were killed during these actions — three in the first vessel and two in the second.”

New York Times [12/212025 3:22 AM, Eric Schmitt, 153395K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for an undetermined number of survivors of a U.S. military strike against several boats in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, the Pentagon and Coast Guard said on Wednesday. It was the fourth known instance of people surviving, at least initially, one of the 35 military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. Later on Wednesday, the military’s U.S. Southern Command said that a separate “lethal kinetic strike” had killed five people in two boats that day. It did not say where the boats were traveling when the military attacked. There was no mention of survivors. The Trump administration says the boats that have been targeted since September were trafficking in narcotics but has provided no evidence to support that assertion. Only two people have been rescued, and at least 115 have been killed in the strikes. The Coast Guard said in a statement that it was notified by the Pentagon on Tuesday that there were “mariners in distress” — people in the water — in an unspecified area of the Pacific Ocean. “The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search and rescue operations with vessels in the area, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is en route to provide further search coverage with the ability to drop a survival raft and supplies,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

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New York Times [1/1/2026 9:44 PM, Johnny Diaz, 153395K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday that it had suspended an hourslong search for a passenger who went overboard from a cruise ship as it was traveling near Cuba. The 77-year-old woman, whose name was not immediately made public, was aboard the Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Statendam when she went overboard about 40 miles northeast of Sabana, Cuba, the Coast Guard said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened to confirm that while sailing in waters north of Cuba, a guest on Nieuw Statendam went overboard earlier today,” Holland America Line said in a separate statement. A spokesperson for the cruise line said the woman went overboard in the morning. “The captain and crew initiated search-and-rescue procedures and worked closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, which deployed a cutter and helicopter to assist,” the cruise line said. The Coast Guard said it had deployed a cutter, the William Trump, as well as helicopters from its air station in Clearwater, Fla., to search for the woman. The search covered more than 690 square miles, the Coast Guard said. “After 15 hours, the search was suspended at sundown,” the cruise line said. The company did not share further details about the woman, how she went overboard or what deck she was on.

New York Times [12/31/2025 5:29 AM, Carol Rosenberg, 135475K] reports that, long before the U.S. military began blowing up boats it suspected of smuggling drugs in strikes from the sky, the Coast Guard has pursued a very different campaign against drug smuggling on the water. Cutters guided by an intelligence center in Key West, Fla., have intercepted go-fast boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean and seized people suspected of smuggling, as well as bales of cocaine and marijuana. The Coast Guard has funneled cases to federal prosecutors, who leverage plea deals to persuade boat crews to flip in criminal cases that have in turn led to intelligence being fed back to the boat interdiction center. Its goal then, as now, was to capture, not kill, them. That is how the Coast Guard has traditionally sought to halt the flow of illicit drugs: as a law enforcement approach, in sharp contrast to the Pentagon’s use of deadly force since September against vessels it says are smuggling cocaine. Those who have worked on the Coast Guard’s boat cases warn of the national security implications of downgrading the importance of such investigations by killing trafficking suspects rather than taking them into custody. They say the shift demonstrates inherent contradictions in the administration’s boat strikes, which so far have killed at least 107 people. The Coast Guard missions continue, with seizures at the same rate as last year. Cutters still return from monthslong patrols to unload bales of cocaine or marijuana from their decks in events for the media. But after Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in February to mostly stop bringing charges against low-level offenders in favor of bigger investigations, the once steady stream of federal trafficking cases is drying up. A few criminal cases, most from last year, are still in the pipeline in Tampa, Fla., the headquarters of a multiagency task force known as Operation Panama Express that was established in the ‘90s to disrupt shipments of cocaine through prosecutions. But for the most part, people captured by the Coast Guard in the same smuggling routes the U.S. military is bombing are being repatriated — either directly, before reaching the United States, or through deportation after briefly being questioned near U.S. ports. Some people who have been involved in the process caution that the strategy could erode the intelligence gathering operation that tracks the drug smuggling routes. It has helped the Coast Guard, by its own count, interdict 3,588 vessels and seize 3.26 million kilograms, or 7.19 million pounds, of cocaine and lesser amounts of marijuana since 2003. “That’s how intel works: You climb the ladder from those types of cases. It feeds the big picture,” said Rebecca Castaneda, a criminal defense lawyer in Tampa who was previously a prosecutor working on drug smuggling cases. The Justice Department and the office of the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, which is primarily where low-level smuggling suspects have been prosecuted, would not discuss the new approach and the drop-off in cases.

FOX News [1/2/2026 3:08 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 40621K] reports Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Thursday that his government is open to negotiating an agreement with the United States after months of American military pressure targeting drug trafficking networks tied to his government. In a pre-taped interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet that aired on state television, Maduro said Venezuela is "ready" to discuss a drug-trafficking deal with the U.S. He called on the countries to "start talking seriously, with data in hand.” "The U.S. government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready," he said. "If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it and however they want it.” Chevron Corp. is the only major U.S. oil company currently exporting Venezuelan crude to the United States. Maduro said the U.S. wants a regime change in Venezuela and access to its oil reserves through a months-long pressure campaign that began with a major military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August. He said it is clear the U.S. wants "to impose themselves through threats, intimidation and force.” The interview was recorded on New Year’s Eve, the same day the U.S. military announced a kinetic strike that killed five people aboard two vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations involved in narcotics trafficking. At least 114 people have been killed since the U.S. began bombing alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September. The U.S. may be signaling a possible expansion of its Venezuela-focused campaign, including potential ground operations. President Donald Trump confirmed that a strike last week targeted what he described as a Venezuelan port used for drug trafficking, but declined to say whether the operation was carried out by the U.S. military or another entity, such as the CIA. Maduro declined to comment on that strike during the interview, but said he could "talk about it in a few days.” In recent weeks, Trump has intensified pressure on Maduro, ordering a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, designating his regime a foreign terrorist organization, and accusing it of using stolen U.S. assets to fund terrorism, drug trafficking and other criminal activity. U.S. authorities have also seized two ships carrying sanctioned oil. The AP [1/1/2026 8:48 PM, Regina Garcia Cano, 31753K] reports that Maduro, in an interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, reiterated that the U.S. wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August. “What are they seeking? It is clear that they seek to impose themselves through threats, intimidation and force,” Maduro said, later adding that it is time for both nations to “start talking seriously, with data in hand.” “The U.S. government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” he said. “If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it and however they want it.” NewsNation [1/2/2026 9:51 PM, Filip Timotija, 8017K] reports that since early September, the U.S. military has been blowing up alleged drug-smuggling vessels in both the Caribbean and Pacific, conducting a minimum of 35 boat strikes and killing at least 115 "narco-terrorists" in what the administration has argued is an effort to thwart the flow of illegal drugs in the region. The latest operation took place on Wednesday when the U.S. military took out two purported drug-smuggling boats and killed five "narco-terrorists." The administration has argued that the lethal strikes are legal and that the U.S. is engaged in an "armed conflict" with transnational drug cartels. Trump and Maduro spoke over the phone in November. The CIA on Dec. 24 conducted a drone strike on a Venezuelan port facility, where the U.S. officials believe the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua stores drugs. The mission marked the first U.S. land strikes inside Venezuela since the massive military buildup in the Southcom area began. When asked about the CIA strike, Maduro said it "could be something we talk about in a few days.”

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AP [1/2/2026 12:25 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports Venezuela is open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking, the South American country’s President Nicolás Maduro said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday on state television. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Times [12/31/2025 8:41 AM, Vaughn Cockayne, 852K] reports the CIA was responsible for a U.S.-led drone strike last week on a Venezuelan dock that President Trump said was involved in drug trafficking, according to media reports. The dock strike is the first known direct attack on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began its massive military buildup in the Caribbean in 2025 and could mark a major escalation in tensions between Washington and Caracas. Media reports say CIA operatives carried out the strike with intelligence support from U.S. Special Operations Forces. However, Army Col. Allie Weiskopf, a spokesperson for U.S. Special Operations Forces, said no such support was provided. The CIA has not said if it was involved in the airstrike. Citing two anonymous sources, CNN was the first news outlet to report on the CIA’s involvement in the airstrike. Mr. Trump acknowledged the strikes in an interview last Friday, confirming that U.S. forces had hit a “big facility where ships come from.” The Venezuelan government has yet to confirm the strike. Mr. Trump said Monday that the targeted area contained a docking area that had been used to load boats for the transfer of deadly narcotics. “There was a major explosion in the dock area, where they load the boats up with drugs,” the president said. “It’s the implementation area, and that is no longer around.”

Daily Wire [12/31/2025 11:00 PM, Cameron Arcand, 2494K] reports Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) believes Congress could soon play a larger role in the actions taken by the Trump administration against Venezuela. Biggs spoke with The Daily Wire’s AmericaFest pre-show to discuss the recent actions against the South American nation and what it means in terms of border anti-drug policies as a border state lawmaker. "Where we’re heading is Venezuela, effectively, has declared a narcoterrorist drug war on the United States of America. And we are engaged right now in trying to prevent them from getting to our country, and we’re trying to leverage, quite frankly, economically for Maduro to basically say, ‘Okay, we’re done being an exporter of narcoterrorism,’" he said. Recently, the United States government has seized oil tankers with ties to the South American country, as Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro has not ceded power. "Until he’s willing to do that, you’re going to see some action, and my guess is you’re going to see Congress be much more involved in this come January," Biggs said. When asked if there should be a formal declaration of war from Congress, he said, "The checklist that has to be gone through before there can be any kind of an attack on them, a kinetic attack on them, is the same thing that you would see in any other kind of threat or theater in the world."

New York Post [12/31/2025 3:36 PM, Ronny Reyes, 42219K] reports the crew of a Venezuela-bound oil tanker have put up a crude painting of a Russian flag on the side of its hull in an apparent attempt to deter the US Coast Guard. The Bella 1, which has been on the run from US forces since Dec. 21, saw its crew claim that the ship is under Moscow’s protection while en route to pick up oil in Venezuela, the New York Times reported. It’s unclear exactly when the Russian flag was painted on its hull, but it appears to have happened sometime last week when the ship was first intercepted in the Caribbean Sea and forced to make a U-turn. The tanker, which has refused to let the Coast Guard board and remains on the run, has been under US sanction since 2024 for transporting Iranian petrol. The vessel was originally flying under the flag of Guyana, whose government confirmed that the Bella 1 was not registered with it. Despite claiming Russian protection, the Bella 1 does not appear to be heading back to Venezuela, American officials told the Times. The ship, instead, has changed course northwest, likely heading toward Greenland or Iceland. The Bell 1’s location transponder has not been on for nearly two weeks. The Coast Guard has not publicly stated why it did not board the Bella 1 after intercepting the vessel last week. Officials had acquired a seizure warrant for the ship based on its involvement with Iran’s oil trade.

New York Times [1/1/2026 3:12 PM, Nicholas Nehamas, Edward Wong and Tyler Pager, 135475K] reports the government of Russia has made a formal diplomatic request that the United States stop its pursuit of an oil tanker that had been sailing for Venezuela and is now fleeing the Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The request was delivered late on New Year’s Eve to the State Department, said the people, who discussed the diplomatic message on the condition of anonymity. It was also sent to the White House’s Homeland Security Council, one of the people said. The dispute over the tanker comes as President Trump is trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and has repeatedly complained about his inability to end the war. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, and the two leaders expressed optimism about ending the war even as they appeared to make little progress on the thorny issues of security guarantees and territory swaps. Russia’s request that the United States stop chasing the vessel could add a new wrinkle to the negotiations and heighten tensions between the two nations over Venezuela. American forces have been tracking the tanker, known as the Bella 1, for nearly two weeks. The ship, which started its journey in Iran, had been on its way to pick up oil in Venezuela when U.S. forces tried to stop and board it in the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. authorities said the ship was not flying a valid national flag, making it a stateless vessel susceptible to boarding under international law, and said they possessed a seizure warrant. But the crew of the Bella 1 refused to comply and sailed back toward the Atlantic. In the days since, the ship has tried to claim the protection of Russia, with its crew painting a Russian flag on the side and radioing the Coast Guard to say they were sailing under Russian authority. The Bella 1 recently appeared in Russia’s official register of ships, under a new name, the Marinera, with a home port of Sochi, on the Black Sea.

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AP [12/31/2025 5:10 PM, Fatima Hussein, 31753K] reports the U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four firms operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and designated four additional oil tankers, which the U.S. accuses of being part of a shadow fleet serving Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government, as blocked property. The action is part of the Trump administration’s monthslong pressure campaign on Maduro. U.S. forces also have seized two oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, are pursuing another and have conducted a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. A set of strikes announced Wednesday increased the death toll from the attacks to at least 110 people since early September. And in a new escalation marking the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil, the CIA carried out a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels. The latest sanctions from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control target ships called Nord Star, Lunar Tide, Rosalind and Della, and their registered ownership companies.

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Wall Street Journal [1/1/2026 10:00 PM, Ryan Dubé, 646K] reports the millions of Venezuelans who have fled the rule of Nicolás Maduro stand largely in solidarity with compatriots who stayed behind—except on the question of U.S. military intervention to change the regime. Most of the eight million Venezuelans living in exile see American military action as the best shot to bring back democracy in a country they fear they may otherwise never see again, polls show. And many say regime change would persuade them to return home after years in foreign countries, mostly in South America, where they have taken low-level jobs and increasingly face anger from local populations from Chile to Colombia. They have watched with anticipation as the U.S. moved military assets to the Caribbean, conducted deadly airstrikes on boats allegedly tied to the regime and blocked some oil exports. “It’s my greatest hope,” said Yamileth Chávez, who in 2018 fled Venezuela’s oil-rich state of Zulia, where she owned a pet store, to Peru’s capital, Lima, where she drives an Uber. “The regime won’t leave by playing nice.” President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio haven’t said the military buildup’s goal is to oust Maduro, and have all but ruled out an invasion to topple him. But senior administration officials like White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, in a candid interview with Vanity Fair, have said regime change is the desired outcome, and Trump has said Maduro’s days are numbered. About 64% of Venezuelans living abroad support a U.S. military intervention to depose Maduro, compared with 34% in the country, according to a recent AtlasIntel poll. Some 55% of Venezuelan migrants believe a U.S.-led military intervention is the most viable path to restoring democracy, compared with 25% for those in Venezuela, the poll showed. “We’ve dreamed of this and needed this for so many years,” said Orleans Tovar, who arrived in Peru nearly eight years ago with a dozen family members.

New York Times [1/1/2026 5:00 PM, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Annie Correal, Anatoly Kurmanaev, 330K] reports the Venezuelan government released at least 80 political prisoners on Thursday, including one with U.S. ties, according to rights groups. The freeing of prisoners around the holidays is a regular event but comes this year amid a broader crackdown on dissent in the country. The release of the prisoners followed a similar exercise in late December, bringing the number of political detainees liberated in the past month to nearly 200, according to rights groups. Among the people freed on Thursday was Jonathan Torres Duque, a Venezuelan who had been living in the United States before traveling back to his home country, where he was detained in late 2024. Mr. Torres was legally residing in the United States under the Temporary Protected Status designation, which has since been terminated by the Trump administration. Most of the other people released were imprisoned for participating in protests that followed Venezuela’s marred 2024 presidential election, according to the Committee for the Liberation of Political Prisoners, a Venezuelan rights group. President Nicolás Maduro lost that election decisively, according to several analyses of tally sheets released by the opposition, but he ignored the results and quashed the ensuing protests. Thousands of people have been imprisoned for protesting Mr. Maduro’s declaration of victory or for taking part in the opposition’s electoral campaign. Mr. Maduro stepped up the repression in recent months amid escalating tensions with the United States, effectively criminalizing any opposition to his rule. The Venezuelan government has not commented on the prisoner release.

CNN [1/1/2026 3:30 PM, Andy Rose, 18595K] reports it may now be the most famous – or infamous – sign in the country. Posted above a door on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, the Quality Learning Center was missing an "n.” For a conservative content creator attempting to call out fraud – and the supporters who made his video on day care centers in Minneapolis’ Somali community viral – it seemed too absurd not to mention. "This is Quality ‘Learing’ Center," Nick Shirley said, pointing to the sign. "They spelled ‘learning’ wrong.” Shirley’s 42-minute video posted the day after Christmas quickly spread, prompting stepped up immigration enforcement, frozen federal funds and more biting rhetoric against the Somali community from President Donald Trump. Although Shirley’s encounters with other businesses were often more dramatic, the misspelled sign and its locked door made Quality Learning Center a focus of criticism aimed at the state government and Gov. Tim Walz for a system opponents say has allowed fraud to run rampant in Minnesota. "These are not real businesses," Shirley told CNN’s Whitney Wild this week, pointing to the Quality Learning Center. A man identifying himself as a manager for the center told a local TV station there was "no fraud going on whatsoever.” CNN is looking into Shirley’s claims that this and other Minneapolis-area day care centers are committing fraud. Federal law enforcement has been investigating fraud in Minnesota for several years, and "98 individuals have been charged in our ongoing fraud against the government cases," Assistant US Attorney Melinda Williams told CNN Tuesday. No fraud charges have been filed against Quality Learning Center. Records show the business has faced repeated questions of whether the service it is providing is meeting state standards, but none of the violations suggested fraud. Here’s what we know about the Quality Learning Center. According to figures provided to CNN by the state House Republican Caucus, Quality Learning Center was set to receive $1.9 million from the Child Care Assistance Program – known as CCAP – for 2025. It has received nearly $10 million from CCAP since 2019, the document shows. The caucus told CNN the funding figures were obtained from the state Department of Human Services, which did not respond to CNN’s request for confirmation Wednesday.

Daily Caller [12/31/2025 10:10 AM, Nicole Silverio, 835K] reports White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump wants every Somali convicted of fraud in Minnesota to lose their U.S. citizenship. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer called for the denaturalization and deportation of every Somali who committed fraud in a Dec. 29 statement on X, arguing that they cannot be allowed to "take advantage" of social services. Leavitt confirmed on "Fox & Friends" that Trump is "absolutely" on board with denaturalizing every Somali who has defrauded American taxpayers. "Does President Trump want those Somalis to have their citizenship revoked if convicted of fraud?" a guest co-host asked. "Absolutely. And it’s something the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State is currently looking at right now. It’s something this administration has already done. And we know that there are liberal activist judges across the country who will try to block and tackle this administration from pursuing justice at every turn," Leavitt said. "But that’s not going to stop the president and his entire cabinet by acting on behalf of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens in the state of Minnesota and in states across the country who have been ripped off by people who abused our immigration system, came to our country, do not love our country or respect our values, and now have been ripping off and stealing money from law-abiding Americans. This administration is not going to tolerate it," she continued.

USA Today [12/31/2025 11:28 AM, Joey Garrison, 67103K] reports that the Trump administration is exploring the denaturalization of Somali-Americans in Minnesota who engaged in fraud, a move that would seek to strip the U.S. citizenship of those who illegally obtained tax dollars intended for social services. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt discussed the potential action in a Dec. 31 appearance on Fox News, one day after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze childcare payments to Minnesota following what the agency said was fraud at daycares in the state. "We’re also not afraid to use denaturalization," Leavitt said. "That’s a tool at the president and the secretary of state’s disposal, and it’s one this administration has previously used before." Of the 86 people charged in a sprawling $250 million case involving Minnesota-administered programs, 78 have been identified as Somali-Americans. Minnesota is home to about 80,000 Somali immigrants, the largest of any state. Most are naturalized citizens ‒ foreign-born individuals who went through a legal process to gain their citizenship. "Absolutely," Leavitt said when asked whether Trump wants Somali-Americans’ citizenship revoked if they’re convicted of fraud. "It’s something the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State is currently looking at right now." Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a Dec. 30 appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show podcast, said DHS investigators are currently going "door to door" to suspected fraud sites in Minnesota "to make sure we follow the money here and we bring arrests, prosecutions and ultimately removals." Breitbart [12/31/2025 7:59 PM, Pam Key, 2416K] reports that, Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s "Fox & Friends," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration was reviewing cases to denaturalize citizens who came to the country from Somalia who were convicted of fraud in Minnesota. Leavitt said, "I want your audience to understand this is a top priority for the administration. The Department of Justice, as we speak, is continuing to execute search warrants and subpoenas. People will be in handcuffs as a result of the fraud that Governor Walz has allowed to occur for the for many, many years, the Department of Homeland Security is conducting door to door investigate on the ground at potential fraud sites. And they are also, of course, conducting continued deportations of illegal aliens in Minnesota’s communities. And we’re also not afraid to use naturalization. That’s a tool at the president and the secretary of state’s disposal, and it’s one this administration has previously used before. I know the Health and Human Services Department has also announced we are cutting off all childcare funding to the state of Minnesota. Until we get to the bottom of this fraud, the Department of Labor is investigating their unemployment insurance program.” Host Griff Jenkins said, "Carolyn, just very quickly to clarify, you covered a lot there, but you mentioned that the naturalization House majority we have, Tom Emmer, a congressman from Minnesota, has called for all of the Somalis that are convicted of fraud to have their citizenship revoked. We know so far, according to Pam Bondi, that 98 of the people charged, 85 are of Somali descent. Is President Trump want those Somalis to have their citizenship revoked if convicted of fraud?". Leavitt said, "Absolutely. And if something the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State is currently looking at right now, it’s something this administration has already done." [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Hill [12/31/2025 9:56 AM, Max Rego, 12595K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Hill on Wednesday that “under U.S. law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization.” More than 240,000 people of Somali descent lived in the U.S. as of 2024, including more than 100,000 in Minnesota, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Somalis in Minnesota have been at the center of a fraud scheme.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [12/31/2025 11:40 AM, Brian Freeman, 4109K]
Washington Examiner [12/31/2025 10:00 AM, Christian Datoc, 1394K]

FOX News [12/31/2025 11:51 AM, Taylor Penley, 40621K] reports that
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned Wednesday that "people will be in handcuffs" as fallout grows from expansive fraud allegations under Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s watch. "President Trump is not going to let Governor Walz off the hook," Leavitt told "Fox & Friends," echoing arguments that responsibility lies with the governor as the alleged fraud occurred under his administration. Leavitt said the Trump administration has surged federal resources into Minnesota, with multiple agencies conducting investigations tied to the alleged fraud. Among them, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is conducting door-to-door operations at alleged fraud sites, a key federal effort ICE Director Todd Lyons discussed Tuesday on the Fox News Channel. "This is a top priority for the administration," Leavitt reiterated. "The Department of Justice, as we speak, is continuing to execute search warrants and subpoenas… The Department of Homeland Security is conducting door-to-door investigations on the ground at potential fraud sites, and they’re also conducting continued deportations of illegal aliens in Minnesota’s communities.” "We’re also not afraid to use denaturalization," she continued. "That’s a tool at the president and the Secretary of State’s disposal, and it’s one this administration has previously used before." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/1/2026 4:00 PM, Madison Colombo, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Republicans are demanding accountability over the Minnesota fraud scandal, accusing state Democrats of failing to prevent billions of dollars in taxpayer funds from being stolen. A Florida lawmaker is now calling for aggressive federal action, comparing the alleged fraud to "organized crime.” "This is what the mafia does. They steal, they lie, they cheat," Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., said on "Fox News Live" Thursday. "The federal government has to use the full powers that we used to destroy the mafia back in the 1960s. Nothing short of it," he added. Federal authorities have launched an operation in Minnesota to "identify, arrest, and remove criminals who are defrauding the American people," according to the Department of Homeland Security. Prosecutors accuse Minnesota of widespread fraud involving child care and other social services, saying losses could reach into the billions. The Trump administration says it plans to freeze certain federal child care funds until states provide additional verification for the programs. In a post on X, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused Trump of playing politics in response to the proposed funding freeze. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [1/1/2026 4:00 AM, Christian Datoc, 1394K] reports the revelation of widespread fraud committed by members of Minnesota’s Somali community is a political gift for President Donald Trump, allowing him to elevate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as a sorely needed foil for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. But veteran campaign operatives for both parties expect that Walz’s status as a Democratic boogeyman will be short-lived, and that Republicans will inevitably look back to California or New York, where bigger-name figures are dominating GOP claims of socialism and incompetence. Trump has heaped attacks on Walz in the weeks after the fraud became a national news story, with the president and Republicans more broadly questioning how hundreds of millions in federal dollars were squandered under Walz’s watch. The fraud represents the latest misuse of pandemic-era funds and has become a ballooning case for the Justice Department, which has prosecuted dozens of alleged conspirators. But the story also has a political dimension that ties together the GOP’s emphasis on fiscal responsibility with the hard line it has drawn on immigration. FBI Director Kash Patel said that his agency is working with immigration authorities for "possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings.” Walz has defended his handling of the fraud allegations, telling Fox News that his office "strengthened oversight" once the schemes came to light. But that defense has not quieted the criticism, as the Trump administration and its congressional allies expand investigations into suspected misconduct and even begin to withhold federal dollars. Meanwhile, Trump has blamed Democratic policies for an influx of immigrants he says are "completely taking over" the country, and has hurled insults at Walz, drawing controversy for calling him a dated slur for intellectually disabled people. Republican operatives concede that the focus on Walz, the former running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, is easy political fodder after an election cycle spent portraying him as an inept and radical governor. And in an election season in which Walz is seeking a rare third term in office, the attacks could prove fruitful in a blue state where Republicans are hoping to make inroads. Still, Republicans believe that "even Democrats" don’t want Walz as a candidate in future general elections, and that Democratic politicians such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), a possible 2028 contender for president, or New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an avowed socialist, will prove the most useful in this and future cycles.

NewsMax [12/31/2025 6:28 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K] reports that Minnesota State Rep. Walter Hudson told Newsmax on Wednesday that a surge of attention to alleged daycare fraud in his state has stripped away plausible deniability for regulators and elected officials, arguing that failures point to either gross incompetence or complicity. Hudson, a Republican, appeared on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE" as federal agents expanded an investigation of what Department of Homeland Security officials describe as widespread fraud tied to publicly funded child care centers. The inquiry accelerated after a viral video by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley alleged that nearly a dozen Minnesota daycare sites receiving public funds were not providing services. "It’s been extraordinarily frustrating, but it’s very encouraging," Hudson said, crediting recent attention to the work of independent investigators and "especially the federal administration under [President] Donald Trump.” He said the spotlight followed "many, many years" of concerns raised in Minnesota. Hudson said state officials had long encouraged the public to report fraud, yet meaningful action lagged until Shirley’s video was circulated widely online. As of Monday, the video had surpassed 1 million views on YouTube and had spread widely on X, drawing national attention. As a member of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, Hudson said whistleblowers inside state agencies have come forward only under assurances of anonymity.

(B) NBC News Daily [12/31/2025 12:04 PM, Staff] reports that the Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced a hearing next week on allegations of widespread fraud in Minnesota. It comes as the Trump administration says it is freezing all federal childcare payments to that state. The federal investigation into alleged daycare fraud in Minnesota is growing. The Department of Homeland Security posted videos of agents knocking on doors of 30 businesses around Minneapolis in an effort to root out fraud. The Justice Department has been running sprawling fraud investigations across multiple social service programs in Minnesota for years.

Washington Examiner [1/1/2026 5:00 AM, Mia Cathell, 1394K] reports Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), whose administration is accused of allowing Somali fraudsters to target Minnesota’s child care subsidies program, received nearly $10,000 in campaign contributions from supporters connected to Somali-operated day care centers. The Democratic donors involved in Somali day cares and home health services have written considerable checks to Walz’s gubernatorial campaign, according to campaign finance filings compiled by the Washington Examiner Like the Somali-run child care facilities highlighted by videographer Nick Shirley, these companies appear as legitimate businesses on paper, but upon closer inspection, some appear not to be operational. Walz’s 2022 reelection campaign received $1,000 from Mohamed Rabi, of Hiawatha Adult Day Center Inc, which does not have its own website, for instance.

Blaze [12/31/2025 10:00 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K] reports Minnesota appears to be a mecca for fraudsters, particularly from the crime-ridden African nation of Somalia. Private citizens and the Trump administration have taken steps in recent weeks to neutralize and expose the worst cases of graft in Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s back yard — including the fraud committed by members of the Somali community in relation to coronavirus relief funding and the student aid fraud plaguing the Gopher State’s publicly funded schools. YouTuber Nick Shirley, 23, has played an outsized role in this anti-fraud campaign. His Christmas week videos alleging massive fraud in taxpayer-subsidized, Somali-run day care facilities prompted the Department of Health and Human Services to announce that it was derailing the gravy train. "We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota," HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a statement on Tuesday. In a corresponding video, O’Neill noted that "intrepid journalists have made shocking and credible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota’s child care programs. We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake day cares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade." Alex Adams, assistant secretary of the HHS’ Administration for Children and Families, indicated that his office provides Minnesota with $185 million in childcare funds annually. "That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants," said Adams. "Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children." Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem indicated that Homeland Security Investigations was also looking into the matter, sharing a video of HSI officers visiting day care operations. Director Kash Patel said that the FBI was aware of the reports in the Gopher State and that "fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide."

FOX News [12/31/2025 1:35 PM, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K] reports that President Donald Trump claimed that California and Minnesota are both rife with fraud, slamming the two states and their respective governors as "Crooked." "There is more FRAUD in California than there is in Minnesota, if that is even possible. When you add in Election Fraud, then they are tied for first. Two Crooked Governors, two Crooked States!" the president asserted in the post on Wednesday, referring to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Trump also slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. "Much of the Minnesota Fraud, up to 90%, is caused by people that came into our Country, illegally, from Somalia. ‘Congresswoman’ Omar, an ungrateful loser who only complains and never contributes, is one of the many scammers. Did she really marry her brother? Lowlifes like this can only be a liability to our Country’s greatness. Send them back from where they came, Somalia, perhaps the worst, and most corrupt, country on earth. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!" he declared. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Omar, Newsom and Walz to request comment but did not immediately hear back.

Washington Post [12/31/2025 6:47 PM, Paige Winfield Cunningham and David Ovalle, 24149K] reports that the Trump administration has paused child care payments to multiple Minnesota day cares following allegations that they improperly collected millions of federal dollars, the latest federal action against the state as it grapples with investigations into widespread fraud in its social welfare system. The Department of Health and Human Services also announced stricter verification measures for states trying to collect payments for day cares from its Administration for Children and Families, which funds child care for families with low incomes. HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a Tuesday evening X post that the measures were taken to stop “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.” O’Neill also tweeted that "we have frozen all childcare payments to the state of Minnesota." HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told The Washington Post that payments are only frozen for the day care centers suspected of fraud and that other centers in Minnesota will be subject to the extra verification requirements as in other states. ACF provides $185 million in child care funds to Minnesota each year, officials said Tuesday. The move was spurred by a viral video by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley visiting 10 Minnesota day care facilities funded by public dollars and alleging they weren’t caring for children. Nixon said HHS didn’t carry out its own investigation before freezing the funds but will refer the matter for investigation by the agency’s inspector general.

Washington Post [1/1/2026 5:00 AM, Paige Winfield Cunningham, David Ovalle and Caroline O’Donovan, 24149K] reports day care operators say the Trump administration’s restrictions on federal child care funding unfairly punish them over a conservative activist’s fraud allegations against Minnesota centers that are undercut by state records and disputed by some of the owners. YouTuber Nick Shirley recently went to nine federally subsidized day care centers in Minneapolis, many operated by Somali Americans. In a 42-minute video of his visits that went viral last week, he claimed that the centers weren’t caring for any children because none could be seen entering or exiting the buildings. In response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cut off funds to the centers until they undergo extensive auditing and announced stricter verification measures for child care funds nationwide. Minnesota state regulators visited the centers within the past 10 months and saw children, according to state officials and records, undermining claims that they are fraudulent businesses. One day care manager told The Washington Post that security camera footage showed Shirley visiting her facility when it was closed. Another day care director said staff didn’t open the door in part because they assumed Shirley and six or seven men with him, some masked, were from Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which launched an operation in early December focused on Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis area. Ahmed Hasan, director of ABC Learning Center, said the YouTuber showed up at the front entrance around noon on Dec. 16. During the winter, most parents use the back entrance, and Shirley stayed no more than a few minutes, he said. Hasan said his day care serves about 56 children, most from low-income East African families. It was last visited by a state regulator on Nov. 7. Since the video went viral, people have flooded his center’s phones with harassing calls, threatening to have him arrested or call ICE, he said. Ayan Jama, manager at Mini Childcare Center, said her day care has also received threatening phone calls, including a bomb threat, and people have attempted to break in. She said Shirley visited in the morning before her center opened. Its typical hours are 12:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to serve mostly Somali children after school while their parents work in the afternoons and evenings, she said. “Why not come during operating hours?” she said. “This is a targeted attack on our community.” HHS said federal child care dollars, which help families with low incomes pay for care, will be frozen to the centers under suspicion until they release extensive documents, including attendance records, inspection reports and complaints. HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the agency has “a clear duty to verify the proper use of taxpayer funds.” The action comes amid state and federal fraud investigations of 14 Minnesota-run safety net programs, including for child nutrition, housing and autism assistance. President Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers, and conservative activists and media outlets have cited the involvement of Somali Americans to blast the immigrant group. Trump said in a Cabinet meeting last month that he doesn’t want Somali immigrants in the United States and referred to them as “garbage.”

New York Times [1/1/2026 10:24 AM, Ernesto Londoño, 135475K] reports Minnesota day-care providers and parents are warning of severe consequences if federal health officials carry out plans to withhold funds for a program that makes child care affordable for thousands of families. The Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday that it was freezing funds for all Minnesota child-care centers that it was supporting under the program, citing concerns about fraud. Day care center owners said that they could go out of business in a matter of weeks. Parents said they feared the move could force them to quit jobs or put off studies so that they could care for their children. “Many families in Minnesota are living paycheck to paycheck as it is,” said Maria Snider, who runs a day care center in St. Paul. If parents have to quit work to care for children, she said, families could end up homeless. The consternation came a day after Jim O’Neill, the deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced that the federal government had “frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota.” In a post on social media, Mr. O’Neill cited a viral video produced by Nick Shirley, a conservative content creator who claimed to have exposed widespread fraud in day care centers run by people of Somali origin. The video — which does not conclusively prove malfeasance — led to accolades from top officials in the Trump administration. “We believe the State of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake day cares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade,” Mr. O’Neill said in his own video announcing the funding freeze.

Breitbart [12/31/2025 10:43 AM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2416K] reports allegations of rampant human services fraud in Minnesota tied to the Somali community have now sparked concerns over the state’s voter registration law that allows a person to go to a polling place and "vouch" for eight other people who can then cast ballots with same-day registration. "A registered voter from your precinct can go with you to the polling place to sign an oath confirming your address. This is known as ‘vouching.’ A registered voter can vouch for up to eight voters," the Minnesota Secretary of State website reads. "Made for fraud," Elon Musk wrote on X this week in a repost of the the policy. Exactly what "vouching" establishes for the potential voter is up for interpretation. Fox news has been reporting that a person can vouch for up to eight people "without ID verification." Critics have noted despite those conflicting interpretations, those rules still leave a big loophole, namely Gov. Tim Walz’s 2023 "Driver’s Licenses for All" bill which allows people to obtain licenses regardless of immigration status. Those licenses do not indicate whether the person is a citizen or not, "despite being regularly used to register to vote," the Post reported.

NBC News [12/31/2025 4:35 PM, Alexandra Marquez, 34509K] reports President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued his attacks on the Somali immigrants living in Minnesota, accusing them of being "scammers" and "lowlifes" in a post on Truth Social, and calling for them to be sent back to Somalia. Trump also accused Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the first Muslim women and the first Somali American to serve in Congress, of being "one of the many scammers." Omar has not been accused of any wrongdoing. His post referenced ongoing investigations of widespread fraud among social services programs in Minnesota that involve some members of the state’s Somali community, but the Justice Department says was led by Aimee Bock, who is white.

New York Times [12/31/2025 5:02 AM, Ken Bensinger and Ernesto Londoño, 135475K] reports a 43-minute video posted online in the past week, purporting to expose extensive fraud at Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota, has been viewed by millions of people. It has also set off a series of events that show the symbiotic relationship between the Trump administration and self-described citizen journalists. It was posted to X and YouTube the day after Christmas by Nick Shirley, a 23-year-old who has made a name for himself in the past two years by producing viral content that aligns with MAGA policies. In the video, Mr. Shirley is accompanied by a man identified only as David, who claims to have uncovered fraud worse than “anywhere else ever in history.” Specifically, the man says he has identified dozens of child care and autism centers receiving millions of dollars in state funding without caring for any children. New York Times could not verify the claims made in the video. Mainstream news sites have reported on cases of social services fraud in Minnesota for years, including a 2,200-word article in The Times last month. But Mr. Shirley’s video hit a nerve, generating attention from conservative media outlets like Fox News and praise from top Republican officials. “This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 @pulitzercenter prizes,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X on Saturday. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security launched an investigation into the centers. On Tuesday evening, Jim O’Neill, the deputy secretary of health and human services, said on X that the federal government had “frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota.” The scale of the reaction to Mr. Shirley’s video has few precedents, but it highlights the way the White House seeds narratives about key issues, then rewards sympathetic creators who deliver viral content. That content need not be new, or even particularly revelatory, to succeed. Equipped with little more than iPhones, Mr. Shirley and other right-wing YouTubers and livestreamers zigzag around the country — and overseas — in search of politically charged footage. In many cases, these digital activists pick up on themes that have circulated for months, or even years, but still generate online outrage and action from a government primed to jump into the fray. “It’s mutual back-scratching,” said Darren L. Linvill of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, who tracks how social media is used to disseminate propaganda. “They all have goals that align, and they’re all pointed in the same direction.” Over the past two years, pro-Trump content creators have covered dozens of protests, political rallies and natural disasters; marched with anti-Muslim activists; and embedded with immigration officials on raids. An example of the feedback loop in action: Days after President Trump announced on Truth Social in late September that he would deploy “all necessary Troops” to defend “War ravaged Portland,” Nick Sortor, a popular livestreamer, flew to Oregon to cover the protests. After arriving, he was accused of disorderly conduct and briefly arrested. Attorney General Pam Bondi called him upon his release to say she had ordered a civil rights investigation of Portland’s police department for “viewpoint discrimination.” A few days later, he went on a ride-along in Portland with Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary.

ABC News [12/31/2025 5:18 PM, Luke Barr, 30493K] reports individuals from seven countries will not be able to travel to the United States starting Thursday, according to updated CBP guidance obtained by ABC News. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed executive orders limiting travel from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria -- with those restrictions now going into effect Jan. 1. This applies to both immigrants and nonimmigrants, according to the CBO document dated Dec. 29. The White House says the restrictions are for national security and public safety reasons, while immigrant advocates say the ban targets African and Muslim countries. The travel ban continues restrictions on those from Afghanistan; Burma (Myanmar); Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Haiti; Iran; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; Yemen from entering into the United States. There are also partial travel restrictions on people from Venezuela and Cuba, according to the document. It comes amid new restrictions on H1-B visas taking effect earlier this week.

Bloomberg Law News [12/31/2025 4:18 PM, Josh Wingrove, 91K] reports President Donald Trump said he is "removing" National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, after a number of legal setbacks, claiming that his deployments had helped reduce crime in the nation’s cities. The cities Trump cited, however, had seen his efforts to deploy troops blocked by federal judges — and the president made no indication that he is withdrawing troops from cities where soldiers he sent are actually patrolling, such as Washington, DC. Trump’s move comes a week after the US Supreme Court refused to let him send Guard troops to Chicago, a major setback in the president’s push to use the military in Democratically controlled cities to address what he and his supporters say is rampant crime and protests over his ramped up deportations of undocumented migrants. The 6-3 Supreme Court decision let a lower ruling blocking that deployment stand. That case was one of several challenging Trump’s planned deployments. The administration was appealing a judge’s order that blocked Trump from deploying the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, a city he has claimed without evidence is "burning to the ground." A different judge has ruled that he can’t deploy the National Guard in Memphis. A federal judge in Washington, DC, has ruled that Trump’s deployment of troops there was probably unlawful, though an appeals court earlier this month said that they can remain there for now. Trump had send troops to the Los Angeles-area earlier this year but that deployment was also blocked by a federal judge who said the president should relinquish control of the soldiers to California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. The US Department of Justice, however, in a filing this week appeared to stand down from challenging the judge’s decision. Breitbart [12/31/2025 8:18 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports “We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, despite the fact that crime has been greatly reduced by having these great patriots in those cities, and only by that fact," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago were gone if it weren’t for the federal government stepping in," the president said. He predicted the National Guard will return to those cities, though. "We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again," Trump said, adding: "Only a question of time!". Similar National Guard deployments in New Orleans and Memphis would not be affected because the respective governors in those states have okayed the deployments. The National Guard has been deployed in Memphis to help reduce violent crime there, and National Guard units began arriving in New Orleans ahead of New Year’s Eve, the annual Sugar Bowl and Mardi Gras. Local, state and federal law enforcement and the Louisiana National Guard seek to prevent a repeat of last year’s lone-wolf attack by an ISIS supporter, WWLTV reported. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was a U.S. citizen from Texas who drove to New Orleans and shot and killed 14 during the early morning hours on Jan. 1. An ISIS flag was found in his truck, along with weapons and a potential improvised explosive device, but local police shot and killed him before he could cause more harm. He had placed two IEDs on Bourbon Street, where he also opened fire with a rifle and killed 14 before being shot and killed to end the attack. Federal investigators found bomb-making materials in a rental home that Jabbar briefly occupied and tried to set on fire to conceal his crimes.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/31/2025 5:27 PM, Victor Nava, 42219K]
Daily Caller [12/31/2025 4:56 PM, Staff, 835K]
Univision [12/31/2025 4:39 PM, Staff, 5004K]
Washington Examiner [12/31/2025 5:14 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K]

(B) Today [12/31/2025 9:27 AM, Staff] reports that after a two-month immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino says the Department of Homeland Security is here to stay. Bovino posted a video on X yesterday morning showing some past activity in the Chicago area. He then went on to say DHS will be in Chicago for years.

Washington Examiner [12/31/2025 12:08 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports that the head of Border Patrol’s at-large operations assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents will remain in Chicago for years, as the agencies continue to work to arrest criminal illegal immigrants in the city. "If you think we’re done with Chicago, you’d better check yourself before you wreck yourself. Don’t call it a comeback; we’re gonna be here for years," Gregory Bovino, commander of the operation at-large, said in a post on X. The Trump administration’s success in regaining control of the U.S.-Mexico border early in 2025 has allowed Border Patrol to dispatch hundreds of its agents across the country to help ICE go after illegal immigrants in various communities. During the Trump administration’s crackdown on general crime in cities this summer, Border Patrol opted to send in agents to cities nationwide to tackle crime, as well as illegal immigration, starting with Los Angeles, Portland, Washington, and Chicago. ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham, an Illinois woman who was killed in a drunk-driving hit-and-run by driver Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal immigrant. Border Patrol made a very public entrance to Chicago early this fall, parading down Michigan Avenue in tactical gear. "The elected leaders in this state of Illinois are ignoring the law. In fact, they’re being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off their streets," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a press conference in Chicago in August.

CBS Chicago [12/31/2025 8:20 AM, Adam Harrington, 39474K] reports Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Cmdr. Greg Bovino sparred on social media this week, after the mayor endorsed "ABOLISH ICE" as a possible name for a Chicago snowplow. On Tuesday, Mayor Johnson wrote on X, "‘Abolish ICE’ has my full endorsement for the name of one of Chicago’s next Snow Plows. Remember to submit your choice by January 10th, 2026!" He accompanied the post with a clip of an interview with the Rev. Al Sharpton on MS NOW in which he denounced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration. In response, Bovino wrote on X, "Oh oh, i’ve got a nomination for the mayor. Name the plow ‘Reality Check’ and paint it green while your at it. Johnson obsesses over Border Patrol it seems!!". In turn, Mayor Johnson corrected Bovino’s grammar, saying he meant "you’re." The mayor added, "And reality check, Greg: Chicagoans vote on the snow plow names. The same people who want you out of our city.” The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation opened the snowplow naming contest earlier this month, and will continue accepting names for snowplows through Jan. 10, or until it receives 20,000 submissions, whichever happens first. On the day this winter’s contest started, one X user posted a screenshot of their entry, "ABOLISH ICE," along with the message, "Everyone else go home — this is the year we secure ABOLISH ICE on a Chicago Snowplow.” The next day, Mayor Johnson quote-posted that entry on X, along with an emoji of a wide-open pair of eyes. He went on to endorse the name. Not everyone on X was quite as thrilled with the "ABOLISH ICE" suggestion, with one user responding "The snow plow names are suppose to be fun and light hearted. Not political. Don’t ruin a fun thing.” The original poster of the "ABOLISH ICE" submission responded, "this IS a fun, light-hearted and nonpolitical. not sure why you’re trying to bring politics into it — i am merely stating an objective fact that snowplows ‘abolish ice,’" to which the mayor’s press office replied, "True.” "Abolish ICE" has become a popular refrain for critics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, particularly during the ongoing federal immigration enforcement effort in the Chicago area. Bovino is a commander with Customs and Border Protection rather than ICE, though both organizations fall under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was at the center of several use-of-force lawsuits and the most violent, controversial actions of Operation Midway Blitz.

Bloomberg Law [12/31/2025 4:00 PM, Maia Spoto, 803K] reports the Trump administration agreed to let a San Francisco judge’s block on the Los Angeles federalization of National Guard troops stand while its appeal of the order is pending. California Attorney General Bonta in a Wednesday news release called the move a "capitulation" following the US Supreme Court’s rebuke of Trump’s efforts to deploy troops in Chicago. California National Guard troops will return to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s control for the first time since the federal government sent them to the LA area in June, the release said. The deployment as immigration enforcement and local protests surged kicked off a pattern of National Guard deployments in other liberal cities. US District Judge Charles Breyer Dec. 10 ordered the administration to return control of the state’s National Guard troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom while the governor’s lawsuit is ongoing. He paused the order to give the administration time to appeal. A couple of weeks later, the US Supreme Court blocked the administration’s request to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago. The court said the administration likely didn’t have authority to federalize Illinois troops to help immigration enforcement and efforts to stem alleged violence at protests. The US Court of Appeals asked the administration after the Supreme Court’s order to explain why the partial administrative stay in California shouldn’t be lifted.

Los Angeles Times [12/31/2025 12:39 PM, Melody Gutierrez and James Queally, 14862K] reports that the Trump administration backed off its effort to block a court order returning control of National Guard troops in Los Angeles to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In a brief filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Tuesday, Justice Department lawyers said they no longer oppose lifting a partial administrative stay and formally withdrew their request to keep the troops under federal control while the appeal proceeds. The move follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Trump v. Illinois, which cast new doubt on the administration’s legal theory for using the National Guard in domestic law enforcement operations. Tuesday’s filing with the appeals court does not concede the merits of California’s case brought by Newsom, but it removes a major procedural obstacle to enforcing the lower court’s ruling. In the filing, federal lawyers said they "do not oppose lifting of the partial administrative stay and hereby respectfully withdraw their motion for a stay pending appeal." "This admission by Trump and his occult cabinet members means this illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end," Newsom wrote on X, adding that he is looking forward to the 9th Circuit making an official ruling that would return the California National Guard to state service.

ABC News [1/1/2026 7:34 PM, Alex Stone and Meredith Deliso, 30493K] reports an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer allegedly shot and killed an armed man outside of the federal agent’s Los Angeles apartment complex, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The shooting occurred late New Year’s Eve in the Northridge neighborhood, DHS said. ICE is under the supervision of DHS. The off-duty ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer was in his apartment "when he heard what he suspected were multiple gunshots" at approximately 10:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. As the suspected gunfire grew louder, the officer went outside with his ICE-authorized firearm and encountered a man "armed with what appeared to be a long rifle" upon rounding the corner of a building in the apartment complex, according to McLaughlin. After the ICE officer identified himself as law enforcement, the individual allegedly pointed his firearm at the officer and did not put it down when ordered, McLaughlin noted. "When the subject refused to comply, the officer fired defensively with his service weapon at the subject to disarm him," McLaughlin said. "The subject fired at least three rounds at the officer.” The ICE officer then went back to his apartment to retrieve his ICE-issued body armor "to better protect himself against rifle rounds" and reported the shooting to the Los Angeles Police Department, according to McLaughlin. When LAPD officers arrived, they found the shot individual, who was pronounced dead at the scene, McLaughlin noted. The ICE officer was uninjured, she said. Sources said it appears that the man had no connection to the ICE officer before the shooting. ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility is coordinating with the LAPD in the ongoing investigation, McLaughlin said. The LAPD confirmed it responded to a call of shots fired involving a federal agent, but did not release any additional details. Authorities have not released the names of the ICE officer or deceased man.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [1/1/2026 6:54 PM, Jeanette Marantos, 14862K]
New York Post [1/1/2026 1:19 PM, Jamie Paige, 42219K]
CBS Los Angeles [1/1/2026 6:17 PM, Austin Turner, 39474K]
Univision [1/2/2026 1:51 AM, Staff, 5004K]
Telemundo 52 [1/1/2026 12:49 PM, Dennis Broad and Jonathan Lloyd, 76K]

Washington Examiner [1/2/2026 1:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports the sanctuary state of California has delayed the cancellation of approximately 17,000 commercial truck driver’s licenses obtained by illegal immigrants. The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced this week that it will hold off on wiping out the thousands of licenses on Jan. 5, postponing the action for 60 days, a move that is likely to draw the ire of the Trump administration. "Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy — our supply chains don’t move, and our communities don’t stay connected without them," California DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement. "We are hopeful that our collaboration with the federal government will give [the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] confidence in our updated processes to allow California to promptly resume issuance of nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses." Illegal immigrants who were previously issued commercial driver’s licenses will now have an additional two months to reapply for the document and retake their exams.

New York Post [1/1/2026 8:51 AM, Patrick Reilly, 42219K] reports that Camila Mendoza Olmos’ grieving family said the teenager is "with the Good Lord" in a heartbreaking post after she was found dead in a field just 100 yards from her home. Camila’s family wanted "to give a humble and heartfelt thank you to all the news reporters, police detectives, FBI, churches, friends, family, and many other communities for your support and prayers" during the frantic, days-long search for the 19-year-old, her aunt Nancy Olmos wrote on social media. "Our beloved Camila Mendoza Olmos is now with the Good Lord. "We kindly ask that you please respect our pain and, most importantly, keep my cousin Rosario — Camila’s mom — and my nephew Carlos — Camila’s brother — in your prayers during this incredibly difficult time," she added. Olmos’ body was found beside a handgun near her home outside San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday. She had shot herself in the head, the medical examiner determined. Officials believe she had been dead for five or six days when she was discovered. Her disappearance sparked a massive search, including by her ex-boyfriend, Nathan Gonzales, who described Olmos as an exceptionally "loving person" in an interview with Fox San Antonio. The search dragged on without any leads as police exhausted all possibilities including human trafficking, warning at one point that she could be in "imminent danger." They also considered that Olmos, a US-Mexican dual citizen, may have gone or been taken across the border into Mexico, prompting the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to join the investigation. A joint team of Bexar County sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents discovered the body beside the handgun around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, the San Antonio Express reported. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [12/31/2025 8:55 AM, Randy Clark, 2416K]

New York Post [1/1/2026 9:24 AM, Samuel Chamberlain, 42219K] reports that file this under “life imitates art.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got her groove on to Vanilla Ice’s "Ice Ice Baby" during Wednesday night’s New Year’s Eve bash at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. In a video posted by Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the cabinet official — mocked by her critics as "ICE Barbie" — clapped her hands and danced to the Miami-based rapper’s signature 1990 hit. "ICE ICE Baby," Katie Miller captioned the clip, which also included her husband stiffly bouncing along to the beat. New Year’s Eve was an extra-joyful occasion for the Millers, who announced they were expecting a fourth child in 2026. The New Year’s Eve gala was highlighted by remarks from Trump himself, who declared America is "doing great" as the first year of his second term wrapped up. The guest list included first sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stuck around South Florida after his Monday meeting with the commander-in-chief to discuss the status of the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Also in attendance were DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor. Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani, who earlier this year pledged to invest $20 billion in US data centers, was also seen at the black-tie affair.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [1/1/2026 1:01 PM, Paul Bois, 2416K]
CNN [12/31/2025 10:58 PM, Kevin Liptak, 606K]

Daily Caller [1/1/2026 1:14 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports President Donald Trump achieved unprecedented success in closing the U.S. southern border and undertaking a mass deportation operation throughout 2025. After returning to the White House in January, the 47th president immediately implemented a series of executive actions aimed at securing the U.S.-Mexico border and equipping federal immigration authorities with the resources to locate and repatriate illegal migrants on a massive scale. These measures resulted in well over two million illegal migrants leaving the U.S. and southern border encounters at the lowest levels ever recorded in history. There have been a total of 117,105 enforcement encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border since Jan. 21, the day Trump re-entered the Oval Office, according to Customs and Border Protection data, which does not include December’s numbers. To put this figure into perspective, the Biden administration averaged 185,625 encounters every single month. "In just a few short weeks the Trump Administration managed to give Americans the gift of the most secure border since Eisenhower was our Chief Executive," Matt O’Brien, deputy executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates for lower levels of immigration, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "President Trump then followed that up with the only coordinated effort the U.S. has ever seen to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act the way that Congress wrote it — rather than in a manner calculated to pander to migrant groups," O’Brien continued. "Both actions are examples of campaign promises kept." "In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history — and this Administration is just getting started," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a public statement. "Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first."

FOX News [1/1/2026 12:53 PM, Greg Norman Fox, 40621K] reports numerous immigration policy changes were rolled out in 2025, impacting the way people travel, obtain visas and become citizens in the United States. Here are five of the biggest changes taking effect: The Trump administration unveiled a proposal in September to change how H-1B visas are awarded, a program that has become a cornerstone of the tech industry by allowing U.S. companies to hire highly skilled workers from abroad, including software engineers and data scientists. The Department of Homeland Security implemented a new rule on Dec. 26, 2025, that expands facial recognition for non-citizens who are entering and leaving the United States. The DHS said on its website that the rule "amends existing DHS regulations to authorize U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an operational component within DHS, to collect facial biometrics from all noncitizens upon entry and exit at airports, land ports, seaports, and other authorized points of departure." The Department of Homeland Security is moving toward scrutinizing the recent social media histories of foreign travelers before allowing them to enter the United States. In a notice filed in December in the Federal Register, U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote, "In order to comply with the January 2025 Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application." Trump in December announced the launch of the much-anticipated "Trump Gold Card," an immigration initiative designed to provide a new, streamlined path to U.S. citizenship. The card, which has a starting price of $1 million, features a portrait of the president, the Statue of Liberty and the American flag underneath a gold background, with "Trump Gold Card" stamped on the left side. A new version of the U.S. citizenship test is requiring applicants to answer twice as many questions as the old one. "The 2025 naturalization civics test is an oral test consisting of 20 questions from the list of 128 civics test questions. You must answer 12 questions correctly [60%] to pass the 2025 test. You will fail the test if you answer 9 of the 20 questions incorrectly," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on its website.

Daily Wire [1/1/2026 6:44 AM, Hank Berrien, 2494K] reports by the end of 2025, the United States experienced what appears to be the largest single-year decline in homicides on record, according to preliminary nationwide data. Figures compiled from more than 550 law enforcement agencies indicate murders fell by roughly 20% compared with 2024, surpassing previous year-over-year declines. While final federal crime statistics have not yet been released, analysts say the scale of the drop is unprecedented in modern American crime reporting, occurring alongside a shift toward more aggressive federal law enforcement intervention. Despite the national improvement, violent crime remains heavily concentrated in major metropolitan areas, many of which are Democrat-run and have historically struggled with high crime rates. According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, in the first half of 2025, 2,800 homicides were committed in major cities. While cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are seeing progress, they started from a baseline of extreme violence. For instance, Chicago’s homicide rate is down 30% this year, but this follows years of rampant bloodshed that peaked in 2021. Furthermore, certain Democrat-led cities have bucked the national trend entirely; Atlanta, Columbus, and Philadelphia reported increases in categories like rape, robbery, or aggravated assault, highlighting the persistent volatility in these jurisdictions.

ABC News [12/31/2025 6:31 AM, Bill Hutchinson, 30493K] reports this year began with a deadly New Year’s Day car-ramming terrorist attack in New Orleans and is finishing with a flurry of horrific shootings, including a mass shooting at Brown University, but 2025 is also poised to end with the largest one-year drop in U.S. homicides ever recorded, according to data from cities both large and small. Based on a sampling of preliminary crime statistics from 550 U.S. law enforcement agencies, the year is expected to end with a roughly 20% decrease in homicides nationwide, Jeff Asher, a national crime analyst, told ABC News. "So, even taking a conservative view, let’s say its 17% or 16%, you’re still looking at the largest one-year drop ever recorded in 2025," said Asher, co-founder of AH Datalytics and a former crime analyst for the CIA and the New Orleans Police Department. Experts say crime levels appear "back to normal" after a pandemic surge. The dramatic drop in homicides surpasses a 15% decline in 2024, which was then the largest decrease on record, according to Asher. In 2023, the number of homicides across the country fell 13% and 6% in 2022, according to the FBI. The number of homicides nationwide is expected to be the lowest since the FBI began keeping such records in 1960, Asher said. Asher said his assessment is based on the Real-Time Crime Index, which he founded and is a collection of monthly crime data from 550 law enforcement agencies nationwide. The FBI’s official annual report on crime isn’t expected to be released until the second quarter of 2026, leaving Asher and other experts to rely on preliminary data from a sampling of law enforcement agencies. Preliminary data the FBI made public earlier this year showed that homicides across the country fell 18% between September 2024 and August 2025. The FBI data also showed an overall 9% decline in violent crime during the same time period and a 12% reduction in property crime.

Washington Examiner [12/31/2025 7:26 PM, Staff, 1394K] reports the devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires started on Jan. 7. The Palisades Fire, which struck the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of coastal Los Angeles and nearby Malibu and rural communities, burned 23,448 acres. It destroyed 6,833 structures and killed 12 people, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported. The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area destroyed 9,418 structures and killed 17 people, according to Cal Fire. As the fires started, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) was part of a Biden administration delegation to the new Ghanaian president’s inauguration. Bass said she wasn’t aware of warnings before the fire started and suggested Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley downplayed the risks. Bass later demoted Crowley and named interim and permanent fire chiefs. Fires weren’t the only turbulence. After the Trump administration cracked down on illegal immigration with arrests and raids, rioters took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles in June. In response, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard to protect federal buildings. Besides rioters, there were peaceful protesters, some of whom told The Center Square that they were avoiding any scenes of violence and simply wanted to get their message heard. In July, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants during raids in marijuana fields in Southern California’s Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. ICE said more than 500 rioters attempted to disrupt the raids, but the United Farm Workers said several agricultural workers were critically injured, and one of them died from those injuries. In Los Angeles, local officials and others accused ICE of detaining U.S. citizens and mistreating illegal immigrants during various operations. But Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin repeatedly told The Center Square that demonizing ICE was leading to a huge increase in assaults on agents. As all this went on, California continued its growing number of lawsuits against the Trump administration on issues varying from immigration to food assistance. By the end of the year, California had filed 51 lawsuits. State Attorney General Rob Bonta joined or co-led a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in the suits.

New York Times [12/31/2025 6:30 PM, Alan Feuer, 135475K] reports nine months ago, immigration agents arrested a little-known Salvadoran sheet metal worker named Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in the parking lot of a Home Depot in suburban Maryland as he was driving with his 5-year-old son. The arrest and subsequent deportation of Mr. Abrego Garcia set in motion a byzantine legal journey that has now passed through every level of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, and has been heard by multiple judges. One recently remarked on the saga’s “tortured history” spanning two civil cases and a separate criminal case. In its parallel efforts to prosecute Mr. Abrego Garcia and to re-expel him from the country, the Justice Department has spent countless hours and untold sums of money pursuing an immigrant who has emerged as one of the most prominent symbols of President Trump’s aggressive deportation agenda. The department has also made numerous slip-ups in its handling of the cases, eliciting the ire of the judges overseeing them. The judges have said that department lawyers flouted orders, ignored due process, stonewalled proceedings, misled courts and most likely acted out of vindictive retribution against Mr. Abrego Garcia.

Univision [12/31/2025 6:14 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports a court order made public Tuesday suggests that the Trump administration sought to charge Kilmar Abrego Garcia with human trafficking only after his wrongful deportation to El Salvador, contrary to what federal prosecutors have claimed. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who set a hearing for late January on the Salvadoran man’s lawyers’ claim that he has been prosecuted in a vindictive manner, reported indications that senior Justice Department officials in Washington DC were involved in the decision to indict the immigrant . The wrongful deportation to El Salvador , the campaign to force the Trump administration to send him back, and the human trafficking case have made Ábrego García a central figure in the debate over the government’s anti-immigrant policies. Ábrego García has refuted the accusations and argued that prosecutors are targeting him in a vindictive and selective manner. Judge Crenshaw wrote in Tuesday’s order that Ábrego García had sufficient evidence to warrant a hearing on the matter, which Crenshaw scheduled for January 28. At that hearing, prosecutors will have to explain their reasoning for accusing Ábrego García, Crenshaw wrote, and if they fail to do so, the charges could be dismissed. The human trafficking case against Ábrego García stems from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where he was pulled over for speeding. He was traveling with nine passengers in the car, and the state troopers discussed the possibility of human trafficking among themselves. However, he was allowed to leave with only a warning. The case was referred to the Department of Homeland Security, but there is no record of any attempt to indict him until April 2025, according to court documents. Judge Crenshaw’s newly revealed December 3 order compelled the government to provide some documents to Ábrego García and his lawyers , although it does not give many details about their contents. Previously, Crenshaw found that there was "some evidence" that the prosecution of Ábrego García might be vindictive . He specifically cited a statement by Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche on a Fox News program that appeared to suggest the Justice Department charged Ábrego García because he had won his wrongful deportation case. Rob McGuire, who was the acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee until the end of December, argued that those statements were irrelevant because he alone made the decision to prosecute, and he has no animosity toward Ábrego García. But in the order, Crenshaw writes that "some of the documents indicate not only that McGuire did not make decisions alone, but that he actually reported to others in the Department of Justice, and prosecuting Ábrego may have been a joint decision ." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [1/1/2026 6:00 AM, Suhauna Hussain, 14862K] reports each month, Edward Flores crunches the numbers. And each month he grows more and more certain of the stark impact of federal immigration raids on California’s economy. Flores found that the number of people reporting private sector employment in California in late May and early June fell by 3.1% — a drop so significant it was exceeded in recent memory only by the employment downturn during the COVID-19 lockdown. The associate professor of sociology and faculty director of the UC Merced labor center based his analysis on U.S. census data from those months and published his findings over the summer. Flores has repeated the analysis for each month since June, with the exception of October, when the federal government shut down and for the first time in some 50 years did not collect these data. The employment decline grew further, with a 4.9% decrease in the first week of July — 742,492 fewer workers. Numbers somewhat bounced back in August, after a U.S. district judge temporarily banned roving patrols of immigration agents from stopping people based on the color of their skin, language spoken or vocation. But from May to September, private sector employment fell by 2.9%, Flores said in his latest report. "We are seeing a pretty persistent trend," Flores said. "It really underscores the urgency with which our elected officials and policymakers should be devising ways of mitigating the economic harm that is occurring as a result of immigration enforcement actions." The analysis shows an outsize effect on noncitizen women, whose reported employment plummeted about 8.6%, or 1 in 12 out of work after raids began to roil Los Angeles in early June.

Houston Chronicle [1/1/2026 7:00 AM, Staff, 2983K] reports regarding "Trump is restoring the border sanity that used to be normal | Opinion," (Dec. 24): Aaron Evans is missing a few things relating to the border. First of all, the southern border was met with fewer encounters in the second half of 2024, due to changes made by former President Joe Biden. Crossing for the second half of the year was reduced, and President Donald Trump actually inherited a border with lower activity. Secondly, the real problem with ICE is the way they are being misused in an unlawful matter. In many instances, they have become the outlaws themselves with their behaviors. Police officers would be fired or reprimanded for doing some of the things they are doing. Specifically, they have engaged in the destruction of property, operated in a way that made individuals think they were being kidnapped, fired rubber bullets and gas cartridges at peaceful protesters, arrested people without warrants, unlawful detention, denial of constitutional rights, blatant discrimination against Latinos and others, and even detaining American citizens without cause. We have heard a lot about border czar Tom Homan’s complaints about threats and violence to ICE agents. But those threats pale in significance compared to the way the agents treat the immigrants and citizens of this country. We don’t have a border problem anymore. Gov. Greg Abbott can’t even find enough migrants to send them to a northern city on a bus. But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has created a much bigger problem encouraging a broad misuse of power by these agents. Now we are engaged in a broad policy to terrorize immigrants who have been here for years, even decades.

Daily Wire [12/30/2025 11:00 PM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports January 20, 2025, marked the commencement of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort. Trump set out to hit a lofty goal of deporting one million illegal immigrants each year. Since Trump returned to office in January, federal immigration authorities have deported more than 605,000 illegal immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security. While the number is short of the president’s goal, it’s still a record breaker. For comparison, former President Barack Obama, nicknamed the "deporter in chief," deported roughly 432,000 illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2013 alone, according to federal data. In addition to the more than 605,000 illegal immigrants Trump has removed from the United States, roughly 1.9 million others have left on their own, according to DHS. Here are some of the worst of the bad hombres Trump has removed this year. Infamous illegal migrant social media influencer Leonel Moreno was deported back to his home country of Venezuela in March. Moreno was known for encouraging other illegal migrants to exploit welfare programs as he waved around wads of cash and bragged about the government handouts he’d received. The viral TikToker crossed the border illegally in 2022 and was nabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Ohio in 2024 for failing to report to required check-ins with federal authorities. An immigration judge ordered him deported a few months later, but the Biden administration couldn’t get the Maduro regime to accept any deportation flights at the time. When Trump returned to office, that all changed and Moreno was shipped off to Venezuela. Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the illegal immigrant who was shielded by recently convicted Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan during a court appearance, was deported by the Trump administration, DHS said in November. Flores-Ruiz had a rap sheet that included charges for strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse. He had previously been deported in 2013. Flores-Ruiz was arrested in April by ICE officers who waited at the courthouse for the conclusion of his domestic abuse hearing. Investigators said Dugan had been informed of the agents’ presence and grew "visibly angry," calling the situation "absurd," according to witness interviews.

NewsMax [12/31/2025 10:36 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4109K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning a $100 million, one-year "wartime recruitment" push to hire new deportation agents, including military enthusiasts and gun-rights supporters, using a broad ad campaign and online influencers, according to an internal document revealed on Wednesday. The goal is to advance President Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations by dominating recruitment channels and media networks, The Washington Post reported, citing a 30-page strategy memo that it said circulated among officials this summer but has only now been revealed. The campaign’s visuals include Uncle Sam, along with posters featuring Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Deputy ICE Director Madison Sheahan, urging potential recruits to "Defend the Homeland." DHS has already promoted plans to expand the ICE workforce by more than 10,000 employees, boosting the effort on social media with language about repelling "foreign invaders" and performing a "sacred duty." The new document, however, lays out the full scope of the plan, including a strategy to "flood the market" with targeted digital ads, influencer partnerships, and livestream promotions on platforms such as Rumble and Snapchat. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin did not dispute the claims The Post asked her to review and said she was "thrilled" the "wildly successful" campaign was being highlighted. McLaughlin said DHS has received more than 220,000 applications in five months and has offered jobs to more than 18,000 people. She said more than 85% of new hires have law enforcement experience. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/31/2025 12:05 PM, Marc Tamasco, 40621K] reports that ICE accused Politico reporter Josh Gerstein of "inciting violence against federal agents" following a Monday night post on X in which he suggested that "at some point, the amateur effort to knock on doors" of home daycare centers in Minnesota would intersect with what he erroneously deemed the state’s "robust stand-your-ground laws." In a pointed Tuesday post on X, ICE told Gerstein, Politico’s senior legal affairs reporter, that someone with his title should know better than to make social media posts that could incite violence against federal agents. "You would think a ‘Senior Legal Affairs Reporter’ for POLITICO would know better than to tweet something inciting violence against federal agents," ICE wrote. Gerstein’s post appeared to reference an investigation by independent journalist Nick Shirley on alleged widespread fraud at Minnesota daycare centers, which went viral earlier this week. In the 42-minute video posted to X and YouTube, Shirley documented visits to several daycare centers in the blue state, many of which appeared largely inactive despite continuing to receive state funding. Gerstein faced widespread criticism on social media after posting the comment, with users accusing him of calling for violence and mocking his understanding of Minnesota’s gun laws. After the reporter’s post had gone viral, Gerstein clarified his statement, commenting under his original post, "To observe that something is likely to happen or there’s a serious risk of it happening is not to advocate for it happening." Gerstein did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

New York Post [12/31/2025 3:45 PM, Brandon Cruz, 42219K] reports ICE will no longer hold migrant detainees in Suffolk County for more than 12 hours after a judge accused the agency of lying to the court and operating "inhumanely and unlawfully." Immigration and Customs Enforcement will now be substantially limiting its detention at the Central Islip federal courthouse holding room on Long Island, including by not keeping detainees overnight, and will transfer all of them out to other facilities each evening, according to a newly unsealed Dec. 23 letter from the government to US District Judge Gary Brown. The shift comes after Brown, a Trump appointee, threatened ICE with contempt over conditions inside holding cells at courthouse, where multiple detainees were allegedly confined overnight in a cramped room with an open toilet, no bedding and constant lighting. Brown accused the agency of submitting "demonstrably false" court filings over the issue and subjecting detainees to "inhumane and unlawful" treatment. The government later acknowledged its errors in its court filings. Brown has not yet ruled on whether he will hold ICE or the Department of Homeland Security in contempt over any of the issues but said further action could follow if the agency fails to fully comply with court orders and correct the record, court documents detailed. US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. asked for more time to adequately address each concern the judge has raised, asking to give the government until Jan. 23 to fully respond to Brown’s order, according to court records.

Univision [1/1/2026 3:52 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports during the official ceremony at which Jumaane Williams took a protest for a new term as a public defender (Public Advocate) in New York City, one image captured the public’s attention: A Hispanic immigrant held the Bible as the official raised his hand to swear office. This is Joshua Perez, a Latino immigrant who has been publicly accompanied by Williams in his fight against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions. Zohran Mamdani’s swearing-in ceremony mayoralty, included the protest takeover of several city officials. While Williams was taking the oath, Perez stood by him holding the Bible, a symbolic gesture that the official himself has used in the past to make visible the communities he claims to represent. Josué Pérez is publicly known for having faced an immigration process that forced him to meet with ICE at the federal building in Federal Plaza, Manhattan, along with his wife Yaneika Blanco and 3 children, one of them born in the country and with the possibility of being deported. In that context, Jumaane Williams came personally to accompany him, as part of his efforts to denounce immigration detentions during administrative appointments. In public events, Williams has mentioned cases of immigrants, including that of a Venezuelan detained with his family and subsequently released, as an example of what he considers unfair practices of the immigration system

New York Times [12/31/2025 8:42 AM, Frances Robles, 153395K] reports the handsome actor, who appeared on a telenovela with salt and pepper locks under a baseball cap marked “POLICE,” seemed familiar to Venezuelan exiles who watched the show. It wasn’t long before he was recognized as the lieutenant colonel who ran a notoriously repressive military unit in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Rafael Quero Silva, a former officer in Venezuela’s National Guard, was once accused by dozens of people and several human rights organizations of ordering violent military raids and the torture of detainees who were arrested after massive crackdowns on antigovernment protests in 2013 and 2014. At some point after the protests ended, Mr. Quero Silva left the national guard. Then, in 2018, Venezuelans living in the United States discovered that he had a new life in the Miami suburbs as a television extra on the Spanish-language soap opera “My Perfect Family.” On Tuesday, five people who say they were tortured, shot or beaten by soldiers under Mr. Quero Silva’s command filed a claim in U.S. court under the Torture Victim Protection Act. The 1991 law allows the filing of civil suits in federal court against people who committed torture or extrajudicial killings while acting in an official capacity in another country. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages, although it is unclear whether Mr. Quero Silva has any assets. The civil lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Florida, would mark the first time a Venezuelan military officer would stand trial in the United States for abuses carried out under the government of President Nicolás Maduro in the more than 10 years since he took power, the lawyers said. The plaintiffs say they hope their case can serve as an important symbolic step for those who were abused or wrongfully detained under the Maduro regime.

Chicago Tribune [12/31/2025 4:14 PM, Michelle L. Quinn, 4829K] reports a plan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport immigrants "like Prime, but with human beings" may include a Merrillville location — to the town’s complete surprise. Town officials have been seeking clarification from federal sources since they got wind of a Washington Post article that ran on Christmas Eve saying the Trump administration "is seeking contractors to help it overhaul the United States’ immigrant detention system in a plan that includes renovating industrial warehouses to hold more than 80,000 immigrant detainees at a time." Its plan, based on an unfinalized document the paper obtained, is to "speed up deportations by establishing a deliberate feeder system." While not mentioned in the article outright, Merrillville was included and named in a graphic published with it. The revelation, however, came as a complete shock, town officials said. Officials downstate also appeared to have been kept in the dark about any processing center plans for Northwest Indiana.

NewsMax [1/1/2026 6:24 PM, Jim Mishler, 4109K] reports an Oneida Nation subsidiary in Wisconsin has come under scrutiny after entering into two contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), prompting criticism from tribal members and a formal response from tribal leadership. Federal contract records show that Oneida-Stantec JV LLC, also known as the OESC Group, was recently awarded two ICE contracts totaling $6.3 million. The contracts cover engineering, technical services, and maintenance of government facilities. News of the contracts prompted backlash from some tribal members, with critics questioning whether doing business with ICE aligns with Oneida Nation values. Oneida Nation officials said they are reviewing the matter. "Since becoming aware of this issue, the Nation has been completing its due diligence to address the issue in a legal and transparent manner," tribal officials wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. "We are working in compliance with our corporate charter to take the steps necessary to ensure alignment between the Nation’s values and OESC Group. "The Nation has taken preliminary steps on this issue, and we ask for your patience as we navigate legal processes. More information is forthcoming over the next several days," the statement continued. The post drew hundreds of comments, including criticism from tribal member and former Oneida Nation attorney Rebecca Webster. "This reflects a clear misalignment with the values I expect our elected officials to uphold," Webster wrote. "This is mind boggling that anyone thought this was a good idea.” The situation follows a similar controversy earlier this month involving the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas, which faced criticism after a tribal entity entered into a nearly $30 million ICE contract. That agreement was later canceled after senior leaders were dismissed. On Wednesday, the Oneida Nation Business Committee said it opposes OESC’s decision to contract with ICE, calling the move inconsistent with Oneida values and saying it will meet with OESC officials to address the concerns. The committee also approved a resolution directing all Oneida divisions, entities, and tribal corporations to withdraw from grants, agreements, or contracts involving ICE.

Breitbart [1/1/2026 4:00 PM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports Texas’s new immigration‑enforcement law hit the state like a shockwave this morning, wiping out any remaining sanctuary‑style defiance by ordering every county sheriff to partner with ICE formally. The mandatory 287(g) crackdown is designed to hard‑wire deportation cooperation into every jail from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande. In June, Breitbart Texas reported that the Texas Legislature passed SB8, a new law requiring all Texas sheriffs who operate jails to enter into cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). The partnership, known as the 287(g) program, provides training and equipment to cooperating county jails to provide a safe and efficient turnover of criminal illegal aliens for deportation. Texas State Representative David Spiller (R-Jacksboro) told Breitbart Texas, "This is about public safety." He called the bill the "most aggressive" immigration enforcement measure to come out of the Texas Legislature this session. Before the passage of this law, signed by Governor Greg Abbott, ICE reports indicate that only 85 of Texas’s 254 counties had cooperation agreements with ICE. The new law applies to 234 of the state’s counties. Currently, reports indicate that approximately 100 law enforcement agencies have some type of 287(g) agreement in place. The remaining sheriffs now have until December 2026 to come into compliance. State Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) said the Texas Legislature "sent a powerful message: Our immigration laws will be enforced, and criminal illegal aliens causing great harm to our communities will be removed.” Schwertner added that the bill gives sheriffs a choice among the three 287(g) models in which to participate. He said it provides funding to cover costs not paid for or reimbursed by the federal government. Three of the state’s five largest county jails are not currently participating and have no pending applications for a 287(g) agreement. According to the latest ICE report, the counties are Harris (Houston), Dallas, and Travis (Austin). Bexar County (San Antonio) is participating in the Warrant Service Office model, and Tarrant County (Ft. Worth) is participating in the Jail Enforcement model. In an exclusive interview, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons explained the importance of having a safe transfer of custody of dangerous criminal aliens while they are still in jail. "Any ICE agent or officer will tell you they’d much rather have the cooperation of a state or local agency… not only is it safe for my officers and agents, it’s safe for the agency that’s turning them over, and it’s also safe for the criminal alien," Lyons told Breitbart. Without cooperation, ICE must deploy large teams into neighborhoods, increasing risk for agents and civilians alike. "You’re looking at five to six officers or agents being on that arrest team," Lyons explained. "And now, with the uptick of violence against ICE special agents and deportation officers, we’re looking to take another five to six just to do security on the ones making that one arrest.”

Telemundo Amarillo [1/1/2026 6:37 PM, Andrew Culver, 4K] reports that, beginning January 1, 2026, Texas sheriff’s offices that operate jails will be required to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a new state mandate. Senate Bill 8 requires sheriff’s offices to sign 287-G agreements, which allow them to help enforce federal immigration law. The 287-G program consists of three models: jail enforcement, warrant enforcement, and task forces. The program grants local law enforcement agencies the authority to enforce federal immigration laws while performing their regular duties. The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office adopted the task force model earlier this month. Sheriff Larry Webb said that the county’s patrol work doesn’t change much, but that deputies are receiving training to handle situations involving undocumented immigrants. “We’re going to continue working as usual. We’ll just have a little more authority when it comes to matters related to ICE and immigration,” Webb said. Webb said a process already existed, but agents were not trained to enforce immigration laws. “There was already a process in place, but we weren’t really equipped to do any of it. We were just contacting ICE,” Webb said. “It’s kind of a learning curve for us, as we’ll have to understand and follow their process.” The Gregg County Sheriff’s Office has adopted the 287-G prison enforcement model. This model identifies illegal immigrants upon their arrest, triggering a federal detention of that inmate. “Our federal agencies ask us for help and we provide it, but we, as the sheriff’s office, don’t actively go out there and do it. They come into our jail, they’re undocumented, yes, they’re going to be issued a detention order,” said Deputy Chief Craig Harrington of the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office. “I completely understand why people want to come here and have a better life, and we understand that, but we want to do it legally. What we don’t want is for criminals from other countries to come and continue committing crimes,” Harrington said. Sheriff’s offices will be required to comply with these requirements by December 1, 2026.

FOX News [12/31/2025 5:38 PM, Bonny Chu, 40621K] reports a previously deported illegal immigrant pleaded guilty Tuesday to a series of armed robberies targeting multiple convenience stores in California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Jesús Soto-Parada, 27, from El Salvador, was arrested on June 13, 2024, while fleeing a robbery at a 7-Eleven near Los Angeles, after a clerk placed a hidden GPS device with the cash that they stole. Soto-Parada and an accomplice allegedly robbed stores across eight cities over a five-month period last year, the Department of Justice said last year. Soto-Parada is suspected of 11 thefts but admitted to committing seven of the charged cases across Los Angeles and Orange counties from January to June 2024, authorities said. Federal prosecutors noted that Soto-Parada pleaded guilty to eight felonies, including one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and seven counts of robbery under the Hobbs Act, a federal law that makes it a crime to rob or extort businesses in a way that affects commerce. Soto-Parada also had multiple prior immigration violations before his robbery spree, including arrests by federal authorities in 2016 and 2022, according to federal prosecutors. Authorities said that during his robbery spree in March 2024, Soto-Parada was arrested and subsequently deported to El Salvador the following month. He later returned to the United States and reportedly continued to commit robberies. Sentencing for Soto-Parada is scheduled for April 15, 2026. He could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count, prosecutors said.

New York Post [12/31/2025 2:10 PM, Jeremy Louwerse, 42219K] reports that an El Salvadorian national — who entered the U.S. illegally after being deported — has admitted violently taking cash and booze at gunpoint from six liquor stores across Southern California. Illegal immigrant Jesús Soto-Parada pled guilty to eight felonies stemming from the slew of crimes. Police were able to get Soto and his accomplice with the help of a secret GPS device the clerk snuck into the $250 cash they stole, allowing the officers to track their every move. Wearing a blue surgical mask and black sweatshirt, Soto-Parada emptied the registers at a Gardena 7-Eleven while his accomplice, Daniel Pavon, aimed a black replica handgun at the clerk during a robbery at 2:30 a.m. on June 13, 2024, according to the criminal complaint. When officers combed the suspect’s green Ford Explorer, just 2 and half miles from the 7-Eleven, they discovered a trove of surgical masks, a replica gun, hoodies, and cash. The tracking device was found on the front passenger floorboard, according to the criminal complaint filed by the office of Los Angeles US Attorney Bill Essayli. The illegal El Salvadorian was arrested by The Department of Homeland Security in 2016 and 2022 for immigration violations. He was then deported to El Salvador or about April 12, 2024, according to the criminal complaint.

CBS News [1/1/2026 10:22 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 39474K] reports a federal judge in California on Wednesday voided the Trump administration’s move to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of roughly 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, calling it a "pre-ordained decision.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the termination of the TPS programs for Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua in June and July, saying the three countries had recovered from the environmental disasters that prompted the U.S. government to grant their nationals temporary legal refuge. Created by Congress in 1990, the TPS policy allows the U.S. government to give certain foreigners deportation protections and work permits, temporarily, if their native countries are facing armed conflict, an environmental disaster or another emergency that makes their return unsafe. In late July, U.S. District Court Judge Trina Thompson delayed the termination of the TPS programs for Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, issuing a preliminary finding that the Trump administration failed to consider lingering problems in three nations and that the decision to terminate the policies was motivated by racial animus, or racial hostility. That ruling was paused in August by an appeals court, allowing the Trump administration to end the programs. But Thompson issued a summary judgment on Wednesday, finding that the effort to revoke the legal status of tens of thousands of Hondurans, Nepalis and Nicaraguans was unlawful. She said Noem’s move "was preordained and pretextual rather than based on an objective review of the country conditions as required by the TPS statute and the (Administrative Procedures Act).” "The record specifically reflects that, before taking office, the Secretary made a pre-ordained decision to end TPS and influenced the conditions review process to facilitate TPS terminations for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal," Thompson wrote in her order. In a statement, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the judge’s ruling "another lawless and activist order from the federal judiciary who continues to usurp the President’s constitutional authority.” "Under the previous administration Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation," McLaughlin said. "TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades. Given the improved situation in each of these countries, now is the right time to conclude what was always intended to be a temporary designation.” Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy, said Wednesday’s ruling should allow TPS holders from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal to work in the U.S. legally and prevent federal immigration officials from detaining and deporting them. "The court’s decision today restores TPS protections for thousands of long-term law-abiding TPS-holding residents from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua," Arulanantham said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [12/31/2025 6:34 PM, Anushka Patil, 135475K]
Reuters [12/31/2025 2:03 PM, Ted Hesson, 36480K]
Telemundo [1/1/2026 9:10 AM, Staff, 2218K]
Telemundo 51 [1/1/2026 10:08 AM, Staff, 182K]
Univision [1/1/2026 11:20 AM, Staff, 5004K]
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Newsweek [1/1/2026 2:07 AM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports the Trump administration’s expanded travel ban went into effect Thursday, banning visas that allowed adoption from 39 countries. Under the proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on December 16, four adoption visas were suspended, per the State Department, affecting countries including Nigeria, Haiti and Venezuela. The so-called travel ban was a feature of the first Trump administration and returned in 2025, with Trump arguing that banning or limiting travel from the affected countries was necessary for U.S. national security. Ending adoption visas for the affected countries is a newly introduced element of the updated ban. As of Thursday morning, adoption-specific IR-3, IR-4, IH-3 and IH-4 visas cannot be issued for people from all affected countries, regardless of whether there is a full or partial travel ban in place. While Trump’s original proclamation did not lay out the specific visas affected here, it did say that family-based visas would no longer be an exception, with the State Department implementing the new rules. The department also said that immediate family immigrant visas—IR-1/CR-1, IR-2/CR-2 and IR-5—were suspended.

AP [12/31/2025 12:01 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports that as U.S. employers continue to face unprecedented labor shortages, business leaders across hospitality, construction, landscaping, seafood processing, and tourism are urging policymakers to expand H-2B visa cap relief, emphasizing its essential role in sustaining local economies and protecting American jobs. The H-2B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary, non-agricultural positions when qualified domestic workers are unavailable. Employers must first actively recruit U.S. workers and are legally required to hire any qualified applicants, ensuring the program supplements, rather than displaces, the domestic workforce. Despite these safeguards, demand for H-2B visas has surged far beyond the program’s statutory limits. In FY 2025, employers requested more than 149,000 H-2B positions for April 1 start dates alone, while only 66,000 visas are available annually. Early data for FY 2026 shows continued acceleration, with 47,488 requests already submitted for October 1 start dates. "H-2B workers play a vital role in keeping seasonal businesses open and local economies strong," said Richard Keeth, Chief Operating Officer of másLabor. "These are legal, temporary workers who fill critical gaps when U.S. workers are not available. When employers can operate at full capacity, the economic impact extends well beyond a single business supporting local spending, tax revenue, and year-round American jobs in the communities they serve."

Univision [1/1/2026 9:54 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports Glenda España was deported despite having a pending U visa application, which she filed after the cold-blooded murder of her son in Takoma Park. She was also under the Intensive Appearance Supervision Program (ISAP), which allowed her to work in exchange for regular check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Armando Olmedo, legal advisor for TelevisaUnivision, discusses this case. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [12/31/25 3:22 AM, Anna Griffin, 153395K] reports Husna Hashemi keeps photos on her phone from the day more than three years ago when she handed her infant son, asleep and swaddled in blankets, to her husband’s parents and brother in a city park in Kabul. She didn’t want to leave — even now, speaking in Dari through an interpreter, she wept as she talked about returning to Afghanistan to be with her youngest child. But her husband, Sayed Rasool Hashemi, had worked for years with the American military, and after the U.S. government fled Afghanistan, the Hashemis faced a terrible choice: Stay and risk everyone’s lives or leave their newborn behind. “I did not want to go without him,” Ms. Hashemi said. “What kind of mother does that?” The Hashemis’ story, told from their neat, snug suburban apartment in Beaverton, Ore., where the immigrants are building new lives, holds twists and bureaucratic dead ends that span two presidential administrations and would make Franz Kafka proud. It’s capped, for now, by President Trump’s near-total blockade on Afghan immigration. In its infuriating absurdity is a metaphor of sorts for the long war’s chaotic end. On a recent evening, the laughter of the Hashemis’ two older children broke the quiet every now and then, but their youngest child’s voice remains missing from their attempt at the American dream. Sayed Anas Hashemi was just a month old, with no visa or passport, when his parents were forced to leave him behind. Efforts to bring him to the United States have lurched onward, but an attack on two U.S. National Guard soldiers near the White House in November, and the charging of an Afghan immigrant who had also worked for the United States, has left any reunion on hold. “Every time we get so close, then something happens,” Mr. Hashemi said. “Now, we just don’t know.” The White House referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security. A spokeswoman for the department, Tricia McLaughlin, said the jumble of Islamist organizations now running Afghanistan has made “the vetting of Afghan nationals extremely difficult and complex” and that “many hate our country and seek to bring it harm.”

Breitbart [1/1/2026 11:09 AM, Bob Price, Randy Clark, 2416K] reports President Donald Trump’s border crackdown delivered historic results in 2025, driving illegal crossings to levels unseen in decades. December ended with only 6,400 southwest apprehensions — and the full‑year total of 109,000 marks a dramatic reversal from the chaos inherited from former-President Joe Biden’s border crisis. Unofficial Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas revealed that agents encountered approximately 6,400 migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border from Mexico into the United States in December. After taking office on January 20, 2025, the Trump administration’s border team closed out the year with a historically low apprehension rate of less than 109,000 illegal aliens. "Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the 7th straight month of zero releases. Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes," said Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement released in early December. "Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the dedication of DHS law enforcement, America’s borders are safer than ever before.” Responding to an inquiry from Breitbart Texas, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, "In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history—and this Administration is just getting started.” "Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first," McLaughlin added. "In record-time we have secured the border, taken the fight to cartels, and arrested thousands upon thousands of criminal illegal aliens.” DHS officials stated that in 2025, the Trump administration delivered the "most secure border in American history." The officials added that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the U.S. Border Patrol, accomplished this task "in a matter of weeks.” Border crossings are down 93% year-over-year. Illegal alien apprehensions at the southwest border are down to an average of 245 per day. From May to November, seven consecutive months, the United States Border Patrol (USBP) released ZERO illegal aliens into the country. Under the Trump administration, there have been 73,329 total apprehensions along the southwest border, which is 53% less than the monthly average of 155,485 during the Biden administration. USBP nationwide apprehensions have averaged under 10,000 per month since President Trump took office – a level of sustained deterrence unmatched in modern border history. Fiscal Year 2026 has seen the lowest start to a fiscal year ever – 60,940 total encounters nationwide in October and November – lower than any prior fiscal year to date. CBP has seized 539,984 pounds of drugs—a nearly 10% increase compared to the same time frame in 2024. CBP awarded more than $5 billion in new border wall contracts, funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in record time. It also awarded a $37 billion acquisition vehicle to support this work to seal the border wall. CBP led the deployment of more than 130,000 feet of temporary barriers, to include concertina wire, along with the Department of War and the State of Texas, to secure critical gaps. CBP published 24 critical waivers, allowing the agency to cut through the bureaucratic red tape to expedite border wall construction. Since January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration has significantly increased CBP hiring, with monthly averages showing a 42.5% increase in CBP officer new hires, and an 84% increase in Border Patrol agent new hires, compared to the same time period last year. CBP implemented 41 Presidential Actions on trade, addressing illicit drugs, public safety threats, and critical imports. CBP assessed over $190.7 billion in tariff revenue and $266.7 billion in total customs revenue. CBP conducted 387 audits from January 20–November 7, 2025, identifying $1.43 billion in trade revenue and collecting $225 million. CBP ended de minimis duty-free treatment on August 29, closing loopholes exploited for narcotics and contraband. In August 2025, CBP created the National Targeting Center’s Trade Fraud Targeting Cell to combat trade fraud schemes in support of current presidential actions. "Our focus is unwavering: secure the border, enforce the law, and protect this nation," said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott in a December press release. "These numbers reflect the tireless efforts of our agents and officers who are delivering results that redefine border security. We’re not slowing down. We’re setting the pace for the future.”

Washington Examiner [12/31/2025 5:00 AM, Staff, 1394K] reports that, two years ago this month, more than 300,000 illegal immigrants were stopped by Customs and Border Protection officers along the southwest border of the United States, and almost all of them were quickly released into the country. At the time, we were told by even supposedly conservative media outlets that there was nothing the Biden administration could do to stop the migrant flood and that only bipartisan legislation from Congress could solve the problem. All of that turned out to be completely false. New legislation was not needed to secure the border, just a president with the political will to enforce existing laws and ignore the caterwauling from the nation’s liberal opinion pages. Thanks to a secret agreement with Mexico, new illegal immigrant crossings were already falling by the time President Donald Trump took office in January of this year, but the Biden administration was still arresting about 100,000 migrants a month and releasing them into the United States. Once in office, Trump issued executive orders ending former President Joe Biden’s catch-and-release policies, restarting the Remain in Mexico program, and expanding detention facilities in the U.S. These took some time to work, but by May, for the first time ever, no migrants arrested on charges of illegally crossing the southern border were released into the U.S. The Trump administration has kept the number at zero every month since. By itself, this is a huge, historic accomplishment. But Trump has done much more. In addition to stopping the flow of illegal immigrants, Trump has made significant strides in getting those here to leave and go home. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the illegal immigrant population grew from about 10 million when Biden took office to about 16 million when he left. Trump is reversing those numbers. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the administration has deported more than 605,000 illegal immigrants since Jan. 20, and another 1.9 million have voluntarily self-deported. This means that in just his first year in office, Trump has shrunk the illegal immigrant population by 2.5 million, undoing almost half of the damage Biden caused during his four-year term. Of those deported by DHS, 70% either have "criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S.," according to reporting done by the Washington Examiner. That 70% does not include those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or other nations. The most common way criminal illegal immigrants are deported is after a traffic stop by local law enforcement, who alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials if an illegal immigrant with an arrest record has been detained. Unfortunately, many local jurisdictions controlled by Democrats refuse to hold criminal illegal immigrants until ICE can detain them. In Fairfax County, Virginia, one such illegal immigrant went on to kill an American citizen within 24 hours of being released. Whether the Trump administration can keep up its deportation pace is an open question. When Trump took office, there were 1.4 million illegal immigrants who had already received final removal orders from a judge. DHS has tried to find many of them, but there are also more final orders for deportation being issued every day. Most illegal immigrants that Biden released into the country had flimsy asylum claims, and as their court dates materialize, they often fail to show up, allowing judges to issue deportation orders against them. Trump also secured billions in funding to hire more ICE agents and build more detention facilities. These resources are still coming online and will add to the deportation totals.

Daily Wire [1/1/2026 1:00 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports after untold millions of illegal immigrants streamed across the border under the Biden administration, Americans were fed up and demanded change. It was one of the many reasons why President Donald Trump was reelected in 2024. Across the nation, voters cited illegal immigration as one of their most pressing concerns. During the Biden administration, Border Patrol agents saw a daily average of 5,110 illegal migrants cross the border. Now, there are 245 daily crossings on average, according to Customs and Border Protection. On day one, Trump took action to end the illegal immigration chaos. National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told The Daily Wire that agents deployed to the frontlines saw it take effect "within a few hours." "They started doing the job of interdiction," Perez said, adding, "There’s actual consequences that are being imposed. It wasn’t just rhetoric, it was action.”

FOX News [1/1/2026 4:09 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Panelists Jonathan Fahey and Art Del Cueto assess falling border crossings under the Trump administration on ‘Fox News Live.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [12/31/2025 5:00 AM, Gabe Castro-Root, 135475K] reports that, when U.S. border agents turned away a French scientist in March after searching his phone, the French authorities cried foul, blaming messages commenting on President Trump’s policies for the decision. U.S. officials denied that politics had played a role, but the incident left some travelers with an urgent question: Are such searches even legal? The short answer is yes. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have broad authority to look through travelers’ phones, laptops and other electronic devices under an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s protections against warrantless searches. C.B.P. conducted 55,318 searches of electronic devices at ports of entry in fiscal year 2025, according to the agency. That’s up from the previous two years, though the number represents only about 0.01 percent of the nearly 420 million travelers who entered or exited the country by air, land and sea in fiscal year 2025, according to the agency. “These searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content and information relevant to visitor admissibility, all of which play a critical role in national security,” Jessica Turner, a C.B.P. spokeswoman, said in a statement. That may be true, but an increasing number of travelers report being questioned about legally protected online speech when crossing the border. Several factors, including citizenship status and where you enter the country, determine your rights to digital privacy at immigration checkpoints. Noncitizens owned a majority of devices searched by C.B.P. in the last three years, though the share of devices searched that belonged to U.S. citizens rose to about 25 percent from 21 percent over that period. Here’s a look at what C.B.P. agents can and can’t do with your devices, and the steps you can take to safeguard your private data. Agents can demand access to any traveler’s electronics at a port of entry for any reason. If you’re a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident, such as a green card holder, they’re required to let you enter the country even if you refuse to unlock your device. But agents can still seize your device and hold on to it for five days, or longer at a supervisor’s discretion, said Kabbas Azhar, an Equal Justice Works fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. Deciding whether to unlock your device is “a very personal” choice that may depend on what information you’re carrying, said Nate Wessler, the deputy director of the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. If you’re a doctor whose phone holds private information about patients, for example, or a journalist with confidential sources, you may be less willing to enter your passcode for a C.B.P. officer. “People have to weigh the practical implications,” Mr. Wessler said. “Would they rather try to protect their privacy but lose use of their phone for potentially weeks or months, or end up giving the password and making it easier for the government to search?” During a basic search, an officer looks through the device by hand. But in rare cases, agents can perform an advanced, or forensic, search, during which they copy a device’s contents onto a government computer for further analysis. A forensic search may even be able to unearth some files that a device’s owner had deleted, Mr. Wessler said. The passcode calculus is different for foreign tourists and other people without permanent status in the United States, since they have no legal right to enter the country. “In that case, it’s usually best to just give the information, because otherwise they’ll turn you right around,” Mr. Azhar said.

FOX News [12/31/2025 9:57 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to weigh in on the backlash mounting against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for her criticisms of Hispanic border patrol agents. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [12/31/2025 11:15 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports President Donald Trump praised National Border Patrol Council union leader Paul Perez and the many other Hispanic agency members who recently were criticized by the Los Angeles mayor and others for doing their jobs. In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump hailed Perez and rank-and-file agents for what he described as outstanding work securing the nation’s borders, while blasting Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as "incompetent" for taking aim at Hispanic recruits and agents. Trump also highlighted that more than half of U.S. Border Patrol is of Hispanic heritage, calling it a point of pride that undercuts political attacks portraying enforcement as anti-immigrant. "Paul Perez and the Border Patrol have done a fantastic job, and so proud that more than half are of Hispanic heritage," Trump wrote. He said Bass and "other Third Rate Politicians" were "complaining about" agents simply doing their jobs, adding that "nobody understands the Border better than our fantastic Hispanic population, which continues to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!".

Federal News Network [12/31/2025 1:37 PM, Michele Sandiford, 986K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to push back by a week plans to dissolve a union agreement for airport screeners as part of an ongoing court case. The Transportation Security Administration had planned to eliminate the collective bargaining agreement for TSA staff on January 11. But the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA staff, is seeking an emergency order to block that action. TSA says it will delay the effective date to January 18 to allow for arguments over the motion. The judge in the case had already issued a preliminary injunction blocking an earlier attempt by TSA to eliminate the union agreement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency this week awarded $250 million to 11 states and the National Capital region under a counter-unmanned aircraft system grant program. The states are all hosting FIFA World Cup matches next summer. The grants are intended to help them defend against unauthorized drone activity. The C-UAS Grant Program was established with $500 million from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. FEMA says the remaining $250 million will be distributed across all U.S. states and territories next year.

CNN [1/1/2026 11:17 PM, Gabe Cohen, 606K] reports the Trump administration is abruptly cutting dozens of staff who are at the forefront of disaster response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week, according to internal emails obtained by CNN and sources familiar with the plan. On New Year’s Eve, some employees received emails saying their positions "would not be renewed" and "therefore, your services will no longer be needed" after their contracts expire in the first days of January. The cuts target FEMA’s Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) teams, which form the backbone of the agency’s operations during and after a disaster, and could be just the beginning of a larger effort by Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security to shrink FEMA, potentially axing thousands of workers in the coming months who deploy during hurricanes, wildfires and other national emergencies. According to two sources with knowledge of the terminations, which suddenly ousted roughly 50 CORE staff, the decision came from FEMA’s new acting chief Karen Evans — who was elevated to the role by DHS leadership after the embattled previous agency head resigned. The notices stunned employees, who learned they would be let go within days. "Beyond cruel to be treated in such a way," one of the workers said. FEMA’s CORE employees are among the first federal boots on the ground during a disaster, working shoulder-to-shoulder with local officials, helping survivors and managing the crucial aid and grants that fuel recovery and rebuilding. "FEMA can’t do disaster response and recovery without CORE employees," a former senior FEMA official told CNN. "The regional offices are almost entirely CORE staff, so the first FEMA people who are usually onsite won’t be there. The impact is states are on their own.” So far, DHS, which oversees FEMA, hasn’t given the agency much guidance about what comes next, leaving employees anxious about more cuts. A DHS spokesperson denied that the department has implemented any new policy for these workers and did not address questions about this week’s abrupt terminations or the department’s broader plans to downsize the agency. "The CORE program consists of term-limited positions that are designed to fluctuate based on disaster activity, operational need, and available funding," the spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. "CORE appointments have always been subject to end-of-term decisions consistent with that structure and there has been no change to policy.”

Telemundo [1/1/2026 8:06 PM, Jonathan Lloyd, 76K] reports evacuation warnings in effect for areas recently burned by wildfires in Los Angeles were lifted Thursday afternoon as rainfall subsided in Southern California. The advisories, which told residents to be ready for evacuation orders, went into effect Wednesday night because of the threat of mudslides and debris flows due to overnight rain. The city’s advisories for the Palisades and Sunset fire areas were lifted around 3 p.m. Thursday. “Most of the storm has passed, but remain alert for potential hazards near you,” the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) reported.

Los Angeles Times [1/1/2026 6:00 AM, Noah Haggerty, 14862K] reports former residents of the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Estates, a roughly 170-unit mobile home park completely destroyed in the Palisades fire, received a notice Dec. 23 from park owners saying debris removal would start as early as Jan. 2. The Bowl is the largest of only a handful of properties in the Palisades still littered with debris nearly a year after the fire. It’s left the Bowl’s former residents, who described the park as a "slice of paradise," stuck in limbo. The email notice, which was reviewed by The Times, instructed residents to remove any burnt cars from their lots as quickly as possible, since contractors cannot dispose of vehicles without possessing the title. It followed months of near silence from the owners. "The day before Christmas Eve ... it triggers everybody and throws everybody upside down," said Jon Brown, who lived in the Bowl for 10 years and now helps lead the fight for the residents’ right to return home. "Am I liable if I can’t get this done right now? Between Christmas and New Year’s? It’s just the most obnoxious, disgusting behavior." Brown is not optimistic the owners will follow through. "They’ve said things like this before over the years with a bunch of different things," he said, "and then they find some reason not to do it." Earlier this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied requests from the city and the Bowl’s owners to include the park in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cleanup program, which FEMA said was focused on residential lots, not commercial properties. In a letter, FEMA argued it could not trust the owners of the Bowl to preserve the beachfront property as affordable housing.

New York Times [1/1/2026 5:02 AM, Soumya Karlamangla, 135475K] reports in a place known for courting dreams, 2025 was a year of nightmares. The first weeks brought devastating fires to Southern California, and the last delivered terrible floods. The storm that struck the Los Angeles region over Christmas caused rocky mudslides and flooded roads, though nowhere near the scale of destruction left by some of the worst wildfires in California’s history in January. But the timing of the two disasters, with the flooding unfolding near the first anniversary of the fires, shows how extreme weather is defining life in Southern California and reshaping its public image as a kind of paradise. “We have chosen to dream the city we want to live in, not actually live in the city we have,” said D.J. Waldie, a cultural historian in Southern California. “The weather is very good, the sun is shining most of the time, but the reality is also Los Angeles burns, Los Angeles floods.” Los Angeles has always been subject to unnerving weather extremes. In February 1938, heavy rains flooded the Los Angeles River and killed 87 people. On Thanksgiving Day that same year, dry conditions fueled a fire in Topanga Canyon that destroyed 350 buildings. In an essay first published in 1965, Joan Didion wrote: “Easterners commonly complain that there is no ‘weather’ at all in Southern California, that the days and the seasons slip by relentlessly, numbingly bland. That is quite misleading. In fact the climate is characterized by infrequent but violent extremes.” She continued: “Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse.” Climate change is increasing the severity of those extremes, testing the region’s resources and response, climate experts and California officials said.

New York Post [1/1/2026 9:06 PM, Angela Fortuna, 42219K] reports extreme winter weather has caused large vessels to sink in the Juneau, Alaska, harbor and communities are making preparations for a possible avalanche. The City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Department said the impact of severe weather is seriously impacting the harbor. Three large vessels completely sunk overnight, bringing the storm total to eight vessels that have been lost so far, city officials said. "Our crews are running around the clock, using every de-watering pump available, and we are now rapidly running out of resources as conditions persist," Juneau Harbors said on social media. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is conducting avalanche hazard reduction above Thane Road on Thursday. This is because there’s a high avalanche hazard in the area. The road will remain closed at the avalanche gates until hazard reduction work is complete and conditions allow for a safe reopening, officials said. This work is intended to reduce the risk of larger avalanches impacting the area. DOT officials said that if avalanche debris reaches the roadway, an extended closure may be necessary. If you own a boat, officials ask that you don’t shovel snow onto floats or finger floats. They say finger float snow removal is the responsibility of vessel owners. The Arctic District of the US Coast Guard warns that heavy snow can quickly reduce stability and cause vessels to sink, which can lead to property damage and pollution. Alaska has been hit with a snowier than normal December, which is contributing to the overall risks associated with the severe weather. During a typical December, Juneau sees between 40 and 50 inches of snow. But in December 2025, the snow total surpassed records, reaching a whopping 82 inches. The Juneau Docks and Harbors Department is working to bring back seasonal summer staff, and they’ve created short-term emergency positions to help with snow removal. Anyone who sees a vessel at risk of sinking in any City and Borough of Juneau harbor is asked to contact the Harbor Office at 907-586-5255.

Washington Post [12/31/2025 12:36 PM, Jonathan Edward and Dan Diamond, 24149K] reports the White House on Wednesday laid out a nine-week timeline to win approval for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom, even as one federal review panel said it has yet to receive formal building plans and basic details of the project remain unclear. The pace of disclosure and compressed review schedule underscore a central dispute over the project: whether the Trump administration is taking the procedural steps required under federal preservation law, or advancing construction in ways that could foreclose meaningful public review. By pouring millions into early foundation work while approvals remain unresolved, critics argue, the White House risks constraining meaningful scrutiny by oversight bodies. The Trump administration said it formally submitted applications on Dec. 22 to two committees charged by Congress with reviewing federal construction: the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, according to a White House official. Three days earlier, White House officials met separately with staff from each commission for initial consultations. The White House has laid out a plan to move the project through approval processes in just over two months — a timeline far shorter than that for comparable large-scale federal construction projects. Officials said they plan informational presentations at the NCPC’s Jan. 8 meeting and the CFA’s Jan. 15 meeting, followed by votes at the fine arts commission on Feb. 19 and the planning commission on March 5. Fine arts commission Secretary Thomas Luebke confirmed the Dec. 19 meeting and said the White House had filed an application with the CFA to review the ballroom project. Planning commission spokesman Stephen Staudigl said Tuesday that the NCPC had not received such a submission. He did not initially respond to additional messages. After publication, he said that the White House had initiated the process and that a formal submission for project approval would come later in the commission’s review cycle. The Trump administration’s moves followed a Dec. 17 court order from U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon directing Trump officials to begin “the consultation processes” on the ballroom project with both commissions by the end of December. “The Court will hold the Government to its word,” Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote in his order. The National Trust for Historic Preservation argued in court filings Wednesday that the Trump administration had failed to take “meaningful steps” toward public review or commission approval. “They have, repeatedly, broken the rules first and asked for permission later,” wrote lawyers for the National Trust, which sued the Trump administration in an effort to halt construction until required reviews occur. The White House said meeting with committee staff and submitting conceptual renderings — but not detailed blueprints — satisfied Leon’s instruction to start engaging with both commissions by the end of the year.

CBS News [12/31/2025 8:39 PM, Sergio Candido, 39474K] reports a Fort Worth business owner has pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud conspiracy after authorities say he and his wife took nearly $5 million from dozens of North Texas homeowners for custom homebuilding and remodeling projects that were never completed, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Christopher Judge admitted to conspiring to defraud customers through his company, Judge DFW LLC, between August 2020 and January 2023. Prosecutors said victims were left with unfinished construction projects, and in some cases, without completed residences, after paying large sums of money. The DOJ said court records show Judge and his wife, Raquelle Judge, both of Fort Worth, served as managing members of Judge DFW LLC, which claimed to offer custom architecture, construction and interior design services. The couple lied when they said that Christopher Judge was an architect and used below-market bids to entice customers into signing design-and-build contracts, according to authorities. Investigators said the Judges would begin construction, collect multiple installment payments, and then abandon projects before completion. More than 40 victims across six counties in the Northern District of Texas were affected, spanning at least 24 separate construction projects, according to plea documents. Prosecutors also said the couple deposited customer payments in the company’s primary operating account, often using money from one victim to fund unrelated construction jobs. The total alleged loss is approximately $4.8 million, the DOJ said. Christopher Judge pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Raquelle Judge previously pleaded guilty on Dec. 17 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. Both defendants also face potential monetary penalties, authorities said. The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Euless Police Department, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service Task Force.

(B) Great Day on FOX26 [12/31/2025 10:34 AM, Staff] reports that the US Coast Guard is awarding two new contracts to build six new icebreakers. One of the contracts goes to a Finnish shipyard task with building two Arctic security cutters which are designed to break through and navigate ice covered waters. The idea is to use these vessels while a Louisiana shipyard works on building up four more. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the cutters will help reassert American maritime dominance in the Arctic.

ABC News [1/1/2026 7:55 PM, Meredith Deliso, 30493K] reports a 77-year-old woman went overboard on a cruise ship while sailing north of Cuba, according to the United States Coast Guard, which said it suspended its search for the passenger after looking for several hours on Thursday. The Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Statendam was approximately 40 miles northeast of Sabana, Cuba, when the woman went overboard on Thursday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast. "The captain and crew initiated search and rescue procedures and are searching the area working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard which has deployed a cutter and helicopter to assist," Holland America Line said in a statement. The Coast Guard updated later Thursday that it has suspended the search for the woman "pending the development of new information." Cruise ship personnel and Coast Guard crews had searched for approximately eight hours over 690 square miles, it said. The Nieuw Statendam departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Dec. 27 for a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise, according to Holland America Line. Due to the search, the ship’s planned call to Key West, Florida, on Friday was cancelled, the cruise line said. "We are deeply saddened to confirm that while sailing in waters north of Cuba, a guest on Nieuw Statendam went overboard earlier today," Holland American Line said in a statement on Thursday. "Our family assistance team is supporting the guest’s family, and our thoughts are with the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time.”

Reported similarly:
New York Post [1/1/2026 11:29 PM, Anna Young, 42219K]
CBS News [1/1/2026 1:00 PM, Staff, 39474K]
CBS Miami [1/1/2026 5:19 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE

CNN [12/31/2025 9:16 AM, Kevin Liptak, 18595K] reports crew members aboard the aging, rusted oil tanker that the US has been pursuing at sea for nearly two weeks appear to have painted a crude image of a Russian flag on the ship’s hull, which American officials believe is an attempt at claiming Russian protection, a US official familiar with the matter said. The new insignia was spotted by Coast Guard personnel, who are trailing the tanker from about a half-mile behind as it sails in the open Atlantic Ocean away from Venezuela, the official said. It wasn’t clear when the new flag appeared on the side of the Bella 1. The massive tanker has been resisting seizure since December 21, when it made a U-turn in the Caribbean Sea after the Coast Guard attempted to interdict it on its way into Venezuela to pick up oil. It’s been fleeing ever since.

Federal News Network [1/1/2026 3:59 PM, Jaya Baloo, 986K] reports in recent months, the United States has entered a dangerous phase of digital vulnerability just as adversaries accelerate their use of artificial intelligence. Anthropic recently disclosed that a nation state-linked threat actor attempted to use its commercial AI models to enhance cyber espionage operations, one of the first publicly documented attempts to operationalize AI for real-world intelligence gathering and offensive cyber activity. The company ultimately blocked the activity, but it demonstrated how quickly hostile actors are adapting and how easily these tools can be repurposed for malicious use. At the same time, the U.S. is grappling with a significant loss of cyber expertise across agencies, including nearly 1,000 seasoned experts from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Attrition and budget reductions over recent years have hollowed out capabilities the nation relies on for critical infrastructure protection and threat coordination. Key intelligence units that once monitored Russian and other foreign cyber operations have been disbanded. CISA is now planning a major hiring surge to rebuild its workforce, which has vacancy rates hovering around 40%, but the gap between where the agency stands and what the threat environment demands remains significant. Combined, these developments paint a troubling picture. AI is enabling threat actors to become more aggressive, efficient and effective, yet the U.S. appears to be weakening the very cyber defenses necessary to counter them. Make no mistake: A one-third loss of our top cyber forces since the start of the current administration, combined with a proposed 17% CISA budget cut, equates to strategic self-sabotage.

CBS News [12/31/2025 7:47 PM, Nicole Sganga, Anna Schecter, Kathryn Watson, 39474K] reports that as cities and towns across the U.S. prepare for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations, local, state and national law enforcement agencies are on the lookout for potential threats — concerns that are heightened in the wake of the recent Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia and the deadly attack on last year’s celebrations on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Lone actors and small groups with a range of ideological motives pose the most significant threat to New Year’s Eve celebrations, according to a joint bulletin from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security reviewed by CBS News. The assessment, which is done routinely ahead of large public gatherings, notes there is no specific, credible threat this holiday. But the bulletin describes the persistent risk of small groups of people "seeking to commit acts of violence motivated by a broad range of racial, ethnic, political, religious, anti-government, anti-immigration, societal or ideological beliefs and grievances." Colin P. Clarke, executive director of The Soufan Center, who focuses on domestic and transnational terrorism, called New Year’s Eve the "Super Bowl of counterterrorism" — and the "holy grail for a terrorist." "It’s a soft target, highly symbolic with large crowds gathered," Clarke told CBS News. "It’s the holy grail for a group like the Islamic state or a group or individual inspired by the Islamic state."

Reported similarly:
NBC News [12/31/2025 11:47 AM, Daniel Arkin, 34509K]

FOX News [12/31/2025 11:45 AM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 40621K] reports that newly obtained police and fire department records detail the chaotic, multi-building response to the Brown University shooting that left two students dead and multiple wounded. The shooting unfolded at the Barus and Holley building shortly after 4 p.m. on Dec. 13 near Brown’s Sciences Library and surrounding academic buildings along Thayer, Hope and Waterman streets, according to Providence Police (PPD) and Fire Department dispatch records reviewed by Fox News Digital. In the hour immediately after the shooting, police reported one possible suspect in custody in an academic building nearby, one other encounter with a possible suspect in that building and one person being detained in a vehicle nearby. Police encountered a possible suspect in a basement in a building at 167 Thayer St. at 4:22 p.m. on Dec. 13. They then reported one person in custody at 4:38 p.m. after encountering a possible suspect in a bathroom in that building. They also reported one person detained in a vehicle at 4:42 p.m. These on-scene detentions are separate from the individual detained the following morning at a hotel in Coventry, who was later released. Fox News Digital has reached out to the PPD for comment. Authorities said Neves-Valente killed two students and injured nine in the Brown attack, then traveled to Massachusetts and killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro two days later.

Breitbart [12/31/2025 12:12 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2416K] reports that two more countries in Africa have announced they are imposing a travel ban on U.S. citizens in response to an identical policy instituted by the Trump administration that will take effect on January 1. Mali and Burkina Faso authorities said they were acting in the name of "reciprocity" after the White House announced it was adding them and five other countries "with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats," Reuters reported Wednesday. Mali authorities on Tuesday said the White House’s decision to add it to the travel ban list had been taken without prior consultation and that the stated rationale was not justified by "actual developments on the ground," according to the Reuters report. The expanded ban followed the arrest of an Afghan national suspected in the shooting of two National Guard troops over the Thanksgiving weekend in November. "President Trump’s top priority will always be the safety and security of the American people. This is just another way that the President is working to keep dangerous aliens out of our country who seek to exploit or harm American citizens," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Breitbart News in mid December. Mali, with a population of 25 million, and Burkina Faso, also with 25 million people, join other African nations hitting back at the Trump administration over travel ban policies.

New York Times [12/31/2025 5:47 AM, Devlin Barrett, 153395K] reports the Justice Department is seeking to enlist about 400 lawyers to review roughly 5.2 million pages of Epstein files documents, an effort that is drawing in prosecutors who work on national security and criminal cases, and in U.S. attorneys’ offices in New York and Florida, according to people familiar with the matter. The number of documents represents a more precise, and potentially much larger, figure than previous estimates provided by the department. Congress required the Justice Department to release its files related to the investigations of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by Dec. 19. The department released about 100,000 pages on that date, and said in the days that followed that at least a million more documents still needed to be reviewed. Since late November, the department has assigned nearly 200 lawyers from the national security division to review the documents and remove any information about victims, or anything that would compromise continuing investigations or national security. Now, Justice Department officials have told employees that they need more help to accomplish the task.

CBS News [1/1/2026 9:40 AM, Aimee Picchi, 39474K] reports the Trump administration said on Wednesday it is postponing tariff increases on imported upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities by a year, citing ongoing negotiations with trading partners. Without the delay, the U.S. was set to double its tariff rate on kitchen cabinets and vanities produced outside the U.S. to 50% starting Jan. 1. The import duty on upholstered furniture — including sofas and armchairs — was set to rise to 30% from 25% on the first day of 2026. The postponement follows a November rollback by the Trump administration of tariffs on imported foods such as beef, coffee and bananas, as affordability concerns have weighed on consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy. Furniture prices have been outpacing inflation, with living room, kitchen and dining room furniture rising 4.6% in November from a year earlier, compared with a 2.7% annual increase in the overall Consumer Price Index. According to the Dec. 31 White House announcement, the tariff rate on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities will remain at 25%. "The United States continues to engage in productive negotiations with trade partners to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns with respect to imports of wood products," the White House said in its statement. "The United States will therefore delay the increase in tariff rates for upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities that was set to take place on January 1, 2026, under the September 29, 2025, Proclamation for an additional year," it added. When President Trump announced the furniture tariffs in September, he wrote on social media that his goal was to help revive U.S. furniture manufacturing in North Carolina. Between 1999 to 2009, North Carolina’s furniture industry lost half of its jobs due to increased competition from Asia, according to a 2020 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Reuters [1/1/2026 8:02 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports that Somalia’s armed forces have eliminated 29 al-Shabaab militants in the town of Jabad Godane in southeastern Somalia, in coordination with international partners, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007 in a bid to topple the internationally-backed central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of sharia law. The ministry said in a statement on X that it also destroyed vehicles and weapons "that were intended for use in terrorist attacks against civilians," through airstrike operations in the Middle Shabelle region conducted overnight. "The Ministry of Defence extends its appreciation to international partners for their continued support in security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and operational enablement in the fight against terrorism," it said but did not specify which partners it was referring to.

New York Post [1/1/2026 5:24 PM, Ronny Reyes, 42219K] reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prayed that peace would no longer elude his nation in the new year — which Russia commemorated by firing more than 200 drones at the war-torn country. Zelensky, who had met with President Trump on Sunday to discuss the latest peace talks, said he was heartbroken that 2025 came and went with the Russian invasion still proceeding. "I would give anything in the world if, in this address, I could say that peace will also come in just a few minutes," Zelensky said as the clock was ready to strike midnight. "Unfortunately, I cannot say that yet. "But with a clear conscience, I, all of us, can say that Ukraine is truly doing everything for peace," he added. The Ukrainian president said that the US-backed peace deal is "90% ready," with Russia’s maximalist demands and refusal to make any real concessions remaining the key issue. "Those are the 10% that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live," he said of the details preventing peace. "Ten percent to save millions of lives. Ten percent of the determination needed for peace to work 100%. Ten percent of the unity and wisdom so desperately needed — Ukrainian, American, European, from the entire world. Ten percent to peace." The speech came just after Zelensky concluded a call with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff regarding the peace deal and Ukraine’s future security.

ABC News [12/31/2025 5:25 AM, David Brennan, 30493K] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump should visit Ukraine, amid the latest U.S.-led push for a peace deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. "He talks about advocating a plan to end the war," Zelenskyy said of Trump, answering questions in a group WhatsApp chat with reporters. "I told him that we would be glad to see him. It is very useful for Ukraine. If U.S. President Trump flies to Ukraine, and it is desirable that he flies by plane not to Poland, but to Ukraine, then this will indicate that we definitely have the opportunity to count on a ceasefire," Zelenskyy said. Earlier this week, Trump told reporters that the negotiating teams are "getting a lot closer, maybe very close" to achieving a peace deal to end Moscow’s invasion, which has been ongoing since February 2022. Zelenskyy traveled to Florida to meet with Trump on Sunday and discuss a 20-point plan that he described as a possible foundation for the end of the war. Trump also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone before and after meeting Zelenskyy, the White House said. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is discussing the possibility of an American troop presence as part of a settlement, and as part of the post-war security guarantees Kyiv says it needs to prevent a repeat Russian attack. "These are U.S. troops and that is why it is America that makes such decisions," Zelenskyy said. "Of course, we are discussing this with President Trump and with representatives of the ‘Coalition of the Willing.’". "We would like this. This would be a strong position in security guarantees," Zelenskyy added. Zelenskyy also denied Russian reports of a rift between the U.S. and Ukraine. On Monday, Moscow accused Kyiv -- without providing any supporting evidence -- of launching a drone attack on Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region. After speaking with Putin by phone about the alleged attack, Trump said he was "very angry," though also acknowledged that it may not have happened. "Despite all the media accusations of the Russians about the breakdown of our talks with the Americans, we are working every day," Zelenskyy told reporters. The Ukrainian president said there had been "several calls" on Tuesday between Rustem Umerov -- the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council and a key negotiator -- and American representatives, among them presidential envoy Steve Witkoff. "We are discussing our next steps," Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy also posted to social media on Tuesday previewing a gathering of national security advisers of the mostly European "Coalition of the Willing" nations in Ukraine on Jan. 3, which is expected to be followed by a meeting of national leaders in France on Jan. 6.

Bloomberg [12/31/2025 1:04 PM, Kate Sullivan, 18207K] reports that US envoy Steve Witkoff said he held a “productive call” with European leaders on the next steps in President Donald Trump’s efforts to bring a halt to Russia’s war in Ukraine, following new challenges in the peace negotiations this week. Witkoff, in a post Wednesday on X, said that he along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, had discussed “advancing the next steps in the European peace process.” The discussions touch on “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” Witkoff said. Security guarantees are a key sticking point in the negotiations, with Kyiv and European allies saying a strong deterrent is needed to ensure that Russia does not attack Ukraine again after a potential peace deal. “We also spent time on the prosperity package for Ukraine—how to continue defining, refining, and advancing these concepts so Ukraine can be successful, resilient, and truly thrive once the war is over,” Witkoff added. The US officials were joined on the call by representatives from the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Witkoff said their discussions would continue in the new year. Rustem Umerov, a top Ukrainian envoy, said he is preparing to organize a meeting with security officials from European partners and the US for Jan. 3. Wednesday’s call follows a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent weeks as Trump looks to secure an end to the war in Ukraine, a conflict he had pledged to halt on his first day back in office.

NBC News [1/1/2026 8:38 AM, Daryna Mayer and Alexander Smith, 34509K] reports Russia rang in the new year by launching more than 200 drones at Ukraine, while President Vladimir Putin used his year-end address to rally support for his troops and to assure his nation of victory. In Ukraine itself, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Dec. 31 address was defiant but also optimistic about the frenetic shuttle diplomacy being brokered by the United States. Zelenskyy said that Russia, whose officials are also in talks with the Americans, remains the central barrier to peace, with Putin unyielding in his maximalist demands. "I would give anything in the world if, in this address, I could say that peace will also come in just a few minutes," Zelenskyy said just before the clock struck midnight. "Unfortunately, I cannot say that yet. But with a clear conscience, I — all of us — can say that Ukraine is truly doing everything for peace." The Ukrainian leader recently returned from a meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday. Afterward, Zelenskyy said Trump had offered 15 years of the crucial "security guarantees" that he says are essential to stop Putin from attacking again. Ukraine had asked for 50 years, he said. Hours before the new year’s bells chimed, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff posted on X that he had held a call with Zelenskyy, Ukrainian national security secretary Rustem Umerov and the national security advisers of Britain, France and Germany. Hours after Zelenskyy spoke, Russia launched 205 drones — mostly Iran-designed Shaheds along with some Russian Gerbera drones — into Ukraine, according to the country’s military. Air defense systems downed 176 of these, but 24 strikes were recorded at 15 locations, it said. There was also shelling right along the line of contact between Russia and Ukraine. At least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured across the country, according to regional officials.

AP [1/1/2026 8:56 AM, Illia Novikov, 31753K] reports a Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 more as they celebrated the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said Thursday, as tensions between the two nations continue to spike despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks. Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader Vladimir Saldo said in a statement on Telegram. He said that one of the drones carried an incendiary mixture, sparking a blaze. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the claim of a strike. The attack could not be independently verified by The Associated Press. The attack was condemned by a number of Russian officials. Valentina Matviyenko, the chair of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, said that the strike “strengthened” Russia’s resolve to quickly achieve its goals in its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine. The strike “once again demonstrates the validity of our initial demands,” Matviyenko said. The statement follows claims from Moscow that Ukraine launched a long-range drone attack against one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official residences in northwestern Russia on Tuesday. Kyiv has denounced the claims as a “lie.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that its specialists had accessed the navigation system in one of the drones it claimed was used in the attack and used its data to confirm that Putin’s residence was the drone’s final destination. The claim could not be verified as the ministry did not share evidence on the findings, but officials said that it would transfer the data to U.S. officials “through established channels.”

FOX News [12/31/2025 6:22 PM, Emma Bussey, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Russia’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday released nighttime video footage it claimed shows the wreckage of a Ukrainian drone intercepted during an attempted attack on a residence used by President Vladimir Putin. The video, filmed in a snow-covered, forested area in Russia, shows a Russian serviceman standing over debris that Moscow said belongs to a Ukrainian-made Chaklun-V drone. Russian officials also said the drone was shot down before it could strike Putin’s residence near Lake Valdai in the Novgorod region and was carrying a six-kilogram explosive device that failed to detonate. The footage was released as Moscow faced mounting skepticism over its account of events. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that U.S. national security officials concluded Ukraine did not target Putin or any of his residences in the alleged drone incident. The Journal said the finding was supported by a CIA assessment that determined no attempted attack on Putin occurred, citing a U.S. official briefed on the intelligence. Instead, Ukraine, they said, was believed to be targeting a military site it had previously struck in the same region but not near Putin’s residence, the official said. Ukrainian officials have continued to reject the allegations, with a military drone expert claiming the video provided little evidence of an attempted strike on one of Russia’s most heavily secured locations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [1/1/2026 8:13 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports that a senior Russian military chief handed to a U.S. military attaché on Thursday what he said was part of a Ukrainian drone containing data he said proved that the Ukrainian military this week had targeted a Russian presidential residence. Moscow accused Kyiv on Monday of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s northern Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack drones. It said Russia would review its negotiating position in ongoing talks with the U.S. on ending the Ukraine war. Ukraine and Western countries have disputed Russia’s account of the alleged attempted strike. A video posted on the Russian Defense Ministry’s Telegram channel showed Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces, handing to the U.S. attaché what he described as the controlling mechanism of a drone found among downed fragments. "The decryption of the content of the memory of the navigation controller of the drones carried out by specialists of Russia’s special services confirms without question that the target of the attack was the complex of buildings of the Russian president’s residence in Novgorod region," Kostyukov said. "We presume that this measure will do away with any questions and allow for the truth to be established." The Ministry had earlier posted a statement on Telegram saying its findings would be turned over to the United States.

FOX News [12/31/2025 6:00 AM, Efrat Lachter, 40621K] reports U.S. and partner forces killed or captured nearly 25 Islamic State operatives in Syria in the days following a large-scale U.S.-led strike on Dec. 19, according to a new statement from U.S. Central Command, underscoring Washington’s assessment that ISIS remains an active and persistent threat inside the country. CENTCOM said those forces conducted 11 follow-on missions between Dec. 20 and Dec. 29, killing at least seven ISIS members, capturing the remainder and eliminating four ISIS weapons caches. The operations followed Operation Hawkeye Strike, when U.S. and Jordanian forces hit more than 70 ISIS targets across central Syria using over 100 precision munitions, destroying infrastructure and weapons sites linked to the group. "We will not relent," CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said, adding that U.S. forces remain "steadfast" in working with regional partners to dismantle ISIS networks that pose a threat to U.S. and regional security. The scope of the follow-on raids highlights a reality U.S. commanders and analysts have been warning about for months: ISIS no longer controls large swaths of territory, but it retains the ability to organize, strike and regenerate inside Syria’s fragmented security landscape. Syria remains divided among competing forces, militias and foreign-backed armed groups, with no single authority exercising full control over large parts of the country. Analysts say that vacuum continues to provide space for ISIS cells to operate quietly, recruit and exploit overstretched local forces. Analysts note that Syria’s security environment remains shaped by former jihadist networks that were never fully demobilized after the war. The country’s transitional leadership, including President Ahmed al-Sharaa, emerged from armed Islamist factions that relied heavily on foreign fighters and militias, according to regional security assessments. While those groups are not synonymous with ISIS, experts say the incomplete dismantling of extremist networks has left gaps that ISIS cells continue to exploit. "ISIS today doesn’t need a caliphate to be dangerous," Bill Roggio told Fox News Digital. "We’ve always been quick to declare terrorist organizations defeated and insignificant, and that couldn’t be further from the truth." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/31/2025 10:06 AM, John Hayward, 2416K] reports the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday designated the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) as a "terrorist organization," a nakedly political move intended as retaliation for Canada designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization last year. The Iranian Foreign Ministry made no pretense of accusing the RCN of terrorist activity, conceding in its statement that it was taking a purely retaliatory action "within the framework of reciprocity." Iran neglected to specify what, if any, ramifications the RCN would face from its newfound designation as a terrorist organization. The statement cited a law enacted by the Iranian parliament in 2019 that calls for any country cooperating with the U.S. designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization to face reciprocal measures.

CNN [1/2/2026 4:32 AM, Mostafa Salem, 18595K] reports President Donald Trump said the United States will intervene if Iran shoots and kills protesters demonstrating against deteriorating economic conditions in the country. “If Iran shots (sic) and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J.TRUMP,” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday. Dozens of protesters took to the streets across several of Iran’s provinces since Wedensday, with some demonstrations turning deadly after clashes with police. Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani warned Trump on X that US interference would cause “disruption across the entire region and the destruction of American interests.” At least three people were killed and 17 others injured on Thursday evening when protesters stormed a police station in the city of Azna in Iran’s western Lorestan province, the state-affiliated Fars News Agency said. The protesters clashed with police, threw stones at law enforcement personnel and set cars on fire, Fars claimed. The news agency said some armed “rioters took advantage” of a protest in the city. Without providing evidence, Fars said police later confiscated firearms from some individuals. On Thursday morning, at least two people were killed when dozens of protesters clashed with the police in Lordegan county of the southwest Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Fars said. It remains unclear if the casualties were among law enforcement authorities or protesters. Unverified videos circulating on social media showed protesters throwing stones at police in the province. Fars reported that protesters threw stones at the governor’s office, banks, and other governmental buildings. The first known death linked to the protests occurred on Wednesday night, when one member of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force was killed, and 13 others injured in the city of Kuhdasht in Lorestan province, per state-affiliated media. Fars News Agency showed a video of a member of the police force receiving treatment after allegedly being set on fire by protesters.

Reported similarly:
AP [1/2/2026 5:11 AM, Jon Gambrell, 31753K]

AP [12/31/2025 7:58 AM, Ted Anthony, 19051K] reports China’s People’s Liberation Army said Wednesday that it "successfully completed" two days of military exercises in the waters off Taiwan, concluding a set of high-powered maneuvers aimed at asserting its sovereignty over the island — actions that ratcheted up tension in East Asia during 2025’s waning days. In a New Year’s Eve announcement, the PLA said that the operation it called "Justice Mission 2025" had "fully tested the integrated joint operations capabilities of its troops.” "Always on high alert, the troops of the Theater Command will keep strengthening combat readiness with arduous training, resolutely thwart the attempts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatists and external intervention, and firmly safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity," Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, was quoted as saying. The brief announcement, presented on video accompanied by rousing martial music, offered no details about what constituted success, nor did it specify exactly when the exercises concluded. An earlier announcement had said they would take place during the day Monday and Tuesday, but it was unclear if any lingering drills had continued into Wednesday around Taiwan. Taiwan has long been China’s most sensitive issue when it comes to the international community. Beijing has long insisted the island is its sovereign territory and has promised to retake it by force if necessary. The self-governing island split from the mainland in 1949 after Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists retreated there upon losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. That communist government has ruled the rest of China ever since. Beijing sends warplanes and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis, and in recent years it has stepped up the scope and scale of the exercises. Chinese President Xi Jinping also weighed in Wednesday, albeit obliquely, making a brief reference to the Taiwan situation in an annual New Year’s Eve speech to the nation. He said Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share "a bond of blood and kinship.” "The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable," Xi said.

Reuters [12/31/2025 9:02 AM, Yimou Lee and Liz Lee, 34509K] reports Taiwan remained on high alert on Wednesday after China staged massive military drills around the island the previous day, keeping its emergency maritime response centre running as it monitored Chinese naval manoeuvres, the coast guard said. The exercises named "Justice Mission 2025" saw China fire dozens of rockets towards Taiwan and deploy a large number of warships and aircraft near the island, in a show of force that drew concern from allies in the region and the west. Beijing announced late on Wednesday the completion of the drills, saying its military would remain on high alert and continue to strengthen their combat-readiness. In reply, Taiwan’s defence ministry said that as there were still a significant number of Chinese planes and vessels in its response area, its armed forces would maintain an "appropriate contingency mechanism". It did not elaborate. "The Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive and militaristic provocations endanger regional security and stability, and have been condemned by democratic allies in the international community," it said in a statement. China’s President Xi Jinping struck a familiar tone on Taiwan in his New Year address shortly after Beijing’s announcement, repeating last year’s warning to what it regards as forces seeking Taiwan’s independence. "Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are bound by blood ties thicker than water, and the historical trend toward national reunification is unstoppable," he said in a speech televised by state broadcaster CCTV. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and it has not ruled out using force to take it under Chinese control. Taiwan, which rejects China’s claims, condemned the latest drills as a threat to regional security and a blatant provocation. Chinese ships were moving away from Taiwan by Tuesday night, according to Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council. "The maritime situation has calmed down, with ships and vessels gradually departing," she said in a post on Facebook late on Tuesday. A Taiwan coast guard official told Reuters that all 11 Chinese coast guard ships had left waters near Taiwan and were continuing to move away. A Taiwan security official said emergency response centres for the military and coast guard remained active. There were more than 90 Chinese naval and coast guard vessels in the region, with many of them deployed in the South China Sea, near Taiwan and the East China Sea, two security officials in the region told Reuters earlier. The officials, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the size of China’s maritime deployment had steadily increased since early this week.

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