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.

NBC News [3/29/2026 12:01 AM, Brennan Leach and Raquel Coronell Uribe, 42967K] reports the ongoing funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security crossed into new territory Sunday when it became the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. The DHS shutdown is now in its 44th day, breaking the previous record when the department and the rest of the federal government went without funding from October until mid-November. This time around, the rest of the federal agencies and departments are funded. Negotiations to re-open DHS were dealt a major setback Friday after House Republicans voted to pass a short-term funding bill that has no viable path in the Senate. That came hours after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to fund all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. House GOP leadership rejected the bill, with Speaker Mike Johnson calling it "a joke.". The House-passed bill to fund all of DHS is not likely to become law. The Senate has repeatedly tried and failed to advance an identical bill since the shutdown began, falling short of the 60-vote threshold required to push it forward. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, requiring some Democratic buy-in to advance legislation. Democrats are demanding specific guardrails on immigration enforcement operations before supporting full funding for DHS, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shutdown, which began Feb. 14, is affecting travelers across the U.S. as some airport security lines have stretched for hours due to TSA staffing shortages. TSA officers have not received paychecks during the standoff in Washington despite showing up for work. That’s led to hundreds of officers quitting and thousands calling out of work. President Donald Trump signed an order Friday directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA workers, with paychecks expected to land as early as Monday, according to a DHS spokesperson. ICE agents, some of whom are now stationed at airports in an effort to help TSA, have continued to receive pay during the DHS shutdown since they’re drawing on funding from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill that was signed into law last year. The prospects of a quick end to the shutdown are unlikely. The Senate is scheduled to be out of town until April 13, and the House is set to be out until April 14. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [3/28/2026 1:46 PM, John Raby and Matt Sedensky] reports with spring break in full swing, airline passengers continued to wait it out at major U.S. airports after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers aimed at alleviating long security lines. Trump’s executive order on Friday instructed the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately, although it’s unclear when the impact of that move will start to be felt at airports. The signing came at a busy travel time of the year, with spring breaks at school districts and colleges and the upcoming Passover and Easter holidays. Some passengers with very early flights on Saturday reported having little problem getting through airport security lines. But that may have been an anomaly. Others at some of the busiest airports wrote on social media that security lines were growing exponentially longer by the hour. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said TSA personnel could get paid as soon as Monday, a relief for workers who have gone without pay since Feb. 14. While that is welcome news to many, it remains to be seen whether that promise materializes on schedule and if it brings an immediate end to snaking lines at airports. Airports that had passengers standing in screening lines that clogged check-in areas or showing up far too early for their flights will need to decide whether to reopen checkpoints or expedite service lanes they closed or consolidated due to inadequate staffing. A handful of airports experienced daily TSA officer call-out rates of 40%. Nationwide on Thursday, more than 11.8% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, the most so far, DHS said Friday. Nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 officers have quit since the shutdown started, according to DHS.

Telemundo Amarillo [3/28/2026 8:05 PM, Staff, 2K] reports Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents could receive their first full paychecks in more than six weeks on Monday, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday directing the Homeland Security secretary to pay them immediately. But travel experts and union leaders said the huge security lines at some U.S. airports wouldn’t disappear overnight and could last into next week or longer, as TSA workers wait for back pay, airports assess their staffing levels, and Congress remains at odds over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “Until the checks are actually in people’s hands, we could continue to see some of these staffing issues,” said Eric Rosen, director of travel content at The Points Guy, a travel information website. “But I think (the executive order) is good news for TSA agents and the flying public. And hopefully, the money will start flowing quickly and people can get back to work.” Spring break is approaching in school districts and universities across the country, and travel also increases in the days leading up to holidays like Passover and Easter. TSA personnel have been working without pay since February 14 , when the Department of Homeland Security ran out of funding due to a dispute in Congress over federal immigration operations. As the partial government shutdown, the longest on record, dragged on, some of the agents who check passengers and luggage were absent from scheduled shifts; the absence of several thousand of them on any given day was enough to cause hours-long waits and the closure of express lanes at airports in Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans, New York and elsewhere. Trump signed the executive order after House Republicans rejected a bill that the Senate passed early Friday that would have funded the TSA, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Border Patrol. Caleb Harmon-Marshall, a former TSA agent who runs a travel newsletter called Gate Access, said the agents he talks to want to get their back pay quickly because they’re struggling to pay their bills and are accumulating debt, plus late fees and interest charges. At the same time, he stated that he does not believe the staffing situation at airports will improve significantly until agents can be certain that they will continue to be paid and that their income will not be suspended again due to a lack of agreement in Congress. “Hopefully, with this executive order, relief will come,” he said. “I think what they want to know is for how long, because if it’s just for one pay period, it’s not enough for them to come back. It has to be an extended payment for them to return or want to stay there,” he added. Harmon-Marshall estimated that travelers worried about getting through security for upcoming flights should expect longer lines for another week or two. “This back and forth about all these changing decisions confuses the TSA agents, so they’re probably thinking, ‘OK, are we going to get paid or not?’,” he said.

AP [3/28/2026 8:54 AM, Rio Yamat, 35287K] reports again and again, members of Congress have dusted off the same idea: ensuring the federal employees who control air traffic and screen passengers and bags at U.S. airports get paid during government shutdowns. Bills to make it happen keep getting introduced in one form or another, sometimes with Democrats and Republicans as co-sponsors. Yet session after session, the result has been the same — agencies receive their annual appropriations, public outrage over long security lines and flight delays fades, legislation languishes and workers have no guarantees their paychecks won’t stop coming again. Shutdowns that disrupt air travel have continued along with the push for aviation-specific pay protections. Carlos Rodriguez, a TSA agent and local union leader in New York, said many workers had not recovered financially from last year’s shutdown when this one hit. On Friday, the 42nd day of the DHS shutdown, Trump signed an emergency order instructing Homeland Security to pay TSA agents immediately. The action came after House Republicans defeated a Senate deal that would have funded the TSA, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. The House later in the night passed its own bill to fund the entire Homeland Security department through May 22, but senators had already left town.

The Hill [3/28/2026 5:37 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports Congress and President Trump have made three separate attempts to direct government money toward the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amid a funding lapse that has lasted 43 days with no end in sight. Funding toward DHS ceased after Senate Democrats blocked a bill to keep the department running. They called for sweeping reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in response to the agency’s tactics and its execution of Trump’s deportation agenda. Those calls intensified after two U.S. citizens were killed during federal immigration operations in Minneapolis in January. Trump on Friday issued a presidential memorandum to compensate Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) officers working without pay. The president directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, to send funds “that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations” to pay TSA employees with the pay and benefits “that would have accrued” if the shutdown hadn’t taken place. “Once regular funding for TSA has been restored, every effort should be made, as authorized by law, to adjust applicable funding accounts within DHS to ensure the continuation of DHS operations and activities consistent with planned expenditures prior to the lapse,” Trump wrote. The pay would go toward an agency that has seen around 500 employees quit since the shutdown began. Call-outs and resignations have caused security checkpoints to shut down at airports across the country, causing long lines, flight delays and cancellations.

DailySignal [3/28/2026 10:00 AM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 474K] reports the House of Representatives on Friday rejected the Senate’s deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security without funding border security, instead voting to fully fund the department until May 22. The House passed a continuing resolution to fully fund DHS for 60 days on a mostly party-line vote with three Democrats defecting to join Republicans. The House’s move will indefinitely extend the shutdown. Senators left the capital for a two-week Easter recess after the vote early Friday morning, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said a bill that doesn’t limit ICE funding is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. As travelers face multi-hour lines at major U.S. airports, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday ensuring that TSA agents will be paid during the now-43-day shutdown. The One Big, Beautiful Bill funded ICE and CBP through 2029, but ICE, CBP, and Homeland Security Investigations support staff are still working without pay. Speaker Mike Johnson called the Senate bill, passed at 3 a.m. Thursday, a "joke." The Senate measure would reopen DHS without funding ICE or Customs and Border Patrol, a deal that House Republicans say would restore the open border policies of the Biden administration. Trump told Fox News on Friday that the Senate bill to reopen DHS was "inappropriate." But the House bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. House Republicans are urging Senators to return from their home states to reopen DHS.

NewsMax [3/28/2026 9:33 AM, AFP, 3760K] reports U.S. House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and instead passed their own funding measure late Friday, extending a weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travel. The stopgap bill, which proposes funding the DHS in full for eight weeks, passed by 213 to 203 votes after Republicans in the lower chamber refused to take up a Senate-passed deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. It essentially prolongs a standoff that has forced thousands of airport security staff to work without pay, even as the White House said President Donald Trump ordered that the personnel finally be compensated. With the lapse in federal funding — and weeks of chaos at American airports — expected to be extended, the White House said Trump signed a memorandum Friday ordering his administration to resolve the "unprecedented emergency situation" and find the funds necessary to pay TSA salaries. Before the House approved the funding bill, the DHS — which oversees multiple agencies including TSA — posted on X that "TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30." The stalemate has led to crushing delays.

AP [3/28/2026 3:26 PM, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, and Joey Cappelletti, 35287K] reports for several hours Friday, in the stillness before dawn, the Senate appeared to have finally figured out how to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security before it faced the longest partial shutdown in U.S. history. Senators handed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., their deal and headed for the airports, seemingly confident of success. Then it collapsed. Spectacularly. An incensed Johnson marched out of his office Friday afternoon. He angrily rebuked the plan that the Senate had unanimously agreed to as a “joke.” “I have to protect the House, and I have to protect the American people,” Johnson told reporters. It was a dramatic denunciation of a deal that his counterpart, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had negotiated after weeks of effort, and was the latest abrupt turn in a funding saga that has bedeviled top Republicans for much of the year. The collapse of the deal leaves Congress, now on a two-week spring break, with no easy way out of the impasse that has put DHS into a shutdown since mid-February. It also has exposed a rare rupture between the two Republican leaders in Congress, testing their alliances as they labor to move another set of President Donald Trump’s priorities into law before the November elections. Nothing ahead is likely to be easy.

Washington Examiner [3/28/2026 2:00 PM, David Sivak, 1147K] reports Congressional Republicans are revisiting the same intraparty tensions that turned passage of last year’s “big, beautiful bill” into a drawn-out and politically damaging saga. Republicans in the House and Senate have begun discussing what might get included in another attempt at reconciliation, the party-line budget process they used to pass President Donald Trump’s tax law. At the top of the list is money for the war in Iran and immigration enforcement. Republicans are also contemplating ways to pass a watered-down version of the SAVE America Act, their flagship election bill. They are moving ahead despite a heavy dose of skepticism that a GOP-only bill, even a relatively narrow one, can get through the House, where Republicans have a threadbare, one-vote majority — and despite the infighting they endured last summer, when months of disagreement over Medicaid reform threatened to derail the first reconciliation bill. Senate Republicans nonetheless see reconciliation as an escape hatch to Trump’s fuming over the filibuster, which is allowing Democrats to block the SAVE America Act and funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats have also signaled opposition to funding the war with Iran. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the Senate Budget Committee chairman, launched the reconciliation push on Wednesday with the blessing of Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). And in a sign of early coordination, Graham met with his House counterpart, Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX), the same day for what he called a "great" initial conversation. Yet Republicans are hardly on the same page about what should go into a reconciliation bill, and even the legislation’s core pillars have become controversial among congressional Republicans.

FOX News [3/28/2026 2:14 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas., criticizes the Senate’s proposed DHS funding bill for not fully funding ICE or CBP. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., discusses the ongoing DHS funding impasse, blaming Senate Democrats for their refusal to pass a clean bill. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas., criticizes the Senate’s proposed DHS funding bill for not fully funding ICE or Border Patrol. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., discusses the ongoing DHS funding impasse, blaming Senate Democrats for their refusal to pass a clean bill. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [3/28/2026 2:15 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the House’s 6-day bill to fund DHS will not pass in the Senate. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [3/28/2026 4:22 PM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Saturday called on his Senate colleagues to cut their two-week recess short and return to Washington, as funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hangs in the balance. “If you don’t want to fight fires, don’t become a firefighter. If you don’t want to take grueling votes at difficult hours and sometimes have to work longer than you want to, maybe you shouldn’t become a United States senator,” Lee said candidly during an appearance on Fox News. The Senate left for Easter recess after passing by unanimous consent a proposal to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other critical DHS agencies, without money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, early Friday morning. The late-night deal came after weeks of negotiations aimed at ending the shutdown, which began on Feb. 14 over Democrats’ demands for sweeping changes in immigration enforcement operations. Later Friday, the House passed a Republican-crafted bill that funded the entire agency — including ICE and Border Patrol — at current levels for eight weeks, then also left town. The differing approaches meant lawmakers were no closer to breaking the stalemate, prolonging a shutdown that is disrupting air travel across the country due to mounting TSA staffing challenges.

NewsMax [3/28/2026 10:40 AM, Jim Thomas, 3760K] reports newly installed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is moving to unwind one of former Secretary Kristi Noem’s most criticized management controls. Internal department documents indicate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff were told top-level approval would now be required only for contracts of $25 million or more, not $100,000, a shift that could ease a contracting bottleneck inside DHS while the department remains partly unfunded. The practical significance is administrative, not ideological. Mullin signaled at his confirmation hearing that he intended to scrap Noem’s rule requiring secretarial approval for spending above $100,000, calling that approach excessive red tape. The Post also reported that ICE has slowed some contract work on plans to convert warehouses into large detention sites while proposals are revised. The warehouse strategy is part of a much larger detention buildout. The latest memo calls for revising proposals and gathering stakeholder feedback before awarding more contracts. All such projects will require Mullin’s personal sign-off because of their size. Mullin’s early moves do not suggest a break with President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, as he is expected to continue Trump’s hard line approach. Mullin has said ending the shutdown and restoring pay for more than 100,000 affected workers is his top priority. No official announcement of the contract changes has been issued.

FOX News [3/28/2026 2:52 PM, Madison Colombo, 37576K] Video: HERE reports comedian Jimmy Kimmel defended his criticism of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who worked as a plumber earlier in his career. Kimmel’s comments didn’t sit right with many Republicans, who saw Kimmel as disparaging plumbers and blue-collar workers. The late-night host addressed the backlash during his show Thursday. "Let me make this very clear, I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber," Kimmel said during his opening monologue. Before becoming Homeland Security Secretary, Mullin represented Oklahoma in the House and Senate for 13 years. After high school, he attended college on a wrestling scholarship until he was 20, when his father fell ill. Mullin and his wife then postponed their college education to take over the family plumbing business. Kimmel said he saw conservative commentators going "nuts on every channel" over his comment and accused them of twisting his words. "Of course, they decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not," Kimmel said. "I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet. OK? We all have our areas of expertise." Fox News Digital reached out to Secretary Mullin for comment but did not immediately hear back. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [3/28/2026 2:00 PM, Adam Sabes, 37576K] Video: HERE reports the father of a 20-year-old woman killed by an illegal immigrant in Illinois warns that more innocent people will die if policies don’t change following the death of Sheridan Gorman. Loyola University Chicago freshman Sheridan Gorman, 18, was shot and killed while she was with a group of friends at a Rogers Park pier on March 19. 25-year-old Jose Medina-Medina, the suspect in her death, is an illegal immigrant who the Department of Homeland Security says entered the country in 2023, and apprehended then released into the U.S. under the Biden administration. During a court hearing on Friday, prosecutors revealed that Gorman found Medina-Medina hiding behind a lighthouse. When she alerted her friends about the man behind the lighthouse, Medina-Medina began chasing them, and that’s when prosecutors say he fired the gun, which struck Gorman in the upper back. In January 2025, Joe Abraham’s daughter, Katie, was killed in a hit-and-run crash that involved an illegal immigrant in 2025 in Urbana, Illinois. Katie Abraham was killed when Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal immigrant, crashed into her car and then left the scene. Cucul-Bol was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Joe Abraham told Fox News Digital that there will be more victims dead if Illinois doesn’t change its immigration policies. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [3/28/2026 4:41 PM, Julia Ainsley, 42967K] reports Corey Lewandowski, a special government employee who served as a top adviser to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has departed from his post at the Department of Homeland Security, a spokesperson confirmed to NBC News. "Mr. Lewandowski no longer has a role at DHS," a department spokesperson said Saturday amid questions about whether Lewandowski would be leaving the agency, where he was serving as a special government employee. Politico was the first to report the news of Lewandowski’s departure. President Donald Trump fired Noem earlier this month after she’d served for a year in the agency’s top role. Former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., was sworn in as her replacement earlier this week. Noem’s firing came amid mounting scrutiny of Noem on several fronts, including over her relationship with Lewandowski and his role overseeing contracts at DHS.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [3/28/2026 9:23 PM, Nate Raymond, 38315K]
USA Today [3/28/2026 9:44 PM, Nate Raymond, 70643K]

FOX News [3/28/2026 9:21 PM, Sophia Compton Fox, 37576K] reports the mother of slain college student Sheridan Gorman is speaking out, vowing a "fight for justice" after the 18-year-old was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant earlier this month in Chicago. Jessica Gorman delivered emotional remarks Saturday at a vigil in Yorktown Heights, New York, honoring her daughter, a Loyola University Chicago freshman whose life was cut short in what authorities describe as a sudden, violent attack. "I want to say this gently, but honestly, as a mom. I’m angry," Jessica Gorman said. "I’m like completely heartbroken, and we are going to fight for justice for our sweet Sheridan, and we’re going to fight for change.". While acknowledging that "not everyone" will see the situation the same way, Jessica Gorman underscored what she described as a universal truth shared by parents. "At the heart of all of this, we all want the same thing — for your children and for ours to be safe, to be protected, and to come home," Jessica Gorman said. "Because, at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about. All of our kids, every single one of them, protecting them, loving them, showing up for them. And that is how we honor her.". Sheridan Gorman, a New York native, was killed at around 1:06 a.m. March 19 while with friends near a pier in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. Officials allege Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, fired one shot at the Loyola University Chicago student, killing her. Gorman was reportedly only a few months away from completing her freshman year. Medina-Medina was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. At the vigil, the family’s attorney, Thomas Tripodianos, warned against what he described as growing complacency about public safety. "If we accept this, even silently, then we are accepting a reality where young people are not as safe as they should be. And that is not acceptable," Tripodianos said. "And there must be justice. Real justice.". Family members and friends also shared memories of Sheridan, remembering her impact on those around her. "Sheridan, you are deeply loved at Loyola," Steven Betancourt, director of campus ministry at Loyola University Chicago, said. "You are deeply missed, and you will live on in the lives you touched and forever changed.". The Gorman family has sharply criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, arguing that their daughter’s death "demands accountability.". "She was doing something entirely normal — walking near her campus with friends. She should be here," the Gorman family said regarding comments by Johnson. The suspect appeared in court Friday and was ordered to remain in custody, according to FOX 32 Chicago. He faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a gun. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [3/28/2026 9:13 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports a judge ordered that migrants detained at the Alligator Alcatraz detention center in Florida be granted direct access to attorneys and free, unrecorded phone calls. The measure aims to ensure timely communication and legal rights. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [3/28/2026 11:43 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports crowds of people protested Saturday against the war in Iran and President Trump’s actions, in "No Kings" rallies across the U.S. and in Europe. Minnesota took center stage, in what organizers said were mass demonstrations involving millions of people. U.S. organizers had estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. On Saturday, they estimated that at least 8 million participants took part in more than 3,300 events worldwide. Thousands of people stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the Minnesota Capitol lawn and surrounding streets in St. Paul. Some held upside down U.S. flags, historically a sign of distress. The event’s headliner was Bruce Springsteen, who performed "Streets of Minneapolis." He wrote the song in response to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents and in tribute to the thousands of Minnesotans who took to the streets over the winter to protest the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement. Before he launched into the song, Springsteen lamented Good and Pretti’s deaths but said people’s continued pushback against U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement has given the rest of the country hope. "Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America," he said. "And this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand." The bill also included singer Joan Baez, actor Jane Fonda, Sen. Bernie Sanders and a long list of other activists, labor leaders and elected officials. The rally at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul was designated the national flagship event, in recognition of how the state where federal agents fatally shot two people who were monitoring Trump’s immigration crackdown became an epicenter of resistance. St. Paul police shut down several streets around the area. No Kings organizers estimated that more than 200,000 people attended the St. Paul rally Saturday, surpassing the numbers from the Women’s March in 2017. The protests were mostly peaceful, but some arrests were reported. In Los Angeles, authorities deployed tear gas near a federal detention center downtown. One man had a leaf blower, attempting to clear the air. The Los Angeles Police Department later arrested people for failing to disperse. Earlier in the day, a band was playing and people were dancing to Spanish-language music. The Denver Police Department said on the social platform X that it declared an unlawful assembly and deployed smoke canisters after a small group of protesters blocked a road and did not leave as asked. Some threw the canisters back at officers, police said. At least eight people were arrested, as was a ninth person later on who police said was throwing objects. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [3/28/2026 11:01 PM, Mark Vancleave, Steve Karnowski, Todd Richmond and John Hanna, 18170K] reports large crowds protested Saturday against the war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s actions in “No Kings” rallies across the U.S. and in Europe. Minnesota took center stage, with thousands of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder to celebrate resistance to Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement. Minnesota’s flagship event on the Capitol lawn in St. Paul drew Bruce Springsteen as its headliner. He and other speakers praised the state’s people for taking to the streets over the winter in opposition to a surge of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents. Springsteen performed “ Streets of Minneapolis,” the song he wrote in response to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents. Springsteen lamented Good and Pretti’s deaths but said the state’s pushback against ICE gave the rest of the country hope. “Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America,” he said. “And this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand.” People rallied from New York City, with almost 8.5 million residents in a solidly blue state, to Driggs, a town of fewer than 2,000 people in eastern Idaho, a state Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024. U.S. organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. They expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was not clear whether those expectations were met. Organizers said more than 3,100 events — 500 more than in October — were registered, in all 50 states. Protests were mostly peaceful, but some arrests were reported. In Los Angeles, authorities deployed tear gas near a federal detention center downtown. One man had a leaf blower, attempting to clear the air. The Los Angeles Police Department later arrested people for failing to disperse. Earlier in the day, a band was playing and people were dancing to Spanish-language music. The Denver Police Department said on the social platform X that it declared an unlawful assembly and deployed smoke canisters after a small group of protesters blocked a road and did not leave as asked. Some threw the canisters back at officers, police said. At least eight people were arrested, as was a ninth person later on who police said was throwing objects. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called them the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support. The “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” Jackson said in a statement. The National Republican Congressional Committee was also sharply critical. “These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone,” spokesperson Maureen O’Toole said.

New York Times [3/28/2026 8:40 PM, Thomas Fuller, 148038K] reports in the Twin Cities, a sea of people converged on the State Capitol, invoking the memories of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Demonstrators swarmed intersections in Portland, Ore., motivated by what one called a “national crisis” that had “escalated to a whole other level.” In Little Rock, Ark., where more than 2,000 people marched across the Arkansas River, one woman carried her own MAGA sign: “Morons Are Governing America.” Protesters filled streets and town squares across the United States on Saturday at thousands of rallies, the third in a sequence of nationwide, loosely coordinated demonstrations under the banner of “No Kings.” They came to denounce President Trump and much of his second-term agenda, wielding signs and chants about issues such as mass deportation, restrictions on voting, attacks on diversity and two matters that have suddenly moved to the fore: the war in Iran and the soaring gas prices that have resulted from it. “Prices are going up, and it feels like we can’t even afford to live anymore,” said John Moes, a Minneapolis resident who was dressed in a 15-foot puppetlike costume resembling the singer Prince, a local icon. “This is one of the ways we can say we’re fed up,” said Mr. Moes, who described himself as an independent who leans Democratic. The No Kings organizers said that eight million people took part; their estimates in some cities were higher than those of local public safety officials. The New York Times is doing its own reporting on some of the turnout, but has not independently confirmed the numbers from the thousands of protest sites.

USA Today [3/29/2026 3:00 AM, Susan Page, 70643K] reports the demonstration outside the Minnesota State Capitol for the marquee "No Kings" rally, with Bruce Springsteen and Jane Fonda on the bill, wasn’t the most notable development during the day of protests on March 28. More notable was the "No Kings" march in Staunton, Virginia. And Salisbury, Maryland. Rockford, Illinois. Beaver, Pennsylvania. Eugene, Oregon. Chillicothe, Ohio. Port Huron, Michigan. Flatwoods, West Virginia. And more than 3,000 other places across the country, plus a scattering around the world. "A divine entanglement of democracy," Sarah Elizabeth Greer, 56, called it as she marched in Manhattan, pushing her two tiny dogs in a cart festooned with a pair of handwritten signs: "NO barKING" and "BITE the Power!". The left-leaning protests with the Revolutionary-era call against President Donald Trump as a would-be monarch and authoritarian had the broadest geographic reach of any single-day protest in the United States in more than a half-century. They included not only familiar precincts in New York and Los Angeles and Austin but also communities in all 50 states and every congressional district, including rural and Republican territory. While the mood was generally sunny and marches largely peaceful, the third No Kings protests were an unmistakable display of political force that could reverberate in the 2026 midterms and beyond.

Univision [3/28/2026 5:47 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Minnesota was the main scene of the “No Kings Day” protests this Saturday, March 28, a state that has suffered the ravages of Donald Trump’s controversial immigration policy, where the brutality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents has not only been reserved for undocumented people, but also for Americans. The organizers of the “No Kings” demonstrations expected the participation of more than 9 million people in the 50 states of the country, but Minnesota became the epicenter of the protests against the government of Donald Trump, where the aggressive immigration control measures have been one of the driving forces of the protests.

Daily Caller [3/28/2026 7:03 PM, Staff, 803K] reports several "No Kings" protesters chanted anti-police slogans Saturday while uniformed officers could be seen ushering their march through the streets of Washington, video footage by the Daily Caller News Foundation shows. Thousands of demonstrators flocked to the nation’s capital as part of the nationwide No Kings Day protests Saturday against President Donald Trump and his administration, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During one portion of the Washington demonstrations, protesters chanted multiple times in favor of defunding or even abolishing the police — despite officers at the same time visibly protecting them. "I said take it to the streets, abolish the police," a male protester leading a chant yelled as multiple on-duty law enforcement officers walked with them, video by DCNF investigative reporter Hudson Crozier shows. "Cops spent hours accompanying the protest and holding off traffic for about a mile, giving them the entire Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge along the way," Crozier wrote in the post, referring to to the arch bridge crossing the Anacostia River in Washington’s southeast quadrant. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson dubbed the "No Kings" protests "Trump derangement therapy sessions," in comments to multiple outlets.

Chicago Tribune [3/28/2026 4:28 PM, Maya Wilkins, 5209K] reports stationed outside the Porter County courthouse near the intersection of East Lincolnway and South Washington Street, Gail Lutze, 84, sat with her walker and a “No Kings” sign, bundled up in a coat and hat. Lutze was one of more than 1,000 protestors in Valparaiso Saturday, and she participated in honor of her late husband Karl Lutze’s memory. Karl Lutze was a former Valparaiso University theology professor, and he served on the staff of the Lutheran Human Relations Association of America. Karl Lutze died in May 2015 at 94 years old. “He walked with Martin Luther King Jr.,” Gail Lutze said late Saturday morning. “There are things that are scary, but then events like this help, and it makes you feel more positive. … We’ve got to make this world better for the younger generations.” Protestors lined sidewalks in downtown Valparaiso for the third “No Kings” demonstration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. A large group started at Valparaiso City Hall before marching down to the courthouse and around the square. The Valparaiso protest was one of about 3,000 demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s administration nationwide. Saturday’s “No Kings” rally was the third in Valparaiso, with the previous in October drawing more than 1,000 participants as well.

New York Post [3/28/2026 7:41 PM, Khristina Narizhnaya and Rich Calder, 40934K] reports tens of thousands of people marched through Manhattan Saturday, protesting President Donald Trump and his policies, as part of the larger "No Kings" movement that included more than 3,000 other planned demonstrations nationwide. Demonstrators gathered at Columbus Circle and Central Park and marched down Seventh Avenue, banging drums and railing against the Trump administration’s "Operation Epic Fury" in Iran, its immigration policies and planned cuts to Medicaid and public education. Many chanted "No ICE! No Kings! No War!" and carried hand-written signs with slogans such as "Wake Up America, we are living in a fascist state!" and "Nothing is more American than opposing Trump.". "It’s no King’s Day. It’s getting a little warmer out now, so it’s a nice day to protest," said Mike Heisy, a 63-year-old retiree. Others in attendance included radical, Trump-hating far-lefties like actor Robert De Niro and state Attorney General Letitia James. The vitriol towards the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and the rest of the Trump administration was well-funded. A network of 500 groups with an estimated budgets totaling $3 billion were behind the coordinated nationwide "No Kings" rallies, including communist groups funded by tech mogul and alleged Communist China Party propagandist Neville Singham, Fox News Digital reported. Indivisible, a national Democratic political advocacy organization funded by far-left billionaire George Soros, is the lead coordinator for the protests. Other cities hosting the demonstrations included Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and St. Paul, Minn., the site of the flagship rally where organizers claimed more than 200,000 turned out. Rocker Bruce Springsteen performed his new protest song "Streets of Minneapolis," and was joined by others including actor Jane Fonda and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed the widespread rallies as being pushed by "leftist funding networks" and claimed they had little public support. The "only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them," Jackson said in a statement.

New York Post [3/28/2026 11:47 PM, David Spector, 40934K] reports No Kings protests in Portland, Los Angeles and Dallas grew violent Saturday — and one near Mar-a-Lago in Florida took a lewd turn — as thousands filled streets around the US in angry demonstrations against the Trump Administration. No Kings demonstrations in Portland, Oregon got out of hand in the evening with protesters sporting gas masks attacking police officers who were trying to control the crowd, according to video posted on X by FreedomNews.tv. There was no immediate word on arrests. In Dallas, Police had to separate No Kings demonstrators from "Pro America" counter demonstrators as the two groups engaged in heated clashes. Video of the scene showed a protester being hauled away and arrested and other shouting "f–k you" at apparent pro-Trump demonstrators who were carrying flags and automatic weapons. A large mob of demonstrators waving Palestinian and other flags hurled cement blocks towards Department of Homeland Security agents in Los Angeles. The unruly crowd was gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center where a few dozen DHS agents were working. They banged on the fence and charged and threw cement blocks at DHS agents, according to video posted by independent journalist Anthony Cabassa. DHS agents deployed tear gas on the crowd and Los Angeles Police Department officers clad in riot gear were dispatched to the scene. Protesters violently resisted arrests from LAPD cops, video showed. Outside Mar-A-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., female protesters lifted up their shirts Saturday as counterdemonstrators peppered them with insults including "w–re mongers" and "butch d–es.". Outside Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, two men nearly came to blows at a No Kings rally. A counterprotester in a shirt that read "deport liberal white women" got in a screaming match with a liberal demonstrator as the two men stood less than an inch apart, KTLA 5 reported. As the two men stared each other down and tried to provoke each other into a physical altercation, passersby screamed "racist go home" at the counter protester. The counterprotester began exiting the confrontation while bellowing, "This guy is fighting for illegal aliens," in a megaphone after about 20 seconds of shouting. Tens of thousands of people marched in No Kings protests in New York City Saturday to protest the Iran war and Trump administration immigration policies. Trump haters like actor Robert De Niro and state Attorney General Letitia James were in attendance at the demonstrations. A group of demonstrators waving red hammer and sickle flags chanted "there is only one solution communist revolution" outside Times Square. There were no arrests, NYPD sources told The Post.

Los Angeles Times [3/29/2026 6:00 AM, Connor Sheets and Alene Tchekmedyian, 14672K] reports more than 70 protesters were arrested Saturday evening after authorities shot tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd, leaving at least one teen with an eye wound and others with skin burns, according to demonstrators and police. The confrontation outside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center came after hours of peaceful “No Kings” demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles and across the county. Authorities said the crowd that gathered at the federal building later in the afternoon, as the rally was winding down, had ignored orders to disperse. Officers forcibly removed a Los Angeles Times reporter and other journalists from the area, saying they were about to conduct “mass arrests.” The demonstrators who remained were lined up outside the building as officers zip-tied their hands behind their backs and loaded them into vans. One was dressed as Lady Liberty with a chain around her waist as part of her costume. Later in the evening, police officers, some on horseback, moved in on a smaller group of demonstrators around the corner from the federal detention facility. Arrests had slowed by 9 p.m. First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli posted on X that federal agents have video footage of people assaulting officers. “To those who were smashing concrete blocks and throwing them at our officers, we have you on video. We will find you and arrest you too. You’ve been warned,” he wrote.

San Diego Union Tribune [3/28/2026 4:29 PM, Kelly Davis, Alex Riggins, Walker Armstrong, and Lucas Robinson, 1257K] reports they carried protest signs, waved flags and drew honks of support from passing cars. Tens of thousands of San Diegans took to the streets Saturday for a third round of “No Kings” demonstrations, this time rallying against an escalating war with Iran, ongoing scrutiny of the Epstein files and mounting economic instability under President Donald Trump’s administration. The protests — part of a coordinated global movement whose flagship rally was held at the Minnesota state Capitol — unfolded amid a partial federal government shutdown, a sliding stock market and mounting concerns over conditions inside immigration detention facilities. More than 3,200 events were planned nationwide for Saturday, with additional demonstrations in countries including Italy, France and Germany. Locally, at least 20 rallies were scheduled from Oceanside to Otay Mesa, with events spread throughout the day. A main rally in downtown San Diego kicked off at 10 a.m. at Waterfront Park, where police estimated roughly 40,000 people gathered to hear speakers, including elected officials, union leaders and podcaster Allison Gill. In North County, hundreds marched through Carlsbad, carrying signs and chanting as they moved along Marron Road. “Every day’s a new horror show,” said Patti Slack, membership chair of the Democratic Club of Carlsbad and Oceanside.

Breitbart [3/29/2026 2:08 AM, Randy Clark, 2238K] reports a group of protesters who attended the Los Angeles "No Kings" rally completed the organized downtown march on Saturday, only to lay siege to the United States Courthouse just blocks from City Hall. The protesters threw large chunks of concrete at Department of Homeland Security agents trying to protect the building from the mob of attackers. Video captured by independent journalist Julio Rosas of Mostly Peaceful Media on Saturday afternoon showed a crowd of protesters, some with protective eyewear, face masks, and gas masks, launching the concrete projectiles towards the facility and the DHS protection force staged inside. Breitbart Texas spoke with Rosas shortly after the event about the incident that occurred shortly after the conclusion of the "No Kings" rally march, which ended a few blocks away at City Hall. Rosas captured on video the moment protesters attempted to breach the protective fence around the federal building. One of the attackers carried the Palestinian flag, and several sported Palestinian Keffiyeh scarves. According to Rosas, the Los Angeles "No Kings" rally and a subsequent march began and ended at Los Angeles City Hall. Rosas says the violence occurred after a splinter group from the rally walked several blocks to the courthouse to begin the attack. "This was an offshoot group of the No Kings protesters, who moved directly to the federal building as if this attack had been planned," Rosas added. Rosas says he was focusing on the facility’s fencing and did not notice the mounds of concrete projectiles being brought to the area to use against the agents and the facility. DHS agents inside the facility managed to keep the attackers at bay after launching tear gas into the crowd. In a social media post on Saturday evening, United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced the arrests of several individuals involved in the assaults on officers protecting the facility. Essayli warned of more arrests, saying, "To those who were smashing concrete blocks and throwing them at our officers, we have you on video. We will find you and arrest you, too. You’ve been warned.". "No Kings" rallies were held in many cities across the country on Saturday, with the flagship rally held at the Minnesota State Capitol, attended by special guests Jane Fonda, Governor Tim Walz, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Ilhan Omar, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. Bruce Springsteen performed at the rally, which, like most others, served only to criticize the United States-Israel military action in Iran under Operation Epic Fury and foment calls to abolish ICE. The events were sponsored by a wide range of non-government organizations, including 50501, the ACLU, the American Federation of Government Employees (parent labor union of the United States Border Patrol), Arab American Institute, Blue Future, and Amnesty International, among others. The "No Kings" website characterized the military action ongoing in Iran, the movement to abolish ICE, and efforts to pass the SAVE America Act by saying, "Masked secret police terrorizing our communities. An illegal, catastrophic war is putting us in danger and driving up our costs. Attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote. Costs are pushing families to the brink. Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant.".

Reported similarly:
New York Post [3/28/2026 10:00 PM, Nina Joudeh and Daniel Farr, 40934K]
FOX News [3/28/2026 8:46 PM, Staff, 37576K]

NewsMax [3/28/2026 12:28 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is acquiring and converting warehouses around the U.S. into immigrant detention centers despite concern and pushback from local communities, reports the Wall Street Journal. A document released in mid-February revealed that ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion to expand detention capacity to 92,600 beds, including 16 regional processing centers housing 1,000 to 1,500 detainees for average stays of three to seven days, as well as eight large-scale detention centers capable of holding 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods typically under 60 days. Plans call for all of them to be up and running by November as immigration officials roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by President Donald Trump’s recent tax-cutting law. ICE has since purchased at least 11 mostly new or empty warehouses, including a million-square-foot warehouse about 45 miles east of Atlanta for $129 million. On average, the agency is paying between 11% and 13% above asking price, according to a CoStar report. Local governments worry about losing tax revenue — the federal government doesn’t pay local property and other taxes on real estate it owns — and covering infrastructure costs for new centers. And residents say new facilities would overwhelm local resources.

FOX News [3/28/2026 2:48 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports Border czar Tom Homan blasts Democrats for anti-ICE rhetoric and prioritizing illegal immigrants. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [3/28/2026 3:19 PM, Mike Snider, 70643K] reports an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is credited with saving a toddler’s life at John F. Kennedy Airport. The ICE officer, who was at JFK Airport to assist Transportation Security Administration personnel, responded March 25, when a 1-year-old child became unresponsive in the arms of his father and was unable to breathe for almost two minutes, according to a news release from the Department of Homeland Security. The officer responded after hearing the father hollering for help. The father handed the unresponsive child to the officer, who began performing the Heimlich maneuver, according to DHS. After a few seconds, the child started breathing again. When EMS personnel arrived, they reassessed the child, who was determined to be healthy enough to fly, DHS said. “The ICE agent sprang into action and saved this one-year-old child’s life. If our agent had not been there and stepped up, this would have been a tragic outcome,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “Despite the endless smears and lies told about them by sanctuary politicians and the media, our ICE officers show up every day to protect the Homeland and their fellow Americans.”

FOX News [3/28/2026 8:16 PM, Derek Shook, 37576K] reports Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate justice organization bragged at a "No Kings" protest on Saturday about running anti-ICE noise protests that they say cost Hilton hotels at least $18 million. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Baltimore [3/28/2026 7:07 PM, Andrew Adeolu, 51110K] reports ICE will begin assisting TSA agents at BWI starting Saturday afternoon, according to a statement from the airport. This comes as security wait times continue to surge during spring break travel in Maryland. The Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) was reportedly told by ICE that DHS agents, including Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) personnel, would be deployed to the airport’s security checkpoints. According to the MAA, ICE’s primary function is security operations, not immigration enforcement. Primary aviation security functions will be conducted by trained TSA personnel, while ICE agents will provide "operational support for TSA to speed up the clearance process for passengers," MDOT confirmed. Maryland Governor Wes Moore took to Twitter following the announcement, voicing frustration as the federal government remains shut down and TSA agents unpaid.

Univision [3/28/2026 6:02 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Yaima de las Mercedes Suárez, a Cuban mother of five, all minors, was arrested by ICE after returning from a trip to the island in February of this year. She was detained at Miami International Airport, where her husband was called to pick up their daughter, who has autism and had traveled with her. “My wife traveled to Cuba thinking she had no problems at all, because she even renewed her residency,” said Yankiel Suárez, Yaima’s husband. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [3/29/2026 6:00 AM, Jeremy Gorner, 5209K] reports the Illinois House is poised this session to vote on legislation that would prohibit federal immigration detention centers from being built within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, homes and other community spaces — a direct response to the clashes that erupted in Chicago and the suburbs last year during the Trump administration’s mass deportation operations. The bill, personally championed by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, cleared the House Executive Committee last week on an 8-3 party-line vote and could soon be before the full House. If it passes there, it will need approval from the Senate. Welch, a Democrat from Hillside, pushed the measure after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview — which sits in his legislative district — became the scene of repeated confrontations between federal officers and protesters during President Donald Trump’s mass deportation missions known as Operation Midway Blitz. “This is not an abstract policy debate for me. This is personal, and it is deeply local,” Welch testified Wednesday in the House Executive Committee before it passed. “The Broadview detention facility sits in the heart of the district that I represent, and during Operation Midway Blitz last year, the people who live in and around that community did not just witness aggressive federal activity. “They lived through trauma. Families were terrified. Residents were shaken. Protesters were met with force. Communities already carrying enough pain were forced to relive fear right outside their homes, their parks, their churches and the places where children are supposed to feel safe.” The bill would bar a federal immigration detention center from being “located, constructed, or operated within 1,500 feet of the property boundaries of any school, day care center, day care home, cemetery, public park, forest preserve, public housing, private residence, or place of religious worship, regardless of address.” Welch also specified that the measure would not apply retroactively — meaning the existing Broadview ICE facility at 1930 Beach St. would not be affected.

Daily Caller [3/28/2026 5:20 PM, Anthony Iafrate, 803K] reports the illegal immigrant accused of murdering 18-year-old college freshman Sheridan Gorman is illiterate and lacking parts of his brain and skull, his attorney claims. Authorities charged Venezuelan national Jose Medina-Medina with first-degree murder after he allegedly shot Gorman on March 19, while she was at a Chicago park with friends hoping to see the Northern Lights. The illegal immigrant — who the Biden administration released into the country — was left developmentally disabled and unable to read or write after surviving a bullet to the head years before entering the U.S., his attorney reportedly said in court Friday.
NewsNation national correspondent Alex Caprariello wrote Friday on X the suspected murderer "was robbed, beaten and shot in the head in 2018 in South America," leaving him with "bullet fragments in his brain and a portion of a skull." "He is now developmentally delayed, has the education of a seven-year-old, and can’t read and write," Caprariello continued. "Prosecutors say they have overwhelming evidence of his guilt: video that shows him in a mask, gloves, and dark clothes, hiding behind a lighthouse on Lake Michigan, and shooting Gorman in the back, killing her almost instantly.".

Politico [3/28/2026 7:00 AM, Shia Kapos, 21784K] reports that, when federal immigration agents flooded Chicago last fall, firing tear gas, launching “pepper balls” and stopping residents in the streets, the city became ground zero for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — and started a playbook for how cities might push back. Amid Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson began signing a series of executive orders aimed at curbing Trump’s immigration enforcement surge. The measures included banning federal agents from using city property for operations, directing Chicago police officers to work with demonstrators to manage — rather than shut down — protests, and pushing Chicago police to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by federal agents. Those tactics are now being used by dozens of municipalities across the country facing similar, unwanted immigration enforcement actions. Officials from Alameda, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland as well as smaller cities throughout Illinois say they have looked to Chicago as a model for how to respond to federal immigration agents. “When we band together … we can move that much faster to uphold the law and the moral values that our country was founded on,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told POLITICO, adding she spoke with Johnson ahead of her city passing an executive order to prohibit federal agents from operating on city-owned property. Similarly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a proposal to develop an ordinance creating ICE-free zones on county property after discussions with Chicago officials, according to the Los Angeles mayor’s office. And last month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, like Wu, signed an executive order prohibiting federal agents from operating on city-owned property during enforcement actions modeled after Chicago’s approach. They join Seattle; Providence, Rhode Island; Minneapolis; Santa Clara County; San Jose and Los Angeles County, all of which used Chicago’s executive order language as a springboard for their own orders tailored to local legal requirements, according to city staffers who spoke to POLITICO. In January, Alameda County and the city of Oakland created their own ICE-free zones after talking with Johnson’s office, according to the Oakland mayor’s office. And across Chicago’s nearby suburbs, Aurora, Elgin, Evanston and Waukegan are among municipalities that have banned federal agents from city-owned property, as have Cook, Lake and Will counties. The multi-jurisdiction effort highlights how Democratic-led cities have sought to stymie Trump’s immigration agenda and use the blueprint created by one of the first cities the Trump administration targeted — Chicago — to help guide their efforts.

Univision [3/28/2026 9:10 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports ICE agents are using weigh stations on Iowa highways to stop immigrant drivers. Court documents revealed that state police were asked to verify legal status , a process that previously resulted in fines. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [3/28/2026 2:55 PM, Harold Hutchison, 803K] reports Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in a video posted to social media Friday that illegal immigrants should receive "reparations" for the "trauma" inflicted by the Trump administration. During remarks on the House floor Friday, Jayapal hinted that a future Democratic administration should pursue criminal charges for those involved in the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The left-wing lawmaker made her comments during a hearing she hosted titled, "Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Attack on Our Children." "We need real accountability because at the end of the day, the people that have been inflicting this harm need to be prosecuted," Jayapal said at the hearing. "They need to be brought before us and they need to be held account for the trauma that they have created and we are going to have to have some form of reparation." Democrats have vehemently opposed President Donald Trump’s efforts to combat illegal immigration, particularly his administration’s mobilization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

New York Post [3/28/2026 4:50 PM, Katie Jerkovich, 40934K] reports a California man fleeing an ICE agent scaled a jailhouse fence from the outside in a desperate bid to escape federal immigration authorities. The agent had been attempting to apprehend Jonathan Cosme Antonio, 25, of Carpinteria, on Friday when the suspect raced away on foot and hopped a fence on the perimeter of the Main County Jail in Santa Barbara, police said. He was later found hiding out between storage containers on the jail’s exterior. The wild getaway attempt occurred as Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of a vehicle blocking the entrance to its headquarters just after 8:30 a.m. on Friday. A deputy arrived to find an ICE agent inside the vehicle who explained that he had been trying to nab Antonio when the suspect took off. Antonio had recently been released from custody for an unknown reason. Deputies searched for the suspect and found him hiding, adding that he suffered an injury while falling to the ground from the fence. Antonio was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and was given a citation for trespassing, the sheriff’s office told The California Post.

Daily Caller [3/28/2026 9:32 AM, Jason Hopkins, 803K] reports elected leaders in Toronto are demanding ICE agents stay away from their city — despite the U.S. agency never conducting, nor planning to conduct, immigration enforcement on Canadian soil. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Thursday successfully pushed a motion in the city council that opposes any deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents within Toronto and directs government officials to refuse assistance to the agency ahead of the FIFA World Cup games. The vote came days after a U.S. consulate in Toronto made clear that the agency had zero plans of enforcing immigration law in Canada, a foreign country. Chow’s demand was followed with the city council’s near-unanimous approval of an anti-ICE motion that opposes the agency’s involvement in Toronto, directs city staff to avoid assisting ICE agents, requests federal officials to reject the deployment of ICE agents in the city, among other anti-ICE directives ahead of the FIFA 2026 World Cup. The vote passed with only one council member opposing it. ICE technically has offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Ottawa. However, these offices belong to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a component of ICE within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Toronto leaders were previously told that ICE is not conducting immigration enforcement in the city, or anywhere else in Canada.

FOX News [3/29/2026 6:52 AM, Shannon Bream and Bill Mears, 37576K] reports the Supreme Court is poised to answer a fundamental constitutional question largely ignored for more than a century: Who qualifies as an American citizen? The justices on Wednesday will hold oral arguments to review President Donald Trump’s efforts to limit birthright citizenship in the U.S., a landmark case with the potential to upend the lives of millions of Americans and lawful residents. At issue is the executive order the president signed on his first day back in office, which would end automatic citizenship for nearly all persons born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, or parents with lawful temporary status in the country — a seismic legal, political, and social shift that critics note would break with more than 150 years of legal precedent. A ruling is expected within three months but until then, Trump’s plans remain on hold. The case is the fourth of a five-part series of appeals the Supreme Court will consider this term on the merits of Trump’s sweeping executive agenda. The nine-member bench has already tossed out his reciprocal tariffs on most other countries, which relied on an economic emergency law. A separate dispute over ending protections for migrants with temporary protected status will be argued later in April. Still pending are rulings on the president’s ability to fire members of independent agencies, including Federal Reserve governors. But the administration has been winning most of the emergency appeals at the Supreme Court since Trump took office again, which dealt only with whether challenged policies could go into effect temporarily, while the issues play out in the lower courts-- including immigration, federal spending cuts, workforce reductions, and transgender people in the military.

CNN [3/29/2026 4:00 AM, John Fritze, 19874K] reports Justice Brett Kavanaugh sounded like a fired-up prosecutor last year as he shot off a withering series of nuts-and-bolts questions about how President Donald Trump would carry out his plan to rewrite of the way birthright citizenship has been understood in the United States for more than a century. Would hospitals have to change the way they process newborns? Kavanaugh demanded. Would state governments have to do something different? How would federal officials determine citizenship if a birth certificate no longer sufficed? "Federal officials will have to figure that out essentially," US Solicitor General D. John Sauer managed to say amid a fusillade of rapid-fire queries. As the Supreme Court prepares to consider the merits of Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship on Wednesday, most of the same practical questions Kavanaugh raised a year ago remain unanswered. Some of those questions speak to the bureaucratic nightmare that Americans — including US citizens — might face documenting a child’s immigration status. Others go to the very heart of what it means to be a US citizen. Most of the court’s arguments this week will deal with the history of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause, which makes clear that "all persons born" in the United States who are "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" are citizens. Written arguments from both Trump and the groups challenging the policy focus heavily on what the framers meant by "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States.

NBC News [3/29/2026 5:00 AM, Lawrence Hurley, 43603K] reports in a moment that could take on new significance almost 150 years later, Omaha election official Charles Wilkins on April 5, 1880, refused to register John Elk to vote on the grounds that he was Native American, and therefore not an American citizen. Elk — believed to have been a member of what is now known as the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska — objected, saying he had severed all ties with his tribe and had willingly subjected himself to the authority of the United States. He launched a legal challenge, arguing among other things that he was a citizen at birth because he was born within United States territory. But the Supreme Court, in an 1884 case called Elk v. Wilkins, ruled against him, saying that Native Americans born within the territory of the United States did not have birthright citizenship. They had the same status as “the children of subjects of any foreign government born within the domain of that government,” the court said. President Donald Trump’s administration is now citing that case as it defends his plan to end automatic birthright citizenship, putting a new spin on the long-standing interpretation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case on Wednesday. Trump’s executive order, issued on the first day of his second term, seeks to limit birthright citizenship only to people with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident. The order is not in effect; lower courts put it on hold. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, representing the government, referenced Elk in court papers, saying the Supreme Court has “squarely rejected the premise that anyone born in U.S. territory, no matter the circumstances, is automatically a citizen so long as the federal government can regulate them.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that the case gives the Supreme Court the chance to "restore the meaning of citizenship in the United States to its original public meaning." The Trump administration’s arguments about the relevance of the Elk ruling are strongly contested by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is leading the challenge to Trump’s executive order.

Washington Post [3/29/2026 5:00 AM, David Nakamura, 24826K] reports American Civil Liberties Union Legal Director Cecillia Wang has filed lawsuits challenging racial profiling, illegal arrests and mandatory detention for undocumented immigrants. But when she appears before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, she will be arguing against the Trump administration over a question that is fundamental not only to the nation but also to her own family. Who deserves to be an American? Wang, 55, was born in Oregon, three years after her parents emigrated legally from Taiwan as graduate students, making her a U.S. citizen by birth even though they were not naturalized at the time. She credits changes in federal immigration law in the 1960s that eliminated national origin quotas on Chinese immigrants for providing her family a path to succeed. That path has animated her work over two decades at the ACLU, where she oversees a legal staff of more than 200, and this week it will help inform her arguments against President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors — including international students, like her parents. Opponents of the president’s order say it could deny citizenship to an estimated 250,000 newborns per year. “This is an extraordinary claim the president is making that is at odds with what everyone has understood about American citizenship,” Wang said in a brief phone interview from San Francisco, where she is based, to focus attention on the importance of the case. “Our team is defending an American tradition.” Now, it will be up to the nine justices to decide a matter that for 128 years has stood as a bedrock principle of immigration law — that those born on U.S. soil are citizens, no matter the status of their parents.

The Hill [3/28/2026 6:45 PM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports a discharge petition for a resolution that would require the Trump administration to extend temporary legal protections for migrants from Haiti earned enough signatures on Friday to force a vote on the House floor. Rep. Marie Gleusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) was the 218th signature on the petition, which also secured support from four Republicans: Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and Don Bacon (Neb.). “I’m so grateful for our broad coalition that made this moment possible,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), the petition’s sponsor, said in a video posted on the social platform X. “This is essential to saving lives and the 350,000 Haitian nationals that call this country home are so deserving.” Pressley said in a press release that she expects a vote on her bill within the coming weeks. Once a discharge petition reaches the required signature threshold, it triggers a seven-day waiting period before the motion becomes eligible for consideration. After a member announces their intent to offer the motion on the floor, the House speaker must schedule a vote within two legislative days. The resolution would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to designate Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) until January 20, 2029.

New York Post [3/28/2026 3:48 PM, Geoff Earle, 40934K] reports about 1,500 Iranians were intercepted at the border during the Biden Administration, but it’s the unknown number who got through that is alarming officials — who told The Post "sleeper cells" are a grave potential threat to the nation. "We have no idea how many people got around obviously. The numbers are deeply concerning," said Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who previously served as US ambassador to Japan during the first Trump administration. About half of the intercepted Iranians were released into the country, Hagerty said, apparently referencing a Fox News report last year that 1,504 Iranians were arrested at the border between 2021 and 2024, with 700 released into the country pending court cases. The US has long listed Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

NewsMax [3/28/2026 11:18 AM, Jim Thomas, 3760K] reports the Trump administration has shut down three social media accounts that recently retired Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino had renamed to reflect his personal title and refused to return despite their status as federal property. The Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts for the Border Patrol’s El Centro, California, sector, which carried a combined following of 850,000, were taken offline mid-Thursday after operating earlier that day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. "Chief Patrol Agent Bovino has retired from federal service and no longer has access to official government social media accounts," a CBP spokesperson wrote in an email, reviewed by the Washington Examiner. The shutdown occurred on the first full day in office for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a senior department official confirmed. It ended a monthslong internal dispute in which Bovino, who oversaw one of 20 Border Patrol sectors nationwide, treated the government-owned pages as his own after using them to post approved updates and videos. On Aug. 4, 2025, he announced he would rename the pages to highlight his personal role, officials familiar with the matter said. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott ordered him to restore the original sector names and create new accounts for Bovino’s broader duties. Bovino refused, contending the followers belonged to him. Corey Lewandowski, then serving as a special government employee under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, allegedly shielded Bovino from disciplinary steps, according to people briefed on the communications. The El Centro sector responded by launching replacement accounts in early September 2025; those pages have attracted just 11,000 followers combined. The department acted to reclaim control of its communications platforms as Noem’s tenure ended, the senior official said.

New York Times [3/28/2026 9:58 PM, Chris Hippensteel, Sonia A. Rao and JoAnna Daemmrich, 148038K] reports the Trump administration has moved to bypass Congress to restore the pay of airport safety screeners, who have missed two full paychecks, but relief has yet to arrive for travelers. On Friday, more Transportation Security Administration employees called out of work than on any other day of the partial government shutdown. Conditions in airport security lines have deteriorated since Feb. 14, when Congress allowed funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees T.S.A., to lapse during an impasse over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since then, T.S.A. employees have been forced to work without pay, leading thousands of workers to call out and hundreds to quit altogether. With staffing slashed, wait times for security have stretched on for hours at some airports. Lines have spilled outside terminals. Desperate travelers have missed flights. And that was before Friday set a new record. More than 3,560 T.S.A. employees — above 12 percent of the agency’s work force — called out on Friday, the highest number since the partial government shutdown began, Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. Friday’s call outs broke the record of just under 12 percent that had been set the previous day. “During this time, over 500 officers have quit, and thousands more have been forced to call out because they can’t afford basic necessities like gas, child care, food, or rent,” Ms. Bis said. President Trump signed a memo late on Friday ordering D.H.S. to restore pay to T.S.A. employees. On Monday, the Trump administration deployed agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who have not lost pay during the partial shutdown, to help carry out security functions at airports. The standoff over D.H.S. funding in Congress has shown little sign of breaking. A compromise brokered by the Senate to restore funding was rejected by Republicans in the House of Representatives, who responded by offering up their own stopgap funding bill before taking a scheduled two-week break. That bill appeared unlikely to garner enough support from Democrats in the Senate to break the deadlock. Conditions have become so dire at some airports that some people have sought out professional line sitters in an effort to avoid the multi-hour wait times caused by lack of staffing at the checkpoints. Such is the case in Houston, where both major commercial airports saw about 45 percent of their screening agents call out on Friday.

Univision [3/28/2026 4:39 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports this Monday, March 30, 2026, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents could receive their first full paychecks in more than six weeks, after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing immediate payment. The measure seeks to alleviate the situation of thousands of workers who have worked without pay since mid-February of this year. The announcement comes after a period of intense pressure at US airports, where unpaid wages led to widespread staff absences. This situation resulted in long lines, delays, and flight cancellations, as well as the closure of security lanes at various airport terminals across the country. Although the payment represents a significant step forward, experts warn that the positive impact will not be immediate. Operational recovery will depend on workers actually receiving their money and resuming their duties normally.

Bloomberg [3/28/2026 12:40 PM, María Paula Mijares Torres, 18082K] reports several US airports advised travelers on Saturday to arrive at least four hours before their flights because of long security lines even after President Donald Trump said Transportation Security Administration workers would be paid by tapping funds from his 2025 tax and spending bill. The Department of Homeland Security shutdown continues with no end in sight, with Congress having left for a two-week break after failing to agree Friday on a spending measure. Airports in Atlanta and Baltimore issued the four-hour warnings while Houston warned of much longer than usual waits. House Republicans on Friday rejected bipartisan Senate legislation to end a partial government shutdown and fund most of DHS. Instead, they held a late Friday night vote on a stopgap spending package that would have funded the department — including Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement — until May 22. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has made clear that such a measure is “dead on arrival” without new policies to restrict Trump’s immigration crackdown. Trump signed a memo Friday directing TSA personnel to be paid as he tried to alleviate disruptions at US airports, but it remains unclear how much it will do to improve wait times at security checkpoints, which have varied widely at different airports. The memo would cover back pay and paychecks going forward, according to the Office of Management and Budget, but TSA workers remained skeptical about what would be delivered. The memo doesn’t cite the specific source of funding. Federal law gives Congress the power of the purse, which means the president may lack the legal authority to unilaterally authorize pay. Trump’s memo directed DHS and the White House budget office to use funds that have a “reasonable and logical nexus” to agency operations to provide employees who have worked without pay “with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for” the shutdown. There’s is no sign that the Senate plans to return to Washington before the end of its two-week recess to vote on the House-passed stopgap, leaving the funding debate in a stalemate.

NBC News [3/28/2026 3:54 PM, Mirna Alsharif and Jay Blackman, 42967K] reports travelers frustrated by long security lines may not see immediate relief, even as Transportation Security Administration officers begin receiving pay again on Monday after working without wages for more than a month during the partial government shutdown. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal officials to ensure that TSA workers are paid despite the shutdown, breaking a more than 40-day stretch in which officers went without salaries. But the move is unlikely to bring instant relief at airport checkpoints, according to former TSA Administrator John S. Pistole. "It’s a temporary fix," he told NBC News. The more pertinent question, he said, is how many workers actually return to their posts now that paychecks are set to resume Monday. More than 500 officers have quit during the shutdown, according to the Department of Homeland Security, while thousands more have called out because they can’t afford basic expenses. TSA callout rates reached a high of 12.35% of the workforce on Friday, accounting for more than 3,560 employees, a DHS spokesperson said Saturday. The department added that at Trump’s direction and under Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, TSA has "immediately begun the process of paying its workforce" and that officers "should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30."

New York Post [3/28/2026 4:44 PM, Geoff Earle, 40934K] reports some airports around the country were getting back to normal Saturday after President Trump issued an order to pay beleaguered TSA agents — but there were no signs of urgency from Congress for a permanent fix to the federal funding fight which has caused weeks of chaos. There were no immediate indications of serious talks in Congress to find a solution that could resolve the now nearly 60-day shutdown, congressional aides told The Post. Instead, lawmakers skipped town for a two-week recess. Still, Trump’s decision to use existing Homeland Security funds to pay struggling Transportation Security Administration agents — and to send ICE agents to help speed up security lines — appeared to be paying off. "The airport I went through yesterday, the line’s already decreased. They’re not where they need to be, but the plan’s in place," White House border czar Tom Homan told Fox News Channel’s Saturday in America. More ICE agents were expected to complete training and be on the job soon, he added. TSA wait times at New York airports were back to normal Saturday. The published wait at LaGuardia’s Terminal B was just four minutes. It wasn’t smooth sailing everywhere. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, flyers were still being encouraged to show up four hours ahead of their flight times. At Baltimore’s Thurgood Marshall International Airport, people were waiting up to three hours to check their bags – and another 21/2 to 3 hours to get through security, WBAL TV reported.

USA Today [3/28/2026 1:44 PM, Jeanine Santucci, 70643K] reports President Donald Trump has signed an order to redirect funds to pay Transportation Security Administration personnel, but the administration said paychecks are still several days away, which could mean continued historic wait times at airports. Trump signed the order on March 27, after weeks of a partial government shutdown that has left the TSA without funding and its employees working without pay. Hundreds of staff have quit and many have not shown up for work, leaving security lines stretching outside some terminals as passengers wait hours in some cases. Signs of a possible funding deal have seemingly vanished once again, after efforts in Congress to come to an agreement were dashed over a split on money for immigration enforcement operations. As the situation escalated at airports, Trump sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to supplement gaps in staffing. They have made appearances in recent days at some airports around the country, and Trump has also floated sending National Guard members. Here’s what we know about the latest updates on TSA funding and airport delays: TSA officers and employees could see paychecks as early as March 30, instead of waiting for back pay when the shutdown ends, after Trump signed the order to reroute federal funds to pay them in a move without Congress. Trump said an "unprecedented emergency situation" caused by the "Democrat-led DHS shutdown" warranted the action. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin began the process of paying TSA workers as soon as Trump signed the memo. The agency said TSA employees should begin receiving paychecks as early as March 30. USA TODAY has created a tracker of TSA wait times at select major airports across the country to help travelers plan their weekend travel. It is updated every 10 minutes. As of March 28, there is little sign that a deal is imminent to resolve the partial government shutdown that is fueling turmoil for travelers and unpaid TSA workers. That’s despite what seemed like optimism earlier in the week that a deal could be reached. On March 27, the House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding measure that Democrats called "dead on arrival" with virtually no chance of passing in the Senate because it didn’t have Democrat support. A bipartisan deal reached in the Senate the previous night, which would have funded all but ICE and Border Patrol, was dashed when House Republicans split with their Senate counterparts and refused to support it.

Washington Post [3/28/2026 10:00 AM, Hannah Sampson and Natalie B. Compton, 24826K] reports a partial government shutdown that started Feb. 14 persisted Friday, but TSA agents will start seeing paychecks as early as Monday after President Donald Trump issued an order Friday to pay them using preexisting funds. That should eventually improve wait times, though nearly 500 TSA officers have quit during the shutdown. On recent days, more than 40 percent of security officers called out at some airports. While the vast majority of travelers have braved lines or missed flights, grimacing at the lemons they were served, some entrepreneurs have set up their own proverbial lemon stands. Jonathan Dean, the airport’s director of communications, said BWI does “not have an official airport policy” on hiring someone to wait for you, but they “highly discourage it.” Houston Airports said on its website that it does not endorse “for-hire” line-standing services, asking people to stay with their belongings and only use official airport queues. There is an official way for travelers to bypass long TSA waits if they’re willing to spend: hiring concierge services to escort them through security.

Breitbart [3/28/2026 2:02 PM, Alana Mastrangelo, 2238K] reports actor and film mogul Tyler Perry reportedly showed up at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on Thursday with a "significant" amount of cash that he had planned to give to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers — but got turned down. Perry, an Atlanta resident, headed into the airport hoping to offer some financial support for TSA workers affected by the government shutdown, but federal rules prevented him from carrying out his plan, according to a report by 11Alive. While TSA workers are not allowed to accept money due to certain restrictions, sources told the local outlet that Perry’s presence, and even the attempt at the gesture, boosted staff morale at Hartsfield-Jackson. Due to this stipulation, Perry did not hand out the money directly but spent time talking to employees and thanking them for their work, 11Alive reported. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said TSA officers are prohibited from accepting cash or gift cards at screening locations, the Associated Press noted. However, Aaron Barker, president of the AFGE Local 554 in Georgia, said TSA officer unions don’t have the same restrictions and suggested that those wanting to donate look up their local union district on the AFGE website, as they can accept donations and then distribute the money to their members.

Houston Chronicle [3/28/2026 10:26 AM, Catherine Dominguez, Rebekah F. Ward, 2493K] reports as dozens of ice agents arrived in waves around 7 a.m. Saturday at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, travelers faced shorter wait times as the government shutdown stretched into its 43rd day. According to the airport, wait times had dropped below an hour as of 8:45 a.m. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday afternoon to pay Transportation Security Administration employees who haven’t been paid for weeks during a partial government shutdown that has led to hourslong security wait times at airports, including Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Wall Street Journal [3/28/2026 8:00 PM, Tarini Parti, Josh Dawsey, and Michelle Hackman, 646K] reports investigators searched the office of a Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor as they investigate a network of aides former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski seeded throughout the DHS during their turbulent tenure, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials with the DHS’s inspector general, the agency’s internal watchdog, recently seized records and a computer from the office of Kara Voorhies, the people said. Investigators are examining her role in the FEMA contracting process, some of the people said. It isn’t clear exactly what Voorhies was hired to do, but contractors like her aren’t typically involved in awarding contracts and making spending decisions on behalf of federal agencies, department officials say. Her role in those decisions raised alarm bells for the inspector general as well as for lawmakers. The investigation is in its early stages, and it is unclear if the inspector general will refer the matter for criminal prosecution. The office doesn’t have the authority to bring criminal charges. The wide-ranging probe into the network of aides will examine any potential improprieties in the contracting process, including any evidence of personal enrichment of top officials, people familiar with the investigation said. Another prong of the probe into Voorhies: her compensation. FEMA officials have been unable to locate her contract and investigators are still seeking it, according to people familiar with the matter. Senior FEMA officials were told that Voorhies was getting paid as much as $19,000 a week, some of the people said, which would amount to roughly $1 million a year. It is unclear when Voorhies, who officials say was brought into the department by Lewandowski, started at FEMA. She was at the department for most of Noem’s tenure and left this month. Voorhies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

ABC News [3/28/2026 11:24 AM, Kyle Reiman, 34146K] reports a large swath of the country is expected to face dangerous heat and fire weather conditions this weekend, forecasts show. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings for more than 47 million Americans from the Great Plains to the Southeast on Saturday due to widespread critical fire weather danger. Wind gusts in the Plains are expected to reach 30 to 60 mph on Saturday. Combined with very low humidity and dry fuels, conditions could be conducive for rapid wildfire growth and spread. Gusty winds and dry conditions will also be in place from the Gulf Coast inland across the Southeast, including cities such as Lake Charles, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Tallahassee, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; and Asheville, North Carolina. Meanwhile, a temperature roller coaster is expected in other parts of the country this weekend. Since March 1, there have been more than 1,100 daily records broken or tied across the nation.

CNN [3/28/2026 9:35 PM, Jamille Whitlow, 19874K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard is facing difficulties in running their operations during the DHS shutdown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Politico [3/28/2026 10:00 AM, John Sakellariadis, 21784K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has closed an investigation into seven career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who arranged a counterintelligence polygraph exam that the agency’s former acting director failed, according to three current and one former officials with knowledge of the matter. The development marks a major vindication for the staffers, who were informed this week they had been cleared of wrongdoing and were welcome to return to CISA, according to the four people, all of whom were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. It comes more than seven months after DHS revoked their security clearances and placed them under paid investigative leave, which POLITICO first reported. Former DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin previously told POLITICO the staffers were under investigation for “misleading” CISA’s then-acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, about the need for the test, which she described as “unsanctioned.” But several officials told POLITICO at the time it was Gottumukkala who pushed to take the exam so he could review sensitive intelligence material shared with CISA. The incident raised questions about Gottumukkala’s leadership among current and former agency officials, including several Trump administration appointees, who believed the accusations against the staffers were not credible. Spokespeople for DHS and CISA, which is nested inside the sprawling department, did not respond to a request for comment. The decision to drop the investigation follows a series of major leadership changes at both DHS and CISA. Gottumukkala — who was appointed to lead the cyber agency last year by then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — was removed from his post last month. President Donald Trump announced the following week that he was reassigning Noem out of DHS and into a newly created position. CISA is now headed by interim director Nick Andersen, who was originally tapped by the Trump administration to head the agency’s flagship cybersecurity division. Former Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) took over the role of DHS secretary earlier this week following his Senate confirmation. The $3 billion cyber defense agency was also marred by a series of incidents involving Gottumukkala, who sought to oust other agency personnel over personal disputes and once uploaded sensitive agency contracting documents into a public version of ChatGPT. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanded information from CISA over some of the mishaps.

AP [3/29/2026 12:02 AM, David Klepper, 34146K] reports that, as they fled an Iranian missile strike, some Israelis with Android phones received a text offering a link to real-time information about bomb shelters. But instead of a helpful app, the link downloaded spyware giving hackers access to the device’s camera, location and all its data. The operation, attributed to Iran, showed sophisticated coordination and is just the latest tactic in a cyber conflict that pits the U.S. and Israel against Iran and its digital proxies. As Iran and its supporters seek to use their cyber capabilities to compensate for their military disadvantages, they are demonstrating how disinformation, artificial intelligence and hacking are now ingrained in modern warfare. The bogus texts received recently appeared to be timed to coincide with the missile strikes, representing a novel combination of digital and physical attacks, said Gil Messing, chief of staff at Check Point Research, a cybersecurity firm with offices in Israel and the U.S. "This was sent to people while they were running to shelters to defend themselves," Messing said. "The fact it’s synced and at the same minute ... is a first.". The digital fight is likely to persist even if a ceasefire is reached, experts said, because it’s a lot easier and cheaper than conventional conflict and because it is designed not to kill or conquer, but to spy, steal and frighten. While high in volume, most of the cyberattacks linked to the war have been relatively minor when it comes to damage to economic or military networks. But they have put many U.S. and Israeli companies on the defensive, forcing them to quickly patch old security weaknesses. Investigators at the Utah-based security firm DigiCert have tracked nearly 5,800 cyberattacks so far mounted by nearly 50 different groups tied to Iran. While most of the attacks targeted U.S. or Israeli companies, DigiCert also found attacks on networks in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and other countries in the region. Many of the attacks are easily thwarted by the latest cybersecurity precautions. But they can inflict serious damage on organizations with out-of-date security and impose a demand on resources even when unsuccessful. Then there’s the psychological impact on companies that may do business with the military. "There are a lot more attacks happening that aren’t being reported," said Michael Smith, DigiCert’s field chief technology officer. A pro-Iranian hacking group claimed responsibility Friday for infiltrating an account of FBI Director Kash Patel, posting what appeared to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents. Many of those records appeared to be more than a decade old. It’s similar to a lot of the cyberattacks linked to pro-Iran hackers: splashy and designed to boost morale among supporters, while undermining the confidence of the opponent but without much impact to the war effort.

NewsMax [3/28/2026 3:57 PM, Solange Reyner, 3760K] reports federal authorities have charged a New Jersey man in connection with an alleged plot involving improvised explosive devices, as a Palestinian-American activist says law enforcement thwarted an imminent threat against her life. Nerdeen Kiswani said the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force warned her late Thursday that an attack on her was "about to" take place and that agents conducted an operation in Hoboken tied to the case. "Late last night the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force informed me that a plot against me that was ‘about to’ take place," Kiswani said, adding that she would continue her advocacy for Palestinians. U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced that Alexander Heifler, 26, of Hoboken, was charged in a two-count complaint with unlawful possession of destructive devices and making destructive devices. Heifler is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in Newark federal court. According to the criminal complaint, the Hudson County man is accused of constructing improvised incendiary devices intended to target another individual’s residence. Authorities described the investigation as ongoing and said there is no current threat to the public. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the alleged target was Kiswani and described the case as a serious instance of politically motivated violence.

NBC News [3/28/2026 10:06 PM, Mirna Alsharif, 42967K] reports a pro-Palestinian activist whose home was the target of a foiled firebombing plot had previously filed a federal lawsuit accusing a far-right pro-Israel group of orchestrating threats and intimidation against her. Weeks before authorities arrested a New Jersey man accused of plotting a Molotov cocktail attack on her home, activist Nerdeen Kiswani filed a lawsuit against Betar Zionist Organization and several of its leaders under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era law originally designed to combat KKK violence. Kiswani’s suit, filed on Feb. 26, alleges a monthslong campaign of stalking, intimidation and racially motivated threats, including offers of cash rewards to anyone who physically harmed her and repeated confrontations at demonstrations across New York City. Kiswani, the founder of the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Within Our Lifetime, has organized protests across New York City in support of Palestinians in Gaza, including encampments at universities calling for their divestment from Israel. Among the incidents detailed in the complaint, the group, also referred to in the lawsuit as Betar USA, allegedly offered $1,000 in January 2025 to any member of the public who could hand Kiswani "a beeper" — an apparent reference to a September 2024 Israeli military operation in which pagers and other electronic devices exploded in Lebanon, killing and injuring many. Betar USA members also confronted Kiswani at demonstrations and petitioned the Trump administration to strip her of her U.S. citizenship, submitting her name to federal authorities for that purpose, according to the lawsuit. Betar USA did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. The two cases underscore heightened tensions since the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023 and how that climate has contributed to violent incidents in the U.S. On Thursday, Alexander Heifler was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of destructive devices and manufacturing destructive devices, according to a complaint filed in U.S. district court in New Jersey. The NYPD said it identified and disrupted the plot. The charges against him each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fine of $10,000. Court documents describe an undercover NYPD officer participating in a video call in February where Heifler asked the group about a location where he could throw "Molotovs," according to the complaint. Over the following weeks, Heifler met with the officer in person and allegedly shared the home address of an individual he intended to attack, along with details about vehicles parked outside the residence. The complaint does not identify Kiswani by name. Heifler allegedly planned to flee the country after carrying out the attack and intended to wear gloves to avoid leaving DNA evidence, according to the complaint.

Univision [3/29/2026 2:30 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi recognized nine officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) for their actions in responding to an alleged ISIS- inspired act of terrorism that occurred on March 7 in front of Gracie Mansion , the official residence of the mayor of New York. The Honor the Honorable award was given for “exceptional policing” and “heroic actions,” the Justice Department said on its social media. The award was presented on March 27 to nine uniformed officers, including Chief Aaron Edwards and Sergeant Luis Navarro , who participated in the immediate arrest of the suspects. On March 7, 2026, during a protest titled “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York” and its counter-protest “Get the Nazis Out of New York,” two young men threw two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near Gracie Mansion . The devices contained TATP (a volatile explosive known as "Mother of Satan"), nuts and bolts as shrapnel, and fuses. None detonated and there were no injuries. Eighteen-year-old Emir Balat ignited and threw the first device toward the protesters. He then received a second one from 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi , threw it near officers, and fled. He was apprehended by NYPD officers. Both were arrested at the scene. Balat and Kayumi , both from Pennsylvania, face federal charges for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization ( ISIS ), use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosives, and possession of destructive devices. They remain in custody without bail while the investigation involves the FBI , NYPD , and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Surveillance video shows Balat buying fuse at Phantom Fireworks fireworks store days earlier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Notes containing formulas for TATP and its components were found in their vehicle . They had no prior criminal record, according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch . Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the act "reprehensible" and said the suspects "tried to bring violence to New York City." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [3/28/2026 2:00 PM, Sune Engel Rasmussen, 646K] reports in February last year, Antoine Kassis checked into the Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club, a Victorian-style resort an hour north of Nairobi. Wearing an ill-fitting hooded sweatshirt, with gray stubble and baggy eyes, he didn’t look like a typical upscale tourist. The disheveled 58-year-old, who went by Tony, was a cousin of the recently deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He had traveled to Kenya planning to meet a supposed arms inspector from a Colombian rebel group and complete a $14 million deal to import 500 kilos of cocaine to Syria in return for military-grade weapons supplied by Iran and Russia. Kassis didn’t know the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had been watching him for two years. As he waited in a cafe, U.S. agents accompanied by Kenyan police approached him. Two months later he was extradited to the U.S., ending a lengthy sting operation. A district court in Virginia this past week found Kassis guilty on conspiracy charges to commit narco-terrorism and support a foreign terrorist organization—the Colombian National Liberation Army, or ELN—making him one of the first high-ranking Assad loyalists tried in a Western court. The trial exposed a scheme spanning four continents, offering a rare window into a trans-Atlantic trade in weapons and drugs between Iranian allies in the Middle East, and cartels and rebel groups in South America. Kassis had no direct links with Iran, but the weapons he offered—including Stinger missiles, drones, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns—came from stockpiles supplied by Iran and Russia, the prosecution said. The trading route he used was forged by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, part of a global criminal empire. The illicit empire is one of the ways the Islamic Republic has brought in money for decades while under international sanctions. As long as some semblance of the current regime in Tehran remains, its allies are likely to continue fueling a global trade in arms and drugs, particularly as Iran seeks to recuperate from war with Israel and the U.S.

AP [3/28/2026 4:13 PM, Aamer Madhani, Samy Magdy, and Ben Finley 35287K] reports the number of American service members wounded in the Iran war has grown beyond 300, with more than two dozen troops injured this week from attacks on a Saudi air base. Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in an attack Friday that injured at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to two people briefed on the matter. U.S. officials initially reported that at least 10 U.S. troops were injured, including two who were seriously wounded. More American forces are reaching the Middle East, with a Navy ship carrying about 2,500 Marines having now arrived in the region, U.S. Central Command announced Saturday. The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, as well as the elements from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit that are aboard, are based in Japan. They were conducting exercises in the area around Taiwan when the order came to deploy to the Middle East almost two weeks ago. Central Command said that in addition to the Marines, the Tripoli also brings transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault assets to the region. The USS Boxer and two other ships, along with another Marine Expeditionary Unit, have also been ordered to the region from San Diego.

CBS News [3/28/2026 4:16 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports European allies are publicly and privately telling American diplomats that Russia is directly and materially helping Iran’s war efforts beyond what the U.S. will publicly acknowledge, sources tell CBS News. The Europeans are also continuing to argue that the war in Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since World War II, is intertwined with the war in Iran due to the cooperation between Russia and Iran. A U.K. official told CBS News that Russian-Iranian defense cooperation has ballooned in recent years, and Iranian technological advancement is now visible in the attacks in the Middle East. The United Kingdom assesses that Iran had not only transferred Shahed drones to Moscow for use on the battlefield in Ukraine but also production know-how to Russia, which has helped Iran refine its drone warfare. The U.K. official could not confirm a recent transfer of hardware to Iran by Russia. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot publicly described the relationship between Russia and Iran as "two-way cooperation." "There are reasons to believe that Russia is now supporting Iran’s military efforts, which appear to be directed in particular at American targets," Barrot said Thursday.

AP [3/29/2026 3:10 AM, Hyung-Jin Kim, 40934K] reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded, high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons and hailed it as a signficant development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday. While the test was in line with Kim’s stated goal of acquiring more agile, hard-to-detect missiles targeting the United States and its allies, some experts speculate North Korea’s claim may be an exaggeration. The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim watched the ground jet test of the engine using a composite carbon fiber material. It said the engine’s maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,970 kilotons reported in a similar solid-fuel engine test in September. KCNA reported the test was conducted as part of the country’s five-year arms build-up meant to upgrade “strategic strike means,” a term referring to nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and other weapons. Kim said the latest engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” according to KCNA. KCNA did not report exactly when or where the test occurred. North Korea’s report on the latest test could be “bluffing” as it didn’t disclose some key information like the engine’s total combustion time, said Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute. When North Korea described the September test as the ninth and final ground test of a solid-fuel engine that it earlier said would be used for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Observers predicted at the time North Korea would soon test-launch an ICBM loaded with that engine, but it hasn’t done so yet. North Korea’s solid-fuel engine development program may be facing some delays or the country might have determined to develop a better engine, possibly with Russian technical assistence, Lee said. Cooperation between the countries has deepened in recent years, with the North sending troops and conventional weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to reach the U.S. mainland, including missiles with solid propellants that make detection prior to liftoff more difficult. The country’s older liquid-fuel missiles must be fueled before liftoffs and cannot last long. Some of North Korea’s past claims about major weapons test-launches drew outside skepticm. In 2024, North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a multiwarhead missile, but South Korea quickly dismissed the claim as deception to cover up a failed launch. Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring its warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry. But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs. Possession of more powerful and efficient solid-fuel engines would allow North Korea to build smaller ICBMs that can be launched from submarines or land-based mobile launch trucks, Lee said. Other observers say a push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating U.S. defenses.

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