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 [5/19/2026 9:04 PM, Fatima Hussein and Ken Sweet, 35287K] reports President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that requires banks to take a closer look at the citizenship of their customers, a new measure in his administration’s push to clamp down on people living in the country illegally. The order directs bank regulators and government departments to look for signs that people without legal status are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards. However, the order is less aggressive than banks had expected, as earlier reports suggested the White House was drafting an order that would make collecting customers’ citizenship information mandatory. In the order, the White House framed the decision that banks would face credit risks if one of their customers were deported and any loans could no longer be repaid. The White House said it would not “permit risks to our financial system posed by the extension of credit or financial services to the inadmissible and removable alien population.” Since banks have never collected any information about their customers’ citizenship or immigration status, there are no reliable public figures on how much risk these customers pose to the financial system. A study by the left-leaning Urban Institute estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 mortgages were issued to customers with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). These ITINs are typically used by undocumented workers in place of a Social Security Number. The Urban Institute estimated that banks were highly reluctant to lend to individuals with ITINs. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are also generally reluctant to insure mortgages for borrowers with an ITIN, making it even less likely for ITIN holders to obtain a mortgage. The White House has been signaling for weeks that it was planning some sort of executive order that would involve how banks handle their undocumented customers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month that “there should be stricter rules” to open bank accounts. “Why can the unknown foreign nationals come and open a bank account?” Bessent said. Bloomberg [5/19/2026 6:19 PM, Katanga Johnson and Paige Smith, 18082K] reports that the order directs the Treasury secretary and other financial regulators to “consider changes to the Bank Secrecy Act to strengthen customer identification program requirements, including accounting for the risks that foreign consular identification cards pose to the US financial system,” according to a White House fact sheet. That law requires banks to watch for signs of crime and then take action. It also calls on the Treasury secretary to issue a formal advisory to “financial institutions identifying red flags and suspicious activity patterns.” The move is less stringent than plans previously reported under which the Trump administration considered requiring banks to collect customers’ citizenship information. That proposal faced sharp push back from banking groups worried about the feasibility of checking customers’ immigration status, Bloomberg News reported in March. Lenders also raised concerns about possible costs and damage to the economy if individuals lost access to the banking system. Trump also signed a separate order Tuesday the White House said was intended to “streamline regulations and promote financial innovation and collaboration between” fintech firms, financial institutions and regulatory agencies.

The AP [5/19/2026 6:54 PM, Ben Finley, 35287K] reports the Pentagon watchdog will evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out attacks on dozens of alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed nearly 200 people in Latin American waters since early September. The evaluation will focus specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle, according to a May 11 letter to Defense Department officials. The phases include a military commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment. The Pentagon inspector general’s office said in a statement Tuesday that the review was “self-initiated” and that it would not provide a timeline for when it would be completed. It was reported earlier by Bloomberg. The evaluation will not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The Trump administration says the U.S. is at war against the Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of fatal drug overdoses plaguing many American communities. The administration’s campaign of blowing up small boats accused of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea has persisted since early September and killed at least 193 people in total. U.S. Southern Command said one person survived the latest attack on May 8, but it is not clear if the Coast Guard was able to find and rescue the survivor, which would raise the death toll. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs, repeatedly pointing in social media posts to intelligence confirming they were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes.” The Washington Examiner [5/19/2026 11:03 AM, Mike Brest, 1147K] reports that this evaluation was self-initiated and not done at the request of Congress. "The scope of this evaluation includes the joint process for targeted vessels in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility as part of Operation Southern Spear," a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. "This project was self-initiated based on the DoW OIG’s ongoing assessment of DoW programs and operations."

Reported similarly:
CNN [5/19/2026 9:19 AM, Logan Schiciano, 19874K]

Roll Call [5/19/2026 5:09 PM, Allison Mollenkamp, 673K] reports the Homeland Security Department would get a new influx of funding to investigate child exploitation cases, including to identify victims of sexual abuse material online, under the GOP budget reconciliation bill. The $108.5 million added in a substitute amendment Tuesday would support hiring additional investigators and forensic analysts within the department. The roughly $72 billion immigration enforcement package advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on an 8-5 vote. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., pushed to include the funds in reconciliation, which he said would allow DHS to add 200 new positions to "rescue children who have been captured by sex trafficking, including a new program for local, state and federal law enforcement to coordinate their efforts." The funds would support hiring at the Victim Identification Laboratory of the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit and the offices of the Special Agent in Charge, both within Homeland Security Investigations. The bill says the money would support investigators in "the identification and rescue of victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse" as well as training for state and local law enforcement in identifying victims. That training, according to the bill, would be within the Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Center.

Daily Signal [5/19/2026 6:15 PM, Virginia Grace McKinnon, 474K] reports the Senate GOP is taking the next steps to pass legislation to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security this week. Thanks to pro-family GOP senators, key legislation to protect children will be included in the long-awaited Reconciliation 2.0. Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced that the Secure America Act will "hopefully" be voted on this week. The bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection passed out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday and included legislation pushed by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Tim Tebow, to protect the exploitation of children online. "This will be a tremendous step forward to be able to do something very tangible and very immediate to help children who have been harmed in the worst possible way by the online world," Hawley said in a press release. Committee member Hawley saw his continued advocacy for the Renewed Hope Act pay off. The Renewed Hope Act of 2026, originally introduced in January by Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., has been championed by Hawley in the Senate. The language in the Secure America Act, Rec. 2.0, will provide DHS with a "generational investment" to hire 200 child exploitation investigators and forensic analysts. The department currently has funding for only seven roles to investigate the hundreds of thousands of cases in which children are in danger online. Earlier this year, Hawley hosted Tebow, the former NFL football player and founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, to testify before Congress on the urgent need to pass the Renewed Hope Act and provide adequate resources. "Our country’s most precious and vulnerable lives have been forgotten. Every day, these children lose hope, and it’s not the fault of law enforcement that these children wait. They need more resources, plain and simple," Tebow told the Daily Signal ahead of the March hearing. Tebow testified that in less than a year, 338,000 unique IP addresses downloaded or shared child-rape images portraying nearly 90,000 unidentified children in the United States. Because of the lack of funding, many of these cases go uninvestigated or unsolved. Led by Homeland Security Investigations under DHS, the bill provides $108.5 million to hire the new staff.

Reuters [5/19/2026 12:27 PM, Richard Cowan, 38315K] reports Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday advanced partisan legislation setting $72 billion in new funding for President Donald Trump’s aggressive and controversial migrant deportation program. The action by the Senate Homeland Security and ‌Government Affairs Committee did not settle a continuing battle over whether the measure should include $1 billion in additional funding for security enhancements to Trump’s 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom already under construction and other Secret Service activities. Politico [5/19/2026 6:15 AM, Jordain Carney, 21784K] reports that the party-line vote of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee followed several unsuccessful attempts by panel Democrats to add new restrictions on the administration’s immigration enforcement operations. That included amendments to require judicial warrants for searches and apprehensions and to keep federal agents out of polling places, among others. Democrats also sought without avail to address issues not included in the committee’s portion of the bill — including funding the administration has requested for security measures for Trump’s proposed White House ballroom. The effort by Democrats to attach the new law enforcement rules comes after bipartisan negotiations on that topic fell apart earlier this year, leading to a record 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. “We are doing this whole irresponsible and hyper-partisan spending exercise because the Republican majority does not want to pass common sense reforms,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Homeland Security panel, said. Panel Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who said earlier this year he was open to new immigration enforcement rules, warned that amendments from Democrats would “kill the bill” because they had not been litigated by the parliamentarian to ensure they fit within the strict rules governing the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. “They have no one to blame but themselves,” Paul said of his Democratic colleagues. “While there could have been a discussion over reforms and bipartisan compromise on this, it didn’t happen because the Democratic base decided they weren’t going to fund ICE.” The committee vote comes as Republicans are still trying to lock down the votes for their bill because of concerns — and, in some cases, outright opposition — from some members to the $1 billion Secret Service line item that could go toward parts of the White House ballroom. Peters criticized the Secret Service security funding arguing that it showed the “fecklessness” of Republicans in the face of Trump’s demands. “Clearly he lied — he said it would never be built with taxpayer monies,” Peters said of Trump. “It’s time to stand up to the president’s ridiculous demands.” Paul, who has been critical of using taxpayer funding toward the project, noted that the security language is not included in the Homeland Security panel’s portion of the bill.

Washington Times [5/19/2026 1:01 PM, Lindsey McPherson, 1323K] reports that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved its portion of a multiyear immigration enforcement funding package that Republicans hope to send to President Trump’s desk by week’s end. The committee’s 8-7, party-line vote advances the legislation to the Senate Budget Committee, which is scheduled to vote on Wednesday to report it to the floor. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s portion of the bill is still being tweaked and will be added on the floor. The Homeland Security panel’s updated portion provides $23 billion of the total funding. That includes $13 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, $7.5 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $2.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to spend on immigration enforcement as it sees fit. Republicans added language in the ICE funding portion of the bill to require $108.5 million to be spent on Homeland Security Investigations to hire more investigators and forensics analysts to support the identification and rescue of child sexual exploitation victims. The updated text reduces the CBP funding from the committee’s original draft by $9.6 billion.

AP [5/19/2026 6:31 PM, Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking, 35287K] reports a proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom is facing growing opposition from Republicans ahead of an expected vote this week, even as President Donald Trump and the U.S. Secret Service push for the money. Republicans are revising the proposal after the Senate parliamentarian said Saturday that it did not meet the requirements to be included in legislation to fund immigration enforcement agencies. But even if they are able to appease their parliamentarian, support for the plan remains uncertain as several Republican senators have questioned the security funding — and as tensions between the White House and Senate have escalated in recent days. Thune said there were ongoing conversations within the Senate and the House and with the White House over what the legislation should look like and what can meet the parliamentarian’s standards. Several GOP senators have said they are unlikely to support it if the bill contains the $1 billion price tag for White House security. Cassidy said the proposal, which would pay for Secret Service training and a new visitor center at the White House along with security for Trump’s ballroom, is premature when there are still many questions about the project. The Trump administration hasn’t been able to provide Congress with engineering assessments, environmental evaluations or architectural work, he said.

Politico [5/19/2026 6:34 PM, Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes, 21784K] reports President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom is on the brink of being ejected from the GOP’s fast-moving immigration enforcement bill. Four Republican senators have raised public objections to spending taxpayer money on the project, possibly enough to kill it given the broad Democratic opposition. A larger group of Republicans is privately opposed to the funding, according to five people granted anonymity to disclose internal deliberations. While one idea being discussed is reducing a $1 billion earmark for the Secret Service, some Republicans are privately pushing to simply remove the provision altogether from a bill that is otherwise focused on immigration enforcement, according to three of the people. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told reporters Tuesday that, barring new information, he will not vote for funding related to the ballroom. “They don’t have a bid, they don’t have engineering, they don’t have architecture. …They just kind of made that number up,” he said. “So from what I know now, I will not be voting for the ballroom fund.” “I do not think the case has been made,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said about the possibility of funding the ballroom project. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said, “One billion in ballroom funding is just not going to fly, right? It’s just not going to fly.” Their comments come after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told colleagues Monday that he would oppose the overall immigration enforcement bill this week if it includes the ballroom-related money. He will support the bill, a spokesperson said, if the line item is removed. Senate Republicans were already discussing how to revise the $1 billion provision for Secret Service security after the chamber’s parliamentarian ruled Saturday it did not comply with the strict rules governing the party-line budget reconciliation process. Even if Senate Republicans manage to get it past their rulekeeper, leadership is still facing private concerns from a swath of members and have been talking with rank-and-file members about potential changes, as POLITICO first reported Thursday. The administration, which told senators last week that about $220 million of the $1 billion could go toward “hardening” the East Wing project, held a briefing for some senators at the White House on Tuesday. Collins said she was not able to attend.

USA Today [5/19/2026 2:00 PM, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, 70643K] reports that President Donald Trump offered an impromptu tour of the $400 million ballroom project at the White House on May 19, speaking over the din of construction with a massive dug up site behind him, just days after a Senate official thwarted a Republican effort to fast-track a $1 billion proposed Secret Service line item for security enhancements related to the project. It was the ultimate backdrop for a president who sees himself as builder-in-chief – the only thing missing was a hard hat. Holding up various renderings of the ballroom throughout his presentation, the president revealed new details on the military complex being built underneath the 90,000-square-foot project, including a research center and a military hospital. "They’re building a military hospital. They’re building all sorts of research facilities, also meeting rooms and rooms that go hand in hand for the military- using the ballroom," he said. "And the ballroom is really a shield and protecting all of things that are built here." He talked about the two facades: one inspired by ancient Greece, the other by Rome. He said the structure would be drone-proof and missile-proof. While Trump has said the ballroom is being financed by himself and donors, including American companies, the administration supports Senate Republican legislation seeking $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for security upgrades. The cost of the ballroom itself has doubled from the time it was announced last July, from $200 million to $400 million. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough found on May 16 that the ballroom security enhancements tacked on to the GOP immigration enforcement bill would be subject to a 60-vote threshold to pass, not just a simple majority.

FOX News [5/19/2026 12:51 PM, Ashley J. DiMella, 37576K] reports that President Donald Trump gave reporters a fresh look Tuesday at construction of the new White House ballroom, touting it as a hardened security structure that runs six stories into the ground. "This goes down very deep," Trump said Tuesday from outside of the White House, motioning for reporters to check out construction updates. "You get a better view right over here… These are already down two floors. That is down about six stories deep. That’s big stuff. Normally, when you build a ballroom, you build it flat. You just throw the ballroom. It would have been built." Trump said the future White House ballroom not just as an event venue, but as a hardened security structure designed to support presidential operations and large gatherings amid heightened concerns following a shooting tied to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Trump revealed that the ballroom will run about six stories deep, describing the building as made of "impenetrable" steel and four-inch-thick glass. He said 9,000 pounds of concrete is being used. He said the building would include a military hospital research facilities, various meeting rooms and security infrastructure tied to drone and missile defense. The roof is "dead flat" with "absolutely nothing but strength on it," said Trump as he went on to describe the roof as a "drone port" with "unlimited numbers of drones" and military positioning capacity. The Senate parliamentarian rejected Republicans’ effort to include a $1 billion White House and Secret Service security funding proposal in a reconciliation package on Sunday, with the request tied in part to security upgrades for Trump’s planned East Wing ballroom and broader White House security needs.

Washington Examiner [5/19/2026 11:43 AM, Staff, 1147K] reports that President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. military asked him to double the size of the White House ballroom construction project. Trump made the remarks while showing reporters the construction of the new White House East Wing, which will house the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. "We’re right on budget, we’re right on plan," Trump said. "The only budget change would be that we doubled the size at the request of the military. We doubled the size, but we’re right on budget, right on plan." Trump said initially the plan was "to build a much smaller room," but it "wouldn’t have done the job." The president also highlighted the security capabilities of the new East Wing modernization project. "It’s larger because they wanted more military capacity," said Trump. "They wanted more drone capacity. They needed a larger roof, and frankly, we needed a larger facility." "We’ve done this in strict coordination with the military and with the Secret Service, and they’ve been great to work with," added the president. Trump said the new construction had "drone proofing" and "missile proofing."

NewsMax [5/19/2026 10:37 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K] reports during a phone conversation with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, President Donald Trump reportedly criticized the Senate parliamentarian’s decision to remove security funding for the new White House ballroom from the reconciliation spending bill. Trump voiced frustration after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that Secret Service funding tied to the president’s East Wing modernization and ballroom project could not be included under the strict rules governing budget reconciliation, Semafor reported Monday. The dispute centers on a proposed $1 billion Secret Service funding package Republicans are attempting to pass through a broader immigration enforcement bill without Democrat support. Of that total, roughly $200 million to $220 million would reportedly go toward security upgrades connected to Trump’s planned White House ballroom and East Wing redevelopment project, including protective infrastructure above and below ground. Republicans argue the funding is not for the ballroom itself, which Trump has repeatedly said will be financed by private donors, but rather for critical Secret Service security enhancements needed to protect the president and other high-profile officials amid growing threats. "There’s no doubt that the Secret Service needs some upgrades," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Semafor. The parliamentarian ruled Saturday that the language, as currently written, violates Senate reconciliation rules because portions of the funding fall outside committee jurisdiction and do not directly qualify under budgetary requirements established by the Byrd Rule. Secret Service Director Sean Curran recently told lawmakers the funding would support hardened security measures, including bulletproof glass, drone detection systems, chemical threat monitoring, visitor screening improvements, and expanded agent training capabilities, The Washington Post reported.

NewsMax [5/19/2026 10:57 AM, Staff, 3760K] reports President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended construction of the new White House ballroom as both a long-overdue modernization project and a critical national security upgrade designed to protect future presidents and the nation’s capital. Speaking to reporters outside the White House while construction continued, Trump offered a detailed presentation of the project. He argued the massive East Wing development is far more than a ballroom, describing it instead as one of the safest and most technologically advanced government facilities ever built. "This is a room that’s been wanted for 150 years by presidents," Trump said in a news conference broadcast live on Newsmax. "We have no room to have an event. The only way you can have an event is if you build a tent on the lawn.” Trump criticized criticism from Democrats and preservation activists who have portrayed the project as an unnecessary luxury during a period of economic uncertainty. The president insisted taxpayers are not funding the ballroom construction itself, calling the project "a gift to the United States of America" financed largely through private donations and his own contributions. "All of this was paid for by myself," Trump said. "This is not going to be paid for by the taxpayer.” Congress is considering separate funding for security enhancements tied to the broader East Wing modernization effort, including Secret Service upgrades, anti-drone technology, military infrastructure, and hardened defensive systems. Trump said the ballroom would serve as a protective "shield" covering multiple underground military and security facilities extending several stories below ground.

Univision [5/19/2026 6:33 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended the construction of the controversial White House ballroom, despite criticism of the cost of the project and the request for federal funds to strengthen the security of the complex. During a tour with journalists on the site, Trump said the new building will be a “gift for the United States” and said the estimated cost of US$400 million will be covered by private donors, including himself. “This will not be paid by taxpayers,” the president said as he watched the construction advance on the ground where the White House East Wing was once located. However, the controversy grew after his administration asked Congress for a billion dollars to strengthen the security of the presidential venue, including measures related to the new ballroom. The proposal found resistance among Republican lawmakers and was left out of a bill following the Senate MP’s ruling, amid criticism over high spending as Americans face high prices in gasoline and food due to the war with Iran and the damage to oil supply. Trump took the press to a platform with a direct view of the construction, where he highlighted the characteristics of the building and said that it will have a “completely flat” roof, made with “very resistant steel” and supposedly “drone-proof”. As he explained, the complex will be extended six floors underground and will house a military hospital, offices for the first lady, research facilities, kitchens and a living room with capacity for a thousand people. “No other building like this will ever be built,” he said.

Bloomberg [5/19/2026 12:47 PM, Lillianna Byington, 111K] reports that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he won’t support security funding for President Donald Trump’s ballroom project as it currently stands in the package. "Right now, they don’t have a bid, they don’t have engineering, they don’t have architecture. I mean, they literally don’t have a bid," Cassidy told reporters Tuesday. "They just kind of made the number up. So from what I know now, I will not be voting for the ballroom funding." The ballroom security funding faces challenges both with support in the Republican caucus and with the chamber’s procedural rules after the parliamentarian advised over the weekend that it didn’t pass muster. Cassidy’s stance comes after he was defeated in Saturday’s primary, where his opponents, including Trump’s preferred candidate Rep. Julia Letlow, are heading to a run-off. Senate Republicans attached $1 billion for the Secret Service to their legislation funding immigration enforcement agencies through the budget reconciliation process — and the administration said last week that $220 million of that would pay for security upgrades in the new East Wing. Other Senate Republicans have also expressed skepticism about supporting the ballroom security funds. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator in his last term, signaled this week he wouldn’t support the package if ballroom funding stays in.

The Hill [5/19/2026 12:38 PM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized Senate Democrats on Tuesday for pushing Republicans into a reconciliation process to fund immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “The process Democrats have forced us into is an imperfect one,” Paul, the chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said during opening remarks of a markup of the $72 billion bill. “One consequence of using this process is we cannot include policy changes, even the widely supported reforms agreed to by the president to address real problems exposed earlier this year,” he continued, adding that Democrats “have no one to blame but themselves.” That reconciliation process enables Senate Republicans to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029 with a simple majority, bypassing the 60-vote threshold required to overcome a filibuster. Democrats repeatedly stonewalled DHS funding bills over demands to rein in agents helping to execute President Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown, paving the way for a record-long shutdown that ended on May 1. During the nearly three-hour markup on Tuesday, Senate Democrats introduced dozens of amendments that echoed many of the reforms they’ve been seeking for months, including requiring ICE agents to clearly identify themselves during enforcement operations, expanding judicial warrant requirements and a ban on DHS officers entering houses of worship.

San Diego Union Tribune [5/19/2026 12:26 PM, Andrew Jones, 1257K] reports several states have joined President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts and are taking federal reporting requirements to immigration authorities a step further — by using their public health agencies as arms of enforcement. North Carolina, in late April, became the latest member of a growing group of Republican-led states to require their public health agencies to flag recipients of Medicaid to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if their legal status is in question. It’s a trend health policy researchers expect to spread among GOP-controlled states eager to join Trump in the federal crackdown on Medicaid fraud and illegal immigration. Already, at least four states — Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, and Wyoming — have passed similar laws, and lawmakers in others, such as Oklahoma and Tennessee, are weighing measures. In those six states, Republicans hold a power trifecta — both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office. “This is an issue that is very much on the political radar right now,” said Carmel Shachar, a health policy researcher at Harvard Law School. More than 75 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, the federal and state-run public health program for people with disabilities and low incomes, or its related Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides low-cost coverage for people under 19. Immigrants without legal status are ineligible for Medicaid benefits, but a swath of noncitizens qualify, such as green-card holders, asylees, and refugees. A quarter of children in the U.S., most of them citizens, live with an immigrant. Yet the new reporting laws add a layer of risk for immigrants seeking healthcare in the U.S., where the White House has mandated the use of Medicaid data to help identify and deport people.

AP [5/19/2026 3:35 PM, Dánica Coto, 35287K] reports opposition leaders in the Bahamas are demanding an investigation into a suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida and was allegedly found with roughly $30,000, according to a U.S. federal agent. The money was inside a bag labeled with the name of an unidentified high-ranking politician from the archipelago. The suspect, who was deported to the Bahamas more than a decade ago after being convicted on drug and money laundering charges, is accused of trafficking cocaine through the Bahamas to the U.S. He also is accused of meeting the unnamed politician in October 2024 at the Bahamian Parliament in Nassau to talk about a deal involving some 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of cocaine, according to a court document filed May 14 in the Southern District of New York, a day after the plane crash. It stated that the politician "could provide security for the planned cocaine shipment" and was introduced to an unnamed suspect as a "future associate."

FOX News [5/19/2026 4:02 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K] reports Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said the Justice Department is looking into whether Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., committed immigration fraud, citing longstanding allegations that she married a man critics claim is her brother. Speaking to reporters, Vance was asked about the administration’s anti-fraud task force — established by President Donald Trump to combat fraud, waste, and abuse across federal benefit programs — and whether it would focus on Omar, a frequent Trump critic. The comments follow a podcast interview in March, during which Vance told conservative commentator Benny Johnson that he had spoken with White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller about potential legal action against the congresswoman. Omar has long been dogged by allegations that she married a man critics allege is her brother, as part of an immigration scheme. Omar has denied the allegation, and the claim has not been proven in public records.

Univision Chicago WGBO [5/19/2026 3:58 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports former Chicago immigration judge Carla Espinoza filed a lawsuit against the federal government after being fired in July 2025 along with other immigration judges. During an interview with N+ Univision Chicago, Espinoza stated that his departure occurred without official explanation and asserted that, in addition to his case, several judges were removed under similar circumstances. Espinoza explained that she was appointed immigration judge in July 2023 and worked in the Chicago immigration court until July 2025. Before taking the position, she served as an immigration attorney in the city. The former judge asserted that she never received a formal explanation regarding the reasons for her removal. During the interview, Espinoza asserted that similar patterns existed among the dismissed judges.

AP [5/19/2026 12:33 PM, Amy Taxin and Adam Geller, 16072K] reports that an Iranian family that’s been living in the United States for a decade is demanding their release from immigration detention after they were arrested because of their relation to a central figure in the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. Eissa Hashemi’s mother, Masoumeh Ebtekar, was known as "Sister Mary," the chador-wearing spokesperson who mocked America during the crisis and condemned the hostages as "spies" to be prosecuted. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in April he was revoking the family’s green cards over their ties to Ebtekar, and the Department of Homeland Security has since moved to deport Hashemi, his wife Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son. A federal judge has temporarily barred the government from deporting the family after they filed petitions challenging the legality of their detention. They’ve been held in immigration facilities in Texas since they were arrested in early April in Los Angeles. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said people shouldn’t be allowed to live in the country if they have close ties to senior Iranian officials associated with anti-U.S. activities. The Department of Homeland Security said the family was arrested because authorities believe they pose a threat to national security and U.S. foreign policy. The agency did not answer questions about the nature of the threat.

FOX News [5/19/2026 8:08 AM, Preston Mizell, 37576K] reports the Department of Homeland Security and Department of War have joined a widening interagency investigation into a network of nonprofit groups funded by Shanghai-based American Marxist tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, allegedly sowing discord in the U.S., Fox News Digital has learned. The expanding probe now includes multiple Trump administration agencies examining the coordination, funding and online organization of agitator groups and nonprofits allegedly tied to Singham’s network, which investigators suspect of sowing discord in the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News Digital he’s working with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and intelligence agencies to uncover the inner workings of organizations "trying to stir up discontent." Mullin spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Manassas, Virginia, last week. Mullin said organizations have been coordinating their work using online channels. Anti-ICE agitators used the Signal encrypted text messaging app to facilitate anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this year. "We know there’s a coordinated effort trying to stir up discontent online, through online processes," Mullin explained. "This is something we talk about with Scott Bessent. This is something that we talk about with Secretary Hegseth. We’re talking about it. You know, our directors and our intelligence agencies are constantly talking about it."

New York Post [5/19/2026 7:38 PM, Alex Oliveira, 40934K] reports violent crime fell across the United States in 2025 at rates not seen in close to a century, findings from the FBI showed. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter plummeted by more than 18% nationwide last year, while aggravated assault dropped by more over 7%, according to a preliminary report on national 2025 crime rates. Violent crime on the whole dipped by about 9.3% last year, the data show. "The 2025 crime data in this report shows the single largest decrease in violent crime and murder since 1937 – as well as huge decreases across the board in terms of aggravated assault, rape, and robbery," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. "Over the last 14 months, we made major transformations at the FBI, and these results show those changes are working.” Rape declined by nearly 8%, while robbery went down by about 18.5%, the FBI reported. Property crime also decreased, dipping by about 12.4% between 2024 and 2025. The findings come from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which collected data from over 17,000 law enforcement agencies. Those agencies covered nearly all of the policing in the country, about 96%. There were roughly 1.1 million less violent crimes committed in 2025 compared to 2024, and an even sharper year-over-year decrease of about 5.2 million less property crimes, according to the data.

NPR [5/19/2026 5:00 AM, Jude Joffe-Block, 28764K] Audio: HERE reports last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged for the first time the agency’s growing arsenal of surveillance technology includes spyware. Such tools can remotely hack into phones and have been abused repeatedly by governments around the world that have used them not only to counter national security threats, but also to spy on political rivals, diplomats, human rights activists and journalists. ICE’s admission of its spyware use, which the agency says has been approved to help its Homeland Security Investigations team disrupt foreign terrorist groups and fentanyl traffickers, comes as critics of the commercial spyware industry are growing concerned that the Trump administration is slowly reversing a previous hard line stance the U.S. government took against the industry in recent years. "We’re starting to see erosion," said Steve Feldstein, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There’s a concern that in the coming year, months, we could see further changes that would really put a damper on what I think has been a really important effort to try to hold this industry to account.” Feldstein said the U.S. "reached a high-water mark when it came to really pushing back against the industry" during the Biden administration. Former President Joe Biden’s actions included blacklisting and sanctioning some spyware companies and personnel, an executive order limiting the government’s use of commercial spyware and leading an international agreement with other democratic countries to counter the misuse of such tools. Those actions came in response to revelations that foreign governments were misusing the technology to commit human rights violations as well as targeting devices belonging to American politicians and officials. Yet so far the Trump administration has lifted sanctions that Biden’s Treasury Department had instituted against three people affiliated with the spyware tool, Predator, and temporarily revived an ICE contract with the Israeli-founded spyware company Paragon Solutions that had been paused by the Biden administration.

New York Times [5/19/2026 11:58 AM, Ronda Kaysen, 148038K] reports the Trump administration has long claimed that mass deportations would deliver more jobs and higher wages to American-born workers. But a new study casts doubt on that assertion, undermining a central tenet of the president’s immigration policy. Recent surges in deportations have led to job losses for both immigrant and American-born workers, while wages have stayed flat, according to the study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan research organization. Construction, which depends heavily on immigrant labor, was impacted more than any other industry studied, with American-born workers losing more jobs as a result of the deportations than the undocumented workers who remained. The study offers the first national analysis of the effects of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation operations on the labor market, comparing communities that experienced surges in deportations between January 2025 and October 2025 with those that did not. Analyzing federal labor data, researchers focused on four industries that rely heavily on undocumented immigrant workers: agriculture, construction, manufacturing and wholesale. Deportations had a chilling effect on each of those industries, disproportionately affecting men, who accounted for more than 90 percent of the immigration arrests. Taken together, the affected industries saw a 5 percent drop in employment for male undocumented workers and a 1.3 percent drop for male American-born workers without a college degree. The researchers found no evidence that employers increased wages to attract American workers. Instead, work slowed.

New York Times [5/19/2026 10:30 AM, Matt Flegenheimer and Rebecca R. Ruiz, 148038K] reports Andrew Giuliani was haggling in a Florida hospital room, defending his presence to his recently comatose father — a man so stricken a short time earlier that a priest had been called. At least dad sounded like himself again. “What are you doing here?” former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani asked after waking earlier this month, according to Andrew Giuliani, who had scrambled south from Washington, where he holds a senior federal post conferred by a president whom he has described as a second father figure. “You’ve got to get your ass back up to D.C.” Five weeks remained before the highest-stakes professional moment of Andrew Giuliani’s zigzagging, sometimes painful, increasingly consequential public life. And President Trump had made his own expectations clear. “You better do well, Andrew,” he said for the cameras last year, after making Mr. Giuliani the top-ranking administration official who once smiled at the boss through baby teeth. Mr. Giuliani, 40, is the executive director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 — the nation’s steward for what he has billed, with Trumpian (and not inaccurate) flair, as “the largest sporting event in the history of the world,” which begins next month. The job would have been complicated enough before the war in Iran, one of the countries competing in the draw; or the 76-day homeland security shutdown that waylaid vital funding (and left Mr. Giuliani and much of his team unpaid); or the jittery incoming messages from blue host cities unsettled by Mr. Trump openly musing about relocating matches that have been planned for years. But it has fallen to Mr. Giuliani, a Trump super-loyalist and regular golf partner who once played professionally, to reassure the soccer-loving masses that he is on the case, that the president hears their concerns, that everything will probably be fine. “This guy,” Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, said in a recent Instagram video, pointing double finger-guns at Mr. Giuliani, “is in charge of making sure it goes smooth.”

Newsweek [5/19/2026 12:05 PM, Jasmine Laws, 52220K] reports the Ebola outbreak, a public health emergency of international concern as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), could be a fresh blow to the already struggling World Cup about a month before people from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) come to watch their team play in Texas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday that travel restrictions would be imposed for 30 days amid the outbreak, particularly for non-U.S. passport holders who have been in Uganda, DRC or South Sudan in the past 21 days. These restrictions are set to expire the day before DRC is scheduled to play its first game in the World Cup at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 17. The Congolese government is reportedly planning to send about 200 to 300 supporters to the United States as an organized fan base for its team, and outlets have also reported that the country’s authorities have purchased about 1,000 tickets for the group-stage matches to ensure its supporters have a visible presence in stadiums. Additionally, the outlet Foot Africa reported, FIFA has set aside about 5,000 seats for Congolese fans for DRC’s opening match against Portugal in Houston. However, as the outbreak continues to raise concerns ahead of the World Cup, 500 more seats have become available for the DRC-Portugal game, according to the ticket website seatsidekick.com. Outside the outbreak, the tournament was already struggling with underwhelming demand, with ticket prices falling to below $100 on a resale platform in recent days. Texas Department of State Health Services told Newsweek that it was "monitoring the situation and remaining in close contact with the CDC and our colleagues at local health departments," saying it would be sharing information with Texas health care providers and urging them to ask about travel history when evaluating people with symptoms consistent with Ebola. "I want to stress that Ebola is not an airborne virus," a department spokesperson told Newsweek. "It takes direct contact with the body fluids of someone who is sick with or has recently died from Ebola. We encourage anyone traveling to the area where the outbreak is occurring to avoid any contact with sick people."

US News & World Report [5/19/2026 12:18 PM, Andria Park Huynh, 16072K] reports that an American doctor who was exposed to Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has tested positive for the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Peter Stafford, a surgeon working with the Christian missions organization Serge in DRC since 2023, has been safely evacuated and is receiving treatment, the group said in a statement. Stafford, a board-certified general surgeon with a specialization in burn care, was serving patients in Bunia, in eastern DRC’s Ituri Province – where the Ebola outbreak was recently identified, according to the statement. Stafford developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday. He was transported Germany for treatment and care along with six other Americans who are high-risk individuals who will be monitored, said Dr. Satish Pillai, the incident manager for CDC’s Ebola Response. Two other physicians — Stafford’s wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, and Dr. Patrick LaRochelle — are asymptomatic and are being monitored, noted the statement. The Staffords’ children are also being monitored, according to The Washington Post. "All three medical professionals have strictly adhered to established quarantine protocols since the potential exposure," the statement said. Germany was chosen to receive the group for practical reasons. Pillai explained that the country has previous experience caring for Ebola patients and travel time from the DRC is shorter, enabling the evacuees to reach points of care quickly. He added that the CDC, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies have taken proactive public health measures to prevent Ebola from entering the United States.

The Washington Post [5/19/2026 10:24 AM, Lena H. Sun and Lauren Weber, 24826K] reports public health authorities and experts warn that the world is confronting a dangerous convergence of factors that could make the latest Ebola outbreak extraordinarily difficult to contain: a fast-moving epidemic in a conflict-ridden region, involving a strain with no approved vaccine, at a moment when the global health infrastructure built after past Ebola crises has been weakened by funding cuts and political upheaval. The concern comes as the United States on Monday tightened entry rules for some travelers and disclosed that an American infected with the deadly disease was flown to Germany for treatment. The outbreak is suspected to be linked to 130 deaths and more than 500 infections in Democratic Republic of Congo as of Tuesday, with two confirmed cases in Uganda. The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency in those two nations over the weekend. “I did not do this lightly,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, speaking Tuesday before the World Health Assembly in Geneva. He added that he is “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic” and would convene the WHO’s emergency committee for recommendations. Experts warn the toll is likely to rise sharply in the coming weeks as investigators continue tracing infections across the region. The suspected death toll has already topped previous outbreaks of this particular strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo virus, which has a 25 to 50 percent case-fatality rate. ABC News [5/19/2026 1:27 PM, Mary Kekatos, 34146K] reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and at least one American in the DRC has tested positive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several public health experts told ABC News that while they agree with the CDC that the risk to the U.S. public is currently low, the outbreak is still concerning. They also expressed unease that the U.S. may not be prepared to adequately respond due to cuts to federal health agencies and its withdrawal from the WHO. The experts noted cases have been found in remote regions of the DRC and Uganda, as well as urban areas, and the outbreak is growing rapidly. They added that although Ebola is a rare disease, it can be highly contagious and can lead to deadly consequences. "We’re worried that if this outbreak is not contained, that it could spread elsewhere on the continent, which could increase the risk of the virus spreading outside of the African continent," Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, professor of epidemiology and director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health, told ABC News. "Ebola is not as transmissible a virus as, say, a coronavirus ... and that’s why I don’t think that this will ever become a pandemic scenario, but it doesn’t have to be a pandemic to be a worrisome situation," she added.

Washington Examiner [5/19/2026 8:37 AM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1147K] reports while campaigning in 2024, President Donald Trump pledged to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, a system exacerbated by the rogue incompetence of the Biden administration. Now, after 18 months into his second term, Trump has maintained his excellence in border security and upheld his campaign promise regarding illegal immigration, as the Trump administration has achieved a year of zero releases at the U.S.-Mexico border. Whereas the Biden administration wantonly permitted, if not outright encouraged, border security agencies to release illegal immigrants into the United States, Trump has ensured such ineptitudes would not happen under his watch. After innocent victims such as Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Jocelyn Nungaray, and many others were murdered by violent illegal immigrants, the Trump administration utilized every possible avenue to ensure that such atrocities would not recur. The first barrier to accomplishing this was limiting border releases. It is a remarkable success that shows the country’s border security issues stem from failed leadership and a failed president. Biden’s atrocious border policies made the country more dangerous. Trump’s policies made the country safe again. It’s a success that should not go unrecognized. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin touted the historic feat in a press release. "Twelve straight months of ZERO releases at the border. Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, we are delivering the most secure border in American history," Mullin said. "The days of catch and release are over. We are enforcing the nation’s laws and sending illegal aliens back to their home countries."

Los Angeles Times [5/19/2026 11:00 AM, Mindy Taylor, 12718K] reports there is nothing more cruel than mistreating women and their children (“85-year-old French widow caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown describes her detention,” May 12). Marie-Thérèse Ross’ (no relation to me) account is nothing short of terrifying for her and the vulnerable women and children who were held captive with her. I’m glad she’s safe now, and I hope her account of these atrocities will bring changes in the system. I wish to see more courageous people report on the level of depravity of the Trump administration. It needs to be exposed and stopped.

Washington Times [5/19/2026 11:00 AM, Staff, 1323K] reports that the federal agency responsible for tracking millions of migrants released at the southern border under President Biden was essentially working on the honor system — and it didn’t work. A new audit from the Government Accountability Office found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lost track of at least 70% of migrants the Biden administration paroled at the southwest border in 2024. ICE’s enforcement arm "relies on the ‘honor system’ to ensure noncitizens report to field offices as directed," the GAO said. "However, ERO officials told us that not all paroled noncitizens report as required." The Biden administration released roughly 2 million unauthorized immigrants on parole — a legal mechanism meant for narrow humanitarian exceptions — but CBP paroled 97% of migrants who pre-scheduled arrivals through its app, often without collecting sworn statements or verifying asylum eligibility. CBP also acknowledged paroling some migrants with criminal records and admitted it had no way of knowing about criminal histories in migrants’ home countries. Making matters worse, CBP collected tracking data but never shared it with ICE, leaving the two sister agencies operating in the dark.

CBS News [5/19/2026 6:29 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano tells CBS News that ICE arrested his wife, Deisy Rivera Ortega, even though they were following the rules.

Bloomberg [5/19/2026 11:17 AM, Katherine Schwartz, 18082K] reports companies with a large immigrant client base are navigating the tripwires of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s crackdown. From money transfers back home to grocery shopping, the everyday activities of immigrants are under vigilance. Many are afraid to leave their homes, and they’re staying away from businesses that depend on them. A rise in deportations, and self-deportations, is also cutting into sales. The debt of MoneyGram, a Madison Dearborn-backed remittance company, and Heritage Grocers, a Hispanic food retailer owned by Apollo, reflect the drop-off in revenue. MoneyGram’s term loan has dipped into distressed territory, last quoted in the upper 60 cents on the dollar range, compared with a price near par before Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. MoneyGram and Madison Dearborn didn’t respond to requests for comment. Representatives at Apollo and Heritage Grocers also didn’t respond to requests. As immigrants flee, global remittance apps are no longer recording double-digit download growth, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, even as digital-first competitors Remitly and Wise chalk up gains and active users every month. MoneyGram is seeking to broaden its digital presence by partnering with cryptocurrency firm Kraken, enabling payments in cryptocurrencies.

Bloomberg [5/19/2026 10:31 AM, David Rovella, 18082K] reports US President Donald Trump campaigned for a second term promising an unprecedented deportation campaign. Over the past 15 months, he has delivered on that pledge through the use of masked agents inside courthouses and heavily armed paramilitaries on American streets. The administration has sharply increased the number of people detained for allegedly being in the US illegally, and generated thousands of claims of civil rights violations in the process. Three US citizens have been shot dead by federal agents and dozens of detainees have died in federal custody amid conditions that, in some cases, have been condemned as inhumane. Into this maelstrom comes Innovation Law Lab, a small group of lawyers in Portland, Oregon, who have spent the past year litigating against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the various agencies conducting raids, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Bloomberg Investigates followed Innovation Law Lab’s lawyers for much of 2025, witnessing up close their fight against the government, and the experiences of their clients as they are swept up in the administration’s crackdown. Under the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, everyone is guaranteed due process of law before they can be deprived of their life, liberty or property. Part of that due process, lawyers for Innovation Law Lab have argued, is access to legal counsel for immigrants detained by the Trump administration. In a lawsuit filed last year that could have national implications, the group has sought to guarantee that right in the context of the current government crackdown, arguing that federal agents have effectively prevented detainees in Oregon from meeting with lawyers before they are transferred out of state. The government has denied the allegations and sought to have the suit dismissed.

Newsweek [5/19/2026 5:06 PM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports the Trump administration is considering tripling the amount some immigrants are fined if they miss court hearings and are later deported. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the amount immigrants currently pay is not enough to cover the cost of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents locating, detaining and deporting them. The proposed change comes amid a sharp rise in people failing to appear for immigration court hearings, which experts say is a result of multiple factors, including fear of detention. "The move to 18K for in absentia orders, where it is not clear if the recipient even knew about the hearing is extreme," Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former senior ICE official, told Newsweek. "To add these fees, while Congress is debating giving ICE billions of dollars more for enforcement against people who have been working in the U.S. for decades and may even have relief available, makes no sense and continues to criminalize and bankrupt our neighbors." The Trump administration argues in the proposal that the higher fee could: Deter people from skipping court hearings. Encourage compliance with removal orders. Reduce strain on enforcement resources.

Newsweek [5/19/2026 12:08 PM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports more than 145,000 U.S. citizen children are estimated to have experienced the detention of a parent since the start of the second Trump administration’s hardline immigration crackdown, according to a new research report. Analysis by the Brookings Institution suggests about 205,000 children overall have had a parent detained during the period which began in January 2025, including roughly 145,000 who are U.S. citizens. The analysis also found that more than 22,000 U.S. citizen children have experienced the detention of all co-resident parents. Newsweek’s interactive map visualizes the rate of U.S. citizen children with a detained parent by state, based on Brookings’ data. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has consistently saiid that under the second Trump administration that immigration detention is a matter of personal choice and that “ICE does not separate families.” The agency has encouraged migrants to leave voluntarily, saying parents can “take control of their departure with the CBP Home app and reserve the chance to come back the right legal way.” DHS has also promoted a self-deportation program offering $2,600 and a free flight, urging undocumented immigrants to leave the country. “If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return,” the agency has said. Texas had the highest estimated rate, with 5.01 per 1,000 U.S. citizen children affected, followed by Arizona (3.23), Oklahoma (3.1), Arkansas (3.02), and Florida (3.01), all of which show some of the highest concentrations nationwide, according to the dataset. The study found that children affected by parental detention span all age groups, with more than one third under the age of six. Researchers said most children remain in the care of relatives or friends after a parent is detained, while only a small share enter the formal child welfare system.

AP [5/19/2026 3:22 PM, Emilia Otte, 35287K] reports the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong on Friday over a new state law that prohibits federal agents from wearing masks and requires them to display identification when operating in the state. The law, passed this spring by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont, establishes "protected areas" — including schools, hospitals, social service agency facilities and houses of worship — where people cannot be arrested solely on the basis of a civil offense, such as an immigration violation. It prohibits law enforcement officers from wearing masks while on duty. It bans former federal law enforcement officers who were found to be guilty of misconduct or retired during an investigation from being hired by Connecticut state or local police, and it requires police officers to complete 480 hours of training before they can be hired by state agencies. The federal government called the law "blatantly unconstitutional," saying that the state has no authority to tell federal agents what they can and cannot do. The government argues that the law goes against the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says that when state and federal laws clash, federal laws override those of the states. The Justice Department has also filed lawsuits in other states — including New York, New Jersey and California — against similar laws. In California, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel struck down a law that requires federal officers to wear identification, saying that the law likely violated the Supremacy Clause.

Bloomberg [5/19/2026 12:21 PM, Beth Wang, 50K] reports that ICE agents are barred from conducting civil arrests on immigration courthouse grounds in New York City, pending the outcome of a federal lawsuit over Homeland Security’s policy of arresting noncitizens at their scheduled hearings. Manhattan Judge P. Kevin Castel issued his stay Monday, nearly two months after US Justice Department lawyers admitted they had relied for months on incorrect information to justify civil migrant arrests at US immigration courts, and said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were to blame. Castel’s order modifies his September decision in which he refused to halt the government’s arrest practices but then stayed a related DHS directive telling immigration judges they have the power to dismiss a pending removal action orally without providing noncitizens an opportunity to make a written submission. The government’s admission "warrants reexamination" of the September order, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York judge said. The revision is needed to "correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice" and to allow the plaintiffs challenging the arrest policies to reargue that portion of their stay motion "that was predicated on the government’s now-withdrawn assertion that the 2025 ICE Courthouse Arrest Policies applied to immigration courts," Castel said. His order applies to the Manhattan immigration courts at 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick St., and 290 Broadway. The case is African Communities Together v. Lyons, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:25-cv-06366, order 5/18/26.

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AP [5/19/2026 12:42 PM, Larry Neumeister, 2K]
FOX News [5/19/2026 7:13 AM, Bradford Betz, 37576K]
Univision [5/19/2026 8:43 AM, Staff, 4937K]
Washington Examiner [5/19/2026 12:39 PM, David Zimmermann, 1147K]
Daily Caller [5/19/2026 4:22 PM, Christine Sellers, 803K]

New York Times [5/19/2026 9:34 PM, Jonah E. Bromwich and Benjamin Weiser, 148038K] reports federal agents on Tuesday detained a 21-year-old Honduran man at an immigration court in New York City, an action that his attorneys said defied a federal judge who barred such arrests a day earlier. The arrest was made on Tuesday morning at 26 Federal Plaza, one of three immigration courthouses in Manhattan that a judge, P. Kevin Castel, had ruled on Monday were off limits for arrests. Lawyers for the man, Vinely Alexander Castillo-Norales, said the arrest occurred despite an order that allowed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to make courthouse arrests only in extremely limited circumstances, none of which appeared to apply on Tuesday. “His arrest is in direct violation of an order in this court — issued just yesterday,” the man’s lawyers said in a petition filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. But on Tuesday evening, after repeated inquiries from New York Times, the federal government took two seemingly contradictory actions: They released Mr. Castillo-Norales from custody while simultaneously claiming he was a dangerous criminal. Shortly after Mr. Castillo-Norales’s lawyers issued a statement Tuesday evening saying he had been released, the Department of Homeland Security responded to requests for comment, claiming Mr. Castillo-Norales was an active member of the Bloods street gang and had faced charges for burglary, robbery, larceny and possession of stolen property. “ICE did NOT violate any court orders,” the statement said. “Nothing prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them, especially illegal alien gang members.” The department did not immediately respond when asked why Mr. Castillo-Norales had been released, nor did it clarify where he had been charged. In their petition, lawyers for Mr. Castillo-Norales said only that he had never been convicted of a crime. Chloe Chik, a spokeswoman for their organization, the New York Legal Assistance Group, said that the department was “obviously grasping.” “Arresting anyone on unfounded claims subverts the rule of law and could have a lasting impact on everyone’s civil liberties,” she said. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which represented D.H.S. in court, declined on Tuesday to comment on the arrest.

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Univision [5/19/2026 11:59 PM, Staff, 4937K]

Breitbart [5/19/2026 5:04 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested an illegal alien accused of setting fire to several cars in Freeport, New York, a suburb in Nassau County, Long Island. Elder Lopez-Avalos, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested on May 10 by the Nassau County Police Department and charged with arson. According to police, Lopez-Avalos set fire to 10 cars in a parking lot in Freeport, close to a children’s center. Nassau County police coordinated with ICE to ensure Lopez-Avalos was turned over to federal custody rather than being released back into the community. Lopez-Avalos crossed the United States-Mexico border as an unknown got-away. He will remain in ICE custody pending deportation to Guatemala.

Breitbart [5/19/2026 12:39 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports that an illegal alien, residing in the United States for at least two decades, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for murdering a mother of two young boys and her unborn child in May of last year in York County, South Carolina. Pedro Mondragon Ramirez, a 43-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in court and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. According to prosecutors, on May 16, 2025, Ramirez ruthlessly stabbed 37-year-old Leonor Alpizar, 29 weeks pregnant at the time with her baby girl named Brittany, to death in front of the woman’s young son. After stabbing Alpizar, Ramirez took off in a vehicle in an attempt to flee from police. The woman’s son called the police, and when they arrived, they found Alpizar with 16 stab wounds to her torso alone. The woman suffered stab wounds on her arms and hands as well. Alpizar died the next day from her injuries. Her unborn baby, Brittany, lived for just 42 minutes before also dying from the trauma her mother endured. Police revealed that at the time of the murder Ramirez had been living illegally in the United States for at least 20 years. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a detainer on Ramirez, seeking custody of him when he is released from prison.

Breitbart [5/19/2026 11:17 AM, Warner Todd Huston, 2238K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents launched a raid of several construction sites in central Florida last week, arresting 33 migrants working without authorization and warning companies that this is just the start of future raids. ICE turned out at new home construction sites in The Villages near Orlando in Sumter County on May 14 along with members of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa, according to Fox News. Officials report that up to 30 individuals fled the scene as ICE agents fanned out, but 33 were arrested for immigration violations. Those arrested included several Mexican nationals, as well as migrants from Honduras and Guatemala. Four now face felony charges for repeated re-entry after deportation. ICE interviewed more than 350 individuals during the operation. Officials also said they took down information about companies that employed the illegal migrants and warned that there would be follow ups on those employers, who broke federal and state laws in hiring illegal migrants who were not eligible to work in Florida. HSI Tampa warned over the practice of continuing to hire illegals and urged employers to participate in the IMAGE program. The ICE Mutual Agreement Between Government and Employers is designed to help employers verify the legal status of workers before hiring them.

Univision [5/19/2026 8:28 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports Carmen Teresa Benavides, 37, has improvised a hospital in her small room at the Hermanos de la Calle shelter in Miami. She lives there with her eight children, ranging in age from 14 years to six months. The situation of little Abrahannys , 4, is particularly worrying; she is fighting for her life connected to a feeding pump. Abrahannys was born with myelomeningocele and developed hydrocephalus within days . She has also been diagnosed with a Chiari malformation, oropharyngeal dysphagia, clubfoot, and recently, a brain cyst. Despite her delicate health, she managed to cross Central America with her and her seven other young children, fleeing the situation in Venezuela: “We crossed the Darién jungle and made the entire journey on foot to the United States,” Carmen confesses, her voice filled with emotion. Doctors have given her sick daughter six months to live, and she says her condition has worsened since her father left. “He was arrested on December 31, 2025. We had an emergency, and he had to drive to the hospital. He was stopped at a traffic light and ultimately arrested for not having a license,” Benavides recounts. “My daughter is sad and depressed; I’m convinced she’s getting worse every day he’s gone. She was very attached to her father and spends all day asking about him.”

Chicago Tribune [5/19/2026 6:32 PM, Gregory Royal Pratt, 5209K] reports a federal judge ruled Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release the mother of a Chicago Public Schools student after she was arrested with her son at a routine check-in earlier this year. But it remains uncertain when the family may reunite as her son’s legal efforts to be released is still ongoing. Chief District Judge David J. Hale issued an order releasing Martha Liliana Navarette and 17 other people who have been held without bond in western Kentucky. The judge ruled that they must all be released and, if arrested again, provided with a bond hearing before an immigration judge. “Today, a Federal Judge in the United States District Court of the Western District of Kentucky ordered the immediate release of Martha Liliana Navarrete (Liliana) thanks to a writ of habeas corpus filed by Brittni Rivera, a partner at Kriezelman, Burton & Associates,” said Kelli Fennell, an attorney representing the family, in a statement. “Now, Liliana can return to her home in Chicago, Illinois and continue to pursue her case before the Chicago Immigration Court.” “Unfortunately, Ricardo, who is only 18 years old, remains detained,” Fennell added, referring to the son, Ricardo Hernandez Navarette. “His family and community are hopeful they will soon receive a positive decision in his pending habeas.” A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. The judge’s ruling is the latest twist in the Navarette family story, as Liliana and her son have been held in ICE custody since March.

FOX News [5/19/2026 8:39 PM, Louis Casiano, Brittany Miller, 37576K] reports a Democratic House candidate from Texas is fielding criticism from some in her own party after she pledged to send American Zionists to a facility currently being used to detain undocumented immigrants. In an Instagram post last week, Maureen Galindo said she would turn the "Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.” "It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists," Galindo wrote, referring to herself in the third person. Galindo, a sex therapist and housing activist, is running for a seat in the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, facing Johnny Garcia in a primary runoff. Galindo’s runoff campaign has also drawn attention amid reports that a mystery super PAC with ties to Republicans has spent heavily in Democratic primaries to boost progressive candidates viewed as easier general election opponents. According to New York Times, the group — Lead Left PAC — promoted Galindo in mailers highlighting her support for dismantling ICE and impeaching President Donald Trump as Republicans look to hold their narrow House majority. Her remarks, which have been called antisemitic by critics, have drawn rebuke from fellow Democrats and New York Times, which urged voters not to allow her to win the May 26 runoff against Garcia, who is considered a moderate. In other social media posts, Galindo has accused Garcia—a former hostage negotiator and public information officer for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office—of wanting "Jews and Mexicans in warehouses." She also accused "billionaire Zionists" of controlling San Antonio and South Texas trafficking networks. During an appearance on Texas Public Radio last week, Galindo refuted accusations of antisemitism while reaffirming her opposition to "Zionist Jews.” "I’m not antisemitic. In fact, my last serious relationship was with a Jewish man," Galindo said, as reported by The Times of Israel. "I’m against Zionist Jews. When I said that the Jews who own Hollywood are doing this, do all Jews own Hollywood? No. The Zionist Jews do. The Zionist Jews own our media, our banks, and all of our politicians.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Galindo for comment.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [5/19/2026 9:23 PM, Ryan King, 40934K]

FOX News [5/20/2026 2:06 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 37576K] reports federal immigration officials blasted California’s sanctuary policies Tuesday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested an illegal immigrant accused of critically injuring a 4-year-old boy in a hit-and-run crash. Aman Kumar, an Indian national living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested by ICE on May 13 after previously being released from local custody. According to the Fresno Sheriff’s Department, Kumar was initially arrested last month after allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run crash. He was charged with felony hit-and-run causing death or injury. Police said Kumar was driving a vehicle that struck a 4-year-old boy in Fresno, California, KSEE reported. The child had been playing on a swing set in a nearby backyard before leaving through a gate and entering the roadway, authorities said. Investigators said several vehicles stopped after seeing the child in the street, but Kumar allegedly drove around the stopped traffic using the bike lane before hitting the boy. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the child was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive. DHS criticized California’s sanctuary policies after Kumar was later released from jail. "This monster who almost killed a 4-year-old boy has been charged with a felony hit-and-run," DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. "Sanctuary politicians in California released this criminal illegal alien from jail back onto the streets," she continued. "Thanks to the brave men and women of ICE law enforcement, this criminal illegal alien was arrested outside a criminal court.” According to DHS, Kumar illegally entered the United States in 2023 and was later released under the Biden administration. The department also pointed to a letter ICE Director Todd Lyons sent in February to California Attorney General Rob Bonta urging the state to honor ICE detainers involving more than 33,000 undocumented immigrants in custody across California. "DHS is calling on Governor Gavin Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians to stop putting American lives at risk by releasing criminals into our communities to commit more crimes and hurt more innocent people," Bis said. DHS said California’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 4,561 undocumented immigrants with criminal charges or convictions since Jan. 20. The department said those individuals were accused of crimes including homicide, assault, burglary, drug offenses, weapons offenses and sexual offenses. Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [5/19/2026 5:06 PM, John Binder, 2238K]

Reuters [5/20/2026 4:21 AM, Ted Hesson and Joan Faus, 38315K] reports the United States’ Department of Homeland Security assisted Spanish police in a money-laundering probe that led to an investigation by Spain’s High Court of former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, ‌a DHS spokesperson said. The Spanish court said on Tuesday that Zapatero was being investigated for allegedly leading an influence-peddling and money-laundering network, in another blow to the leftist government beset by corruption scandals. It said the network profited from lobbying public authorities on behalf of third parties - mainly Spanish airline Plus Ultra, which was bailed out by the state in 2021. Zapatero, a key ally of current Prime Minister and fellow Socialist Pedro Sanchez and who led Spain from 2004 ⁠to 2011, denied any wrongdoing on Tuesday. The DHS spokesperson said the Madrid office of Homeland Security Investigations "assisted the Spanish National Police in an investigation into the laundering of international public funds" that led to the proceedings against Zapatero. "While we cannot comment on the specifics of the criminal investigation at this time, HSI remains committed to working with its international partners to fight global crime, protect our communities, and uphold the rule of law," the spokesperson said, referring to Homeland Security Investigations’ acronym.

Reuters [5/19/2026 5:42 PM, Chandni Shah, 38315K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump will sign a pair of executive orders on Tuesday, among which is a step ​back from a previous proposal requiring banks to collect citizenship information from customers, Semafor reported, citing a White House official. The final version of one of the executive orders will instead direct Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to advise financial ​institutions on ways undocumented immigrants might open accounts or receive loans, ​the Semafor report said. The White House was earlier expected to issue ⁠an order requiring banks to collect data on their customers’ citizenship ​or immigration status, a directive senior industry executives had warned would be costly ​and disruptive. The order will also direct Bessent and other regulators to propose changes to Bank Secrecy Act regulations that empower financial institutions to seek additional information when needed, ​strengthen customer due-diligence requirements and enhance consumer identification requirements, according to ​Semafor. The second executive order is intended to foster closer cooperation among financial institutions, fintech companies ⁠and federal regulators, Semafor added. The order requires the Federal Reserve to review and reassess its criteria for determining which non-bank financial entities and uninsured depository institutions can access its payment services and accounts, the report said.

NPR [5/19/2026 5:00 AM, Ximena Bustillo, 28764K] reports Diana A., 34, woke up one morning to find she was no longer able to legally work in the U.S. With expired documents, she couldn’t go to her friend’s wedding in San Diego. She couldn’t drive. Diana is a decade-long recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, after she came to the U.S. illegally with her parents 24 years ago from Mexico. She asked NPR to only refer to her by her first name and last initial out of fear of legal repercussions for her immigration status. Every two years, like other DACA recipients, Diana would submit an application to renew her DACA and work permit. This year, for the first time, the approval lapsed for more than a month. "It was a very stressful time in my life and it was just, here’s hoping today’s not the day where I get taken," she said, adding that for the first time she had a mental plan of who to call if she got detained. Diana hoped DACA would give her more opportunities. Now she worries those opportunities could be taken away. "This is what I envisioned: having a job, having a career that I could be proud of and being able to be independent and living a life that I could be comfortable with," she said. "And to a certain degree, I think I’ve achieved the dream — and I think that there’s still a cage around it."

FOX News [5/19/2026 6:19 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K] reports a Canadian man living in Massachusetts illegally voted in multiple federal and state elections while lying about his citizenship status, federal prosecutors said. Sunny Manhertz, a lawful permanent U.S. resident, illegally registered to vote in Saugus, Mass., and allegedly cast ballots in various local, state, primary, and federal elections in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024, the Justice Department said. He is charged with one count of unlawful voting by aliens and one count of the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under state law. He appeared in a Boston federal courtroom Tuesday. On March 1, 2016, Manhertz submitted a Massachusetts Official Voter Registration Form under his own name. On the form, he checked "Yes" in response to the question, "Are you a Citizen of the United States of America?" according to charging documents. Despite his non-citizen status, he continued to represent himself as a "qualified voter" by signing nomination papers for political candidates as recently as 2026, authorities said. Manhertz, 40, became a permanent U.S. resident in 1987 but never applied for citizenship, court documents state. On Feb. 13, 2019, he allegedly submitted an application to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to replace his permanent resident card. In response to a question regarding his legal status, Manhertz allegedly checked the box stating that he was a "Lawful Permanent Resident." According to Saugus records, Manhertz has voted in multiple federal elections, including the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections.

CNN [5/19/2026 6:00 AM, Ramishah Maruf, 19874K] reports in his two decades as a truck driver, Luis Sanchez has lugged everything from restaurant food to gravel across the country. It’s an isolating job with long hours; he passes the time listening to the radio. At truck stops and warehouses, he meets other drivers, many of them immigrants like himself. "We don’t go home every day like normal work," said Sanchez, whose home is near Fort Worth, Texas and is originally from El Salvador. "Sometimes we had to sacrifice family for the job we had." Sanchez ticked off all the boxes since he applied for his commercial driver’s license two decades ago: a valid work permit, Social Security number and he proudly claims he has had a perfect safety record. But now, his livelihood is gone. He is one of thousands of noncitizen truck drivers – which include Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, asylees, asylum seekers and refugees – who have lost or been unable to renew their commercial driving licenses in the last year as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Those licenses are required to drive tractor-trailers and semis.

Univision [5/19/2026 6:57 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Karla Toledo, 31, with protection from deportation under the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, was arrested after ICE agents entered her home without a warrant and took her away. Carolina Silva, of Tucson, executive director of Scholarships, reported that ICE normally only detains people who are from the DACA program, if they have a serious criminal record or a prior deportation order; however, Toledo does not enter any of the cases. All this happened at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, May 18, when Toledo and her husband were getting ready to go to work when they suddenly saw those at ICE, so they chose to enter their house and close the door. But the agents used their strength to prevent it from closing, causing one to fall to the ground when opening it. Afterwards, ICE proceeded to arrest Karla, while she repeatedly insisted and shouted if they had any court orders so that they could enter private property, to which, according to her parents, they never showed it. Normally, a court order signed by a judge is needed to be able to enter a house; in the event that you do not have, the protection of the Fourth Amendment, which goes against irrational searches and seizures, is being violated. In addition to the court order, according to Toledo’s parents, she also did not have to be detained, because her daughter has no criminal record and her DACA program status was up to date. So far, Tucson Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva confirmed that Toledo was in the ICE Tucson field.

Telemundo [5/19/2026 8:34 PM, Eduardo "Yusnaby" Rodríguez, 162K] reports a group of 1,500 foreign doctors who immigrated to the United States in the last five years has formed a support network to navigate the country’s rigorous medical licensing exams. However, despite their training, more than 300 of these specialists are stuck in an immigration limbo that prevents them from working, generating a profound economic and emotional crisis in their families. While US hospitals face a critical staffing shortage, these doctors are encountering a bureaucratic barrier. Although a recent directive from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) orders the lifting of delays in processing applications for healthcare professionals, the reality on the ground is quite different. Doctors who entered the country under statuses such as I-220A, humanitarian parole , or through the CBP One app, point out that their work permit applications remain frozen. The process for an international doctor to practice in the United States is one of the most demanding in the world. It requires passing multiple medical exams in English and certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Dr. Andrés Alberto López Sánchez, a Cuban doctor who is now fully certified and waiting to enter a residency program, explains that the recertification process takes an average of up to five years and requires an investment of around $30,000. "It’s a very long, drawn-out, and exhausting process, physically, mentally, and financially," explains López Sánchez. Without a work permit, the financial burden falls entirely on family savings or on those who host them, creating enormous pressure on the family struggling to pay rent and food while the student studies full-time. According to Dr. Idalberto Fernández, spokesperson for the group, the situation in the homes is devastating. Of the more than 300 doctors trapped in this legal limbo, 27 have already passed all the exams and are ready to enter the hospitals, but their lack of legal status is holding them back. "These are families who tell you that they are spending what little money they had saved on these exams. There are people who have been ready to take the test for months and can’t because they don’t have the money to pay for it, since they can’t work or support themselves," says Fernández. In addition to the economic pressure, there is a critical emotional factor. Many of these doctors abandoned international medical missions for the Cuban government, denouncing exploitative conditions. Havana’s laws penalize those who abandon these missions, prohibiting them from entering the island for up to eight years. Dr. Dayan Ríos Alonso emphasizes the vulnerability of this community, which feels abandoned both socially and economically. "It’s almost impossible to return to the island, even in complicated humanitarian situations like the death of a very close relative, a mother or a father; many times they’ve even been denied entry to the country," Ríos Alonso explains. "Behind every doctor there’s a dream, a family, years of sleepless nights and sacrifices." While hundreds of doctors wait for permission to work, the US health care system is experiencing a shortage of providers. Dr. Alejandro Badia, a renowned orthopedic surgeon who runs his own clinic in Doral, warns of the serious consequences of ignoring this available talent. Badia points out that many American doctors are retiring early due to increasing complications with insurance and Medicare. "There is data indicating that there will be a shortage of 140,000 doctors in the United States over the next decade," Badia explains. The surgeon warns that patients are already experiencing months-long waits for elective surgeries or MRIs, which is deteriorating the quality of medical care. "For me, it would be the perfect opportunity for our well-trained colleagues to come and participate in our system. When there are more doctors in the system, costs and wait times decrease."

Daily Signal [5/19/2026 3:20 PM, Pedro Rodriguez, 474K] reports as fentanyl overdose deaths fall to levels not seen since 2019, Republicans in both the executive and legislative branches say they intend to push those numbers even lower. State-level data reinforces the trend. In Pennsylvania, a state with a higher average rate of overdose deaths than most states, overdose deaths dropped by 60% in 2025, a decline Republicans attribute to President Donald Trump’s aggressive counter-narcotics enforcement. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently announced that in 2026 alone, agents along the southwest border have seized enough fentanyl to kill more than 100 million Americans—despite having worked without pay for 76 days. The seizures follow a series of actions by the Trump administration to escalate its response to the crisis. The president designated drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and classified fentanyl and its precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction. Those designations expanded federal authority to target the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, which officials say is largely controlled by organized criminal networks and poses a growing national security threat. "As President of the United States, my highest duty is the defense of the country and its citizens," Trump wrote at the time. "Accordingly, I hereby designate illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

CBS News [5/19/2026 11:24 PM, Lexi Salazar, Ken Molestina, Scott Fralicks, 51110K] reports that, since early 2026, a bipartisan coalition of local residents in the Big Bend region has banded together to fight against a border wall in the area. In February, word that a physical border wall was being considered in the Big Bend region quickly spread via word of mouth. Landowners in Presidio County began receiving packets from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), letting them know their land might need to be accessed to build a wall. Others were approached by contractors looking to house construction workers for the project. The local paper, The Big Bend Sentinel, reported that construction was imminent. Earlier this month, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott told the Washington Examiner that a physical wall was no longer planned for Big Bend National Park. That has done little to comfort activists in the area who say they would like to hear from the federal government directly about its plans. "We’re still really concerned about patrol roads in the national park," said Terlingua-based photographer Anna Claire Beasley. "We’re worried about the night sky. We’re worried about increased militarization in an area that does not need it.” For months, Beasley has been part of anti-wall organizing efforts, even traveling to Washington, D.C. last month to speak with lawmakers about locals’ concerns. "In our meetings with representatives, what we found is that there’s a huge breakdown of information between what’s actually happening on the ground versus what they think is happening," she said. Activists demand transparency from federal officials. Activists and local elected officials alike have complained about what they say is a lack of transparency and communication about plans, only getting information from a map on CBP’s website. The map currently shows use of technology, patrols and small barriers designed to block vehicles covering much of the region, but a 30-foot wall on private land west of Big Bend Ranch State Park. Government spending records show that billions of dollars in contracts have been awarded for construction and technology installation in the Big Bend region. Just last week, records show the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded a $1.7 billion contract for the "construction task order for border wall in Big Bend Texas.” In an emailed statement to CBS News Texas, a CBP spokesperson said: "U.S. Customs and Border Protection is implementing a border security strategy in the Big Bend region that leverages advanced technology and the area’s natural terrain. By deploying cameras, sensors, and barriers in strategic areas, CBP is restricting unlawful vehicle access while utilizing the natural barriers that already exist in the area. In locations where minimal barrier may be adjacent to parks, we are actively coordinating with park officials to ensure the alignment does not impede recreational access or activities. Additionally, CBP will use and improve existing public and park roads where possible to provide agents with continued access along the border.”

San Diego Union Tribune [5/19/2026 5:48 PM, Staff, 1257K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested 19 migrants, including two previously deported brothers with drug trafficking convictions, after spotting them hiding in a drainage tunnel system near the U.S.-Mexican border near San Diego, officials announced Tuesday. The arrests occurred about 10:40 p.m. May 4. Agents using a remote video surveillance system observed suspicious activity near the tunnels and responded to the location, where they encountered the group entering the country illegally, CBP officials said. Among those taken into custody were two brothers, ages 35 and 31, previously deported to Mexico following 2017 convictions in Yreka for possession, transport and intent to sell methamphetamine. One brother also faced a subsequent deportation after a 2019 drug-related arrest in Eugene, Ore. The arrested group consisted of 16 adults and three unaccompanied children, the agency reported. Following the initial apprehensions, the San Diego Sector Tunnel Team responded to clear the drainage system and confirm no other individuals remained inside. All 19 people were taken to the Chula Vista station for processing. Authorities said they will face either removal proceedings or federal criminal prosecution.

Reported similarly:
Univision [5/19/2026 2:25 PM, Staff, 4937K]

New York Post [5/19/2026 3:21 PM, Chris Nesi, 40934K] reports the Transportation Safety Administration updated its policy last month to allow medical marijuana to be taken on commercial flights. The change is significant because although cannabis for medical use is now legal in 40 US states and the District of Columbia, it remains outlawed at the federal level, which has jurisdictional control over the nation’s airports. It comes after the Trump administration signed an order reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, effectively acknowledging that it has known medicinal uses and allowing medical research at a federal level. Doctor-prescribed weed is now formally allowed on flights, both within customers’ checked and carry-on baggage, according to the TSA website, which says it’s more concerned with thwarting potential safety threats than narcing on passengers’ stashes. The agency notes that the TSA officer on duty at the time has the final say over whether an item is allowed through the security checkpoint.

The New York Post [5/19/2026 3:30 PM, Kyra Breslin, 40934K] reports in the wake of a TSA funding crisis that caused security lines of up to three hours and ensuing travel nightmares in New York City airports, the agency went public on Monday with a new initiative, TSA Gold+, an expansion on the existing Security Screening Partnership, and what the TSA is referring to as "the future of aviation security." The new security model is a public-private partnership intended to modernize and enhance current airline security at select airports. Murmurs of the launch surfaced last year, but an internal memo sent by the company on Monday confirmed the initiative’s execution. Designed to optimize security and performance, the new program aims to set the standard for technology and efficiency in the screening process through long-term partnerships with private contractors. "As the next evolution of the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), TSA Gold+ is a transformative upgrade to offer airports the opportunity to "opt in" to a public-private screening model tailored to their unique needs, ensuring continuity and operational stability even during federal government shutdowns," a TSA spokesperson wrote to the Post. USA Today [5/19/2026 3:40 PM, Mike Stunson, 70643K] reports that in an initiative with the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), TSA has introduced TSA Gold+, a streamliner it calls "an opportunity to re-imagine aviation security." TSA Gold+ is considered "the future of aviation security," according to TSA, which says the program is a "new public-private partnership aimed at modernizing aviation security at select airports across the United States." The partnership is built off the already-existing Screening Partnership Program and will "enable cutting-edge aviation security solutions." The SPP is already at 20 airports throughout the country, and the new initiative will make for more efficient screening at airports and a faster experience, TSA says. The SPP currently contracts with private companies to operate screening under TSA guidelines. It’s unclear what exactly TSA Gold+ will look like at airports. Of the 20 airports listed among SPP’s current partners, none are in the DC region. But since airports can opt-in to TSA Gold+, the area’s airports could eventually see the new program.

Reuters [5/19/2026 7:14 PM, David Shepardson, 38315K] reports a group representing major U.S. airlines opposes a White House proposal to require smaller airports to use private ​security screeners instead of the Transportation Security Administration, according to written testimony ‌seen by Reuters. Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu will tell a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday that ensuring that private security "remains an option for airports and does not become a mandatory ​program is paramount to the U.S. aviation industry." President Donald Trump last month proposed cutting more ​than 9,400 workers and just over $1.5 billion from the annual budget of ⁠the 60,000-employee TSA that handles airport security operations. The proposal is a first step ​toward privatizing the agency created after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Some Republican lawmakers have ​proposed to privatize TSA completely. The White House said the mandatory change to private security at small airports would cut the TSA payroll by more than 4,500 jobs. The TSA proposes to cut another 4,800 ​jobs by improving efficiency, ending staffing at exit lanes and eliminating redundancies. Sununu’s testimony added: "We ​are committed to TSA’s modernization efforts and support innovative solutions that accelerate the deployment of checkpoint and ‌checked ⁠baggage technology as well as algorithms that increase efficiency." The proposal would cut the agency’s $7.8 billion budget by about 20% and comes after TSA lost more than 1,600 workers during government funding disruptions last fall and this spring.

ABC News [5/19/2026 2:44 PM, Kelly McCarthy, 34146K] reports that Massachusetts Port Authority says it is testing a straight-to-gate pilot program at Logan International Airport this summer, in hopes of expediting passenger entry with a new offsite remote terminal. The move follows historically high airport security wait times this spring resulting from a partial government shutdown that led to widespread TSA agent callouts and staffing shortages. Starting June 1, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways passengers traveling on flights between 5:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. will be eligible to pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at the Logan Airport Remote Terminal in Framingham, 25 miles from the airport, and get bussed directly to their gates, according to Massachusetts Port Authority, or Massport. The new system, a collaboration between Massport and TSA, is designed to ease traffic and lines at airport security. Travelers hoping to use the new remote terminal can reserve a spot online for just $9 as early as 90 days and up until 90 minutes before departure, with kids able to ride the connecting bus free with a ticketed family member. Due to limited seating, officials recommend booking a spot sooner than later. At the remote terminal, passengers will go through the same screening process they would at Logan Airport, complete with airport security equipment and TSA officers. Both the terminal and dedicated secure busses to Boston Logan are operated by a third-party contractor, The Landline Company, and will bypass airport checkpoints to get customers directly to their flights.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [5/19/2026 2:21 PM, Andrea Sachs, 24826K]
USA Today [5/20/2026 1:21 AM, Kathleen Wong, 70643K]

AP [5/19/2026 4:05 PM, Staff, 16072K] reports that more than 17,000 people were under evacuation orders in Southern California on Tuesday as a wildfire threatened suburban homes. The wind-driven Sandy Fire was reported Monday in the hills above Simi Valley, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. By Tuesday morning, it had consumed more than two square miles (five square kilometers) of dry brush and destroyed at least one home, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The flames were initially pushed by gusts that topped 30 mph (48 kph), but firefighters were aided by calmer winds overnight, said department spokesperson Andrew Dowd. "We’ve made a lot of progress against this fire with those improved weather conditions," Dowd said. Crews hoped to make further progress before winds increased again, he said. There was zero containment. The cause is under investigation. Evacuation orders and warnings were still in place for several neighborhoods in Simi Valley, a city of more than 125,000 people. Meanwhile, firefighters were battling a 23-square-mile (59-square-kilometer) blaze on Santa Rosa Island, off the Southern California coast.

FOX News [5/19/2026 10:39 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports Fox News correspondent Christina Coleman provides updates on the massive blaze in Simi Valley, California, and a Coast Guard rescue on Santa Rosa Island on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

SFGate [5/19/2026 3:52 PM, Gillian Mohney, 10094K] reports California’s largest wildfire of the year continues to grow, with over 16,000 acres scorched on Santa Rosa Island as of Tuesday morning. The fire “remained active” overnight, spreading farther north on Santa Rosa Island, part of Channel Islands National Park. On Monday, the fire swept through the Torrey pines grove on the island, and the extent of the damage remains unknown. The fire has burned 16,600 acres, which is over 30% of the island’s 53,000 acres. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but fire started shortly after a stranded sailor set off a flare gun last Friday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The fire remains 0% contained. Currently, 78 firefighting personnel have responded to the blaze along with an air tanker. More personnel, including a Hotshot crew, are expected to arrive on Tuesday. The fire has already destroyed two historic structures on the island, the Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed and the Wreck Line Camp Cabin, and it continues to advance across the largely uninhabited island.

USA Today [5/19/2026 7:24 PM, Noe Padilla, 70643K] reports that wildfire officials are spread across Southern California on Tuesday, May 19, as they battle multiple fires that have burned more than 1,300 acres on the state’s mainland, as well as a fire on an island miles offshore. The Sandy Fire caught ablaze on May 18 and is located south of Simi Valley in Ventura County, which borders Los Angeles County. The fire was "spreading dangerously fast" as of a Cal Fire incident update just before 11:30 a.m. May 18. By Tuesday, Cal Fire put it at 1,386 acres. Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued in the area. The Burro Fire started on May 18 in the Angeles National Forest, which spans hundreds of thousands of acres and is north of Los Angeles. The blaze is located near Burro Canyon Shooting Park, according to Cal Fire’s coordinates, which is in the foothill city of Azusa. California firefighters are also battling another major blaze on an island off Santa Barbara’s coast. The Santa Rosa Island Fire, which was reported on May 15, has surpassed 14,000 acres and destroyed two historic structures, according to authorities. Late Monday night, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California had secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Sandy Fire response. The funding is provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency on a cost-share basis. Local, state and tribal agencies can apply for 75% reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs.

NewsNation [5/19/2026 6:55 PM, Zach Kaplan, 4464K] reports that authorities are searching for a missing 19-year-old who was last seen in the water off a beach in Ocean City, New Jersey, multiple outlets reported. Two people fell off their boogie boards near 10th Street Beach on Monday, spurring a water rescue effort, according to local outlet Courier-Post. One of the boogie boarders was rescued by the Ocean City Beach Patrol, the Coast Guard said, according to local outlet WPVI. The other person was reported missing around 5 p.m. and is believed to have been about 200 yards from the shore at the time of the incident, according to local outlet NJ.com. The rescued man told officials he saw the teen lose his boogie board after being hit by a wave but never saw him resurface. Lifeguards were not present at the time, and won’t be stationed at beaches on the Jersey Shore until Memorial Day, the Courier-Post reported. The U.S. Coast Guard, New Jersey State Police, local fire department rescue teams and police drones have been assisting the search, per NJ.com. The names of those involved with the incident have not yet been released publicly.

Axios [5/19/2026 3:00 PM, Sam Sabin, 17364K] reports Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) is requesting an "urgent" classified briefing from the acting director of the country’s top cyber agency after a recent leak of internal agency credentials was exposed, according to a letter first shared with Axios. This marks the first congressional response to the latest disruption to hit the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the second Trump administration. Late Monday, independent journalist Brian Krebs reported that security researchers had uncovered an exposed GitHub repository tied to a private contractor that included a vast number of internal credentials for CISA and Department of Homeland Security accounts. That repository also included files, cloud keys, tokens, plaintext passwords, logs and other sensitive agency assets, according to the report. One exposed file had what appeared to be administrative credentials stored in plain text to three Amazon AWS GovCloud accounts, per the report. The repository has since been taken down, so Axios could not independently verify the findings. Hassan, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, requested a classified briefing in a letter to acting CISA director Nick Andersen on Tuesday. She requested details on how the exposure happened, what was exposed and what steps the agency has taken to limit the damage. Hassan is also requesting details about which contractor was responsible for the blunder.

CyberScoop [5/19/2026 7:05 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports Congressional Democrats want answers from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency about the reported public exposure of sensitive agency credential data on GitHub in an incident that the security researcher who discovered it called one of the worst leaks he’s ever seen. Other security professionals also voiced concern Tuesday about the leak and the potential for abuse by any malicious parties who got a hold of the information. Security firm GitGuardian said it discovered a public GitHub repository last week that exposed credentials for privileged AWS GovCloud accounts and internal CISA systems dating back to November. The repository, apparently maintained by a contractor, was named “Private-CISA.” “My main fear … is that a state actor will get the data and might be able to do bad stuff,” GitGuardian security researcher Guillaume Valadon told CyberScoop that he thought to himself upon discovering the leak, after concluding it was real; he initially thought it looked fake. State-based attackers who obtained the credentials “might be able to gain persistence,” Valadon said, “so for me it’s even worse than an attacker destroying everything, having someone in a governmental system — it’s really, really bad.” Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, and Delia Ramirez, the top Democrat on the panel’s cyber subcommittee, demanded a briefing Tuesday in a letter to CISA’s acting director, Nick Andersen. They said they wanted to learn “how this serious security lapse occurred, any potential security consequences, remediation activities, corrective actions related to the contractor personnel involved, and efforts to monitor for and prevent similar activity from occurring in the future.”

CyberScoop [5/19/2025 5:00 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports attackers couldn’t get enough of the vulnerabilities at their disposal last year, making exploits the top initial access vector across more than 22,000 breaches Verizon analyzed in its latest Data Breach Investigations Report released Tuesday. The massive annual study uncovered a surge of exploited vulnerabilities during a one-year period ending in October 2025. Exploited defects accounted for 31% of all known initial access vectors, jumping from 20% the previous year. The uptick in exploited vulnerabilities is a reflection of the “sisyphean cause” of vulnerability management, researchers wrote in the report. “Put quite simply, there are often too many vulnerabilities and not enough time for patching all of them.” Organizations are struggling to keep up with the torrent of vulnerabilities affecting technology across their systems. This slide is especially worrisome, and declining, among defects in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s known exploited vulnerabilities catalog. Only 26% of the critical vulnerabilities in CISA’s catalog were fully remediated by more than 13,000 organizations Verizon studied in 2025, marking a drop from 38% the year prior. “There is also a worse result for the median time elapsed for a vulnerability to be fully patched by detection,” researchers wrote in the report. “Our new median time is 43 days, almost two weeks longer than last year’s 32 days.” Verizon also noted that the median number of KEV vulnerabilities that organizations had to patch jumped from 11 in 2024 to 16 in 2025.

CyberScoop [5/19/2026 11:05 AM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports Microsoft seized infrastructure and disrupted a cybercrime service that created and sold more than 1,000 code-signing certificates that other cybercriminals used to make malware-riddled software appear trusted and legitimate for follow-on cyberattacks, including ransomware, the company said Tuesday. The financially-motivated threat group, which Microsoft tracks as Fox Tempest, provided the malware-signing-as-a-service to multiple ransomware groups, including Rhysida, Vanilla Tempest, Storm-0501, Storm-2561 and Storm-0249 for at least a year before Microsoft was granted a court order to dismantle the operation. Fox Tempest, which Microsoft has been tracking since September 2025, abused Microsoft’s Artifact Signing system by fabricating identities and impersonating legitimate organizations to access the code-signing services of Microsoft, Steven Masada, assistant general counsel at Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, said during a media briefing Monday. Cybercriminals paid Fox Tempest up to $9,500 to get their malicious code signed, allowing them to slip software through defenses and bypass controls designed to confirm programs are authentic and linked to a trusted source. “This isn’t the obvious knockoff you might find on a street corner. It’s more like a counterfeit product that’s so precise that even the experts have trouble distinguishing it from the real thing,” Masada said. “It acts as a fake ID that lets cybercriminals get into systems by walking right through the front door.” While attackers and defenders have historically focused on the entry points of attacks, Fox Tempest’s operation exemplifies a broader move upstream to how attacks are built in the first place, he added. “It’s no longer just about tricking users to click on a link, it’s about exploiting the very systems that we rely on to decide what is and what isn’t safe,” Masada said.

Chicago Tribune [5/19/2026 6:44 PM, R. Christian Smith, 5209K] reports the city of Aurora is actively investigating a cyber attack that resulted in fraudulent payments being made from city accounts, according to authorities. The incident has been confirmed by the Aurora city government, the Aurora Police Department and the FBI, the latter of which said it was aware of the situation but declined to say whether it is investigating due to U.S. Department of Justice policy. The city discovered the fraudulent activity on April 30, the day after it happened, according to Aurora Mayor John Laesch. He called it a “very sophisticated cyber attack,” but said the city currently believes its internal systems were not compromised. Laesch declined to give a dollar amount, or even a ballpark estimate, for how much went missing from city accounts. The Aurora Police Department and other partners are trying to figure out the actual amount, a city spokesperson said. It is an active investigation, the spokesperson said, and do not want to compromise its integrity. Once the city became aware of the fraudulent payments, it took immediate steps to mitigate the impact and begin recovery efforts, according to a statement that Aurora provided to The Beacon-News. Officials remain hopeful that funds may be recovered as the investigation continues, the statement said, and it noted that the city maintains insurance for incidents like this one. Aurora has recovered some of the lost funds and will continue working with law enforcement until “all of it or more of it” is recovered, according to Laesch. He would not disclose the specific amount recovered so far. Specifically, the fraudulent payments were ACH transactions, which according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an electronic transfer of money between banks and credit unions. Businesses often allow the payment of bills through ACH transactions, which requires handing over a bank account number and routing number, the bureau notes on its website.

FOX News [5/19/2026 12:27 PM, Max Bacall, 37576K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday that the FBI is "manhunting" terror suspects anywhere they hide after the bureau captured two high-value targets, including an alleged Iran-linked terrorist and a senior member of Tren de Aragua (TdA). Patel highlighted the complexity of the simultaneous foreign transfers of custody on "Hannity" and warned that the FBI was "manhunting these people around the globe, putting national security first, and making sure their exploits and ties to terrorism are fully unraveled," calling it the bureau’s greatest priority. Jose Enrique Martinez Flores was extradited from Colombia and Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi terror suspect, was sent to New York on federal terror charges. Flores, also known as "Chuqui," was allegedly part of TdA’s inner circle, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He is the highest-ranking TdA member to face justice in the United States. He is charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel, including himself, and one count of providing material support to the organization. Patel said Flores is "directly tied as a senior-most member of Tren de Aragua," adding that the FBI is trying to "clean up President Biden’s open border policies."

CNN [5/19/2026 6:11 PM, Audrey Ash, Thomas Bordeaux, Brynn Gingras, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Curt Devine, Jeff Winter, Casey Tolan, 19874K] reports the attackers who killed three people Monday at a San Diego mosque shared a live video of the shooting as well as a lengthy written document citing racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic ideology. The graphic video, which CNN reviewed, appears to capture the attackers firing weapons from inside the mosque while displaying Nazi and white supremacist imagery on their weapons and clothing. Another portion of the video appears to show one gunman shooting the other inside a car and then shooting himself. One attacker was identified by authorities as 17-year-old Cain Clark; the other, an 18-year-old male, has not yet been publicly identified. The video and a 75-page hate-filled screed apparently written by the gunmen were obtained by researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which studies extremism, and provided to CNN. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the case, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, confirmed to CNN that the video is believed to be legitimate and that investigators are reviewing the writings. At a news conference, Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego office, said investigators had recovered a written "manifesto" and were analyzing it.

The AP [5/19/2026 11:48 PM, Julie Watson, Michael Biesecker and John Seewer, 34146K] reports two teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a California mosque were radicalized online where they first met and shared white supremacist views, according to authorities and writings they authored. The pair “didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Mark Remily, the lead FBI agent in San Diego, said Tuesday. The writings, obtained by The Associated Press, include hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and both the political left and right. Both express beliefs that white people are being eliminated, and one writes about mental health struggles and being rejected by women. Investigators also found at least 30 guns, ammunition and a crossbow at two residences after Monday’s attack in San Diego and were trying to uncover whether the shooters had broader plans, Remily said. The shooters, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, killed themselves, according to police. Family of the two teens could not immediately be reached for comment. Authorities praised the three men they killed — including Amin Abdullah, a beloved security guard — for slowing the attackers at the Islamic Center of San Diego and preventing them from reaching 140 schoolchildren just steps away. Imam Taha Hassane said Abdullah engaged the suspects in a gunbattle and called for a lockdown on his radio. He “sacrificed his life to stop them from getting inside the classrooms.” The shooting was the latest in a string of attacks on houses of worship and comes amid rising threats and hate crimes targeting the Muslim and Jewish communities since the beginning of war in the Middle East, forcing increases in security. Authorities have said there was no specific threat against the Islamic center, which is the largest mosque in San Diego and also houses a school, police said. In Cain’s writings, he calls for Muslims to be “exterminated.” The document includes symbols long associated with white supremacists and Nazis. The two referred to themselves as “Sons of Tarrant,” an apparent reference to the white supremacist who attacked mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, killing 51 people. Muslim American organizations noted that anti-Muslim rhetoric has been on the rise across the U.S. The two suspects met online before discovering they both lived in the San Diego area, the FBI said. “In terms of how the radicalization occurred, we’re still digging into that,” Remily said. James Canning, a spokesman for San Diego Unified School District, said Clark had been attending school online since 2021 and was set to graduate next month. In 2024, he was a member of the wrestling team at Madison High School. Canning said Clark had no record of disciplinary issues in high school. Neighbors Marne and Ted Celaya said they last saw Clark a few hours before the shooting and that he waved as he got into a car alone and drove away. They described the family as good neighbors and recalled watching Cain grow up. “It’s unbelievable,” Marne Celaya said of the shooting. “He’s helped me bring in my groceries.” CBS News [5/19/2026 7:13 PM, Anna Schecter, 51110K] Video: HERE reports that the teens filmed their own attack Monday and the gruesome 10 minute video was widely shared to a gore website where people post videos depicting violence. CBS News has previously reported on past mass shooters who have spent time on the platform. After carrying out the attack that killed three people — including a security guard who was praised for saving countless others — the video shows Clark, wearing camouflage, fatally shooting Vazquez before taking his own life. The video also shows weapons and gear emblazoned with neo-Nazi insignias. ABC News [5/20/2026 3:09 AM, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Aaron Katersky, Mike Levine, and Chris Looft, 34146K] reports that sources said a video posted to an online gore site allegedly shows the suspects approaching the center and then opening fire, with a person believed to be suspect Clark wearing camouflage fatigues and a plate carrier. In a later portion of the video, sources said the person believed to be Clark can be seen reaching into the backseat of the vehicle and then shooting Vazquez, before chambering a second round and taking his own life. The video and items found with the suspects’ bodies appeared to indicate associations with extremist ideology, law enforcement officials said. A Sonnenrad patch, depicting a neo-Nazi symbol, and what analysts assess is likely a patch for a militant accelerationist group, are both visible on the plate carrier being worn by the person believed to be Clark, according to sources. Additionally, writings are visible on a gun, including drawings of SS bolts and neo-Nazi insignias, sources said. Further symbols associated with neo-Nazism and militant accelerationism were found at the scene of the shooting, including a flag with a Sonnenrad on it and a gas can with SS bolts drawn on it, according to sources. Investigators are examining a lengthy document circulating online that is comprised of two hate-filled essays totaling 75 pages allegedly written by the suspected shooters, sources told ABC News.

New York Times [5/19/2026 4:01 PM, Tim Arango, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Madison Malone Kircher and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, 148038K] reports the teenagers met online and bonded over shared hatreds. When they realized they both lived in the San Diego area, they met in person. And when they decided to kill, they apparently livestreamed themselves. A video that they appear to have recorded shows them dressed in camouflage tactical gear, affixed with a white supremacist symbol, as they approached a mosque on Monday and opened fire, killing three people. San Diego police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday that the teenagers had been radicalized online and that one of them had access to an arsenal of weapons at home. After the attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, investigators discovered a document that laid out their bigoted worldview, Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s San Diego field office, said at a news conference. Mr. Remily said that in the car in which the teenagers were found dead, investigators discovered “writings and various ideologies outlining religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envision should look. These subjects did not discriminate on who they hated.” The attack was yet another example of how the combination of alienated young men with access to guns and a hateful online community that welcomes them can lead to a spasm of real-world violence. While the police in San Diego have not publicly named either suspect, two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter identified them as Cain Clark, 17, a former high school wrestler; and Caleb Vazquez, 18. Minutes after the Monday afternoon attack, police officers found them dead in a white BMW, along with a gas can bearing Nazi S.S. insignia. The police have said the teenagers died from gunshots, and a video that has appeared online appears to show one shooting the other before turning the gun on himself. James Canning, a spokesman for the San Diego Unified School District, said Mr. Clark had been scheduled to graduate this year from iHigh Virtual Academy, an online school within the district. Mr. Clark was a member of the wrestling team at Madison High School last year, but had not been involved in extracurricular activities this year, Mr. Canning said. He said that Mr. Clark had not had any disciplinary infractions since elementary school. The San Diego police had been searching for the teenagers for two hours before the shooting, scouring California’s second largest city after Mr. Clark’s mother called the police and said her son was missing, and possibly suicidal. She also said she couldn’t find several of her guns, that her car was missing and that her son was probably with a friend. Mr. Remily said on Tuesday that the F.B.I. had searched three homes linked to the teenagers and had confiscated more than 30 guns, including pistols and rifles, as well as ammunition and tactical gear. They even discovered a crossbow at one of the homes. Mr. Remily said the weapons were registered to the parents of one of the suspects. No one answered the door at the light blue house in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego where Mr. Clark is believed to have lived. A Ford F350 sat in the driveway, near trash barrels and a can for cigarette butts. Efforts to reach relatives and associates of Mr. Vazquez were unsuccessful Tuesday. A man who answered the door at the family’s duplex in a cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood said he would not speak with a reporter. Neighbors said they had seen detectives and police officers at the home overnight and on Tuesday morning. Two of Mr. Clark’s former wrestling teammates described him on Tuesday as “awkward,” and someone they did not get to know well.

NPR [5/20/2026 4:46 AM, Odette Yousef and Leila Fadel, 34837K] reports authorities say a deadly attack on a mosque in San Diego may be a hate crime. Online materials believed to be tied to the shooters appear to fit an established category of white supremacist violence. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

CNN [5/19/2026 7:21 PM, Andy Rose, et al., 19874K] reports Less than two weeks before his death, Amin Abdullah said his view of success was basedlnot on what people thought of him in life, but whether he had a "pure soul" at the end. "May Allahu ta’ala (God almighty) grant us Husnal Khatimah (a righteous ending to life)," Abdullah posted to Facebook on May 5. "Brother Amin Abdullah got exactly what he desired," said a man commenting on that Facebook post Monday, hours after the security guard was killed while protecting adults and children inside the Islamic Center of San Diego from a pair of teenage shooters. Abdullah was one of three beloved community members who died protecting the mosque from what police have said they’re investigating as a hate crime. The two other men, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad, were fixtures of the center who were killed while trying to draw the attackers away from the building. "We call them our brothers in the community, we call them our martyrs and our heroes," Taha Hassane, imam and director of the Islamic Center, said Tuesday. The heroic and selfless actions of the victims ultimately saved lives by preventing the two attackers from penetrating deeper into the building, investigators have said. "All three of our victims did not die in vain," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said Tuesday. "Without distracting the attention, without delaying the actions of these two individuals, without question there would have been many more fatalities yesterday.” Like many religious institutions in America, the Islamic Center had bolstered its security after receiving vitriolic messages and worrying threats. It erected a fence, installed bulletproof windows and held regular active shooter drills at its school.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [5/19/2026 11:13 AM, Emily Mae Czachor, Kiki Intarasuwan, Jonathan Vigliotti, and Michele Gile, 51110K] Video: HERE
Washington Examiner [5/19/2026 12:11 PM, Claire Carter, 1147K]

Washington Post [5/19/2026 12:25 PM, N. Kirkpatrick, Victoria Craw, and Daniel Wu, 24826K] reports the three men killed in the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday were a shopkeeper, his friend and a security guard who had warned teachers inside the mosque’s school to lock the classroom doors before his death, according to the center’s director — an action that he said probably saved many lives. Imam Taha Hassane said that the storekeeper had worked at the mosque for 40 years and that the friend was a neighbor who lived across the street. When the attack unfolded, Hassane said, he and his wife were hiding in their apartment upstairs and didn’t see the shooters. But he could hear gunshots. “We could hear everything,” he said. The security guard was killed first, Hassane said. But before he died, the man used his radio to warn the teachers at the school to lock the classroom doors. There were 200 children inside at the time, he said. “By doing this, he saved so many, many, many souls,” Hassane said. Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, named the security guard as Amin Abdullah, a father of eight. He declined to name the other victims but said all three were beloved and trusted members of the community. Authorities are working to piece together what led to the shooting, which is being treated as a hate crime, and have not confirmed the names of the victims or the suspects. The two suspects, males ages 17 and 18, were found in a car in the middle of the street a few blocks away, dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds, authorities said Monday.

Breitbart [5/19/2026 8:52 AM, Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, 2238K] reports Mexico’s financial enforcement groups moved to freeze the assets of Sinaloa’s governor and nine of his closest allies who are wanted on drug charges in the U.S. President Claudia Sheinbaum, however, was quick to defend his innocence, claiming that the move was not the result of an investigation in Mexico. During her morning news conference, Sheinbaum announced that Mexico’s Financial Crimes Unit (UIF) had moved to freeze the assets and accounts of Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine of his closest allies. As Breitbart Texas has reported, the 10 individuals have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with drug trafficking conspiracy, weapons, and various other charges, alleging they worked for the Sinaloa Cartel while in office. Two of those individuals have since turned themselves in to U.S. authorities, despite Sheinbaum claiming that the United States has not presented any evidence to show that the men did anything wrong. In her conference, Sheinbaum claimed that the UIF’s move was automatic and a preventive measure, driven by the unit’s working relationship with U.S. financial authorities. She said the move was done because they are wanted in the United States. Sheinbaum stated that the accounts and assets were not frozen in connection with any investigation in Mexico. She has previously claimed that they are not the target of any investigation in Mexico and that the indictment made public by the U.S. Department of Justice was made for political reasons. Since then, she has taken an even more defiant tone in various public speeches. Sheinbaum and her government have sought to protect Rocha Moya since he is a close political ally and friend of MORENA Party founder and former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Currently, Mexican federal police forces are protecting Rocha Moya in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

AP [5/19/2026 10:47 AM, Staff, 38315K] reports the U.S. will pull more troops from Europe but ‌the process will stretch over years to give allies time to develop capabilities to replace them, NATO’s top commander said on Tuesday. U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich was speaking after decisions by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to withdraw some 5,000 troops from Germany and cancel deployment of long-range Tomahawk missiles. European officials were surprised by the timing of the troop ⁠announcement and by U.S. officials linking it to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the U.S. strategy in the Iran war. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of NATO military chiefs in Brussels, Grynkewich said the decision was the only such move he was aware of "in the near-term" and would not affect the alliance’s ability to execute its defence plans. European governments say they have heeded Trump’s call to spend more on defence and take more responsibility for the continent’s security. But they fear a hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops and weapons could leave Europe vulnerable to a military ‌attack from ⁠Russia, although Moscow denies any such intention.

AP [5/19/2026 1:55 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 2493K] reports that a panel of appellate judges appeared to be divided on Tuesday over a legal dispute between the Pentagon and technology company Anthropic, which claims Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unlawfully and falsely branded it as a national security risk for raising ethical and safety concerns about AI usage in war. Three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit didn’t indicate how soon they would rule on Anthropic’s appeal, but some of their questions and remarks hinted at how they might decide the case. Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson said she sees no evidence to support the Pentagon’s determination that Anthropic poses a supply-chain risk to national security. "To me, this is just a spectacular overreach by the (Defense) Department," said Henderson, who was nominated by Republican President George H. W. Bush. Judge Neomi Rao, who was nominated by Republican President Donald Trump, questioned what basis the court could have for second-guessing Hegseth’s judgment. The Pentagon’s dispute with Anthropic centers on how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. Judge Gregory Katsas, another Trump nominee, also heard Tuesday’s arguments.

NBC News [5/19/2026 6:53 PM, Michael Kosnar, et al., 2524K] reports a U.S. indictment of former Cuban president Raúl Castro is expected to be announced Wednesday in Miami, two federal sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News. The event, to be held by the Justice Department and the FBI, will be at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, and it is expected to come in conjunction with a ceremony to honor victims of the Brothers to the Rescue murders of 1996. Castro, 94, and his brother, Fidel Castro, were accused of ordering the Cuban air force to shoot down two civilian planes that belonged to the Brothers nonprofit group, which carried out rescue missions to save Cubans fleeing their homeland. Two of the organization’s planes were shot down on Feb. 24, 1996, after they departed from Florida. Four Cuban Americans were killed. The sources confirmed that a grand jury returned an indictment after it heard evidence but said they haven’t seen the paperwork and can’t describe the actual charges. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will headline the event along with FBI co-Deputy Director Christopher Raia and the U.S. attorney from Miami, along with Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.

Reported similarly:
Telemundo52 [5/19/2026 6:12 PM, Staff, 61K]

Reuters [5/19/2026 10:18 PM, Andrew Goudsward and Jana Winter, 38315K] reports the U.S. is pursuing a second criminal investigation into ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, ‌raising the possibility that he could face additional charges, according to a Justice Department official and another source familiar with the matter. The second investigation, run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami, has been ongoing for months, according to the two sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a pending investigation. The Florida probe ⁠was active at the time that President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military raid that captured Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, in January, according to the DOJ official. It has examined potential money laundering allegations, according to the other source. A lawyer for Maduro and a Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CBS News was first to report on the second investigation run out of Florida. It is not clear if that probe will lead to additional charges. Maduro has already been charged in federal court in Manhattan ‌with narcoterrorism ⁠conspiracy and other offenses tied to alleged drug trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in a Brooklyn jail. The New York indictment, originally filed in 2020, was cited as legal justification for the U.S. special forces raid in Caracas that deposed Maduro as Venezuela’s leader. The Florida investigation could ⁠give the Justice Department a fallback option if it faces legal complications in Maduro’s New York case. Trump in March suggested that Maduro will face additional charges in the U.S. The same U.S. Attorney’s Office in ⁠Miami on Monday unsealed money laundering charges against Maduro ally Alex Saab. The office is also expected on Wednesday to charge former Cuban President Raul Castro over the downing of planes piloted by ⁠a Cuban exile group in 1996. Saab’s arrest and deportation suggested a new level of collaboration between U.S. and Venezuelan law enforcement under acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [5/19/2026 1:03 PM, Sarah N. Lynch and Jennifer Jacobs, 51110K]

Axios [5/19/2026 1:46 PM, Barak Ravid, 17364K] reports that President Trump convened a meeting on Iran with his top national security team on Monday evening that included a briefing on military options, two U.S. officials told Axios. Why it matters: The meeting took place several hours after Trump announced he was suspending attacks he claimed were planned for Tuesday. Trump continues to claim Iran has only a few days to reach a diplomatic breakthrough. He said Monday that the deadline was "two-three days, maybe Friday or Saturday, early next week." While Trump has repeatedly threatened military action during the ceasefire without following through, the fact that he was briefed on military plans on Monday suggests he’s seriously considering resuming the war. Behind the scenes: U.S. officials say Trump hadn’t actually made a decision to strike Iran before announcing a pause. On Tuesday, he said he’d been "an hour away" from giving the order. Some officials did expect Trump to decide on strikes in a meeting with his national security team that was expected on Tuesday, but ultimately took place on Monday evening. His decision to hold off was partially due to concerns raised by several Gulf leaders about Iranian retaliation against their oil facilities and infrastructure, U.S. officials and regional sources say. The U.S. officials said the Gulf leaders urged Trump to give negotiations another chance.

CBS News [5/19/2026 6:11 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports a recent American intelligence assessment showed that U.S. forces have identified at least 10 mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The officials spoke with CBS News anonymously in order to discuss sensitive national security matters. CBS News previously reported in March that there were at least a dozen underwater mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to American intelligence assessments at the time. The same month, officials said the mines currently employed by Iran in the strait are the Iranian-manufactured Maham 3 and Maham 7 Limpet mines. Another U.S. official put the count at less than a dozen. The Maham 3 is a moored naval mine that uses magnetic and acoustic sensors to detect nearby vessels without physical contact. It can engage targets within about 10 feet, analyzing movement to determine the most effective moment to activate. The Maham 7 is known as a "sticking mine" and is designed to rest along the seabed, relying on a combination of acoustic and three-axis magnetic sensors to detect nearby vessels. It targets medium-sized ships, landing craft and smaller submarines. CBS News was unable to determine what type of mines were in involved in this latest assessment. Earlier this month, the U.S. military began directing commercial ships toward a route in the Strait of Hormuz farther from Iran that the Navy has spent weeks clearing of mines. The U.S. warned that transiting the normal route could be "extremely hazardous" because of mines laid in the strait by Iran. The Pentagon this month displayed a graphic saying Iran had laid new mines in the strait on April 23.

Breitbart [5/19/2026 11:15 AM, Frances Martel, 2238K] reports Iran recently sent an updated peace proposal to America via Pakistani mediators, the Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday, which reportedly includes demands for "reparations" and no meaningful concessions on the country’s illicit nuclear activity. The Iranian Tasnim News Agency, which is believed to be close to the Islamist regime, first reported the existence of an undated proposal to end the current conflict delivered to the United States. According to Tasnim’s "source close to the Iranian negotiating team," Tehran’s proposed deal would require America to pay unspecified "reparations" for the destruction caused by its bombing during "Operation Epic Fury." The new proposal also reportedly demands the lifting of all sanctions on the Iranian regime, placed in response to both the illicit nuclear program and Iran’s long history of human rights atrocities and sponsorship of terrorism. Iran is also reportedly demanding that America unfreeze Iranian assets seized in response to its terrorist activities. "Iran, in line with the recent practice of exchanging messages, has once again submitted its text in 14 points through the Pakistani mediator after making amendments," the anonymous source told Tasnim. In a separate article, the anonymous source told Tasnim that Iran was "very serious in its determination to take compensation from the American side" for assets destroyed by the U.S. military and "will not give up its decisive and principled stances on the issue of ending the (recent US-Israeli) war and realizing the rights of the Iranian people." The regime typically describes high levels of uranium enrichment incompatible with any known civilian use as a "right" of the "Iranian people.” The source also suggested that the new 14-point proposal did not address the nuclear issue, dismissing concerns from the administration of President Donald Trump that the regime is working towards building a nuclear weapon as unreasonable. "It is against logic and Iran will not agree with it. The Americans must understand that Iran will not agree to end the war in return for nuclear commitments," the source was quoted as saying, calling nuclear concerns "an excuse and deception by the Americans.” The Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday that Iran had indeed submitted a peace proposal, adding that Iran is also demanding that Israel end its ongoing invasion of Lebanon and "the exit of U.S. forces from areas close to Iran." Iranian officials also requested that America end its ongoing blockade of Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which is in place in response to Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatening all commercial shipping in the strait and bombing ships attempting to pass through the region entirely unrelated to the conflict.

FOX News [5/19/2026 1:54 PM, Morgan Phillips, 37576K] reports that the commander of U.S. Africa Command warned lawmakers that Africa has become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s "purse" for fueling the war in Ukraine, as a shrinking American military footprint leaves the U.S. facing an "intelligence black hole" across the continent. Gen. Dagvin Anderson told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday that Russia, China and terrorist groups are rapidly expanding their influence in Africa while the U.S. and allied drawdowns have weakened America’s ability to monitor emerging threats. Anderson warned that Africa has become the "epicenter of global terrorism," with ISIS leadership now concentrated on the continent and al Qaeda affiliates threatening to seize territory and destabilize governments. "With a 75% reduction in our regional posture over the past decade, compounded by the drawdown of our allies, we struggle with an intelligence black hole," Anderson said. "You cannot surge trust," he added, arguing that reduced U.S. presence has damaged long-term relationships and crisis response capabilities across the continent. Anderson’s testimony painted a picture of adversarial powers and extremist groups exploiting the same instability and governance vacuums across parts of the continent. "Africa also serves as Putin’s purse, where Russia exploits instability to extract resources, including human lives, to fuel its war machine," Anderson said.

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