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

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

The AP [4/30/2026 7:02 PM, Lisa Mascaro, 3760K] reports President Donald Trump swiftly signed bipartisan legislation Thursday funding much of the Department of Homeland Security, but not its immigration enforcement operations, after it won final approval in the House, ending the longest agency shutdown in history. The White House had warned that temporary funding Trump had tapped to pay Transportation Security Administration and other agency personnel would "soon run out," and that sparked new threats of disruptions for travelers at airport. DHS has been without routine funds since Feb. 14, causing hardship for workers, though much of Trump’s immigration agenda that is central to the dispute is being funded separately. The package had languished in the House, despite being approved without opposition last month in the Senate, as Republicans revolted, forcing a separate path for the immigration funds. Once that launched this week, it cleared the way to fund the rest of homeland security, whose employees risked lost paychecks in May. "It is about damn time," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who proposed the bipartisan bill more than 70 days ago. The House swiftly voted by voice earlier Thursday, without a formal roll call, to pass the measure. It brought an abrupt end to the standoff that began months ago after Trump’s deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis launched a reckoning on Capitol Hill over the money being sent to fuel the president’s agenda. The movement in Congress comes as DHS is under intense scrutiny after Trump ousted Kristi Noem as the department’s leader, installing Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin in the middle of the shutdown. The agency counts some 260,000 employees, across TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA and other operations. Many workers have endured repeated turmoil with potential furloughs and missed paychecks in May as the congressional stalemate dragged on. This shutdown came on the heels of last year’s governmentwide closure, which itself had set a record at 43 days. Countless employees have struggled with bills or simply quit their jobs. Immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through the flush of new cash — some $170 billion — that Congress approved as part of Trump’s tax cuts bill last year. Others, including at the TSA, have had to rely on Trump’s intervention through executive action to ensure their paychecks. Most of its employees are considered essential and have remained on the job. But with salaries topping a combined $1.6 billion every two weeks, Mullin said recently that the money was dwindling. On Thursday, he said in a social media post that the shutdown "NEVER should have happened.” The New York Times [5/1/2026 3:42 AM, Carl Hulse and Michael Gold, 330K] reports that negotiations between the White House and Democrats who were demanding new restrictions on the officers went nowhere, leading to an impasse that cut off funding on Feb. 14. But it was a dispute among Republicans that has kept the department shuttered for nearly a month, and the G.O.P. had to bypass its own right flank to push through the bill. Senate Republicans and Democrats had struck a deal on April 1 to fund everything except for the immigration enforcement agencies, vowing to approve that money separately in a bill that Democrats could not block. But the House G.O.P. declined for weeks to act on the measure, with conservatives refusing to vote for a bill that did not fund ICE and border patrol. House leaders finally took it up on Thursday ahead of a 12-day break, and after the White House requested that the bill be passed immediately. “It has come to this,” said Representative Mark Alford, Republican of Missouri, as he offered the legislation on the House floor. “We need, no we must, pay our D.H.S. workers.” The legislation, which Mr. Trump signed into law shortly after it passed, funds the department through Sept. 30, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection, which received an earlier influx of money from a Republican-only law. Republicans in the House and Senate are now pushing new legislation that would pour an additional $70 billion into immigration operations through the end of Mr. Trump’s second term, using a process that would shield the measure from a Democratic filibuster. Speaker Mike Johnson had sat on the funding legislation despite encouragement from the White House to pass it, as members of the House lashed out at their colleagues in the Senate for putting them in a bad political situation. To prevent employees from having to work without pay, the White House had shifted existing funds around to meet payroll after disruptions in security screening caused chaos at some airports. But the administration warned this week that it was running short of money to continue doing so. The Wall Street Journal [4/30/2026 5:24 PM, Terell Wright, 646K] reports that the Senate approved the legislation earlier this month but Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) had declined so far to take it up until Thursday, waiting for progress on a second track that would allow Republicans to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without Democratic votes. The breakthrough came after the House took a major step late Wednesday toward funding immigration enforcement by passing a budget framework needed to proceed to the actual legislation in May. “We threw a fit and we had to,” said Johnson about why he held up the broader DHS bill. “We passed the [budget] resolution first. That was critically important for us to do to ensure we will protect the homeland.” By passing the DHS bill by voice with no roll call, party leaders avoided forcing a tough vote for some members, who had seethed over the DHS funding being split into two chunks. President Trump signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon. He had endorsed the two-step plan a month ago, effectively pressuring Johnson to accept the approach favored by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.).

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [4/30/2026 1:52 PM, Riley Beggin and Anna Liss-Roy, 24826K]
New York Post [4/30/2026 1:20 PM, Josh Christenson, 40934K]
Politico [4/30/2026 5:38 PM, Myah Ward, 21784K]
Roll Call [4/30/2026 5:21 PM, Aidan Quigley, Savannah Behrmann and Aris Folley, 673K]
Reuters [4/30/2026 6:30 PM, David Morgan, 38315K]
Reuters [4/30/2026 7:10 PM, Staff, 38315K] Video: HERE
Breitbart [4/30/2026 2:28 PM, Sean Moran, 2238K]
Breitbart [4/30/2026 3:58 PM, Staff, 2238K]
The Hill [4/30/2026 2:26 PM, Emily Brooks and Sudiksha Kochi, 18170K]
ABC News [4/30/2026 11:15 AM, Lauren Peller, 34146K]
FOX News [4/30/2026 5:08 PM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K]
USA Today [4/30/2026 4:57 PM, Zachary Schermele, 70643K]
Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 6:44 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K]
Daily Wire [4/30/2026 1:36 PM, Cameron Arcand, 2314K]
Daily Caller [4/30/2026 2:56 PM, Ashley Brasfield, 803K]

Reuters [4/30/2026 6:41 PM, Nate Raymond, 38315K] reports a federal judge on Thursday ruled that policies that make it harder for ‌people from countries on President Donald Trump’s travel ban list to get green cards and work permits are discriminatory and unlawful. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston reached that conclusion, as she issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit by around ​200 people from 20 countries including Iran, Haiti, Venezuela and Syria who sued over a halt ​on the processing of their immigration-related applications. The lawsuit, filed in December, took aim at ⁠policies U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adopted beginning in November affecting applications by immigrants seeking asylum, green ​cards and work authorization. Those policies have resulted in the agency placing a hold on the processing of applications ​from people from the 39 countries that are the subject of full or partial travel bans imposed by Trump, who has cited vetting and security concerns. Before instituting that halt, the agency, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, adopted ​a policy in November 2025 that treats the nationality of people from those countries as a "significant negative ​factor" when reviewing their applications. Kobick, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, concluded the plaintiffs were likely to succeed ‌in proving ⁠that policy ran afoul of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s bar against nationality-based discrimination. The judge said the agency’s subsequent halt on reviewing asylum and naturalization applications was likewise "contrary to Congress’s command that the agency issue decisions on such applications." She said the pause on reviewing green card and work authorization applications violated regulations ​governing them. Kobick blocked USCIS from ​enforcing the policies against ⁠22 plaintiffs who had provided declarations detailing how they were harmed by them, and she directed the parties to discuss whether her order should apply to the ​rest of the 200.

Breitbart [4/30/2026 2:08 PM, Jasmyn Jordan, 2238K] reports that a House resolution introduced this week seeks to formally denounce recent and prior attempts on President Donald J. Trump’s life while emphasizing the responsibilities of federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies amid ongoing threat concerns. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), outlines a series of recent incidents, stating, “Whereas, on April 25, 2026, an attempt was made on the life of President Donald J. Trump in Washington, DC, at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner,” and further notes earlier attempts on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, and September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The measure has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Homeland Security and also highlights that “during this attack, law enforcement personnel performed their duties with professionalism and heroism.” Authorities identified the April 25, 2026, suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, who allegedly charged through a magnetometer at the Washington Hilton as the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was underway and fired multiple shots before being stopped. A Secret Service agent was struck in the chest but was protected by a bulletproof vest and was later described as being in good condition.

Reuters [4/30/2026 10:06 AM, Pete Schroeder, Tatiana Bautzer and Michelle Price, 38315K] reports U.S. banks say they are largely in the dark about an expected White House order requiring them to collect data on their customers’ citizenship or immigration status, a directive senior industry executives warn would be costly and disruptive. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told media outlet Semafor this month that the administration is working ‌on the executive order, but did not provide details. It was first reported in February by the Wall Street Journal, which characterized the effort as an extension of the administration’s crackdown on immigrants living in the United States illegally. Bank lobby groups initially pushed back on the effort in meetings with administration officials, warning it would be operationally and legally complex, expensive, and could potentially lead to millions of people becoming unbanked, according to three of the people. But in recent weeks, banks have had little communication from the administration and say they are largely in the dark, despite the magnitude of the potential requirement, the people said. Center-right think tank American Action Forum estimated last month that just for new accounts, collecting citizenship data could cost the industry between $2.6 billion and $5.6 billion annually. "The logistical challenges for banks are significant," said Kathryn Judge, a professor at Columbia Law School. "Overall, the initiative is ⁠bad news for banks but worse news for ordinary Americans. Even for citizens, the process could create significant headaches."

FOX News [4/30/2026 11:52 AM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports North Carolina’s discovery of 34,000 dead people on its voter rolls has sparked renewed calls for voter roll cleanup measures, including increased pressure on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act. After a state election official said the number of dead people found on North Carolina’s voter rolls was "higher than we anticipated," Republican Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina called for immediate action to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, commonly known as the SAVE America Act. "North Carolina confirms 34,000 deceased individuals on our voter rolls," he wrote in an X post. "This isn’t a mistake—it’s a failure. Election integrity is non-negotiable. Fix it now. Pass the SAVE America Act!". This discovery has also prompted questions about how many other states have deceased voters still on their rolls. Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, said he is especially concerned about blue states he believes have been refusing "commonsense" measures to clean up voter rolls. Earlier this month, the North Carolina State Board of Elections submitted over 7.3 million voter records to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database as part of an initiative to strengthen the accuracy and integrity of the state’s voter registration list. Following a comprehensive data comparison with the federal database, the elections board identified approximately 34,000 dead people on the state’s voter rolls. Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a press release after the discovery, "While we expected to find some cases, this is higher than we anticipated.”

The Hill [4/30/2026 10:18 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 18170K] reports Federal officials have indicted 10 current and former Mexican officials on charges tied to drug trafficking as part of a Trump administration crackdown on the international flow of narcotics. The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed the indictment Wednesday. It says the governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, Rubén Rocha Moya, and nine others were allegedly involved in drug trafficking and related weapons offenses. The officials are accused of shielding Sinaloa Cartel members from investigations, prosecutions and arrests in addition to aiding the import of “massive amounts” of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States. In addition to the governor of Sinaloa, those indicted include a Mexican senator, a Sinaloa state deputy attorney general, a former Sinaloa secretary of public security, a former deputy director of the Sinaloa State Police and the mayor of Culiacán, according to The Associated Press. “The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll. The support of corrupt foreign officials for deadly trafficking of drugs must end,” he added. Moya, who has served as Sinaloa’s governor since 2021, faces charges of narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count, which could result in life imprisonment or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars if he’s convicted. He has denied wrongdoing and accused the DOJ of “slander.” “I categorically and absolutely reject the accusations made against me by the Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office, as they lack any truth or foundation whatsoever. And this will be demonstrated, with full force, at the appropriate time,” Moya wrote in a post on the social platform X.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [4/30/2026 6:10 AM, Syakir Jasnee, 38315K]

Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 4:20 PM, Rena Rowe, 1147K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is demanding what she called "irrefutable evidence" before her government will consider extraditing officials accused by the United States of ties to drug cartels, pushing back on a sweeping indictment from Washington, D.C. The Department of Justice on Wednesday charged 10 current and former Mexican officials, including the sitting governor of Sinaloa, with drug trafficking and related offenses, alleging they played key roles in facilitating cartel operations. Sheinbaum said Mexico would cooperate, but only under strict legal standards. At the same time, she cast doubt on the motives behind the charges, arguing that "the goal of these Justice Department accusations is political." The case marks an escalation in U.S. efforts to target corruption in Mexico, as it is the first time Washington has indicted a sitting Mexican governor.

Reuters [4/30/2026 10:25 AM, Ana Isabel Martinez and Raul Cortes, 38315K] reports Mexican President Claudia ‌Sheinbaum said on Thursday that unless the U.S. government presents "clear evidence" linking Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha to drug cartels, the charges announced against him on Wednesday are politically motivated. "We are not going to protect anyone who has committed a crime," Sheinbaum said at her ​regular morning press conference, referring to the U.S. Justice Department’s indictment against Rocha and other Mexican current ​and former officials for conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel. "However, if there isn’t clear evidence, it ⁠is obvious that the objective of these indictments by the Department of Justice is political," Sheinbaum added, saying that ​Mexico would not permit interference by a foreign government in its sovereign affairs. The charges against ​Rocha mark a new front in the U.S. fight against cartels. While the U.S. has repeatedly gone after drug kingpins, U.S. indictments against sitting senior Mexican politicians are rare. Rocha’s indictment poses a problem for Sheinbaum, particularly because they are both from the same ruling Morena ​Party. Rocha is also an ally of Sheinbaum’s predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Rocha has denied ​the charges and said they were an attack against Mexico’s governing political movement. "They lack any truth or foundation whatsoever," he said ‌in a ⁠post on X, vowing they would be proven false. According to the U.S. indictment, Rocha was elected as governor of Sinaloa in 2021 with the help of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel run by the sons of founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, known as "Los Chapitos." The Chapitos allegedly kidnapped and intimidated Rocha’s political rivals, the Justice Department said, in exchange ​for Rocha’s promise to allow ​the group to operate with ⁠impunity and distribute drugs to the U.S.

Breitbart [4/30/2026 8:43 PM, Ildefonso Ortiz, Brandon Darby, 2238K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is openly challenging the U.S. Justice Department and is apparently using her political power to prevent the arrest and extradition of a sitting state governor, a senator, and a mayor, all from her political party, MORENA. Those three men and seven other top law enforcement officials from the state of Sinaloa are wanted in a U.S. federal court on drug trafficking charges. In response to the scandal, Sheinbaum claimed that the U.S. Department of Justice is playing a political game trying to target her party and her government will not take part in it. "It must be made absolutely clear," she said. "Under no circumstances will we permit the intrusion or interference of a foreign government in decisions that pertain exclusively to the people of Mexico.” As Breitbart Texas first reported, the issue began on Wednesday afternoon when the USDOJ announced an indictment against Sinaloa’s current governor, Ruben Rocha Moya, and several of his closest associates, including a senator, the Culiacan mayor, and several top state law enforcement officials. According to U.S. federal prosecutors, all of them are accused of working with the Sinaloa Cartel, primarily the Chapitos faction. The allegations claim that the government officials protected the cartel in exchange for political power and support. Soon after news of the indictment broke, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office issued a statement claiming that their U.S. counterparts had requested the arrest and extradition of the individuals, but they had not provided them with proof of any wrongdoing, Breitbart Texas reported. According to Sheinbaum, Mexico’s FGR needs to conduct its own investigation to determine whether the case has merit and whether there is proof that the wanted individuals committed any wrongdoing. The resistance from Mexico comes at a time when more and more members of Mexico’s ruling party, MORENA, are being implicated for having connections or dealings with drug cartels and the smuggling of fuel. During her comments, Sheinbaum mentioned the case of Salvador Cienfuegos, a former Secretary of the Army who had been indicted and arrested in the U.S. on drug charges. Due to political pleading from Mexico’s government, the U.S. Justice Department sent Cienfuegos to Mexico to allow them to prosecute him first. However, as soon as Cienfuegos arrived in Mexico, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador freed him and soon afterward awarded him a medal. According to Shienbuam, the U.S. government did not have any real evidence against Cienfuegos, and the case was purely political.

New York Post [4/30/2026 5:05 PM, Caitlin McCormack, 40934K] reports a suspected intruder ran a secret meth lab out of Michigan State University’s largest academic building and was nabbed a day before final exams started. Xin Tong, 31, was busted around 9:30 p.m. Sunday on the fifth floor of Wells Hall with several backpacks, duffle bags and a stash of chemicals used to make homemade methamphetamine, police said. Campus police were responding to reports of a trespasser when Tong was caught. He mistakenly confirmed his identity when he offered officers an expired MSU student ID, according to an affidavit obtained by WILX. Cops uncovered "several labeled and unlabeled containers of an unknown liquid substance inside" the bags, which they searched after obtaining a warrant, MSU Department of Police and Public Safety Chief Mike Yankowski said at a press conference. Other unknown substances were scattered throughout the hall. The substances littered around the building also caused approximately $20,000 or more in damage between April 10 and April 26, according to the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office. Tong was charged with malicious destruction of property over $20,000 and operating or maintaining a methamphetamine lab on Wednesday. Tong is being held at the Ingham County Jail on a staggering $500,000 bond. The Department of Homeland Security placed a hold on his bond, according to blocked Ingham County Jail Records viewed by The State News.

FOX News [4/30/2026 5:00 AM, Sen. John Kennedy, 37576K] reports for more than 70 days, Senate Democrats claimed that they shut down the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because they wanted to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It’s clear now that they shut down DHS out of fear of their own voters. The loon wing of the Democratic Party — the folks who think Dr. Seuss is racist, Mr. Potato Head is sexist and children can change their genders at recess — is the largest and loudest segment of the Democratic Party. They hate our immigration laws. They want criminal illegal aliens to roam free while ICE officers rot in jail. And they have made it clear to every Democrat in office that a vote to fund ICE would haunt them for the rest of their natural lives. But the American people don’t want open borders, and they don’t think cops are worse than criminals. They know it is bone-deep stupid to allow gang members, drug traffickers and terrorists to enter our country unchecked, and they support the ongoing effort to deport as many violent criminals as possible. This left my Democratic colleagues with a choice: Stand up to the loon wing of your party or defund ICE. They chose the latter. Democratic leaders pretended for more than a month that they would vote to fund ICE if the Trump administration enacted certain reforms. But as DHS adopted new policies, including a plan to have ICE officers wear body cameras, Senate Democrats revealed that it didn’t matter what ICE did; they weren’t going to vote to reopen the agency under any circumstances. While Democrats performed this song and dance, more than 100,000 DHS employees went without paychecks, and chaos unfolded at every airport in America. And when I came to the Senate floor with my resolution to withhold pay from senators during government shutdowns, they blocked it. They were willing to use the paychecks of federal employees as a political pawn, but they weren’t willing to share in that sacrifice themselves. The whole performance made most fair-minded Americans want to stick their heads in an oven.

New York Post [4/30/2026 8:42 PM, Jennifer Kelly, 40934K] reports Americans are learning more about Cole Allen, the gunman who sought to unleash chaos at the White House Corespondents Association dinner, where President Donald Trump and much of the Cabinet were joining the annual gathering of journalists for the first time in this administration. One key fact: The would-be assassin lived in Torrance, Calif., which is represented by some of the most rabidly anti-Trump members of Congress. One of them is Democrat Ted Lieu. In 2017, Lieu declared Trump to be an illegitimate president, and even launched a "cloud of illegitimacy clock" that still has its own website, ticking away the seconds of Trump’s presidency. Another is Democrat Maxine Waters, who appears to be Allen’s representative, based on public information about his address. Waters was one of the first members of Congress to call for Trump’s impeachment, shouting "Impeach 45!" at rallies, almost as soon as Trump took office. And in 2018, it was "Mad Max" Waters who launched the current era of aggressive political confrontations when she encouraged Americans to accost Trump administration officials wherever they could be found. At a rally in Los Angeles, Waters said: "If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.” She repeated that call on the liberal MSNBC network, telling the audience to "harass" Trump officials. She also said that she had "no sympathy" for the Trump officials who were targeted. Waters’ comments came a day after Sarah Huckabee Sanders, then the president’s press secretary, had been kicked out of a Northern Virginia restaurant, The Red Hen. A few days before that, President Trump’s then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had been mobbed, shouted down and run out of a Mexican restaurant in Washington, DC. Waters suggested that physical confrontations with Trump and his appointees was not just acceptable, but required, of citizens. That has led us down a slippery slope.

Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 3:21 PM, Tom Rogan, 1147K] reports imagine if Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), both close partners of President Donald Trump, were suddenly indicted for taking huge bribes from an international drug cartel operating out of Texas. That’s essentially what just happened with the Justice Department indictments issued against the Sinaloa drug cartel on Wednesday. Based out of Mexico’s western Sinaloa state, the Sinaloa cartel is the country’s most powerful cartel after the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Following the 2017 U.S. incarceration of Sinaloa Cartel leader, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the organization entered a period of uneasy peace. However, following the July 2024 U.S. arrest of top leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia (perpetrated by one of El Chapo’s sons Joaquin Guzman Lopez in return for a reduced sentence), a faction under two of El Chapo’s sons ("Los Chapitos") has been at war with a faction controlled by El Mayo’s son, Ismael Zambada Sicairos ("Los Mayos"). The United States has now charged Sinaloa governor Ruben Rocha Moya and Mexican senator Enrique Inzunza Cazarez, both senior members of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena Party. Sinaloa’s deputy chief prosecutor, Damaso Castro Zaavedra, and the former chiefs of all of Sinaloa’s main law enforcement agencies have also been indicted. They weren’t indicted simply for turning a blind eye to the Sinaloa Cartel’s mayhem. One of the indicted former chiefs, Juan Valenzuela Millan, is said to have ordered the kidnapping of a DEA source and his son, for example. The indictment reports how, ‘Specifically, under Millan’s command, municipal officers, in a patrol car, stopped the [source and a relative], kidnapped them, and turned them over to Cartel sicarios, who tortured and then killed those and other victims." Cartel specialist reporter Ioan Grillo notes that one of the victims was the source’s 13-year-old son. Trump has just dropped a nuclear bomb on Sheinbaum’s bow. Appointing a former CIA paramilitary officer as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico City and targeting drug cartels across Latin America, Trump had already shown he is writing new rules of the game. Now he’s challenging Sheinbaum to extradite Moya and company, and to stand firm on counter-drug trafficking cooperation. Trump knows that the Sinaloa Cartel’s corrupt tentacles reach into the very heart of the Morena Party. Indeed, Sheinbaum’s predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was strongly hinted at by former FBI Director Chris Wray to be corrupt. The boldness of these indictments further suggests that Trump will authorize U.S. attacks or kidnappings against cartel officers and collaborators if Sheinbaum now breaks off cooperation. That Mexican threat of suspended cooperation previously worked during the last days of the first Trump administration. In late 2020, a former Mexican defense minister was allowed to walk from a U.S. indictment after Obrador threatened to suspend U.S. cooperation.

New York Post [4/30/2026 10:16 AM, Ryan King, 40934K] reports House Republicans barely passed a budget blueprint to unlock more than $70 billion in future funding for immigration enforcement late Wednesday in a vote that was held open for more than five hours due to intra-party disputes. Representatives voted 215-211 to adopt the measure, which kicks off the process for funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a record-breaking 74 days into the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.), a former Republican who ditched the party earlier this year, voted present. Republicans are leveraging the cumbersome Senate reconciliation process to prevent Democrats from filibustering the border enforcement bill. Democrats have agreed to fund the rest of DHS, whose funding lapsed Feb. 14. A bill to do just that cleared the Senate more than a month ago, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that the lower chamber plans on tweaking the language before bringing it up to a vote. House lawmakers are set to break for their two-week recess on Thursday, leaving the question of fully funding DHS to linger into mid-May. Republican efforts to pass the CBP and ICE funding blueprint were nearly derailed by bad feelings over components of a sweeping farm bill, which Congress is tasked with passing every five years and sets policies on agriculture, nutrition, rural development, and other topics. A bipartisan provision permanently allowing year-round 15% ethanol fuel sales drew pushback from some lawmakers over fears that it would wreak havoc on smaller refiners. Most gasoline is 10% ethanol, which often derives from corn. Bringing that up to 15% was seen as a significant financial boost for farmers. After bitter negotiations, lawmakers decided to separate out the 15% ethanol provision from the farm bill and take it up at a later date. The blueprint unlocks $70 billion apiece for ICE and CBP, but key drafters of the measure believe the final reconciliation bill will only provide $70 billion to both ICE and CBP. President Trump has given Congress a June 1 deadline to get the full reconciliation package done. Meanwhile, the temporary emergency measures Trump has taken to keep parts of DHS funded without Congress are set to expire next month, according to Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "My payroll through DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks, so the money is going extremely fast and once that happens, there is no emergency funds after that," Mullin told "Fox & Friends" last week.

Wall Street Journal [4/30/2026 9:00 PM, Shane Shifflett and Hannah Critchfield, 646K] reports Liz McLellan spent a morning in January witnessing the work of federal agents who had arrived in Maine to pursue the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Like other community activists, protesters and passersby around the U.S., McLellan took photos, including of an arrest. Then she followed a federal officer driving an unmarked vehicle to see where the agent was headed next. McLellan was surprised when the agent led her to her own house and blocked her driveway. Other federal officers quickly arrived, boxing in her car with their own vehicles. “This is a warning,” an agent told her, according to court records and a video recording. “We know you live right here.” In the battle against illegal immigration, the U.S. is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tools that give federal agents easy access to the home and workplace addresses of American citizens, their social-media accounts, vehicle information, flight history, law-enforcement records and other personal information, as well as data to track their daily comings and goings, The Wall Street Journal found. This newly expanded domestic surveillance system, a high-tech dragnet built to locate, track and deport people residing illegally in the U.S., allows thousands of federal agents nationwide to peruse a trove of data belonging to more than 300 million people, including citizens.

FOX News [4/30/2026 10:33 PM, Landon Mion, Bill Melugin, 37576K] reports a suspected illegal migrant from the Dominican Republic with a deportation order and an Interpol Red Notice related to a homicide case in his home country was released by a judge appointed by former President Joe Biden, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Gomez was ordered released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Rhode Island. DuBose ordered that Gomez be released from ICE custody because of "continuous unlawful detention," while ICE argued that he was subject to mandatory detention for having an international arrest warrant for murder. The judge found that ICE was holding Gomez under a legal authority designed for migrants apprehended at the border, which DuBose determined did not apply to him since he was arrested by local police inside the U.S. A court order reviewed by Fox News shows DuBose found Gomez was not subject to mandatory detention under the statute cited by ICE and was instead entitled to a bond hearing. ICE cannot rearrest him due to DuBose’s order, DHS said. Gomez was arrested on April 4 for assault and battery in Worcester, Massachusetts. A detainer was then honored, and ICE Boston arrested him after he was released on $500 bail, according to DHS. He had been held in Rhode Island, where he was issued a deportation order on Tuesday by an immigration judge. "Bryan Rafael Gomez is a criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic with an international warrant for homicide," DHS Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis said in a statement. "An activist judge appointed by Joe Biden released this wanted murderer back into American communities.” "This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to thwart President Trump’s mandate from the American people to remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities," she continued. "Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country.” Gomez entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, when he was caught and released by Border Patrol near Lukeville, Arizona, according to DHS. On January 24, 2023, the Coordination of the Courts of Instruction of the National District of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, issued a criminal arrest warrant for Bryan Rafael Gomez for homicide. ICE has separately described Gomez as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [5/1/2026 2:32 AM, Landon Mion, Bill Melugin, 40934K]

New York Post [4/30/2026 6:53 PM, Vaughn Golden, 40934K] reports New York is set to pass its most extreme sanctuary policies yet – as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats hone in on a deal that could impose sweeping bans on cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) confirmed "95%" of an anti-ICE immigration package has been agreed upon between Hochul and state legislators as part of ongoing state budget talks – including etching New York’s first statewide sanctuary law restricting how law enforcement can interact with immigration authorities. "I think we all want to deal with the aggressiveness, or the over-aggressiveness, let’s say, of ICE. But we also understand that there should always be due process," Heastie told reporters Wednesday. Narrow, but still crucial, details about how the law would function are still being hammered out. Hochul recently revealed that she had agreed with the legislature’s request to ramp up her initial anti-ICE proposal, which she had released in January amid heightened fury against President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. "I want to say that ICE has no reason to be involved in any civil enforcement," Hochul said last week.

Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 10:25 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K] reports Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is asking White House border czar Tom Homan to confirm whether the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot Renee Good in Minnesota earlier this year was reassigned to New York. If Jonathan Ross is found to be operating in the Empire State, Hochul is demanding his removal. "If Jonathan Ross has been reassigned to work in New York, I demand that he be immediately removed and not redeployed unless cleared after a full, independent investigation," she wrote in a two-page letter to Homan. "I have no confidence that Ross can be trusted to safely interact with the public. Nor should you.” The letter was made public on Thursday, but it was submitted the day before. A copy of the message was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. It remains to be seen whether Ross was relocated from Minnesota to New York by the Trump administration. Recent reports reveal he moved to another state and resumed working despite his involvement in the January shooting that killed Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother who lived in Minneapolis prior to her death. The specific state to which Ross moved hasn’t been reported, but he was apparently placed on administrative leave for three days after the shooting. Alarmed by the lack of punishment for Ross, Hochul demanded accountability for his actions. "I have repeatedly stated that any agents involved in these types of incidents must be properly investigated and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law — not simply reassigned to administrative or investigative duties or shuffled to other states," the governor said. Hochul has previously expressed concern about federal immigration enforcement operations putting civilians in harm’s way. One such instance occurred in Buffalo, where a partially blind, non-English-speaking refugee from Myanmar was found dead after Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a closed coffee shop in the middle of winter. In the letter, Hochul cited this case as an example of the "unchecked power and systemic abuse carried out by agents over the course of just a few months.” During a meeting with Homan in early March, Hochul was open about her immigration demands in light of the refugee’s death. The two came to an understanding that there would be no federal immigration enforcement surge in New York unless Hochul requested it. The Democrat said she never would.

FOX News [4/30/2026 6:00 AM, Adam Sabes, 37576K] reports federal authorities have recovered 15 stolen industrial drones capable of dispersing liquid chemicals, but a former Department of Homeland Security official warns the biggest question remains unanswered: were they stolen for a "quick buck," or to "facilitate action against the homeland?". Fifteen Ceres Air C31 industrial spray drones were stolen from CAC International, a logistics and shipping company in Harrison, New Jersey, on March 24, according to The High Side Substack. The drones were recovered over a month later on April 27 in Dover, New Jersey. In an earlier statement to Fox News, the New Jersey State Police said that the drones were recovered at Prudent Corporation, a trucking company that has a warehouse at the location. "On April 27th, the New Jersey State Police Cargo Theft Unit recovered 15 stolen agricultural drones and spray systems. These drones are labeled as agricultural drones due to their specified function as registered crop dusters. The theft occurred on March 24th at CAC International, a logistics and shipping company located in Harrison, NJ. The drones were recovered at Prudent Corporation located in Dover, NJ. This is an active, ongoing investigation that Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border [Protection] are assisting with. No additional information is available," the New Jersey State Police wrote. Despite the drones being recovered, Vincent Martinez, former DHS tactical terrorism response team member and director of service enhancement at ZeroEyes, told Fox News Digital that he "cannot underscore the risk that this poses.”

Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 12:36 PM, Molly Parks, 1147K] reports the Justice Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state of New Jersey and Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) over the state’s law banning federal immigration officers from wearing face coverings on the job. The federal government argued that the New Jersey law violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which gives federal laws precedence over conflicting state laws. The DOJ also argues that the law banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from wearing face masks is an inherent safety threat to immigration officers who have faced threats and public doxxing. "To be clear, the Federal Government will not comply with this blatantly unconstitutional law," the DOJ wrote in the lawsuit. "But the threat of enforcement by Defendants chills individual officers from protecting themselves and performing their duties. The consequences for public safety are severe.” Sherrill has supported banning face masks for immigration officers since her time on the campaign trail in 2025. She signed the bill, called the New Jersey Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act, into law in late March along with two other bills aimed at restricting immigration enforcement activity in the Garden State. "Donald Trump’s untrained, unaccountable, masked ICE agents are putting people in danger," Sherrill said in March. "That’s why in New Jersey, we are protecting our communities — strengthening our protections, banning ICE agents from wearing masks, and protecting residents’ privacy from federal overreach.”

Reported similarly:
Daily Wire [4/30/2026 6:27 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K]

New York Post [4/30/2026 7:34 PM, Priscilla DeGregory, 40934K] reports a teen has been charged with making hoax active shooter reports at numerous universities last year — including a terrifying incident at Villanova University that left students fleeing during Orientation Mass. The kid — an admitted member of the online criminal group "Purgatory" — wasn’t affiliated with the colleges and institutions that were randomly targeted for disruptive so-called "swatting calls," according to the Philadelphia US Attorney David Metcalf. The case is sealed since the defendant is being charged as a juvenile and details like their name, age, sex and where they are from are all confidential. Swatting calls are fake reports of non-existent emergencies like an active shooter that are meant to cause panic and the deployment of heavily armed cops, including SWAT teams. The calls are meant to harass the targets and raise the notoriety of the caller in online groups — by showing they are willing to unleash mayhem and terrify victims. But the calls waste law enforcement resources who are forced to respond to what they believe are very real life and death situations. In some cases, police have mistakenly shot the victims of swatting — believing they were a danger.

New York Post [4/30/2026 1:10 PM, Brandon Cruz, 40934K] reports that a Guatemalan drug pusher who dealt gummies to Long Island kids was cut loose with no bail – then caught trying to escape justice by running to Canada, authorities said Thursday. Wilmer Castillo Garcia, 22, was busted in August 2025 for selling cocaine to an undercover cop and pushing pot gummies to William Floyd Middle School students, with 12 of the kids ending up in the hospital but he was set free because of the state’s "broken" bail laws, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said. The alleged dealer promptly fled Long Island but was busted at the US’s northern border in October 2025, according to the DA. "This defendant allegedly sold drugs to an undercover officer and is also allegedly connected to the hospitalization of multiple school children — yet, our prosecutors had no legal mechanism to ask for the court to set bail," Tierney said in statement. Garcia had been charged with four felonies and two misdemeanors, but Judge Anthony Senft Jr. released Garcia at his arraignment that same month because the charges are not eligible for bail under the state’s controversial criminal justice reforms. The pusher was arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency during his attempt to enter the country, and handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement that same day to be processed for deportation. But he was instead returned to Suffolk County at Tierney’s request, with the DA saying deporting Garcia would be allowing him to dodge prosecution.

CBS News [4/30/2026 10:29 PM, Zachary Bynum, 51110K] reports CBS News Atlanta has learned a Dunwoody High School student at the center of a high-profile immigration case has been deported to Honduras, marking a dramatic turn after weeks of uncertainty surrounding his detention. According to the teen’s immigration attorney, Axel Gerardo Archaga Rios was removed from the United States despite ongoing legal efforts to halt his deportation. "ICE ordered him removed and he is now in Honduras. It’s a shame … they didn’t even wait for the judge to assess and decide to reopen the case," said Alexandros Cornejo, Rios’ attorney. The 18-year-old Dunwoody High junior first came to national attention after being arrested March 27 during a traffic stop for allegedly running a stop sign and driving without a valid license. At the time, Dunwoody police said the arresting officer was not aware of any immigration hold. But after Rios was released on bond two days later, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office confirmed he was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Federal immigration officials say Rios entered the United States in 2014 near the Texas border and was issued a final order of removal in 2015. His attorney has argued the situation is more complex. Cornejo says Rios came to the U.S. as a young child with his mother, who was seeking asylum after fleeing domestic violence. He says missed court dates years ago led to the removal order now driving the case. In recent weeks, Cornejo filed a stay of removal and was working to reopen the case in Florida, hoping to give Rios a chance to apply for asylum. That effort, he says, was cut short. Before his detention, Rios was a junior at Dunwoody High School, where supporters described him as a student with deep ties to the community. In prior CBS News Atlanta reporting, his attorney described him as optimistic even while in custody. "He’s an American boy… I’m going to go back to play soccer, and be with my friends, and graduate from high school," Cornejo recalled Rios saying. Rios had been held at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in South Georgia prior to his deportation. With Rios now in Honduras, his legal options become significantly more limited. Immigration attorneys say reopening cases after removal is possible—but difficult and often lengthy. The case has also renewed questions about how local arrests can intersect with federal immigration enforcement, particularly for young people brought to the U.S. as children. CBS News Atlanta has reached out to ICE for additional comment on the deportation and whether the agency considered the pending legal filings before carrying out the removal.

FOX News [4/30/2026 8:00 AM, Julia Bonavita, 37576K] reports a man living overseas has been arrested in a nearly 40-year-old cold case after authorities say DNA evidence linked him to the 1989 kidnapping and sexual battery of a young Florida girl. Young Tom Talmadge, 69, was taken into custody at his home in Cavite, Philippines, on April 23 after local authorities received information regarding the case from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) of the Philippines said in a press release. The development comes after Hillsborough County authorities issued a warrant for Talmadge’s arrest in March, according to officials. Authorities allege Talmadge was at the bowling alley Tampa Lanes when he approached a 7-year-old girl and offered her coins to play arcade games in 1989, FOX 13 reported. He then allegedly lured the young girl into his car and sexually battered her, authorities said, according to the outlet.

AP [4/30/2026 5:10 PM, Nick Judin] reports Israel and Max Makoka are coming home. Just over a week has passed since ICE detained the brothers while they were waiting for their bus to Hancock High School outside their Diamondhead, Mississippi, home on April 21 and separated them across two other states. Now, the two teens from the Republic of Congo are free once more—returning to their host parents, Gail and Cliff Baptiste, to begin the legal battle to remain in the U.S. The Makoka brothers, who both came to the U.S. legally on F-1 student visas, fell out of status upon their transfer from the Piney Woods Country Life School in Rankin County to Hancock High School nearly three hours South in Diamondhead. On April 29, ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams provided the Mississippi Free Press with the following statement attributed to DHS: “On April 21, 2026, ICE detained Israel Makoka, an adult, and Max Makoka, his teenage sibling from the Republic of Congo, because they violated their student visas by failing to attend classes at Piney Woods School.” The decision to release the Makoka brothers does not reinstate their status or protect them from the threat of deportation. That challenge still lies ahead of them, something their immigration lawyer Amy Maldonado says they have every intention of pursuing. Max, 15, remains underage in the eyes of the federal government, which is why he was not taken to Jena with his brother. But Israel, too, was underage for virtually the entire period he fell out of status, with no warning reaching his guardians or the brothers themselves that their stay in the U.S. was at risk. He turned 18 only a matter of weeks before ICE descended upon Diamondhead to surveil and eventually detain him just over a month before he was set to graduate from Hancock High School. At minimum, Maldonado said, the seizure of Max Makoka was entirely unjustifiable, even by ICE’s contemporary standards.

The New York Times [4/30/2026 5:22 PM, Christina Morales, 148038K] reports two teenage brothers from the Republic of Congo who had been detained by federal immigration agents on their way to their Mississippi high school last week were released on Thursday afternoon, their lawyer, Amy Maldonado, said. The brothers were released after the school community appealed to local Republican politicians and will finish their school year, she said. The teenagers, Israel Makoka, 18, and Max Makoka, 15, were leaving to take the bus to school on April 21 when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who had waited outside their guardians’ home in Diamondhead, Miss. They were later taken to separate detention facilities, in Louisiana and Texas. The Makoka brothers entered the United States legally on F-1 student visas to attend the Piney Woods School, a prominent, historically Black boarding institution. Israel came in 2023 and Max in 2024. But they felt unhappy there last year, so they transferred to Hancock High, a public school closer to their host family’s neighborhood. But the host family was unaware that the teenagers’ transfer to a public school would affect their immigration status because Hancock was not allowed to host students on F-1 visas, regardless of guardianship, Ms. Maldonado said. The switch drew the attention of ICE. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday evening that the brothers had “violated their student visas by failing to attend classes at Piney Woods School.” The Washington Post [4/30/2026 5:50 PM, Arelis R. Hernández, 24826K] reports Israel and Max Makoka were reunited with their host family Thursday following an outcry of support from their community, a conservative enclave west of Biloxi, Mississippi. The brothers had their student visas terminated after moving from a private to a public school but were never notified or aware of the change, said Amy Maldonado, an immigration attorney for the Makoka brothers. Their arrests came as the Trump administration expands its restrictions on legal immigration and continues its crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Maldonado said their case underscores the high stakes of what she characterized as a simple mistake. The brothers did not know about the federal restrictions around school transfers for F-1 visa holders, Maldonado said. ICE did not contact the Baptistes or issue a notice to appear in court to work out the issue, which would have been the normal course of action under previous administrations for the student-athletes, their attorney said. ICE said in a statement that the teens had been granted an opportunity to participate in a student exchange program but had “failed to attend” the school through which they were given permission to enter the country. Now the Makokas’ case will head to immigration court, where their attorney will petition for visa reinstatement. If they are denied, the Makokas will probably have to return to their African home.

Breitbart [4/30/2026 4:54 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) is calling attention to a fatal crash in Delaware County, Ohio, where a truck driver, whom he says is an immigrant from Somalia with naturalized American citizenship, is accused of killing the Soposki family. On April 11, Modou Ngom was driving a semi-truck when he caused a crash on I-71 that killed 37-year-old Luke Soposki, his wife, 36-year-old Lynnea Soposki, their one-year-old baby boy, Logan, and injured three other people. Moreno, in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, says Ngom is actually an illegal alien because he "falsified his identity, lied to immigration officials to achieve naturalization, fraudulently obtained a Commercial Driver’s License ("CDL"), and established a trucking company on false pretenses." Though Ngom was indicted on April 16 for vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, Moreno says he wants to see the Department of Justice (DOJ) bring charges against Ngom, including immigration fraud, making false statements, and identity-document crimes. Moreno wants to know how Ngom first came to the United States, what aliases he used to obtain state and federal IDs, what documents he used to gain naturalized citizenship, and what steps the Department of Transportation and DHS will take to fix the loopholes Ngom used to gain a CDL.

Daily Signa [4/30/2026 11:30 AM, Rebecca Downs, 474K] reports Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is looking to do something about deadly truck crashes involving foreigners. This week, Moreno sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, demanding answers regarding Modou Ngom, an illegal immigrant alleged to be responsible for a deadly incident earlier this month in Ohio. "I write today to bring your attention to an inexcusable failure of our immigration and commercial licensing systems, which led to the tragic death of an Ohio family," Moreno said in his letter to the secretaries. He wrote in the letter that the "case is not an isolated administrative failure—it is a systemic breakdown with fatal consequences.” Ngom allegedly triggered a chain-reaction crash that killed three people, including a 1-year-old child, on 1-71 in Delaware County. Others were seriously injured, and lawsuits against being filed. According to Moreno, Ngom is "an illegal immigrant who entered the country unlawfully, falsified his identity, lied to immigration officials to achieve naturalization, fraudulently obtained a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), and established a trucking company on false pretenses.” "Simply put, he is a criminal and should never have been in the U.S. in the first place," the letter states.

NBC News [4/30/2026 6:36 PM, Daniella Silva and Selina Guevara 42967K] reports an Illinois commission tasked with investigating the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation in the state last year said it had identified multiple incidents in which federal agents should be investigated for misconduct and potential criminal charges. Members of the Illinois Accountability Commission, an independent board of nine members that includes a former federal judge and attorneys appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker, recommended in a final report Thursday that law enforcement agencies and prosecutors investigate the conduct of federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz, the immigration deportation operation the Trump administration launched last year in Chicago. "Our communities and our people were subjected to an unprecedented campaign of harassment, intimidation and brutality," Pritzker, who created the commission in response to Operation Midway Blitz, said at a news conference Thursday. "They deployed tear gas and smoke grenades against peaceful protesters and peaceful crowds and in peaceful neighborhoods. They committed flagrant and egregious abuses of power and force that went unchecked.” Patricia Brown Holmes, the vice chair of the commission and a former state court judge, said the group’s report identified incidents in which it determined there was "reasonable cause to believe that federal agents should be formally investigated" by law enforcement agencies for "possible violations of agency policy, state and federal criminal law and individual constitutional rights.” The commission said this week that it interviewed more than 60 witnesses and reviewed about 100 hours of body-worn camera video from ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers. It also reviewed hundreds of hours of video from surveillance cameras, personal devices and social media and held listening sessions in different neighborhoods. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement that it can press charges against someone only if a local law enforcement agency reviews evidence and presents it to the state’s attorney’s office, per state law. Thus far, it has not received a request from law enforcement to review any investigation related to on-duty conduct of a federal immigration agent, the statement said. The state’s attorney’s office said it can issue a voluntary request for a federal agent to appear in a court case, but the Justice Department decides whether the agent needs to comply. DHS takes credit for crime being down in Chicago. Data shows that was happening before it arrived. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the commission’s findings or the specific incidents detailed in it. A DHS spokesperson said in a statement in response to two hearings the commission held this week, "Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement.” Abigail ​Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, told NBC News in response to the report, "If JB Pritzker spent this much time and energy addressing crime and supporting the arrest of criminal illegal aliens instead of providing them with sanctuary, Illinois residents would be much safer.” The report also included policy recommendations for DHS, such as ending roving patrols, prohibiting federal agents from carrying tear gas and pepper spray as a regular course of practice and equipping all agents with body cameras. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said he would like all agents to have cameras, although a Biden-era policy requiring them for all federal agents remains on hold under the current administration.

Bloomberg [4/30/2026 1:36 PM, Miranda Davis, 18082K] reports that Trump administration officials enabled misconduct by federal immigration and border patrol agents as part of an enforcement crackdown last year in Chicago, which led to mass raids, many arrests and some violent conflicts with protesters, according to an Illinois state investigation. Federal agents “engaged in dangerous high-speed vehicular pursuits, extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts, amounting to unconstitutional uses of force,” the Illinois Accountability Commission said in a report released Thursday examining the administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz.” Officials from the White House, Department of Homeland, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol “lied to the public about the motivations and outcomes of Operation Midway Blitz and concealed and distorted key facts about events involving federal immigration agents,” according to the report. The Chicago operation was among several high-profile enforcement actions in major US cities as part of President Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown. Chicago and Illinois sued over the president’s plan to deploy National Guard troops, which the US Supreme Court blocked, and filed legal claims to halt what they called “menacing” tactics by agents.

ABC News [4/30/2026 7:02 PM, Juhi Doshi and Armando Garcia, 34146K] reports a longtime Texas court interpreter who was detained on immigration charges in March was released from ICE custody Thursday, her attorney told ABC News. Meenu Batra, who has lived in the U.S. for about 35 years and has a "withholding of removal" order that prevents her from being deported to her home country of India due to fear of persecution, was arrested by authorities on March 17 at Texas’ Valley International Airport while on her way to Milwaukee for a work trip. She was held at the nearby El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, where she told ABC News in a phone interview that she felt "humiliated and treated like a criminal.” Her attorney, Deepak Ahluwalia, told ABC News that the Department of Homeland Security granted Batra parole two hours before a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, mandating her immediate release. In his order, Judge Rolando Olvera found, in part, that the government failed to explain why Batra was being detained for the first time in 25 years, siding with Ahluwalia’s main arguments made in court filings. Judge Olvera added the Batra was "afforded no procedural protection" before she was detained. "Such risks are particularly important where, as here, Petitioner was arrested and detained for no discernible reason, with no identified change in circumstance bearing on the likelihood of removal, and with no country identified that she could even be sent to despite the IJ’s order withholding her removal to India," the judge wrote. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. Batra, a 53-year-old single mother of four adult U.S. citizens, has been a certified court interpreter for more than 20 years. In his order, Olvera also barred the Trump administration from detaining Batra without providing her notice detailing the reason for her re-detention, and enough time to respond to it. "The federal district court’s order today confirms what we have said from the beginning: the government cannot detain people first and justify it later," Ahluwalia said in a statement. "The Court has now ordered her release and made clear that due process is not optional. If the government seeks to take someone’s liberty, it must provide notice and a fair opportunity to be heard.”

Univision [4/30/2026 2:31 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports the Trump administration returned DACA recipient José Contreras Díaz to Texas after he was deported to Honduras in January 2026. However, the Dreamer was not released immediately. In a complaint initially filed with MS Now, his lawyer indicated that Contreras Díaz was admitted to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Texas. José Contreras Díaz, 30, was detained by ICE during a review of his immigration status and his deportation process was initiated despite being a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He was returned to Honduras, unable to witness the birth of his baby in Mateo, Texas . In recent days, he was notified that the Trump administration would reverse his deportation , so he would be accepted back into the United States this week, through the Rio Grande border. His lawyer, Stacy Tolchin, told the Texas Tribune that Contreras Díaz was informed that he would be granted parole. “Why bring someone back on a charter flight and use so many resources just to stop him, again?... He was so excited to get back and see his baby, so for this to have happened is just unbelievable,” the lawyer said. No one gave him an explanation about the action they were taking, nor did they inform him why his deportation was expedited, Tolchin added. According to reports initially published by MS Now, José Contreras Díaz assumed that upon arriving on Texas soil he would be able to reunite with his family. However, they were only informed that the dreamer would be detained at the ICE center in Del Valle. Contreras Díaz’s lawyer pointed out that in the ICE detention system, her client appears at the Port Isabel center. Tolchin told the Texas Tribune that he does not rule out suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to challenge the detention of the dreamer. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [4/30/2026 6:30 PM, Shanelle Kaul and Kierra Frazier, 51110K] reports a longtime Texas court interpreter and mother of four who was arrested in March by federal immigration officers, was released Thursday, her attorney confirmed to CBS News. "We are overjoyed. It’s been a long six to seven weeks," Meenu Batra’s attorney, Deepak Ahluwalia, told CBS News. "We knew that this moment would come. We were hoping it wouldn’t take as long.” Batra, whose four adult children are U.S. citizens, was arrested March 17 by federal immigration officers at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, while on her way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a work trip. Ahluwalia said that a federal district judge on Thursday ordered Batra’s immediate release. According to Ahluwalia, the judge stated that Batra’s due process rights were violated because she was arrested without prior notice, interview or a formal process. Ahluwalia said they are working on getting Batra a green card through her youngest son, Jasper, who is enlisted in the U.S. Army. Ahluwalia said they’ll ask to expedite the application and hope to get approved in the next four to six months. "The fight is not over," Ahluwalia told CBS News. "We’ve gotten Meenu out, but now it’s a matter of keeping her here, making sure that all forms of relief that she is eligible for are adjudicated while she’s sitting here and fighting any attempt to send her to a third country that she has no previous relationship or no association with, and we will fight to the end to that.” Ahluwalia said Batra cannot be arrested again unless a formal notice is given and an interview is conducted in the presence of an attorney. CBS News has reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment on the judge’s ruling. In a statement provided to CBS News earlier this month, DHS called Batra an "illegal alien," adding that "employment authorization does not confer any type of legal status.”

Houston Chronicle [4/30/2026 7:00 AM, Abby Church and Matt deGrood,, 2493K] reports two weeks after Houston City Council passed a measure to limit how police interact with federal immigration agents, the city rewrote it – a reversal so complete it has largely returned Houston to the rules it operated under before the issue consumed City Hall this spring. The original ordinance sailed through the council 12-5 with the support of Mayor John Whitmire, who framed it as a modest clarification of what Houston police were already doing. A quarter of Harris County residents were born outside the United States, but Whitmire said his “reasonable and consistent” approach had kept the worst of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown focused elsewhere. "We’re following the law, state and federal laws, and our ordinance will be consistent with that," Whitmire said that day. He would not "politicize” this sensitive issue and invite “turmoil.” Within days, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to pull $114 million in public safety grants. Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation, then sued. Council members who had supported the ordinance were suddenly asked to repeal it, as protesters gathered outside City Hall and irate speakers were hauled from the council chamber by police. For Whitmire, the fight quickly became one of the most chaotic periods of his tenure. A moderate Democrat with five decades in elected office, Whitmire has built his political identity on working across the aisle and maintaining relationships with state leaders. It’s a strategy he has argued allows Houston to avoid exactly this kind of confrontation.

ABC News [4/30/2026 1:28 PM, Armando Garcia, 34146K] reports that Olivia Mabiala Andre made her youngest brother, Manuel, a promise. "We’re going to go to the United States and we’re going to get you a bike," the 19-year-old said she told him. The promise of the bike for her brother and stability for her entire family of five, Andre said, kept them focused on their plan to travel from their home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, through South America and toward the United States. But three days into their journey, Manuel drowned while crossing a river in Colombia. "He was the happiness of my house. He was the cutest boy you can imagine, he was our sunshine," Andre said, speaking to ABC News from detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Now more than three years after reaching the U.S., Andre and her family are facing deportation to their home country after the U.S. federal government denied their asylum request. Andre, who was studying to be a nurse, has been detained since November 2025 and was only briefly reunited with her family. She says it is taking a toll. According to a habeas petition, an independent expert confirmed Andrew "meets the diagnostic criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" and "has repeatedly expressed suicidal ideation." Andre also displayed depression symptoms, the court filing claimed. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News the Andre family has "received full due process" and the government will continue trying to deport the family.

Los Angeles Times [4/30/2026 6:00 AM, Brittny Mejia, 12718K] reports the U.S. government had no trouble deporting Lazaro Romero León to Mexico in February, despite a California federal judge’s order that the Cuban national stay in this country. The problem now, government officials claim, is getting him back. First, Immigration and Customs Enforcement considered putting Romero León on a plane from the Mexican state of Chiapas to the U.S. But U.S. officials say the Mexican government won’t accept his identification documents to board a flight. Then, ICE tried to put him on a bus — the $350 ticket was paid by Romero León’s deputy federal public defender. But long before he reached the border, his attorney said, he was pulled off the bus by Mexican authorities for not having sufficient documents and placed into a detention center. Now, government officials say they’re talking to the Coast Guard about bringing him by boat.

SFGate [4/30/2026 7:00 AM, Karen Palmer, 10094K] reports at only 20 feet wide and three blocks long, downtown Los Angeles’ Santee Alley is, on good days, a tight corridor filled with color, noise and high energy. Longstanding food vendors like The Alley Dog serve bacon-wrapped street dogs to customers wading through deep, narrow storefronts filled with everything from soccer jerseys to shapewear to jewelry. Nearby, professional florists, business owners and casual flora fans stroll the cavernous Los Angeles Flower Market. A few blocks west, customers line up for the exquisite flour tortillas at local darling Sonoratown. But lately, there’s been a fear lingering in the air. The Fashion District, a sub-neighborhood of Downtown LA that envelops Santee Alley, has long been home to thousands of family-owned retail shops (some of which operate as wholesale only) and more than 70 restaurants that include everything from casual taquerias to Middle Eastern spots to an acclaimed Hawaii restaurant to high-end options like Italian stunner Rossoblu. Many of the businesses are immigrant-, Latino- and Asian-owned.

Daily Wire [4/30/2026 7:00 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports a visa program created to support victims of crimes has become a breeding ground for "fraud," a new Republican-sponsored bill seeking to end the immigration program argues. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced the "End U Visa Abuse Act" Thursday, saying that the U visa program has become "a magnet for fraud, allowing illegal aliens to game the system, avoid deportation, and secure work permits they were never meant to have in the first place.” "This broken program undermines the rule of law and encourages further illegal immigration by allowing immigration lawbreakers to claim they are crime victims to potentially qualify for the visa," Roy told The Daily Wire. "Alleged victimization should not be a basis for securing a green card — it’s time we end the fraud-ridden U visa program once and for all.” The United States began handing out U visas in 2000 "for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity," according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Roughly 400,000 petitions for U visas are pending approval, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The United States caps yearly approvals at 10,000, which doesn’t include the spouses, children, or parents who the primary applicant can sponsor. One major issue with the program is that the applicant’s reported crime doesn’t need to have yielded any arrests, charges, formal investigation, prosecution, or conviction, as USCIS states on its website in its instructions to law enforcement signing off on an alleged victim’s petition. While awaiting the outcome of their application, immigrants can avoid deportation, which is put on hold while a decision is pending. That’s a massive incentive, leaving the program vulnerable to abuse, Roy’s bill argues. Between 2012 and 2018, roughly 22% of U visa applicants were previously in removal proceedings, while about 13% said they were in deportation proceedings when they applied, according to a 2022 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal article. In 2018 alone, 33% of applicants were in removal proceedings before and 15% had ongoing deportation cases when they applied.

Axios [4/30/2026 6:18 AM, Steph Solis, 17364K] reports a class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s freeze of the diversity visa lottery program will decide the future of hundreds who sought a shot at building a life in the United States. That includes a couple in Somerville who want to raise their baby here. The Trump administration’s second attempt to stop the diversity visa lottery program has left thousands in limbo — in some cases, after paying a month’s worth of income in fees, said Curtis Morrison, an attorney representing plaintiffs. The lawsuit will determine the future of at least 1,622 people from 72 countries awaiting interviews — and a yes or no from the U.S. — before their round ends Sept. 30.

CBS News [5/1/2026 5:00 AM, Arielle Zionts, 51110K]
reports hundreds of foreign doctors about to complete training in the U.S. will have to leave the country if the federal government doesn’t rapidly process their visa waiver applications, which have been languishing since the fall and winter, immigration attorneys say. The waiver program, run by the Department of Health and Human Services, allows physicians who aren’t U.S. citizens to stay in the country while transitioning from the visa they used during their training to temporary worker status. In exchange, the doctors agree to work in underserved areas for at least three years. "It will be the patients that suffer the most because in about three months, there’s going to be hundreds of places that are not going to have a physician that should have," said a psychiatrist caught in the delay. The doctor — whom KFF Health News agreed not to identify because they fear government reprisal — was among hundreds who applied this year for a J-1 visa waiver through the HHS Exchange Visitor Program. If they receive one, the psychiatrist — who attended medical school in their home country in Europe before coming to the U.S. for their residency and fellowship — would work with vulnerable and disadvantaged patients in New York. In recent years, the HHS program reviewed waiver applications in one to three weeks, according to two immigration attorneys. But it currently has a backlog of hundreds of applications, which still need to be reviewed by the State Department and approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to four attorneys interviewed by KFF Health News.

Federalist [4/30/2026 7:45 AM, Shawn Fleetwood, 540K] reports the U.S. Supreme Court is gearing up to effectively decide whether temporary status for hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals residing in the United States is actually temporary. The high court held oral arguments on Wednesday in a pair of consolidated cases known as Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, which center around Trump’s revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 6,000 Syrian and 350,000 Haitian nationals, respectively. Both groups of migrants are currently living in America under the TPS program, which may be used by the executive branch to offer temporary residency to foreign nationals from countries experiencing natural disasters, violent conflicts, and other "extraordinary and temporary conditions." The Trump administration’s efforts to end TPS for the aforementioned groups were halted by lower courts. This was done despite SCOTUS previously pausing similar injunctions in a separate TPS case involving Venezuelan nationals. Arguing on behalf of the Trump administration, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer contended that a provision within the Immigration and Nationality Act that governs TPS prohibits any form of judicial review "of any determination by the [DHS] secretary with respect to the designation or termination or extension of a designation of a foreign state for Temporary Protected Status." "That provision means what it says … [and] bars judicial review of both the secretary’s ultimate decision whether to designate, extend, or terminate, and of each antecedent step along the way to that determination," said Sauer, who added that "even if [challengers’] claims are not barred [by judicial review], they are meritless." The solicitor general’s biggest pushback came from the court’s more outspoken Democrat appointees.

HS Today [4/30/2026 6:40 AM, Staff, 38K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced an interim final rule to implement immigration fees and requirements from the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Act of 2025 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act). H.R. 1 created new fees to increase funding for immigration enforcement operations and ensure aliens pay for immigration services. On July 22, 2025, USCIS published a Federal Register notice implementing a filing fee for Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, and an Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) to be paid each calendar year an asylum application remains pending.

Washington Examiner [5/1/2026 2:22 AM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1147K] reports Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) proposed an amendment on Thursday to "protect United States citizenship" and end birthright citizenship automatically granted to citizens born in the country as stipulated in the 14th Amendment. "A person born in the United States may only be considered ‘subject to the jurisdiction of the United States’ if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is — 1) a citizen or national of the United States; 2) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States whose residence is in the United States; or 3) an alien with lawful status under the immigration laws performing active service in the Armed Forces," read Paul’s proposed amendment. "Congress shall have the power to carry out this article through appropriate legislation," it noted. Paul’s proposal comes after an executive order by President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office of his second term, January 20, 2025. In Trump’s order, "Protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship," the president claimed that birthright citizenship in the U.S. through the 14th Amendment should not include children who were born in the U.S. but to parents who are in the country illegally or on a visa. The directive is being challenged in the Supreme Court. Oral arguments for the case began in April. In announcing his proposed amendment, Paul agreed with Trump that such children should not be considered natural citizens of the U.S., nor was it the intention of "those who wrote the 14th Amendment.” "Under current interpretations of American law, anyone born on American soil automatically becomes a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether the parent was here legally or not," Paul said in a press release issued by his office. "This is wrong and not at all the intent of those who wrote the 14th Amendment.” The 14th Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, in response to the U.S. Civil War. It codified in the Constitution that rights and liberties enshrined in the Constitution also applied to former slaves, including U.S. citizenship. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," reads the first section of the 14th Amendment. "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Reuters [4/30/2026 9:55 AM, Sarah Peter, 38315K] reports voters head to the polls on Thursday in Antigua and Barbuda in a snap ​general election dominated by concerns over U.S. visa restrictions, with ‌Prime Minister Gaston Browne seeking a fourth term. Debate has been dominated by Washington’s decision in January to suspend visa processing for Antigua and Barbuda nationals - ​a major blow for locals who regularly travel to ​the United States for work. Washington raised concerns over a ⁠program where foreigners can secure citizenship in the Eastern Caribbean ​twin-island state by making an investment. It argues that criminals could ​exploit the scheme to then get into the United States. Browne’s administration has said it is working with the U.S. and that it has already brought ​in reforms to make the Citizenship by Investment Program more ​robust and transparent. The leader of the opposition United Progressive Party, Jamale Pringle, has ‌also ⁠pledged to engage with the U.S. and restore visa access.

Breitbart [4/30/2026 11:09 AM, Randy Clark, 2238K] reports according to a source within CBP, Border Patrol records show the running average for known got-aways nationwide remains 97 percent below record peaks set in 2023. Once reaching an average of more than 2,000 per day high in 2023, totals show less than 50 known got-aways are being recorded nationwide on most days. The report shows only 640 got-aways were recorded during a 14-day period in April. According to the source, the agency is conducting special operations in several southwest border sectors to achieve further reductions. As reported by Breitbart Texas, a similar Border Patrol report revealed that within just the first six months of fiscal year 2023, more than 400,000 migrants were classified as known got-aways. The total of known illegal alien got-aways is tabulated through intelligence gathered by Border Patrol agents who detect footprints during routine patrols and can include human intelligence gathered from illegal aliens apprehended. In addition to agent-gathered information used to estimate got-aways, the agency relies on citizen reports, high-tech security camera systems that include radar capabilities, and manned/unmanned aerial platforms.

The Hill [4/30/2026 7:30 AM, Zach Schonfeld, 18170K] reports the federal government is expecting to issue the first refunds of President Trump’s invalidated tariffs on or about May 11, according to new court documents. U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton, who oversees the process, revealed the timeline following a closed hearing Wednesday. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been working for weeks to refund $166 billion in Trump’s tariffs, plus interest, that the Supreme Court nullified in its blockbuster 6-3 decision in February. The refunds will go to the companies that imported the goods, not consumers, though companies including FedEx and UPS have vowed to pass along any savings. CBP’s electronic system went live last week. Importers have already successfully uploaded 21 percent of the affected entries into the system, according to Eaton’s new order. Importers and trade lawyers have told The Hill that the system is generally functioning, though it has had some glitches as tens of thousands of companies flock to get their money back.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 10:53 AM, Emily Hallas, 1147K]

FOX Business [4/30/2026 8:51 AM, Bradford Betz, 7946K] reports FedEx and UPS said they will return tariff refunds to customers after a Supreme Court ruling opened the door to potentially billions of dollars in reimbursements tied to Trump-era import taxes. The companies said they plan to pass along any recovered funds as the federal government begins processing refund claims for duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a move that could affect a broad swath of importers. UPS CEO Carol Tomé said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call that UPS processed 16 million IEEPA-related entries and remitted more than $5 billion in tariffs to the U.S. Treasury. "We are just a pass-through," Tomé said, adding that once refunds are issued, UPS will send the money "right back to our customer." FedEx similarly said it intends to return funds to customers as soon as it receives refunds from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), reinforcing that logistics firms act primarily as intermediaries in tariff collection.

NewsNation [4/30/2026 1:26 PM, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports that at least 200 federal immigration agents are being sent to a border town in Texas where illegal border crossings have spiked amid the Trump administration’s claims the U.S.-Mexico border is secure. The 200 agents otherwise assigned to the country’s northern and southern borders will be deployed to Laredo for 30 days to assist local Border Patrol employees who are dealing with a significant increase in immigrants attempting to enter the country illegally from Mexico each day. NewsNation sources also say the surge in federal agents will include those from Customs and Border Protection’s BORTAC unit, a special operations group often brought in to assist with field operations. Department of Homeland Security data obtained exclusively by NewsNation shows there were 2,600 encounters between federal agents and migrants in the Laredo Sector in March and April — a 50% increase from the previous two months. The 1,400 reported encounters in Laredo this month represent an 86% spike from April 2025, DHS reported. In a statement to NewsNation, CBP officials said that the Laredo Sector is bordered entirely by the Rio Grande and that there are no natural barriers to slow illegal border crossings, making it a target for smuggling routes. “Thanks to President Trump, we have the most secure border in American history,” CBP officials said. “Thanks to record low crossings, we have the manpower and flexibility to move agents quickly, concentrate resources, and take enforcement action where it matters most.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Wire [4/30/2026 6:24 PM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports a Mexican woman attempted to quietly move $272,000 across the Texas border and into Mexico, where authorities believe the massive cash load would have ended up in the hands of the cartels. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stopped a 46-year-old Mexican woman who was driving across the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge in Laredo, Texas, on her way into Mexico on April 21, the agency told The Daily Wire. The woman was referred for a routine inspection before officers scanned her 2017 Dodge Journey and discovered the unreported load of cash concealed in the floor of her car. Officers quickly seized the cash and vehicle, while Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents arrested the driver, whose name was not released publicly. Several Homeland Security sources working along the border told The Daily Wire that seizures of hidden bulk cash usually involve cartel funds. Laredo Port Director Albert Flores said “bulk cash seizures like these” are “often proceeds from illicit activity” and “directly impact the pocketbook of foreign terror organizations.” “Our frontline CBP officers continue to remain vigilant in the outbound environment and that attention to detail resulted in a significant outbound currency seizure,” Flores said.

HS Today [4/30/2026 6:25 AM, Staff, 38K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility intercepted $8.1 million in suspected methamphetamine concealed in a shipment manifested as tile. On April 21, CBP officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility encountered a commercial tractor trailer traveling from Reynosa, Mexico. The vehicle was referred to secondary inspection dock for further inspection utilizing nonintrusive inspection equipment and screening by canine team. Physical inspection of the tile pallets revealed packages of white powder which tested positive for the properties of methamphetamine. Officers extracted 200 packages with a combined weight of 908.30 lbs (412kg) of suspected methamphetamine concealed within the pallets of tile. The narcotics have an estimated street value of $8,119,696. CBP officers seized the narcotics and tractor trailer, and Homeland Security Investigation special agents have initiated a criminal investigation into the seizure. “As this significant seizure aptly illustrates, CBP officers work tirelessly to ensure that commerce flows and hard narcotics are stopped in their tracks,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.

Washington Post [4/30/2026 5:04 PM, Jake Spring and John Muyskens, 24826K] reports President Donald Trump’s expansion of the wall along the southern border with Mexico has damaged a rare Native American archaeological site in the Arizona desert, area residents said Thursday, as the administration moves to rapidly build hundreds of miles of additional barriers in a $46.5 billion project. The aggressive expansion project — funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill — is erecting three miles of wall a week, introducing barriers in parts of Texas that did not previously have them, as well as a second wall in much of California, Arizona and New Mexico. The construction is not abiding by environmental laws and other protections, alarming advocates, national park staff and Native Americans. In Arizona, construction crews ran heavy machinery through and destroyed a roughly 60-to-70-foot swath of an intaglio, a more than 200-foot-long ground etching that looks like a fish and is thought to be at least 1,000 years old, said Richard Martynec, a retired archaeologist who now volunteers his time surveying the area. Lorraine Marquez Eiler, an elder of the Hia-ced O’odham Indigenous people, said the damage happened last week. The intaglio is inside Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, where a government contractor overseen by Customs and Border Protection has been working on the barrier project for weeks. The Interior Department administers the refuge. An Interior Department staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed the intaglio had been damaged last week.

New York Post [5/1/2026 12:32 AM, Daniel Farr, 40934K] reports drug traffickers tried to outsmart authorities by stuffing narcotics into a vehicle’s roof, but federal officers shut down the scheme and seized nearly $3 million in fentanyl and methamphetamine in two rapid-fire busts this April. At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, US Customs and Border Protection officers made the biggest hit on April 19 after stopping a 27-year-old Mexican national driving a 2019 Honda Pilot. A scan flagged something suspicious above the cabin. A CBP canine team confirmed it. Officers tore into the roof of the vehicle and uncovered 94 hidden packages. Inside — roughly 35 pounds of fentanyl powder valued at nearly $2 million — along with more than 80 pounds of methamphetamine worth about $80,550. Authorities seized the narcotics and the SUV. The driver was arrested and now faces federal charges for importing drugs. Just days earlier on April 13, officers at the same crossing intercepted another shipment hidden inside a vehicle’s rear quarter panels. A 20-year-old Mexican citizen driving a 2025 Toyota Corolla, who was enrolled in CBP’s program for low-risk travelers, was flagged after a canine alerted authorities. A scan revealed anomalies in the panels, where officers found six packages containing 14.02 pounds of fentanyl powder, equivalent to about 509,818 pills, with an estimated street value of $764,727. Authorities seized the drugs, the vehicle and phone. Federal prosecutors have taken over the case. "Smugglers use complex techniques to conceal dangerous narcotics like fentanyl and methamphetamine," said San Ysidro Port Director Mariza Marin. "I am proud of the unwavering dedication of our CBP officers, supported by our canine teams and advanced inspection technology," Marin continued. "Their efforts directly prevent these deadly narcotics from reaching our streets and protecting countless lives.” The enforcement push comes as border operations continue under the leadership of President Donald Trump, with officials pointing to broader trends they say reflect tighter border control. According to administration figures, total nationwide encounters in March 2026 remained below 9,000, extending a 14-month stretch of historically low apprehensions along the southwest border. Officials also report 11 consecutive months of zero releases of illegal immigrants into the US interior as of April 2026. The same data shows fentanyl seizures at the southern border fell to 11,486 pounds in 2025, the lowest since 2021 and a 46% drop from 2024. Seizures of heroin and marijuana have also declined for several years, with marijuana reaching a 20-year low. Meanwhile, enforcement activity in Southern California remains intense. The San Diego Field Office reported that between April 19 and 25, agents seized nearly $200,000 in additional contraband, confiscated almost 5,100 pounds of narcotics and made 97 arrests. At the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, officers also intercepted more than 158 pounds of methamphetamine, signaling that traffickers are still attempting bold smuggling tactics, even as authorities ramp up pressure along the border.

HS Today [4/30/2026 6:20 AM, Staff, 38K] reports in recent days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations crews and their partners interdicted three smuggling vessels off the coast of Southern California, apprehending 60 people. Some of the individuals have criminal histories for offenses including failure to yield, driving under the influence, felony hit-and-run, making false police reports, drug possession, active warrants for resisting arrest, trespassing, burglary, possession of burglary tools, receiving stolen property, drug trafficking, aggravated assault with a weapon, and domestic violence. On April 17, an AMO aircrew detected a 24-foot vessel south of the maritime boundary line. AMO’s San Diego Marine Unit crews responded and interdicted the boat near San Clemente Island at about 2 p.m. They apprehended 13 people on board, including seven men, five women and one juvenile female. Agents took the individuals and the vessel to Ballast Point Naval Base for processing by U.S. Border Patrol. The next day, on April 18, an AMO aircrew detected another vessel about 80 nautical miles southwest of Point Loma. AMO’s Long Beach Marine Unit crew, working with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Florence Finch, intercepted the boat near San Nicolas Island. They apprehended 29 Mexican nationals. The Coast Guard transported the individuals and the vessel to Newport Harbor to be turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. On April 21, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Terrel Horne, guided by an AMO aircrew, interdicted a 25-foot cuddy cabin first detected a day earlier off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico. The Coast Guard apprehended 18 Mexican nationals on board and transported them and the vessel for processing by U.S. Border Patrol.

New York Post [4/30/2026 3:14 PM, Titus Wu, 40934K] reports a California city near the Mexican border has had enough of the state’s openness toward illegal immigrants — now taking the state’s sanctuary laws to court. El Cajon, led by Republican mayor Bill Wells, just filed a lawsuit against the state’s sanctuary laws after its city council earlier in the week voted to pursue litigation. California has a law limiting law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. That law was left intact in 2020 by the Supreme Court, but the lawsuit follows a new legal argument. The state’s laws giving benefits to illegal immigrants — such as offering driver’s licenses and workplace protections — amount to a felony of federal law when a person "encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States," the complaint said. Action is needed, the complaint said, because local police are exposed to federal criminal liability for turning a blind eye to immigration offenses in following California’s rules protecting illegal immigrants.

Houston Chronicle [4/30/2026 10:21 AM, Peter Warren, 2493K] reports the Transportation Security Administration is offering $20 off new TSA PreCheck memberships during the month of May for people 30 years old and younger. Discounts will be applied automatically to customers when paying but applicants must complete the entire enrollment process in May to receive the discount. "As young adults embark on new adventures — whether it’s travel for school, work, or fun — TSA PreCheck offers a quicker and smoother airport security experience," said Ha Nguyen McNeill, TSA senior official performing the duties of the administrator, in a statement. "With this special discount, we’re empowering the next generation of travelers to make TSA PreCheck a part of their journey." Only new members are eligible to receive the discount. People who turn 31 years old in May must complete their enrollment before their birthday. People can receive the discount not just at airports such as George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport but at all TSA PreCheck enrollment centers.

New York Times [4/30/2026 8:15 PM, Scott Dance, 148038K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency is reversing job cuts that Kristi Noem, the former homeland security secretary, had overseen before she was fired last month. FEMA has reinstated 14 people who had signed a public letter that became known as the Katrina Declaration, which warned that the agency risked repeating mistakes learned during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said Abby McIlraith, one of the reinstated workers and an emergency management specialist. Another 21 people who signed their names are no longer at the agency, Ms. McIlraith said. The agency has also begun calling disaster workers who were let go in January to offer them their jobs back, according to two people familiar with the actions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the move publicly. The agency parted ways with some 200 workers who served in temporary roles when their assignments came up for renewal in January. It was a major departure from past practices, and prompted unions to file a lawsuit against the agency, arguing that the dismissals violated FEMA’s statutory requirement to maintain readiness for disasters. The agency is taking steps to “stabilize” its work force ahead of hurricane season, which begins in June, and the World Cup, with soccer matches to be held across the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July, said Victoria L. Barton, a FEMA spokeswoman. “Under new leadership, FEMA is addressing outstanding personnel actions to ensure work force stability and a strong, deployable surge force for upcoming national events and potential disasters,” Ms. Barton said in an email. Markwayne Mullin, the former Republican senator from Oklahoma, took over as homeland security secretary in late March. FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department. FEMA had about 18,500 people in its incident management work force as of Thursday, according to a daily briefing on its operations, which is nearly 2,000 fewer than it had at the end of last year. At the same time, a federal judge is placing increasing pressure on FEMA to release documents and communications among senior leaders about their decisions to cut staffing. Judge Susan Illston of U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California on Thursday ordered FEMA to immediately search the personal cellphone of Joseph Guy, a former top aide to Ms. Noem, before he leaves federal employment on Thursday. Judge Illston, who was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton, also recently ordered depositions of Mr. Guy and Kara Voorhies, a former FEMA contractor and aide to Ms. Noem whose actions are being scrutinized as part of an inspector general’s investigation into how the Homeland Security Department handled contracts under Ms. Noem and her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski. Documents released as evidence in that court case show that Karen Evans, the acting FEMA administrator, was taking cues from Ms. Voorhies on agency operations and personnel decisions. FEMA officials did not respond to questions about how its decisions to reverse the dismissals could affect that litigation, in which the plaintiffs are seeking the reinstatement of those workers.

CNN [4/30/2026 3:13 PM, Gabe Cohen, 19874K] reports FEMA has reinstated a group of whistleblowers who signed an open letter to Congress last August warning that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal agency was setting the stage for a disaster-response breakdown on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, according to five FEMA officials with knowledge of the matter. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which it oversees, also brought back multiple senior officials who were polygraphed and placed on paid administrative leave more than a year ago, three of the officials told CNN. The reversals are part of a broader reset unfolding just weeks into Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s tenure at DHS, partly in an effort to stabilize the agency ahead of hurricane season. He has been rolling back some of the most contentious changes made under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired by President Donald Trump last month. Trump floated eliminating FEMA early in his term, and Noem embraced the idea — vowing to dismantle the agency and shift more responsibility for disaster response to the states. Noem’s heavy-handed overhaul – which gutted the senior leadership, drove out more than 20% of the workforce, and sent morale into a steep slide – left many inside FEMA warning the agency was increasingly unprepared for a major, multi-state disaster. Her rhetoric softened in the months before her ouster when it became clear many Republicans — including GOP lawmakers — did not support abolishing FEMA. But in a striking pivot, Mullin, as Trump’s new pick to run the department, has begun unwinding staffing cuts and easing strict spending approval processes that slowed disaster operations. During a trip to North Carolina this month, Mullin praised FEMA and said he would get aid out more quickly and cut red tape that can bog down recovery. In another remarkable twist, Trump is expected to nominate Cameron Hamilton to serve as FEMA administrator less than a year after he was abruptly fired from that role — which he held in an acting capacity — after breaking from the administration’s script and telling Congress he did not support eliminating the agency. In his confirmation hearing, Mullin told lawmakers he planned to scrap the $100,000 rule, calling it "micromanagement." On his first trip as DHS secretary, he went to North Carolina, where Sen. Budd joined him for a roundtable and praised the rollback — saying it was already helping get money flowing to the state faster.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [4/30/2026 4:20 PM, Zahra Hirji and Lauren Rosenthal, 18082K]
AP [4/30/2026 8:02 PM, Gabriela Aoun Angueira, 1323K]
Reuters [4/30/2026 7:48 PM, Kanishka Singh, 38315K]

Washington Post [4/30/2026 6:41 PM, Brianna Sacks, 24826K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency is working to rehire more than 100 disaster-response employees who had been fired months ago in time for hurricane season, according to FEMA officials. The agency is planning to bring back most of the staffers from the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE), FEMA’s largest workforce, who were suddenly terminated this past winter as part of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s plans to cut the agency by 50 percent. These employees are among the first on the ground after a disaster and often stick around for years to help communities recover. They work under two- to four-year contracts that are usually renewed, barring any performance issues, because disaster recovery efforts can span years, if not decades. In an email obtained by The Washington Post, FEMA officials said they wanted to “promote transparency” and update employees on steps the agency was taking to ensure “it was suited to meet mission requirements.” The rehiring of these employees is the latest example of how Secretary Markwayne Mullin is differing differentiating himself from his predecessor, who greatly throttled FEMA’s autonomy and ability to function quickly during disasters and day-to-day operations. The recalls also come after the president, who last year made remarks about wanting to get rid of the agency, is expected to nominate to nominate a leader who became a staunch defender of FEMA after a brief stint as its acting administrator. Cameron Hamilton, who at first was on board with the administration’s goals to drastically gut the agency, was fired after testifying against Noem’s desire to abolish the agency. Hamilton has been seen at headquarters several times and has been working with DHS officials, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation who, like nearly everyone interviewed for this story, requested spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Hamilton was involved in the agency’s move to bring back the CORE employees, one senior official said.

The Hill [4/30/2026 4:40 PM, Rachel Frazin, 18170K] reports staffers who signed the “Katrina Declaration,” an open letter critical of the Trump administration, have been reinstated at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A spokesperson for FEMA did not directly address the reinstatement when reached by The Hill but said via email that the agency is “taking targeted steps to stabilize our workforce and strengthen readiness” as hurricane season and the FIFA World Cup approach. McIlraith also said, however, that “FEMA is arguably in a worse state than it was” when she signed the Katrina Declaration. The latest reinstatement comes shortly after former Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) took the reins at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. It also comes ahead of a highly anticipated meeting next week of the FEMA review council, which President Trump has tasked with coming up with policy changes at the agency.

CBS News [4/30/2026 11:43 AM, Steven Rosenbaum, 51110K] reports the recent wave of tornadoes and other severe weather that tore through North Texas damaged or destroyed homes in multiple communities. For residents who were impacted, or those who might find themselves in a similar situation in the future, the federal and state governments, as well as other organizations, can help. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, can help provide immediate assistance to find shelter by texting the word SHELTER and the ZIP code to 43362. The agency also offers financial aid for temporary hotel stays for two weeks following a disaster. FEMA also runs the Individuals and Households Program (IHP), that provides longer-term assistance and services to "eligible individuals and households affected by a disaster, who have uninsured or underinsured expenses and serious needs."

Bloomberg [4/30/2026 5:03 PM, Lauren Rosenthal, 18082K] reports a band of severe storms bearing down on central Texas has raised concerns about flooding, with heavy rains expected near the site of last year’s deadly Fourth of July floods. Communities in the Texas Hill Country could see up to six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in some areas late Thursday through Friday evening, according to the US National Weather Service. Flood watches have been issued across a broad stretch from the Permian Basin in West Texas into Louisiana, covering the cities of Austin and San Antonio. The storms will fall on a state coping with extensive drought. While most of the rain will be “beneficial,” local forecasters said, high rainfall rates could trigger life-threatening flash flooding, particularly in areas with poor drainage and along creeks and streams. Central Texas is still reeling from last summer’s catastrophic floods, which killed more than 160 people, including 37 children. State officials announced Thursday that Camp Mystic — which lost 25 campers and two counselors in the disaster — withdrew its licensing application to reopen later this year.

USA Today [4/30/2026 10:19 AM, Mateo Rosiles, 70643K] reports several counties in North Texas have been severely damaged by storms — some producing tornadoes — in the past few days, prompting Texas leaders to declare a state of emergency. After tornadoes tore through Mineral Wells and other North Texas towns over the past few days, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller declared an agricultural emergency for several counties due to damage farmers and ranchers are facing. "Folks in North Texas woke up to shredded crops, damaged fences, flooded pastures, and serious losses that threaten their livelihoods," Miller said in a statement. "We have faced challenges before, droughts, freezes, fires, and now these storms, and every time, Texas agriculture has come back stronger. Texans are going to take care of our own.” Miller’s April 29 declaration follows Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’sMonday, April 27 disaster declaration for the North Texas region and directs state resources to help local communities respond to the weather.

FOX News [4/30/2026 5:00 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran discusses details of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and the actions taken by the Secret Service on ‘The Will Cain Show.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [4/30/2026 11:19 AM, Staff, 16072K] reports the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at ‌a black-tie press gala in Washington agreed on Thursday to remain in custody while his case moves forward. The suspect, Cole Allen, 31, would not immediately contest prosecutors’ arguments that he was a danger to the community and ​should remain in jail, his attorney, Tezira Abe, said during a court hearing. Allen allegedly stormed a ​security checkpoint and fired a shotgun outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on ⁠Saturday. Prosecutors argued Allen carefully planned to attack Trump and other officials in his administration as they ​dined with some 2,600 journalists, politicians and others in a ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel. They ​alleged in a legal filing that Allen traveled by train from his California hometown to Washington armed with the shotgun, a .38-caliber pistol as well as knives and daggers and was “willing to commit a mass shooting inside a room ​full of the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. government.” Allen is charged with attempted assassination, discharging a firearm ​during a crime of violence and illegally transporting guns and ammunition across state lines. He has not yet ‌entered a ⁠plea.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/30/2026 1:24 PM, Campbell Robertson, 148038K]
Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 2:15 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K]

CBS News [4/30/2026 6:49 PM, Nicole Sganga, Jennifer Jacobs and Jennifer Jacobs, 51110K] reports shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, an alleged assassin burst through a set of double doors one floor above a ballroom where President Trump and roughly 2,600 other White House Correspondents’ Dinner guests were eating a salad course. Seven seconds later, he was apprehended by federal law enforcement, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. After Cole Allen, the 31-year-old alleged assailant, used an interior stairwell to descend from his tenth-floor room at the Washington Hilton Hotel, he arrived at an elevator bank on the terrace level with a set of double doors to his left. There, in a hallway out of view of security cameras, he removed a jacket that had concealed a shotgun, law enforcement officials told CBS News. Authorities found the jacket there later, the sources said. A K-9 unit exited a security checkpoint through the double doors. Two seconds later, Allen came through the doors, turned left and — in another two seconds — sprinted through a magnetometer the U.S. Secret Service had been in the process of disassembling. Two seconds after that, gunfire rang out. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said Thursday that from the evidence he had seen, the suspect shot at a uniformed officer. The officer "returned fire while being shot point-blank range in the chest with a shotgun, and was able to get off five shots" as he was falling, Curran said on Fox News. The suspected gunman went down between the checkpoint and a staircase leading to the ballroom below. "It appears that the suspect hit his knee while being engaged by the officer on one of our magnetometer boxes and began to fall to the ground," Curran said.

Reuters [4/30/2026 3:56 PM, Bo Erickson and Humeyra Pamuk, 38315K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump and the head of the Secret Service said on Thursday that ​the federal agent injured during the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had not been hit by friendly fire. U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a Thursday Fox News interview that one agent was shot at "point blank range" by the suspect as he ran through the security checkpoint near the ​White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. The suspect was not hit ⁠by the agent’s return fire, Curran explained, but fell to the ground after hitting his ​knee. The suspect was subdued by other federal agents near the top of the stairs, Curran added, ​which led to the ballroom where Trump, the first lady, top administration officials and hundreds of others dined. The armed suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel attempting, prosecutors allege, to ​assassinate Trump. Curran’s comments differ from court papers filed on Wednesday by ​prosecutors about the sequence of events. Curran defended ⁠the security protocols at the Saturday dinner location. The incident, the latest in ​a pattern of political violence in the United States, has revived concerns about the safety of the U.S. president and ​other top officials. The Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 9:07 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K] reports Curran addressed critics who questioned how the agent managed to fire so many bullets without wounding the suspect. "That officer, while being shot, was in the process of falling down and was returning gunfire," he said on Fox News’s The Will Cain Show. "To be shot at is not a pleasant thing, and to be able to actually return fire at that rate of speed is just remarkable.” Amid the chaos at that moment, the suspect hit his knee on a magnetometer and fell to the ground. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement subdued the suspect, who was equipped with a shotgun, a pistol, knives, and a tactical vest. The White House press gala was attended by President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, several Cabinet officials, and numerous members of Congress. It’s believed Allen intended to target Trump, and he was charged accordingly. Curran thanked Trump for checking up on the wounded Secret Service agent that night. "He took a moment to call our officer that was shot, and as always, a class act — and very grateful that he took the time to do that," the agency head said. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Trump also confirmed the agent was not struck by friendly fire. Pirro released a video showing the gunfire exchanged between Allen and the Secret Service agent. When the footage is slowed down, the agent is seen firing four rounds after Allen fired one. The rest of the video shows Allen surveying the hotel the night before the attack.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [4/30/2026 6:42 PM, Joey Garrison, 70643K]

Washington Post [4/30/2026 4:03 PM, Salvador Rizzo, 24826K] reports defense attorneys for the man accused of trying to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner said video of the incident “seems to show no muzzle flash” from a shotgun, questioning prosecutors’ claim that the suspect opened fire while running toward a ballroom where President Donald Trump was seated. Cole Tomas Allen, who has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president at the black-tie event Saturday night, said through his attorneys that the Justice Department has not disclosed evidence that he fired a weapon, as it alleged in court records. Prosecutors in response disclosed new details about the investigation, including that authorities had recovered what appeared to be a buckshot pellet from the scene at the Washington Hilton. They said the buckshot showed signs of having been fired in the direction of a Secret Service officer whose bulletproof vest was struck during the incident, but the filing stopped short of asserting that Allen shot the officer. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the attempt on Trump’s life at the annual gala, which was cut short Saturday night after the president, the first lady and top Cabinet officials were taken away by their security details as the alleged gunman was apprehended outside the ballroom. He was also charged with transporting firearms across state lines and discharging one of them during a violent crime. The last charge has raised questions about what the ballistics evidence in the case shows and who shot at the Secret Service officer. Public defenders for Allen on Wednesday submitted a formal request for evidence including video, witness statements and ballistics information, saying those materials could clear Allen of the charge that he fired the shotgun. The defense attorneys also argued that acting attorney general Todd Blanche’s public statements describing ammunition found at the scene appeared to conflict with prosecutors’ theory of the case. Prosecutors have alleged that Allen planned his attack for weeks leading up to the gala and was tracking Trump’s movements online the night of the event.

FOX News [4/30/2026 8:44 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran on Thursday confirmed one of his agents was shot in the chest by suspected White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shooter Cole Allen after President Donald Trump shut down allegations of a "friendly fire" incident. Curran said Allen shot the agent, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, while charging through security. The agent returned fire as he was falling, missing five shots at Allen, he said. Curran added the agent who was shot was the only person, other than Allen, who fired a weapon during the event, silencing skepticism that the agent could have been wounded by friendly fire. While the government initially alleged in a criminal complaint that Allen shot a U.S. Secret Service officer, the claim was not mentioned in a memo filed by the Justice Department. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche previously said the "initial analysis of the ballistics evidence [did] not support the government’s theory of the case," and described the evidence collection process as "very complicated."

Daily Wire [4/30/2026 7:16 PM, Virginia Kruta, 2314K] reports U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro released video on Thursday showing a would-be Trump assassin shooting a Secret Service agent during an attempted attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Pirro shared roughly five minutes of security footage from the Washington Hilton in an X post late Thursday afternoon, adding in a caption, "Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire. The video also shows Allen casing the area in the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack. My office along with the @FBI will continue this extensive investigation to bring Cole Allen to justice.” In the video, as Pirro noted, Allen was seen walking around the hotel a day prior to the event to get the lay of the land. In the final moments of the footage, he could be seen charging toward Secret Service agents at a security checkpoint, then firing his weapon at them. They all responded as he charged, turning and drawing on Allen as he passed by them.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/30/2026 6:52 PM, Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer, 1257K]

CNN [4/30/2026 7:47 PM, Holmes Lybrand, 19874K] reports prosecutors filed new evidence Thursday including video showing the moments before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that President Donald Trump and administration officials attended at the Washington Hilton hotel in DC on Saturday night. The video shows the alleged attacker, Cole Tomas Allen, walk through a doorway in the hall leading to the security check point. One second later, an officer and his dog approach the door, which leads to a separate hallways with elevators. The officer stands at the doorway looking down the hallway with elevators for approximately 12 seconds, while his dog moves in and out of the doorway. During this period the camera angle does not show Allen. The officer and his dog eventually turn to walk away, and one second later the suspect can be seen rushing back out of the doorway with a shotgun, running toward the security checkpoint. Prosecutors say the video shows Allen and a Secret Service officer exchange fire. It is not immediately clear in the video when Allen allegedly shot his gun. DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose office is prosecuting the case, said the video shows Allen shoot that same officer. "There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire," Pirro said in posting the video online.

FOX News [4/30/2026 10:01 AM, Peter D’Abrosca, 37576K] reports that Secret Service Director Sean Curran confirmed Thursday that Cole Allen shot the officer who was injured in Saturday’s alleged assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. Allen "shot our officer point-blank range with a shotgun," Curran said on "The Will Cain Show." "Our officer heroically returned fire while being shot point-blank range in the chest with a shotgun and was able to get off five shots." Curran said the officer’s actions were an example of "great training." The officer was shot in his bulletproof vest while Allen allegedly stormed the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night. Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the shooting of the officer was "not friendly fire." Curran said it appears Allen was subdued by officers after he "hit his knee, while being engaged by the officer on one of our magnetometer boxes, and began to fall to the ground." Allen was pictured shirtless after being subdued on the ground. Curran said Allen appeared to be wearing a tactical vest, so officers removed his clothing to ensure he did not have any other devices on him. The magnetometer was almost 355 feet from the podium at the event, Curran said. Allen descended the stairs, moved into a long hallway, which was separated by a double set of doors, before entering the area where the magnetometers were set up, the director added. "That’s where he broke into a full sprint," Curran said. Images from surveillance video outside the Washington Hilton ballroom obtained by The Washington Post show the moment when the alleged would-be assassin charged toward a security checkpoint where he was fired upon by a Secret Service agent.

New York Post [4/30/2026 9:07 PM, Victor Nava, 40934K] reports the Justice Department on Thursday released the clearest footage yet of White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen charging the Washington Hilton ballroom security checkpoint as part of the alleged assassination attempt against President Trump. The video, shared on social media by DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, appears to show that Allen was armed with a rifle during his mad dash. Moments before he charged, the suspect appeared to enter a doorway near where several TSA and Secret Service agents were gathered and two magnetometers had been set up.

Reported similarly:
NBC News [4/30/2026 7:33 PM, Staff, 42967K] Video: HERE

Daily Caller [4/30/2026 5:09 PM, Harold Hutchison, 803K] reports a West Virginia prosecutor dismissed charges Thursday against a librarian who allegedly tried to recruit assassins to target President Donald Trump, a local TV station reported. Morgan L. Morrow of Ripley, West Virginia, was charged in January with one count of making a terroristic threat, the agency posted on its Facebook page. Prosecutors, though, elected to dismiss the charges "without prejudice," Clarksburg-area TV station WDTV reported Thursday, less than a week after Trump was targeted by a would-be assassin at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. One of the videos Morrow posted featured a caption saying, "Surely a sniper with a terminal illness cannot be a big ask out of 343 million," apparently was posted on Morrow’s Instagram, prompting Morrow’s arrest at 9:31 p.m. EDT on Jan. 25, hours after Libs of TikTok posted that video and others on X earlier that evening. However, prosecutors said in court documents that officers from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department failed to advise Morrow of her Miranda rights, according to WDTV.

CBS News [4/30/2026 3:15 PM, Zachary Bynum, 51110K] reports two former U.S. Postal Service carriers, an Alpharetta bank manager, and a convicted felon are facing federal charges in what prosecutors describe as a sprawling mail theft and bank fraud scheme involving nearly $5 million. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the group is accused of stealing checks, credit cards and other valuables from the mail — including a $4.9 million U.S. Treasury check — and laundering the proceeds through fraudulent bank accounts. Federal prosecutors say the alleged scheme stretched from March 2020 through September 2025. Federal agents ultimately seized more than $4.7 million connected to the scheme. The four defendants — all from metro Atlanta — were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 24 and are expected to be arraigned before a U.S. magistrate judge. Goode, Hamilton, and Sutton face charges including conspiracy and theft of mail by a postal employee. Sutton and Bailey face additional counts of bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. Sutton is also charged with possession of stolen mail, access device fraud, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors note Sutton has prior felony convictions tied to theft, forgery, and identity fraud. Authorities from multiple agencies — including the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Secret Service — worked together on the investigation.

CBS News [4/30/2026 9:49 AM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] Video: HERE reports the U.S. Coast Guard cannot pay its bills. The military branch – now 75 days into the longest shutdown in U.S. history – owes over $300 million in unpaid obligations. And with thousands of utility bills overdue, totaling $5.2 million, duty stations and military housing worldwide are facing service shutdowns. "It seems like a horror movie, but it’s actually happening. It’s almost unbelievable," Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday told CBS News in an exclusive interview. In the past week alone, water outages hit duty stations in Port Huron, Michigan, and Station Channel Islands, California. Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, had natural gas lines temporarily locked. A power outage at a recruiting station in St. Louis, Missouri, forced officers to operate by flashlight until electricity could be restored. Electricity was also cut off to the residence of a Coast Guard rear admiral in New Orleans, forcing his family to drive to a hotel until service was restored. That residence is one of nearly 1,000 Coast Guard housing units at risk of electricity shutoffs because of unpaid bills. Across the service, 43% of housing units have invoices more than 30 days past due. "It’s unacceptable," said Lunday. "I think the American people would be furious to know this is happening," Lunday said. "We have over 6,000 utility bills that have been unpaid because DHS is not funded. And so, now we’re starting to see electricity, water, natural gas, other services shut off that are impacting not only our operational units and bases where our people work, but starting to impact where people live." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [4/30/2026 10:52 AM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] reports Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday says guardsmen are going into debt to follow orders amid a partial government shutdown that he says is putting the military branch in a critical position. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Wire [4/30/2026 6:34 AM, Hank Berrien, 2314K] reports in a blow to national security and maritime safety, the U.S. Coast Guard is facing an internal crisis as the partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown reaches its 75th day. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday revealed that the funding lapse has become so severe that utility companies are beginning to shut off power, water, and gas at active military installations across the country. During a CBS News interview, Lunday confirmed that "the lights are shutting off" at stations tasked with life-saving missions. In the last several days, Station Channel Islands in California and Station Port Huron in Michigan had their power cut off, while Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii saw its natural gas service interrupted. While the Coast Guard was able to restore these specific services, Lunday warned that the number of shutoffs is expected to rise. These stations operate 24/7, 365 days a year, standing ready to respond to mariners in distress or national security threats. "I think a lot of Americans would be pissed to hear this is happening," the CBS interviewer posited to the Admiral. "Furious," Lunday responded. "That’s exactly right."

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 11:36 AM, Rena Rowe, 1147K]

NewsMax [4/30/2026 10:33 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard reportedly is operating in "crisis" as a result of the Democrats’ partial government shutdown. Now stretching beyond 70 days, the Department of Homeland Security funding lapse is taking a mounting toll on one of the nation’s most critical military services. Unlike the other armed forces, which fall under the Defense Department, the Coast Guard operates within DHS — leaving it uniquely vulnerable when political gridlock halts funding. The Coast Guard has racked up more than $300 million in unpaid obligations, including thousands of overdue utility bills, CBS News reported. Across the country, duty stations and military housing have begun experiencing water outages, power shutoffs, and disruptions to basic services. "It seems like a horror movie, but it’s actually happening," Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday told CBS News, describing the cascading failures. In recent days, outages have hit facilities in Michigan, California, Hawaii, and Missouri. Nearly 1,000 housing units are now at risk of losing electricity, while 43% of Coast Guard housing carries invoices more than 30 days overdue.

AP [4/30/2026 5:47 PM, Staff] reports the wreckage of a U.S. Coast Guard ship lost in a deadly attack more than a century ago, during World War I, was been discovered off the coast of England. The Coast Guard announced Wednesday that the USCGC Tampa was found about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom, at a depth exceeding 300 feet (90 meters) deep in the Atlantic Ocean. The cutter’s wreckage was located and confirmed by the British technical-diving team Gasperados. The vessel sank in less than three minutes, resulting in the death of all 131 people aboard. That included 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy personnel and 16 British Navy personnel and civilians. It was largest single American naval combat loss of life in World War I. The Coast Guard is now developing plans for underwater research and exploration.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [4/30/2026 5:59 PM, Anthony Thompson, 70643K]

Politico [4/30/2026 6:30 PM, Aaron Mak, John Sakellariadis and Dana Nickel, 21784K] reports the White House has asked a group of tech companies to answer a set of questions this week about how to ward off digital attacks that frontier AI tools could soon enable, according to four people with knowledge of discussions between the administration and the tech sector. The questions, from the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director, focus on how specific sectors in the tech and cybersecurity industries can work with the White House to boost their defenses with AI, these people said. Companies have been asked to respond to them by Friday. Some of the questions were discussed during a Tuesday afternoon meeting between White House cyber officials and approximately 30 industry representatives, said one of the people, who, like others in this report, was granted anonymity to share details of ongoing, highly confidential discussions. The request for additional, detailed information from these companies reflects the intensifying focus in Washington on the evolving threat that hyper-advanced AI tools may pose to national security and digital infrastructure. The Tuesday meeting was partly prompted by concerns about Anthropic’s newest AI model, Claude Mythos, and its ability to unearth hidden software flaws and outpace the world’s top hackers at certain tasks. The company has, for now, restricted access to a small group of security researchers and tech companies through what it has dubbed Project Glasswing. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently visited the White House to discuss Mythos with administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, chief of staff Susie Wiles and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross. One list of questions sent by the White House to some tech and cyber firms, obtained by POLITICO, covers a range of technical and policy considerations, including which widely used coding projects should be prioritized and more basic questions about how the public and private sectors can work together on initiatives such as Project Glasswing. One question simply asks: “What is the most effective role for the government?” The four people said some industry representatives were confused by the questions they received, several of which were seen as vague. Two of those people said other questions addressed internal security practices some of these representatives did not feel comfortable disclosing to the government without a clear justification. The questions include what systems they have used AI to test thus far and what their “scanning and remediation priorities are,” according to the list obtained by POLITICO. The White House is also weighing executive action on AI, which two of the people noted was discussed during Tuesday’s meeting. Axios first reported on the possible executive action.

CNN [4/30/2026 10:00 AM, Sean Lyngaas, 19874K] reports for the first election cycle in years, US military and intelligence officials have not yet activated a specialized team dedicated to detecting and thwarting foreign threats to elections, according to comments from those agencies to Congress and CNN, alarming some lawmakers and former officials who have served on the team. A failure to activate the team would be a "major national security mistake and I hope that they will correct it in the weeks to come," Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent who sits on the armed services committee, told CNN. For every general and midterm election since the 2020 election, the Election Security Group (ESG) has been a hub for officials from the National Security Agency, the code-breaking and signals intelligence agency, and US Cyber Command, the military’s hackers, to share intelligence and launch counter attacks against trolls from Russia, Iran and elsewhere who were trying to undermine US elections. The ESG has overseen operations targeting Russian companies that spewed propaganda at US voters in 2024 and Iranian hackers that meddled in the 2020 election.

CyberScoop [4/30/2026 7:20 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports two former cybersecurity professionals who moonlighted as cybercriminals, committing a series of ransomware attacks in 2023, were each sentenced to four years in prison, the Justice Department said Thursday. Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin previously pleaded guilty to one of three charges brought against them in December and faced up to 20 years behind bars. Goldberg, who was a manager of incident response at Sygnia, and Martin, a ransomware negotiator at DigitalMint at the time, collaborated with Angelo John Martino III to attack victim computers and networks and use ALPHV, also known as BlackCat, ransomware to extort payments. “These defendants exploited specialized cybersecurity knowledge not to protect victims, but to extort them,” Jason A. Reding Quiñones, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a statement. “They used ransomware to lock down critical systems, steal sensitive data, and pressure American businesses into paying to regain access to their own information.”

HS Today [4/30/2026 5:20 AM, Staff, 38K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with the Department of War (DoW), Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of State (DOS) have published a joint guide to assist organizations with operational technology (OT) systems – including government systems – with applying Zero Trust principles. The guide, Adapting Zero Trust Principles to Operational Technology, provides OT owners and operators and Zero Trust practitioners with practical insights on overcoming unique constraints, addressing potential challenges, and prioritizing key areas for integrating Zero Trust into OT environments. New attack vectors, expanded attack surface and magnified cybersecurity risks are more prevalent because OT systems are becoming increasingly interconnected, digitally monitored, and remotely operated. Improperly secured pathways create opportunities for threat actors to gain access to information technology (IT) and OT networks. Adapting and applying Zero Trust principles to fit the operational realities of the OT environment can help owners and operators close cyber risk gaps, however, it must be done carefully without disrupting their own systems in the process. Zero Trust strategies can prevent adversaries from compromising, manipulating, degrading, and disrupting the critical physical processes these systems control.

Reuters [4/30/2026 3:56 PM, A.J. Vicens, 16072K] reports the Chinese government’s ⁠hack-for-hire ⁠ecosystem has "gotten out of control" ⁠and provides cyber criminals with "a form of plausible deniability," a ​senior FBI official said on Thursday, warning that Chinese hackers can be arrested when they ‌travel outside their home country. FBI ‌Assistant Director Brett Leatherman’s comments come days after the extradition of Chinese national ⁠Xu Zewei, ⁠34, to the U.S. from Italy on allegations of participating in ​widespread hacking campaigns carried out in 2020 and 2021 at the direction of the Chinese government while working for a Chinese contractor. Xu was arrested in Milan in July 2025 and ​was sent to the U.S. after an Italian court ruling allowed the extradition. A senior DOJ official told reporters on Thursday that the Hafnium campaign included targeting law firms, with the hackers searching for information about U.S. policymakers and government agencies.

ABC News [4/30/2026 10:56 AM, Luke Barr, 34146K] reports the shootings in December that targeted Brown University and an MIT professor were "symbolic in nature," according to a report released by the FBI. Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Portuguese national and a legal permanent resident who had been living in Miami, committed a mass shooting at a building on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, before driving north to Brookline, Massachusetts, to kill an MIT professor, authorities said. Two students died and nine others were injured in the shooting at Brown University on Dec. 13, 2025, and Nuno F.G. Loureiro, an MIT professor, was shot and killed at his home in Brookline by Neves Valente, two days later. The shooting at the Ivy League school, where the 48-year-old Neves Valente had previously been a physics graduate student, rocked the tight-knit community in Providence. The suspect was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a storage unit in New Hampshire following a dayslong manhunt, authorities said. "Based on analysis of the information and evidence gathered throughout the investigation, the FBI assesses Neves Valente’s victims were symbolic in nature," the FBI said in a release. "Brown University as a whole and Dr. Loureiro represented to the shooter his personal failures and injustices he perceived were inflicted by others over time. By attacking them, Neves Valente was likely able to overcome his shame and envy by using violence to punish those communities that he perceived contributed to his downfall." Portugal’s Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) previously confirmed to ABC News that Neves Valente and Loureiro had studied in the school’s physics engineering program between 1995 and 2000. The FBI determined Neves Valente had no criminal record and the shooting had no nexus to terrorism.

The AP [4/30/2026 4:23 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports the first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns. The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in early January. It also comes a month after the U.S. formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country. Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon. Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21. The Washington Examiner [4/30/2026 1:14 PM, Rena Rowe, 1147K] report American began operating flights to Venezuela in 1987 before suspending service in 2019 when the U.S. banned passenger and cargo travel to the country. Venezuelan pride filled the Miami gate, featuring vibrant balloons in the national colors, a food buffet, and café con leche welcoming the travelers. Two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded its ban on passenger and cargo flights to Venezuela, determining that the conditions in the country "no longer threaten the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, and crew.”

Reported similarly:
CNN [4/30/2026 1:36 PM, Michael Rios, David Culver, Carlos Martinelli, Mary Triny Mena 19874K]

Washington Post [4/30/2026 7:05 PM, Samantha Schmidt, 24826K] reports for the first time in nearly seven years, the American Airlines check-in counter at Miami International Airport displayed the name of a destination just three hours across the Caribbean: Caracas. “Are you ready for the big day?” a service agent asked, a banner of tiny Venezuelan flags above him. With free arepas at the gate and Trump administration officials on hand, passengers on Thursday boarded the first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela since 2019, when the countries broke off diplomatic relations. But even as the direct flights resume, and even as President Donald Trump has sought to ramp up removals of Venezuelans from the U.S., many are unable to return home, for want of a valid passport or fear of jeopardizing ongoing immigration cases in the U.S. The resumption of direct flights is the latest in the series of steps by the Trump administration to reestablish ties with the South American nation in the months since the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro. The State Department has reopened the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, announced general licenses allowing American oil companies to do business in Venezuela and eased sanctions on the country’s central bank. Even as much of the authoritarian socialist government remains intact — Trump has recognized Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim president — the administration has sought to signal a swift transformation in Venezuela. “Today we are sending another clear signal to the global market that Venezuela is once again open for business,” said John Barrett, the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Venezuela. Over the past seven years, Venezuelans in the U.S. could return home only through a third country such as Panama, the Dominican Republic or Colombia, a longer and more complicated journey. Thursday’s flight offered an inaugural fast-track option — for those who could afford it. Tickets ranged upward of $2,000 for the flight, a VIP experience complete with free tequeños and photo ops. Flights for the coming days are listed at about $1,300. American Airlines said Thursday the Miami-Caracas route was only the beginning — the carrier will soon restart flights to Maracaibo, Venezuela’s oil hub. In the short term, the demand might be limited. Some Venezuelans in the U.S. had their passports taken by immigration authorities upon entering the country. Others have seen their passports expire, with no consular services available in the U.S. and challenges returning to Venezuela to renew them.

NBC News [4/30/2026 6:21 PM, Gordon Lubold, et al., 42967K] reports Iran is taking advantage of the ceasefire with the U.S. to dig out its weapons, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the matter. The regime has stepped up its efforts to excavate missiles and other munitions it hid underground or that were buried beneath rubble from U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, they said. The U.S. believes the regime wants to quickly reconstitute its drone and missile capabilities so it could launch attacks across the Middle East if President Donald Trump decides to resume military operations, the sources said. Trump is set to meet with his national security team Thursday to review options — including new military action — for opening the Strait of Hormuz and stripping Iran of any nuclear material, according to another U.S. official. The commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, was scheduled to brief Trump and members of his national security team about the options, as well as the status of a U.S. blockade, the official said. Trump is expected to decide on the path in the coming days, according to the first U.S. official. A White House official said Trump’s planned mid-May trip to China, which has ties with Iran, is among the factors contributing to his decision-making process as he weighs options in Iran. His visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was already postponed once because of the war in Iran, is a "priority," and the White House really does not want to move it again, the official said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this month that the U.S. had indications that Iran was trying to reconstitute its military capabilities. "We know what military assets you are moving and where you are moving them to," he said at the Pentagon April 16. "While you are digging out — which is exactly what you’re doing, digging out of bombed-out and devastated facilities — we are only getting stronger," Hegseth said. "You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them.” Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Defense Department pointed to Hegseth’s remarks. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that the U.S. military had achieved all of Trump’s objectives in the war in Iran, adding: "Iran’s ballistic missiles are destroyed, their production facilities are demolished, their navy is sunk, and their proxies are weakened.” "Following this successful military campaign, President Trump has every option at his disposal. However, his preference is always diplomacy, as he instructed American negotiators to work towards a deal that ensures Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon," Kelly said.

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