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.

Roll Call [5/5/2026 7:00 AM, David Lerman, 673K] reports two Republican-led Senate committees late Monday released legislative text to flesh out a nearly $70 billion reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement agencies at the Department of Homeland Security through the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. The Senate Judiciary Committee text shows that panel’s piece of the package would amount to nearly $39.2 billion, which includes nearly $2.5 billion for the Justice Department and Secret Service on top of DHS funding. A separate title from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee would provide $32.5 billion, bringing the total to $71.7 billion in new spending. Under the combined package, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would receive about $38.2 billion. The Judiciary title would provide over $30.7 billion of that figure, to be used for hiring and training, transportation, information technology, agreements with local police departments under the so-called 287(g) program and more. An additional $7.45 billion in the Homeland Security Committee’s jurisdiction would go towards ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit. The group conducts criminal investigations into drug and weapons smuggling, human trafficking, cybercrime and potential terrorist activities. Customs and Border Protection would get a little more than $26 billion, including nearly $22.6 billion for Border Patrol and other agency personnel, air and marine agents and field support. There’s an additional $3.45 billion for border security technology and screening efforts, including "non-intrusive equipment" that employs artificial intelligence to combat narcotics trafficking and screen individuals entering or leaving the U.S.

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NewsMax [5/5/2026 11:50 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K]

The New York Times [5/5/2026 9:14 PM, Carl Hulse, 148038K] reports that Senate Republicans have inserted $1 billion for White House East Wing security enhancements in the immigration enforcement funding bill they hope to rush through Congress this month, setting up a political fight over a ballroom that President Trump has said would be financed with private money. The leaders of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees on Monday released plans for the roughly $70 billion package, which would significantly bolster spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol through the end of Mr. Trump’s term using a party-line legislative process that can skirt a filibuster. A surprise addition to the measure was the $1 billion proposed by the Judiciary Committee for security work related to Mr. Trump’s East Wing renovation. The measure does not mention the president’s proposed new ballroom, which is being challenged in court, but Mr. Trump has insisted that a main reason for the project is to enhance security. While the president has previously insisted that the renovation would be funded through private donations, a spokesman on Tuesday said the White House applauded the proposed security funding for a “long overdue” project. Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans have escalated their efforts to defend the project after the attempted assault late last month at a journalism gala in Washington attended by the president. The AP [5/5/2026 12:29 PM, Mary Clare Jalonick, 16072K] reports that the GOP bill released late Monday would designate the money for the U.S. Secret Service for "security adjustments and upgrades" related to the ballroom project, which Trump and Republicans have been pushing since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly stormed the April 25 media dinner at the Washington Hilton with guns and knives. The legislation says the money would support enhancements to the ballroom project, "including above-ground and below-ground security features," but also specifies that the money may not be used for non-security elements. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle praised Republicans for including the money for the "long overdue" project, saying it would "provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS." The money is part of a larger bill to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, as Democrats have been blocking funds for both agencies since mid-February. Congress passed bipartisan legislation to fund the rest of the Homeland Security Department on April 30 after a record-long shutdown, but Republicans are using a partisan budget maneuver to push through the ICE and Border Patrol dollars on their own. The House has not released its bill yet, but the Senate is expected to start voting on its version of the legislation next week. Reuters [5/5/2026 2:17 PM, Nolan D. McCaskill, 38315K] reports President Donald Trump has said private donations would pay for the estimated $400 million ballroom project. The funding package text does not say how much of the new Secret Service funds will pay for the ballroom. The proposed infusion of Secret Service funds was released late Monday as part of a nearly $72 billion package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border ⁠Protection through 2029 on a party-line vote. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s proposal includes $19 billion for CBP personnel and $7.5 billion for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s bill gives CBP nearly $3.5 billion and ICE nearly $31 billion for immigration enforcement. Additional funds from the bills would go to the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service, as well as toward border security and technology. Trump signed a bill on Thursday to fund most of DHS through September, ending a 76-day partial government shutdown over immigration enforcement following the deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis. Republicans in Congress have begun a process known as reconciliation to fund ICE and CBP without ‌Democratic votes. ⁠Reconciliation allows Senate Republicans to circumvent the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation. CNN [5/5/2026 10:50 AM, Ellis Kim, Lauren Fox, and Manu Raju, 19874K] reports that the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees are aiming to spend roughly $38 billion for ICE and around $26 billion for US Customs and Border Patrol functions and upgrades, according to legislative text released by the panels. The funding would run through the end of September 2029. The Judiciary Committee also tucked in the additional $1 billion in Secret Service funding that could go toward Trump’s ballroom project. The text allocates the cash for "security adjustments and upgrades … to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features," later stating the funding can’t be used for "non-security elements" of the project. The Trump administration has long said the president would rely on money from private donors rather than American taxpayers, to fund his East Wing renovation. But in the wake of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month, Republicans have grown increasingly vocal about the need for a White House ballroom, with some arguing that the public should foot some of the cost to aid construction. The Washington Post [5/5/2026 12:33 PM, Dan Diamond, Jonathan Edwards, and Riley Beggin, 24826K] reports that the proposed legislative text says the money would be used for both aboveground and underground security features that the administration has declined to fully detail. The text explicitly says the money could not be used for “non-security elements” of the project, a reference to Trump’s planned ballroom. “This bill does not fund ballroom construction,” Grassley spokeswoman Clare Slattery said in a statement. “It provides funds for Secret Service enhancements that will ensure all presidents, their families and their staffs are adequately protected.” The legislative proposal comes amid a legal battle over whether the project can proceed, with U.S. District Judge Richard Leon last month ordering a halt to aboveground construction on the ballroom unless Congress authorizes the project, saying that work related to national security can continue. An appeals court panel has stayed Leon’s order while it considers the case.

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Politico [5/5/2026 12:34 PM, Jordain Carney, 21784K]
The Hill [5/5/2026 3:50 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K]
NewsMax [5/5/2026 1:00 PM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K]
Chicago Tribune [5/5/2026 1:28 PM, Mary Clare Jalonick, 5209K]
Daily Caller [5/5/2026 11:47 AM, Ireland Owens, 803K]

FOX News [5/5/2026 9:35 AM, Alex Miller, 37576K] reports Senate Republicans tucked an eye-popping figure into funding for security measures tied to President Donald Trump’s ballroom, a project the administration once touted as being completely privately funded. The GOP released legislation for its immigration enforcement-focused reconciliation package late Monday night, setting the total spending at $72 billion. But it also included $1 billion in taxpayer funding for security enhancements related to the ballroom addition to the White House. Republicans had largely kept an arm’s length distance from the project, which Trump first announced last year. The construction drew criticism over the demolition of the East Wing and the flow of outside funding, which the administration has touted as a win for taxpayers. But since the third apparent assassination attempt against Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton last month, Republicans have jumped on the ballroom bandwagon. The funding is tucked into the Senate Judiciary Committee’s portion of the reconciliation package, which tees up nearly $31 billion for ICE, $3.5 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), $2.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and just shy of $1.5 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 11:52 AM, Molly Parks, 1147K] reports Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released the Senate Judiciary Committee’s reconciliation bill text that includes a funding provision for security-related features in President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom. The bill text has caught media attention since its release because it would allocate $1 billion toward security enhancements to Trump’s ballroom project, a project the president has insisted would be funded by private donors. However, despite concerns from Democrats, the chairman’s proposed language does not directly fund the cosmetic construction of the ballroom, also called the East Wing Modernization project. As written, it only funds Secret Service-related elements of the facility. "The bill provides funding for Secret Service security enhancements — and explicitly prohibits funds from going to non-security ‘ballroom’ elements," Clare Slattery, Grassley’s communications director, said in a statement. The Judiciary Republican’s proposed reconciliation bill text outlines funding for Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, general Department of Homeland Security initiatives, the Department of Justice, and the Secret Service. Under the Secret Service section, the proposed title allocates $1 billion for "security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project." The funding, which would be available until Sept. 30, 2029, says the enhancements include "above-ground and below-ground security features" of the ballroom.

Axios [5/5/2026 7:07 PM, Staff, 17364K] reports a Republican proposal to spend $1 billion on security measures for the White House ballroom President Trump is building sent House Democrats into a frenzy on Tuesday. To many lawmakers, it’s a grim display of how far Republicans have gone in subordinating Congress’ prerogatives to the executive branch. "Their political castration is complete," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios. "They’re sending Trump $1 billion to build a gilded room for their balls." "People are not happy," a senior House Democrat told Axios, speaking on the condition of anonymity to relay details of private discussions. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday released the text of a proposed $72 billion reconciliation package to fund federal law enforcement. The legislation includes $1 billion to "support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project." Grassley’s office stressed that the money can only be used to secure the ballroom, with his spokesperson noting that the legislative text specifically prohibits the use of the funds for "non-security elements" of the project. Bloomberg [5/5/2026 12:49 PM, Lillianna Byington, 111K] reports that "While Americans are struggling to make ends meet as a result of President Trump’s failed policies, Republicans are focused on providing tens of billions of dollars for the President’s vanity ballroom project and cruel mass deportation campaign," said Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The GOP push to provide security enhancements for the ballroom comes after a gunman rushed through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton, where Trump and other top officials were in attendance. The minority will get another chance to force politically challenging votes on the Senate floor as Republicans move forward in the partisan reconciliation process during the next vote-a-rama, where Democrats are likely to home in on costs and the ballroom. The Senate returns from recess next week and will have to move quickly to meet Trump’s goal of getting the bill to his desk by June 1.

NPR [5/6/2026 4:45 AM, Eric McDaniel and A Martínez, 34837K] reports Republicans are proposing $1 billion for White House security, insisting the funding would be put toward long overdue upgrades, and not President Trump’s desired ballroom. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

NewsMax [5/5/2026 10:26 PM, Staff, 3760K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Newsmax on Tuesday the Trump administration is continuing full-scale immigration enforcement but is deliberately taking a lower-profile approach than his predecessor, Kristi Noem, to allow agents to operate without interference. "We’re staying focused on all illegals, without question," Mullin told "Rob Schmitt Tonight," pushing back on criticism that the Department of Homeland Security is prioritizing only criminal illegal immigrants. "That doesn’t mean we’re slowing down even a little bit.” Mullin said the shift is largely about strategy and visibility, not substance. "We’re purposely trying to be a little bit more quiet," he said, adding that he made clear during his confirmation process that he wanted "to get DHS out of the headlines so our ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents, our CBP [Customs and Border Protection] agents ... could go do their job without being harassed by the media.” Under Noem, DHS frequently highlighted enforcement actions publicly. Mullin said his approach is to reduce publicity while maintaining — and in some cases accelerating — operations. "Just yesterday, we arrested over 1,900 individuals. We have over 60,000 individuals that are currently being detained going through the process of being deported," he said. "Last week, we deported over 2,700.” He acknowledged legal challenges have slowed some removals but added, "We haven’t missed a beat. We’re still on track, pushing as hard as we can.” A key operational difference is increased coordination with local law enforcement through programs like 287(g), which allows state and local agencies to assist with federal immigration enforcement. "We just are doing it in a different way by using local law enforcement to work with us," Mullin said, noting he met with local officials Tuesday to expand those efforts. He contrasted that with the Biden administration, saying ICE agents previously faced restrictions. "They couldn’t even go pick up individuals when local law enforcement would hold them," he said, adding agents also struggled to deport individuals after prison release. Mullin said the administration is now "leaning extremely hard on that," while also ramping up hiring and targeting broader populations, including unaccounted-for migrant children.

Breitbart [5/6/2026 12:15 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports that, on Tuesday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin responded to a question on whether the agency has “moved to criminal illegal aliens as a focus” by saying that they are not and “we’re staying focused on all illegals, without question.” But the agency is trying to do things without attracting as much media attention. Host Rob Schmitt asked, “Are we staying strong on the idea of deportations for all illegals, or have we moved to criminal illegal aliens as a focus?” Mullin answered, “No, we’re staying focused on all illegals, without question.” Mullin added, “We’re purposely trying to be a little bit more quiet. I made this very clear, when we were moving forward with my nomination, that I wanted to get DHS out of the headlines so our ICE agents, our CBP agents, and all the other law enforcement agencies we have underneath DHS could go do their jobs without being harassed by the media. That doesn’t mean we’re slowing down even a little bit. In fact, just yesterday, we arrested over 1,900 individuals. We have over 60,000 individuals that are currently being detained, going through the process of being deported. Last week, we deported over 2,700. We’re getting slowed down a little bit because of some of our court issues. We’re working through that, but we haven’t missed a beat. We’re still on track, pushing as hard as we can. We just are doing it in a different way, by using local law enforcement to work with us.”

ABC News [5/5/2026 10:51 PM, Aaron Katersky, 34146K] reports the relatives of some migrants in ICE detention are being scammed into paying for fake legal services that purport to help free them, law enforcement officials say.

NewsNation [5/5/2026 2:47 PM, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports that as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin settles into a role he moved into earlier this year, the Trump administration is taking a more aggressive, three-pronged approach to keeping the U.S.-Mexico border secure. Mullin, the former Oklahoma Republican U.S. senator, was confirmed as the head of DHS in March after President Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem earlier this year. Some conservatives have indicated that Mullin’s approach to the U.S.-Mexico border has not been aggressive enough and too low-profile. Todd Lyons, the acting U.S. Immigration and Customs director, has also announced he will be leaving the agency at the end of May, creating another leadership shift within DHS. Yet, that hasn’t changed the Trump administration’s commitment to locking down the southern border, whether that be in the number of illegal migrant crossings or in combatting cartel activity in both the United States and Mexico. With illegal border crossings down significantly since Trump took office in early 2025, DHS had turned to cracking down on illegal immigration in federal enforcement operations in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. But after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by federal agents and officers in January, leadership at the top of DHS changed amid concerns over the aggressive nature of those operations. Despite Mullin saying he will use a softer touch on immigration enforcement than Noem, Trump administration officials insist that its bottom line hasn’t changed. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [5/5/2026 12:35 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18170K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it has shut down an office dedicated to serving as a watchdog for those in immigration detention. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) is now archived on the DHS website, closing an office where people could report misconduct, excessive force or other violations of a migrant’s rights. The confirmation comes after HuffPost first reported its closure. “DHS did not shutdown the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman – Congress did,” a DHS spokesperson said by email. “The House passed the DHS appropriations bill without objection, and it was signed into law last week.” The bill to end this historic DHS shutdown was silent on OIDO and did not mandate its closure, clearing funding for the Transportation Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard and Secret Service through the end of the fiscal year.

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Breitbart [5/5/2026 6:22 PM, Staff, 2238K]

FedScoop [5/5/2026 3:10 PM, Lindsey Wilkinson, 56K] report the Department of Homeland Security has fallen short of compliance requirements and existing standards when it comes to managing, securing and deploying mobile devices within its CIO and intelligence office, according to the agency’s latest inspector general report. The watchdog’s audit found that mobile apps with vulnerabilities were installed, appropriate security settings were skipped over, high-risk app restrictions were ignored and device infrastructure was insufficient. The lagging security standards were widespread, according to the DHS OIG. More than three-quarters of the 650 mobile apps installed on the intelligence office’s mobile devices posed security risks, were explicitly prohibited or allowed prohibited activities. Some of these apps were associated with foreign adversaries, pertained to outside employment or were outright banned by the National Defense Authorization Act. DHS’s inspector general office conducted the audit from December 2023 through March 2025. As part of that work, the team interviewed officials and staff, assessed internal controls, compared inventory lists and gathered usage reports, among other steps to determine management and security of the devices. OCIO denied the OIG’s request for “read-only direct system access to ServiceNow,” which prevented a comprehensive risk assessment of mobile device ticketing data, according to the internal, independent watchdog. “DHS believes the OIG’s allegation that the Office of the Chief Information Officer denied the OIG’s request for read-only direct system access is misleading and lacks important context,” Jeffrey Bobich, director of financial management at DHS’s OCFO, said in response to the draft report.

FOX News [5/5/2026 9:42 PM, Sophia Compton, 37576K] reports U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said Tuesday that the U.S. military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three suspected narco-terrorists. The strike, which was conducted by Joint Task Force Southern Spear at the direction of Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, targeted a vessel that was operating along known narco-trafficking corridors and engaged in narco-trafficking activity. No U.S. service members were injured in the operation, according to SOUTHCOM. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the command wrote on X. "Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed." SOUTHCOM did not immediately release further information about those killed. The U.S. military has carried out numerous strikes in recent months on suspected drug-smuggling vessels as part of a broader campaign to dismantle cartel-linked trafficking operations. The announcement comes a day after SOUTHCOM said it conducted a similar strike in the Caribbean on Monday, killing two suspected drug traffickers. Earlier, on April 24, SOUTHCOM carried out a lethal strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing two suspected narco-terrorists. That strike followed less than a week after SOUTHCOM said it conducted an operation in the Caribbean, killing three suspected narco-terrorists. SOUTHCOM is responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including counter-narcotics missions aimed at disrupting drug trafficking networks that threaten U.S. interests. The Eastern Pacific remains a key corridor for narcotics trafficking, with cartels often using small, fast-moving vessels to transport drugs toward the U.S. and Central America.

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Telemundo [5/5/2026 11:53 PM, Staff, 2524K]

Breitbart [5/5/2026 3:23 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2238K] reports the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Monday that U.S. forces carried out a new "lethal kinetic strike" against a drug-trafficking vessel in Caribbean waters, killing two men identified as narco-terrorists. Monday’s strike is the first of its kind publicly known to have occurred in May as part of Operation Southern Spear, a U.S. military counter-narco-terrorism security campaign launched by the Department of War in late 2025 aimed at detecting, disrupting, and degrading transnational criminal and illicit maritime networks, curbing the flow of dangerous drugs seeking to enter the United States. SOUTHCOM announced in an official statement that the operation was carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear at the direction of Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the statement read. "Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.” SOUTHCOM shared a 15-second unclassified video of the strike in a late Monday night social media post. Since September, Operation Southern Spear’s efforts have left at least 188 drug traffickers dead across dozens of military strikes against drug-trafficking vessels across Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean waters. Last week, a previous lethal kinetic strike against a drug-trafficking vessel in Eastern Pacific waters left three male narco-terrorists dead. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in March that going on offense with Operation Southern Spear has restored deterrence against narco-terrorist cartels that profited from poisoning Americans with drugs. "Last month [February 2026], we went a few weeks without targeting a single boat. Why? Well, because we couldn’t find a whole lot of boats to sink, and that’s the whole point is to establish deterrence from narco-terrorists who have been able to traffic almost unfettered," Sec. Hegseth said. "Joint Task Force Southern Spear continues to conduct decisive operations to detect, disrupt, and dismantle narco-terrorist networks. In support of the President’s directives, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team, accompanied by U.S. Marine Corps Special Purpose Forces, continue to support maritime interdiction operations to target the dark fleet that is enabling U.S. adversaries across the globe," Gen. Donovan said in April.

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AP [5/5/2026 2:16 AM, Staff, 35287K]
FOX News [5/5/2026 9:08 AM, Bradford Betz, 37576K]

FOX News.com [5/5/2026 5:17 PM, Madison Colombo, 37576K] reports the Trump administration issued a dire warning to Americans regarding a deadly new drug surfacing in U.S. communities. "Drug czar" Sara Carter joined "Hannity" on Monday to discuss medetomidine, a potent sedative sometimes called "rhino tranquilizer.” "For the first time, we partnered with the CDC to issue an alert," Carter told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "We sent it across the country to warn first responders and doctors that we have medetomidine out there.” The federal alert warns that medetomidine is increasingly being found mixed into illicit fentanyl, something Carter warns "kills." Its prevalence in drug seizures has grown since 2023, primarily appearing in the Northeast and Midwest, according to the health advisory. "Medetomidine represents a real threat to communities, and this once again reaffirms that the only safe level of illegal drug use is zero," Carter, director of National Drug Control Policy, wrote in the White House alert. She said the alert is part of the Trump administration’s effort to support law enforcement in cracking down on smuggling. Carter noted that by using tools like nationwide wastewater testing, the administration was able to detect the rise of the drug early. "We are going to stay ahead of our adversaries. We are not going to sit there and support policies that only benefit the drug cartels and our adversaries," Carter added. "We put a stop to that.” Carter also discussed President Donald Trump’s "power through strength" strategy to target cartels.

CNN [5/5/2026 4:02 PM, Michael Williams, 19874K] reports White House border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday brushed off critics within President Donald Trump’s base who say the administration is not deporting enough people, while vowing to "flood the zone" with immigration officers in jurisdictions which pass legislation limiting cooperation with federal enforcement. Speaking at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, a room filled with Department of Homeland Security officials and industry personnel, a defiant Homan vowed that the "mass deportation promise will happen.” "For the people out there saying ‘President Trump’s getting weak on mass deportation,’ you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about," Homan said, referring to such naysayers as "keyboard warriors.” Homan said he spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin earlier in the morning to discuss what the administration will do "in the next couple of months.” "You ain’t seen shit yet," Homan said. "This year will be a good year. Mass deportations are coming.” Homan’s comments at the Phoenix expo, a typically friendly room where administration officials tend to be slightly more unguarded in their remarks than they are other at other public appearances or during press conferences, come as DHS seeks to take a more targeted and low-key approach with its agenda and operations under Mullin than it had under former Secretary Kristi Noem amid public polling showing Americans souring at the administration’s aggressive crackdown.

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Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 4:38 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1147K]

CBS News [5/5/2026 6:14 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports White House border czar Tom Homan sat down for an exclusive interview with CBS News immigration and politics correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez on Tuesday to defend the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. Montoya-Galvez joins "The Takeout" to preview the interview.

CBS News [5/5/2026 8:28 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports in an exclusive interview with CBS News, Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar, conceded "things weren’t perfect" during the large-scale immigration enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis but stressed that the administration is not backing down from its mass deportation effort. "Things weren’t perfect. We addressed it. We fixed it," Homan said when asked if he believes the administration made mistakes and went too far during the Minneapolis-area crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge. Homan said he has discussed changes and ways to improve immigration enforcement with Homeland Security Secretary Marwayne Mullin and Todd Lyons, the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who is set to leave the agency later this month. "I’ve had the discussions with Secretary Markwayne Mullin. He agrees. We can have mass deportations, but do it in a smarter way, which we’re doing," Homan added during an interview in Phoenix on Tuesday during the annual Border Security Expo. Earlier this year, Mr. Trump charged Homan with winding down the Minneapolis operation after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration agents sparked intense, bipartisan backlash. Asked whether he believes that the ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents involved in Pretti and Good’s killings should face consequences if any wrongdoing is found, including termination, Homan said, "Yes.” "If they violated the law, they’ve got to be held responsible," Homan added. "When they violate policy, you’ve got to be held responsible.” Homan said the reason the public is now seeing fewer viral videos of ICE agents making arrests is because the agency has prioritized "targeted" operations focused on arresting people who have criminal records, in addition to being in the country illegally. He noted that, since the Minneapolis operation was scaled back, Border Patrol agents have not been making seemingly random immigration stops at parking lots and public places. Still, Homan said immigration agents will continue arresting people they find during operations if they are in the country illegally, even if they lack criminal histories and were not the original targets.

CBS News [5/5/2026 6:28 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports CBS News immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez speaks with border czar Tom Homan about the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, changes ICE has made since then and more.

NPR [5/5/2026 5:12 AM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 28764K] reports three months ago, masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles descended on the Twin Cities as part of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s largest and most aggressive crackdown yet of immigrants. The agents arrested thousands of undocumented immigrants, in what the Border Patrol commander then in charge there, Gregory Bovino, called a "turn and burn" strategy. Agents also threatened journalists and activists documenting the arrests, and shot and killed two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Back then, community members, fed up with the presence of ICE agents in their city, took to street corners across the city with whistles around their necks, ready to alert their neighbors of the presence of federal immigration agents. Neighborhoods created a network of volunteers who drove migrants to work, doctors’ appointments and brought people food who were too afraid to leave their homes. Today Minneapolis looks different. The crackdown has receded, and arrests of immigrants have dropped 12%. Commander Bovino was forced to retire, and the neighborhood watches that tracked ICE SUVs are no longer as active. But the surge left a mark that enforcement statistics can’t capture, including a hollowed-out local economy that immigrants and their neighbors say they are struggling to rebuild. "We were left traumatized," said Y, a woman who asked NPR to identify her by her middle initial because she worries speaking out will affect her ongoing immigration case. NPR talked to nine immigrants about how Operation Metro Surge upended their lives and how they’re adapting today.

CNN [5/5/2026 6:00 AM, Brian Todd, 19874K] reports for days after the killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, fellow workers for the Department of Veterans Affairs held vigils at health centers nationwide, partly in protest and partly to pay their respects. Becky Halioua, a recreational therapist and union leader at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, said she felt "it was important to acknowledge him, as a brother of our organization." "It’s scary for me to think about a fellow VA employee being murdered by the same government that they work for," Halioua told local TV station WRDW, a CNN affiliate, at the time. "That’s terrifying for me." Then Halioua learned she was under investigation by that same government. Her supervisor informed her that an internal probe had been launched into whether she violated agency rules regarding employee interviews with the news media, a probe that could result in disciplinary action. Halioua is not alone, several sources familiar with the matter told CNN. At least three other VA employees have been investigated for their interactions with the press, including at least one other related to Alex Pretti, according to one of the sources. As part of her investigation, Halioua says investigators emailed her photos of herself at the vigil from news coverage, which also included a brief interaction with a local newspaper. Someone had drawn a line around her image in some photographs, labeled with her name. "It really gave me an uneasy feeling," she says. Seeing her face circled in a photograph of a crowd seemed "very stalker-like.”

FOX News [5/5/2026 12:05 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz removed and reportedly demoted the head of the state agency that oversees disbursement of social services program funding like Medicaid and housing assistance, after a months-long firestorm over hundreds of millions lost to fraud. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (MNDHS) was cast into the national spotlight after citizen journalists uncovered a massive, wide-ranging alleged fraud network connected to the Somali community in Minneapolis, where businesses were taking state funds without evidence of actual childcare or other services being provided. MNDHS Commissioner Shireen Gandhi was booted from her leadership role on Monday, one day before she was set to face an official confirmation hearing local reports described as a "gauntlet," given the towering fraud scandal gripping the agency. Gandhi had been an acting commissioner since early 2025, until Walz tapped her as the official head of MNDHS in February. After being returned to a deputy commissioner role within MNDHS, Gandhi oversaw an agency that drew immediate federal attention after news of the wide-ranging fraud scandal affecting her and other Walz administration departments broke. Under Gandhi’s leadership, MNDHS shut down its Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program in October as ballooning year-over-year payouts led to findings of fraud, with providers using names of eligible beneficiaries to obtain funds through inflated or fake reimbursement claims, according to a Minnesota House probe.

NBC News [5/5/2026 3:36 PM, Staff, 42967K] Video: HERE reports a new book by NBC News senior homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley looks at the heated clash over the Department of Homeland Security "master plan" for deportations under the Trump administration.

Telemundo [5/5/2026 12:53 PM, Julia Ainsley, 2524K] reports that Immigration leaders at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) disagreed so vehemently over how to achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of deporting one million people during his first year in office that, during a meeting to discuss the matter, attendees had to "clear the room" to calm tempers, according to two DHS officials familiar with the incident who spoke to NBC News. At the center of the dispute were Caleb Vitello, then-acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Rodney Scott, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Scott and his top advisors were pushing a plan that had received the green light from the then-newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. The "master plan"—as they called it—envisioned the creation of a National Incident Command Center that would combine the powers of ICE and CBP, along with those of the Department of Defense, to coordinate a massive surge in immigration enforcement operations in cities across the United States. The details of this plan are laid out in my new book, titled *Undue Process: The Inside Story of Trump’s Mass Deportation Program*, which goes on sale this Tuesday. Those detained would be subjected to an expedited deportation process, with no possibility of appeal, according to the DHS officials. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security was lagging far behind the pace required to reach the one-million deportation mark within a year; consequently, proponents of the plan viewed it as the fastest route to achieving the "shock and awe" objective promised by Trump.

Reuters [5/5/2026 3:36 PM, Nate Raymond, 38315K] reports that a Rhode Island federal judge on Tuesday said her court should consider disciplining a government lawyer over an "egregious" failure to inform her that an immigration detainee she ‌ordered released was wanted by the Dominican Republic in connection with a homicide investigation. Providence-based U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose told Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Bolan of her decision during a hearing prompted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issuing a press release that he acknowledged inaccurately suggested she knowingly released someone wanted for murder. In deciding to refer Bolan to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island’s disciplinary committee, the judge cited Bolan’s failure to inform her of the warrant before she ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ⁠release Bryan Rafael Gomez. "I do think that what happened here was egregious enough to warrant a formal referral to our disciplinary committee," she said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island declined to comment. DHS did not respond to a request for comment. The case is Gomez v. Nessinger, U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, No. 26-cv-00245. For Gomez: Melanie Shapiro of Law Office of Melanie Shapiro For the government: Kevin Bolan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island. The New York Times [5/5/2026 3:05 PM, Mattathias Schwartz, 148038K] reports that the lawyer, Kevin M. Bolan, leads the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island. In court filings and during a hearing on Monday, Mr. Bolan acknowledged that he had failed to disclose important information to the judge about an immigrant who had been arrested and had petitioned for release. Mr. Bolan has apologized, but Judge Melissa R. DuBose said that the court still needed to get to the bottom of the omission. “It’s the candor and the lack of candor to this court that has to be addressed,” she said. “And it has to be fully investigated, so we don’t have anything like this happen again.” The judge said the referral would be made under the court’s local rules that govern disciplinary proceedings against attorneys. Cases can be heard by a single judge or all active judges, with punishments ranging from private reprimands or fines to disbarment. At an earlier hearing on Monday, Judge DuBose also discussed the possibility of sanctioning Mr. Bolan’s client, the Department of Homeland Security. Natalie Baldassarre, a Justice Department spokeswoman, referred questions about the handling of the case to D.H.S., which did not immediately respond. USA Today [5/5/2026 10:27 AM, Katie Mulvaney, 70643K] reports that a federal judge this week accused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of dangerous "misconduct" for failing to inform the court that an immigration detainee is facing murder charges in the Dominican Republic and then issuing an "inflammatory" press release characterizing her as an "activist" judge who had released a "wanted murderer back into American communities.” "It is really about the court. It’s about judicial security, and it’s about the public being told the truth," U.S. District Judge Melissa R. DuBose of the District of Rhode Island said on May 4. DuBose ordered the agency to appear on May 4 to show why it should not be held in contempt for failing to notify her of the allegations against Bryan Rafael Gómez before she ruled on whether he should be released. DuBose did not know about the arrest warrant when she ordered his immediate release from immigration detention on April 28. Two days later, Acting Assistant Homeland Secretary Lauren Bis issued a scathing statement referring to DuBose as an "activist" judge appointed by President Joe Biden. National and local media outlets reported on Gómez’s release and the government’s criticism of DuBose. In ordering the agency to court, DuBose faulted the government for failing to include any details about Gómez relative to his potential dangerousness, criminal history or risk of flight. The Washington Times [5/5/2026 1:45 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports that a federal judge on Tuesday ordered a disciplinary review of immigration officials’ conduct for their serious breakdown in handling a deportation case, but she bowed to the government’s demands by allowing ICE to rearrest the migrant homicide suspect she set free just a week earlier. U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose denounced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for ordering government attorneys to withhold key information about Bryan Rafael Gomez — namely, that he is the subject of an investigative homicide warrant in the Dominican Republic. It is not clear why ICE gagged its own attorneys on that subject, and the judge said the disciplinary ethics review is designed to get to the bottom of the matter. “It’s the candor and the lack of candor to this court that has to be addressed,” Judge DuBose said during a hearing. She said she would not have ordered Mr. Gomez’s outright release from ICE custody last week if she had known. “I’m going to authorize the re-detention of the petitioner,” Judge DuBose said. The case has become the latest in a series of rebukes from federal judges directed at the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. A major problem for ICE is that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the deportation agency, issued an April 30 press release labeling Judge DuBose an “activist Biden judge” who released a “violent criminal illegal alien wanted for murder.” The Department of Justice has called Homeland Security’s press release “inaccurate” because it suggested that Judge DuBose knew about the arrest warrant but still ordered Mr. Gomez’s release on April 28.

Chicago Tribune [5/5/2026 8:27 PM, Jason Meisner, 5209K] reports as a federal review of warrantless immigration arrests in the Chicago area continues, a federal appeals court issued a mixed opinion Tuesday, confirming the Trump administration overstepped its authority by holding arrestees in mandatory detention but upholding the use of "I-200" field warrants by agents. The dense, 91-page opinion from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely upholds a previous ruling in December over a 2022 consent decree known as the Castañon Nava agreement, which bars agents from making warrantless immigration arrests unless they have probable cause to believe someone is in the U.S. unlawfully and that the person is a flight risk. The appeals court said U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings was within his authority to extend the consent decree last year after the plaintiffs accused the Department of Homeland Security under the new Trump administration of multiple violations of the agreement. The majority opinion, written by Judge John Lee, also said the government had unlawfully ordered arrestees who were already living in the U.S. held under mandatory detention, under a law meant to be directed at people crossing the border without inspection. "Given the statute’s history, it is unreasonable to think that Congress in 1996 intended to subject millions of noncitizens to mandatory detention in the oblique, off-handed fashion that defendants claim," Lee wrote. One member of the three-judge panel, however, Judge Thomas Kirsch III, disagreed. He said, given the statutory history, the "best reading" of the law is that "it covers all applicants for admission, including those who have reached the interior of the United States without having gained lawful entry into the country.” The panel also agreed that Cummings had overstepped his authority in ordering the release of people arrested with "I-200" warrants that agents filled out in the field.

Chicago Tribune [5/5/2026 2:16 PM, Caroline Kubzansky, 5209K] reports that a former Chicago immigration judge has accused the federal government of firing her based on her previous work as a lawyer for immigrants as well as her race and sex. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, attorneys for former Judge Carla Espinoza argued that the Trump administration’s Justice Department violated Espinoza’s First Amendment rights and federal equal rights protections when they terminated her as an immigration judge last July. She was one of nine judges to leave the Chicago immigration court in a wave of departures, firings and buyouts in the first year of the second Trump administration. All told, the court lost nearly half the judges who were on the bench in January 2025. The turbulence at the city’s immigration court mirrored a nationwide exodus of judges amid a rapidly changing landscape for immigrants, attorneys and advocates. According to the 12-page federal complaint, Espinoza was one of 20 probationary judges from a single 38-judge cohort, appointed in 2023, to be let go just before reaching the end of the two-year trial period. Immigration judges typically serve a two-year probationary period, and Espinoza was in the final stretch of that period when she was fired in July 2025. A month before her termination, the complaint notes that she presided over the high-profile case of a Wisconsin immigrant, Ramon Morales Reyes, who was wrongly accused of threatening to kill President Donald Trump. Espinoza set bond for Morales despite statements from then-Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin that Morales Reyes would remain in custody.

Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 1:33 PM, Christian Datoc, 1147K] reports that President Donald Trump voiced displeasure with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Tuesday for refusing to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster threshold and pass the SAVE America Act. Trump was asked by the press about Thune and the voter ID bill during an Oval Office event where he restored the Presidential Fitness Test for students. "I’m disappointed. I like John a lot, but there’s a couple of Republicans that are foolish people," Trump told reporters when asked about Senate leadership. "A couple of them I like, a couple of them I can’t stand." The president has, in recent days, reignited calls to terminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, two actions that Thune has failed to deliver. The SAVE Act mandates ID to cast a ballot and proof of citizenship to register to vote. "We should have the SAVE AMERICA Act. We should have voter identification, voter ID. We should have proof of citizenship," he continued. "We should have mail-in voting for the military and people that need it, but not for everybody, because anytime you have mail-in voting, they’re going to cheat. And they cheat like dogs, and they have to cheat.” On Tuesday, Trump again urged Senate Republicans to "terminate the filibuster, because if [Democrats] get the chance, they’ll do it in the first hour back." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [5/5/2026 6:00 AM, Summer Lin, 12718K] reports Micah Moore, a film production assistant, recently underwent his second surgery to restore the hearing in his right ear after being shot in the head with a rubber bullet while attending the "No Kings" protest in downtown Los Angeles last June. "It really completely flipped huge parts of my life upside down," the 25-year-old told The Times. "It’s been very disabling at work, with friends, with family — a lot of sleepless nights.” During a similar protest rally in March, Tucker Collins, an 18-year-old USC student, was blinded in one eye after being shot with a "less-lethal projectile" that struck him in the face. Both young men are now seeking justice for their injuries, with Moore filing a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department because he hasn’t identified the agency responsible for his injury. Collins filed a federal claim last month against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a precursor to filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the agency. The two men are among several who say they were innocent victims of excessive force used by federal and local authorities during the immigration raids and the protests that followed.

Washington Post [5/5/2026 5:13 PM, Olivia George, 24826K] reports a Virginia woman who distributed leaflets disclosing the home address of top White House aide Stephen Miller will not face state criminal charges, according to court documents filed Tuesday by Arlington County’s top prosecutor. Proceeding would violate the activist’s constitutionally protected free speech rights and “risk having a chilling effect on others wishing to engage in peaceful political protest.” There was “insufficient evidence” to conclude the activist last year distributed the fliers with intent to harass Miller, wrote Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, a second-term Democrat who serves as Arlington’s lead prosecutor. The activist included Miller’s photograph with a red line through it and urged people to scan a QR code to “demand a congressional investigation.” “Petitioning government is a clear and quintessentially protected activity,” Dehghani-Tafti wrote in court filings. She requested the Virginia State Police destroy all materials collected from the activist’s phone under a search warrant previously issued by the court. Katie Miller, Stephen Miller’s wife, faulted the lack of prosecution in a text message to The Washington Post on Tuesday afternoon. She used an expletive and pointed out that Dehghani-Tafti had been backed by liberal donor George Soros in her campaigns. “This is a consistent theme across the country of prosecutor[s] and judges funded by Soros,” she wrote. The leaflet incident and ensuing fallout, chronicled by The Post earlier this year, stirred debate over the tension between free speech and public safety, placing the Miller family’s concerns for their security against the First Amendment claims of an activist criticizing the Trump administration. “We never intended to threaten his children, threaten his family or have him flee Arlington,” the activist, retired peace studies professor Barbara Wien, said previously of her and her husband’s intentions.

New York Post [5/5/2026 9:16 PM, Staff, 40934K] reports LA Mayor Karen Bass is blowing a quarter-million bucks on anti-ICE "keep out" signs with no legal power. These signs are just "virtue signaling," according to critics, and won’t stop federal immigration enforcement. Mayor Bass faces a tough re-election, using the ICE issue to appeal to "progressive" voters despite city woes. LA Mayor Karen Bass is wasting a quarter of a milllon dollars on anti-ICE "keep out" signs that have no legal force. Their only effect is to send a political message about her anti-ICE views in an election. In other words, the signs are just virtue signaling — literally. Immigration is a federal issue. Democrats forget that, when they declare cities or states to be "sanctuary" jurisdictions. But it was the Obama administration that confirmed that the federal government has sole control of border and immigration enforcement. Obama’s Department of Justice, under "wingman" Eric Holder, sued Arizona, which had passed a law allowing police to check the immigration status of people they stopped for other suspected violations. Arizona lost in the Supreme Court in 2012. And the Court has upheld federal power — adding that the president has almost total control of immigration policy. That doesn’t mean states and cities have to cooperate. Federal judges have also upheld the power of state and local governments to decline to help immigration enforcement. But they are not allowed to obstruct it, either. Lead federal prosecutor Bill Essayli called the signs "null and void." He also added that they were "silly.” Actually, they are deadly serious: They are an effort to use public money to shore up the mayor’s credentials with "progressive" voters ahead of a bitterly contested primary election.

Washington Post [5/5/2026 7:15 AM, Dick Durbin, 24826K] reports in 2010, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) and I wrote to President Barack Obama asking him to stop the deportation of undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. Two years later, Obama responded by announcing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Since then, DACA has allowed more than 830,000 “dreamers” to come forward and contribute more fully to their country. Then came President Donald Trump. While Trump claimed he wanted to “take care of DACA recipients,” his first administration sought to end the program, leading to legal battles that reached all the way to the Supreme Court. In his second term, Trump has again ramped up his attacks on immigrant communities — including DACA recipients. Trump said that his administration wants to remove the “worst of the worst.” But the facts tell a different story. According to Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 261 DACA recipients between Jan. 1 and Nov. 19, 2025, and 86 have been removed from the country. These arrests and deportations are deeply disturbing. But the administration is also waging a quiet bureaucratic war on DACA recipients.

New York Post [5/5/2026 12:48 PM, Andrew Miller, 40934K] reports last Thursday, Congress ended the longest Department of Homeland Security shutdown in American history. For 75 days, tens of thousands of TSA officers worked unpaid. More than 1,100 of them quit. Airport security lines stretched for hours. The immediate fight is over. The next one is already on the calendar: this appropriation expires Sept. 30. And the battle will keep going, every funding cycle, until we change what we’re funding. The standoff that produced this shutdown was a fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not airport security. But since ICE and DHS sit inside TSA, airport security became collateral damage in a dispute that had nothing to do with it. That structural problem won’t fix itself. Congressional dysfunction is a problem, but it’s not the only one made plain by this standoff. Another is what Congress is being asked to fund: a screening regime whose post-9/11 layers cost billions but have never demonstrated their worth. The TSA costs taxpayers $11 billion a year, more than the entire Coast Guard budget. Most of that cost comes from security measures added after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A question worth asking, in a moment of recurring crisis, is whether those measures are achieving anything useful.

Wall Street Journal [5/5/2026 11:15 AM, Mitch Price, 646K] reports regarding William McGurn’s column “Hooray for the Secret Service” (Main Street, April 28): After any incident involving presidential security, a predictable cycle begins. Media outlets elevate instant analysis from so-called “experts” eager to diagnose Secret Service failures. The recent event at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner followed that script. The problem isn’t only speed—it’s substance. In the immediate aftermath, there’s rarely enough verified information to support meaningful conclusions. Yet confident claims emerge anyway, often from people with little experience in presidential protection. Assertions that breaching security requires nothing more than a hotel room key aren’t insights; they’re distortions. I spent over 20 years as a Secret Service agent, including assignments on the Counter Assault Team and Presidential Protective Division. I have conducted advance operations at venues like the Washington Hilton and operated in high-threat environments. Security at this level is complex, layered and defined by trade-offs. Risk can’t be eliminated, only managed. Plans must balance threats, resources, public access and the president’s need to remain visible. Unlike restrictive regimes, the U.S. doesn’t secure its leaders by shutting down society. There will be an investigation, and improvements will follow. But one fact remains: The president and vice president were safely evacuated. That isn’t failure; it’s the system working as intended.

New York Post [5/5/2026 6:30 AM, Staff, 40934K] reports reaching new depths of delusion, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s response to Saturday night’s anti-ICE riot outside a Brooklyn hospital was to bash the feds — and he wasn’t even the worst. That prize likely goes to Brooklyn City Councilwoman Sandy Nurse, who denounced the NYPD for "coordinating with ICE" in "violation of our sanctuary city laws" simply because cops shut the riot down. Backtrack: Immigration agents arrested a visa-overstayer with a substantial criminal record; he was injured while resisting, so they took him to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center to get checked. Word somehow got to the radical anti-ICE network, whose members rushed to the scene and proceeded to block the hospital’s emergency entrances and exits — endangering the lives of others seeking care as the "protesters" tangled violently with the feds, injuring several agents and damaging multiple ICE vehicles. NYPD command issued a Level 6 mobilization, with cops eventually arresting nine rioters to restore the peace.

Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 4:19 PM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1147K] reports that how and why does a judge apologize to a would-be presidential assassin? It’s a legitimate question and one that everyone should be asking after U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui did exactly that during a hearing for White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen. Despite Allen being accused of wanting to murder President Donald Trump, administration officials, and other innocent people, and even though he allegedly shot a law enforcement officer, all Faruqui cared about was the criminal’s comfort level, going so far as not to just care about his jail conditions but actually apologizing to Allen for any inconveniences he may have endured. It’s a sad and disturbing reflection of the corrosive left-wing rot plaguing the United States justice system. Moreover, it’s indicative of the dangers posed by left-wing radical activists masquerading as judges in courts across the country. It’s a phenomenon of malignant empathy that has become a recurrent theme among the Left in criminal justice matters. In such instances, left-wing judges have demonstrated they care more about protecting evil people than about safeguarding the innocent. It’s yet another example of the harms of contemporary radical left-wing ideology. It has led to numerous innocent people being harmed by the wrath of violent criminals who should be jailed but were allowed to roam freely.

NewsMax [5/5/2026 8:24 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports the Department of Homeland Security announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested a number of illegal aliens over the weekend, including foreign nationals convicted of manslaughter, sex crimes against children, and other violent offenses. "Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, ICE never takes a day off," Lauren Bis, DHS acting assistant secretary, said in a Monday news release. "This weekend, ICE arrested numerous murderers, pedophiles, sex criminals, violent assailants, drug traffickers, and fraudsters.” The arrests were part of enforcement operations targeting illegal aliens with criminal records, according to DHS. DHS said those taken into custody include (countries of origin in parentheses): Farhan Ahmed (Pakistan), convicted of first-degree manslaughter with intent to cause serious physical injury in New York City. Maria Silvia Martinez-Vasquez (Mexico), convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Visalia, California. Sengathith Sybounma (Laos), convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person ages 13 to 15 in Grand Haven, Michigan. Cipriano Israel Guzman-Hernandez (El Salvador), convicted of sexual assault and indecency with a child — sexual contact in Harlingen, Texas. Leyvis Edi Velasquez-Perez (Guatemala), convicted of solicitation of a minor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hemant Khann-Kumar (India), convicted of an attempted lewd act upon a child in Contra Costa County, California. Jose Isaias Gozo-Murillo (Nicaragua), convicted of sexual battery in Miami. Jose Remiro Agustin-Jimenez (Guatemala), convicted of endangering sexual conduct in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Yoesmith Sosa-Perez (Dominican Republic), convicted on two counts of first-degree assault with a firearm in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Baldemar Antonio Salazar-Santos (Guatemala), convicted of assault in El Monte, California; driving under the influence in Los Angeles; and spousal battery, evading police, and driving with a suspended license in Ventura, California. Isidoro Garcia Mendoza (Mexico), convicted of assault on a female in Durham County, North Carolina. Cristel Daniela Cruz-Banegas (Honduras), convicted of distribution of fentanyl in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Nelson Rafael Vargas-Parra (Dominican Republic), convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess heroin in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Rinkeshkumar Kaushikbhai Patel (India), convicted of conspiracy to commit theft over $60,000 in Bradley County, Tennessee. Ibrahim Furkan Kabore (Burkina Faso), convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in Merrifield, Virginia.

Breitbart [5/5/2026 4:25 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports the House Judiciary Committee is probing officials in the sanctuary jurisdictions of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Arlington, Virginia. In letters to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) are asking for all relevant documents regarding the city’s lack of cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Jordan and McClintock, in one letter, accuse Krasner of offering preferential treatment to illegal aliens arrested for crimes over their American counterparts. "Your office also openly gives preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status, even admitting that ‘low-level and nonviolent crimes should not lead to deportation or necessarily risk one’s immigration status.’ In fact, you created an Immigration Counsel position within your office to evaluate cases involving non-U.S. citizens so that foreign nationals ‘can avoid unnecessary and unjust consequences’ —in other words, to shield criminal aliens from deportation," the letter reads: You also openly boast about how your policies have resulted in criminal aliens being released onto Philadelphia streets, free to reoffend. Even in cases involving murder or crimes against minors, a prosecutor in your office may still consider a criminal alien’s potential deportation or other immigration consequences in making prosecution decisions. When your office is not openly favoring dangerous foreign nationals over U.S. citizens, it is using taxpayer dollars to coach outside legal professionals on the best strategies to help criminal aliens avoid immigration consequences for their criminality. [Emphasis added]. Likewise, in a letter to Arlington County District Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, Jordan and McClintock mention the case of Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, who is accused of beating and raping a woman on the street. In March, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that sanctuary jurisdictions across the U.S. refused to honor nearly 18,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers that were placed on illegal aliens in 2025.

Newsweek [5/5/2026 11:56 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports senate Republicans would allocate more than $30 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a reconciliation proposal released by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley’s office. The proposal provides $30,725,000,000 for ICE through September 30, 2029, according to legislative text from the Senate Judiciary Committee. The ICE funding would cover hiring, training and salaries for personnel, including officers, attorneys and support staff, as well as transportation costs for removal operations. The proposal also directs money to IT systems, including fee collection upgrades and body-worn cameras, along with facility and fleet maintenance to support enforcement activities. “Democrats set the wrong kind of record by shutting down DHS for a historic 76 days, forcing brave law enforcement officers and their families to miss multiple paychecks. Sadly, Democrats’ irresponsible DHS shutdown proved they’re still the party of open borders and ‘defund the police," Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a news release. “Republicans won’t allow our country to be dragged backwards by Democrats’ radical, anti-law enforcement agenda. The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking action to help provide certainty for federal law enforcement and safer streets for American families. We will work to ensure this critical funding gets signed into law without unnecessary delay." The proposal also includes $1 billion for the U.S. Secret Service for security-related work connected to President Donald Trump’s White House Ballroom project.

Reuters [5/5/2026 6:50 PM, Kanishka Singh, 38315K] reports A U.S. watchdog office for federal detention abuses was being closed, President Donald Trump’s administration said on Tuesday. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which was gutted ‌last year when Trump targeted oversight offices, is now being closed, the Department of Homeland Security said. "DHS did not shut down the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman - Congress ​did. The House passed the DHS appropriations bill without objection, and ​it was signed into law last week," the DHS said. The bill, ⁠that ended a long DHS shutdown did not mandate the office’s ​closure, first reported by the HuffPost. The office reviewed abuse and misconduct in ​the immigration detention system. Its page on DHS’s website appeared as "Archived Content" on Tuesday.

San Diego Union Tribune [5/5/2026 7:24 PM, Staff, 1257K] reports a quarter of immigration arrests since August were labeled by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as "collateral," a type of arrest and detention that’s been challenged in court as an end run around civil rights. Public outrage and lawsuits over the arrests may be tamping down the large-scale sweeps that foster them, but tens of thousands were arrested this way between August and early March. Immigration arrests are usually based on warrants obtained ahead of time, showing either a removal order from immigration court or evidence of a crime or charge that makes the person subject to deportation. But collateral arrests can result from street sweeps and raids in which a person is singled out for questioning based on appearance or proximity to someone wanted on a warrant. That person could be taken into custody if agents think they may be subject to deportation and also likely to flee if released. Labeled for the first time ever, the collateral arrests are reported from August to early March in ICE arrest data obtained by the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by Stateline. In that time there were about 64,000 collateral arrests, a quarter of the 253,000 total arrests by ICE. About 70% of the collateral arrests were for people with immigration-related crimes or violations alone, compared with 41% for arrests with warrants. Less than 2% of those with collateral arrests were convicted of a violent crime, one-third the rate of other arrests, and only 18% were convicted of any crime, compared with 33% for other arrests. The collateral arrests contributed to an overall pattern of lower and lower shares of arrests for serious crimes, and more for immigration offenses alone. Arrests climbed from about 12,000 in January 2025 to more than 40,000 in December, but fell back to 30,000 this February. The share of people with only immigration-related crimes and violations rose to more than half in December and January, the peak months for collateral arrests, and the share of violent criminals fell from 10% to 4% of arrests in that time. ICE announced a new policy in January to issue warrants in real time if agents think an immigrant is deportable and "likely to escape," though that policy faces a court challenge. Total arrest and collateral arrests have been falling since December, whether because of the new policy or because of cutbacks in the large-scale street sweeps that tend to produce them.

Washington Post [5/5/2026 3:56 PM, Lauren Kaori Gurley, 24826K] reports that President Donald Trump’s immigration raids and checkpoints are weighing on the labor market, leading to fewer jobs for U.S.-born men without a college degree as well as undocumented immigrants, according to an economic study out this week. Increased immigration arrests led to 4 to 5 percent lower employment of undocumented immigrants, especially among men, who made up 90 percent of arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonpartisan research organization. The study also found that one U.S.-born worker with a high school degree or less loses a job for every six undocumented male workers who leave their jobs, according to the study. The study is the first of its kind analyzing the labor market impacts of heightened immigration enforcement last year. “We are showing, using the best available real-time data on the second Trump administration, that heightened ICE activity has been really harmful for the labor market, not only for immigrant workers who remain in the U.S. but also for U.S.-born workers,” said economist Chloe East, a co-author of the paper. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement responding to the findings that “there is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump’s agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration’s commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws.”

Univision [5/5/2026 11:32 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports fear of being detained in ICE raids led to the cancellation of Cinco de Mayo celebrations in various cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, and Missouri. The fear of surprise raids was evident in the empty streets where, in previous years, Mexicans born primarily in Puebla would take to the streets to parade and proudly celebrate this event in their history. May 5th commemorates an act of resistance and triumph of the Mexican army over the French army in 1862. This year’s celebrations were canceled due to fears of a repeat of the raids carried out by immigration agents in 2015 during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. The memory of that incident served as the reason for avoiding the festivities. Organizations such as the Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce and Casa Puebla canceled the traditional parade in the Little Village neighborhood to prevent attacks and arrests by ICE. Hector Escobar, one of the organizers of the celebrations in Chicago, explained that families are afraid because of the anti-immigrant operations. “Families are experiencing fear and uncertainty due to the increasing enforcement of anti-immigrant actions and the constant threat of raids,” he said. In Little Village, the fear of going out into the streets paralyzed the economic activity that had been seen in previous years. The same thing happened in Philadelphia. Olga Renteria, organizer of the Puebla Carnival, noted that the community didn’t feel safe celebrating. “We’re not going to take any risks. Everyone is being cautious, with no celebrations or large gatherings,” she said. For the Puebla community in Philadelphia, not celebrating such an important date represents the loss of a space for the culture of migrants originally from Puebla, said Edgar Ramírez, promoter of the Carnival. Mayor Cherelle Parker declined to comment on the cancellation of the Puebla Carnival because it is a festival that is not sponsored by the city. In Houston, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) decided to suspend the festival in their city. “In response to growing concerns about ICE activity and its potential impact on the safety and well-being of participating families.” For the organizing committee in Houston, “Cinco de Mayo is an important cultural celebration that honors the heritage, pride, and unity of the community, but no event is more valuable than the responsibility to protect our families.” In addition to those cities, the same situation occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, where the celebrations were canceled due to a lack of financial support. Meanwhile, in cities like New York and Los Angeles, the festivities took place without any reported incidents against attendees.

Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 6:46 PM, Rena Rowe, 1147K] reports President Donald Trump posted a mockup on Tuesday reimagining Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “NICE,” short for National Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after a supporter floated the idea on social media. A Trump supporter posted on March 25 that “I want Trump to change ICE to NICE (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so the media has to say NICE agents all day everyday.” “GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT. President DJT” Trump replied in a Truth Social post on April 26. On Tuesday, the president posted a mockup of the NICE rebranding on his Truth Social account. Other government accounts recirculated the image, with the X accounts of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security sharing versions. The White House’s X account supported the idea last week, saying, “‘National Immigration and Customs Enforcement.’ DO IT!” The post was accompanied by an image of a NICE agent with a child. Although the rebrand has been backed by the president and administration leaders, DHS would need congressional approval to change the name. The Trump administration, however, sought to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War through an executive order in September, drawing criticism for not seeking congressional approval. The rebrand was reflected on government websites, signage, and communications. The notion of an ICE rebranding comes as the agency has faced mounting scrutiny since the beginning of Trump’s second term. Democrats demanded reforms to the agency after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by agents in Minnesota earlier this year. On Tuesday, White House border czar Tom Homan said the agency would make far more arrests in the remainder of Trump’s term. "If you think last year’s historic number was good, wait until next year when we have 10,000 agents. … You ain’t seen s*** yet," Homan said during a keynote speech at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix on Tuesday. "Mass deportations are coming.”

Politico [5/5/2026 3:07 PM, Nick Reisman, 21784K] reports President Donald Trump’s border czar said on Tuesday that the administration will expand its enforcement operations in New York if the state approves a package of sanctuary-like measures. “What’s going to happen with places like New York and [if] people pass ridiculous legislation not to work with us, we’re going to flood the zone,” Homan told a border security expo, according to video of the event. “You’re going to see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen before. So, congratulations.” The declaration is a last-minute complication for Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Democratic-led state Legislature, which is expected to pass bills aimed at protecting the state’s undocumented immigrant population and limit the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. The bills include limits on how local New York police departments can coordinate with immigration authorities and would direct where civil deportation warrants can and can’t be executed. Hochul also reached an agreement with lawmakers that would ban law enforcement officers from concealing their faces — a measure the Department of Homeland Security has already called unconstitutional. And Hochul wants to make it easier for New Yorkers to sue federal officials if they believe their constitutional rights have been violated. An agreement on those measures — negotiated since the deadly unrest in Minnesota amid an aggressive deportation push by the Trump administration — is expected to be announced in the coming days. Once signed into law, the measures would be a significant blue state rebuttal to a signature Trump administration issue. The governor was previously told by Trump during a White House meeting earlier this year that he would not undertake a Minnesota-style surge of federal immigration officers unless states like New York wanted it. On Tuesday, Trump administration spokesperson Abigail Jackson sounded a different note. “If local law enforcement refuses to cooperate with federal law enforcement to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities, more ICE officers will be needed to remove these public safety threats,” Jackson said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will never allow criminal illegal aliens to have sanctuary in American cities.” Hochul decried Homan’s remarks to reporters, which she said were at odds with the president’s declaration to her in March. She added that New York would continue to work with federal immigration authorities when dealing with violent criminals. “All I’ll say to Mr. Homan is that Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I ask,” the governor told reporters during a news conference. “I’m not asking.”

Bloomberg [5/5/2026 1:53 PM, Myles Miller and Alicia A. Caldwell, 18082K] reports that New York’s push to limit state cooperation with federal immigration authorities will trigger a surge in enforcement activity, with more agents deployed into communities and an increase in arrests beyond initial targets, said White House border czar Tom Homan. Governor Kathy Hochul’s drive to impose additional curbs on cooperation with immigration officials will force agents to shift away from arresting people already in custody and focus more on mounting operations in neighborhoods, Homan said Tuesday at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix. “You are going to see more ICE agents than you have ever seen before,” Homan said. “We’ll find the bad guys. Most times we do and when we find the bad guy, he’s with others. Others may not be a priority target, but they are in the country illegally. Guess what? They are coming, too.” A proposal under discussion in New York would bar local law enforcement agencies from entering into or maintaining so-called 287(g) agreements, which allow officers to carry out certain immigration enforcement functions, typically in jails. The state already limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities in most cases under existing law. Hochul fired back after saying she received word of Homan’s comments, although she added that the state will continue working with federal authorities in cases involving dangerous criminals. “All I’ll say to Mr. Homan is that Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I ask,” Hochul said. “I’m not asking.” Homan described arrests inside jails as safer for officers, detainees and the public, and said shifting those operations into communities would increase both the scale and visibility of enforcement. He said the loss of jail access would lead to more complex operations carried out by larger teams of agents in public settings.

FOX News [5/5/2026 6:13 PM, Peter Pinedo Fox, 37576K] reports an illegal immigrant woman convicted of attempting to kill her newborn baby on Long Island, New York, has been successfully deported from the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Soili Xiomara Aparicio-Santos, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from New York in April. The agency said she was deported after serving just eight years in a New York prison sentence for attempted infant murder. Aparicio-Santos entered the country illegally under the Obama administration in 2014. She has had a final order of removal against her since 2014. In 2018, she was convicted of second-degree attempted murder, first and second-degree attempted assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. DHS said that despite being originally sentenced to 16 years in prison for her crime, Aparicio-Santos’ sentence was reduced to 10 years, of which she only ended up serving eight. However, DHS said that local authorities cooperated with ICE and notified the agency before her release, enabling federal agents to make the arrest. The 41-year-old was living in Centereach, New York, in Suffolk County on Long Island, local outlet Daily Voice reported. The outlet reported that in 2017, Aparicio-Santos attempted to kill her baby boy by smothering him with a pillow. A family member noticed her actions and called the police. The child reportedly avoided serious injuries and was placed in foster care. ICE first lodged an immigration detainer — a request to hold — against Aparicio-Santos after she was initially arrested by Suffolk County police for first-degree reckless endangerment in 2017. The agency then lodged a second detainer in 2018 while she was serving her sentence, DHS said. Lauren Bis, acting DHS assistant secretary, lauded the local Long Island authorities for cooperating with ICE to remove Aparicio-Santos. "Thanks to cooperation by law enforcement and our ICE officers, this barbaric criminal is out of our country," Bis said in a DHS news release. "This monster attempted to KILL her own child the day he was born," said Bis. She slammed the Obama administration for having "released this attempted murderer into our country.” Bis emphasized that DHS "need(s) cooperation from state and local politicians to get criminals like this out of our country," adding, "Together, we can make America safe again.”

Newsweek [5/5/2026 10:57 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports federal immigration agents allegedly tased a man while attempting to forcibly remove him from his car in Brooklyn on Saturday night, an encounter that left him hospitalized and sparked protests outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, footage shows. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian national accused of overstaying a visa and having prior arrests for assault and criminal drug possession, on May 2. Footage shared by the New York Immigration Coalition appears to show agents using a Taser on a man seated in a car before the hospital incident. In the video, the individual can be heard shouting while agents attempt to remove him from the vehicle. Federal agents appear to drag the man out of the vehicle. A spokesperson for DHS told Newsweek, “This criminal was NOT tased by law enforcement." DHS said Okeke refused orders to exit his vehicle, attempted to use the car to strike officers, and became physically combative, prompting agents to use “the minimum amount of force necessary” to make the arrest. The agency said Okeke later requested medical attention and was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where he remained noncompliant during evaluation and was ultimately cleared by staff.

CBS New York [5/5/2026 10:32 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports a New York City man was reunited with his loving community Tuesday after spending five months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. He was detained back in December, and was told he would be released on bond in January, but he remained in ICE custody for months. On Nov. 24, Allan Michael Marrero was taken into ICE custody at a routine green card interview under an old removal order he says he did not know existed. Originally from the Cayman Islands, he had been living in the U.S. for over a decade, seeking asylum based on his LGBTQ+ identity. In January, Marrero was granted release on bond, but for months remained in ICE custody. "ICE refused to accept the bond payment, which meant that despite a judge’s order, ICE unilaterally decided to keep Allan locked up," said Alexandra Rizio, supervising immigration attorney for Make The Road New York. "It’s been very traumatic," Marrero said.

Breitbart [5/5/2026 12:23 PM, Amy Furr, 2238K] reports a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, allegedly threatened President Donald Trump and a member of Congress’s family in disturbing voicemails. The suspect was identified as Raymond Eugene Chandler III, who recently launched his campaign to run against Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), was arrested and charged after federal officials investigated, the Daily Voice reported Saturday. The Voice article cited a criminal complaint that was unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania which alleged the suspect left multiple voicemails over the past year, noting authorities explained "the calls were part of a broader pattern of escalating rhetoric." Chandler is facing two charges that include influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official by threatening a family member and by threatening a federal official, and influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official by threat, according to WTAE. The outlet also shared the transcripts of Chandler’s alleged phone calls reported in court documents.

CBS Pittsburgh [5/5/2026 7:05 PM, Lauren Linder, 51110K] reports a business owner in Pittsburgh said six of his workers were detained by immigration enforcement agents during a raid on Tuesday morning. Surveillance video shows employees of OK Service standing by their vans at Orchard Place and Knox Avenue in Mount Oliver just before 8 a.m., when a black car pulls up. Then the workers take off running as agents begin chasing them, according to the video. Omar Millan, who owns the gutter company, said he was not at the job site on Tuesday morning when the raid happened. Millan said he was getting materials when he got a call from his wife and raced over to Orchard Place and Knox Avenue. By the time he arrived, he said six of his workers were detained. However, Millan later added that at least three workers were released. "I feel right now really bad for my guys, bad for my business," Millan said. "Every guy have paper or something like that, license from PA, paperwork, or social.” According to Millan, they all have work documentation showing they’re in the process of immigrating, with at least one of the workers having a green card. However, KDKA could not independently confirm on Tuesday if any of the men are wanted for crimes. Katie Murphy was just feet away at Hilltop Community Children’s Center, where she’s a preschool teacher, when the raid happened. "My son, who is 8, saw more than I did. His comment to me when it was over was, ‘I thought monsters weren’t real,’" Murphy said. Murphy said some of her coworkers went outside to bang pots and pans in support of the detainees on the ground. Volunteers with Frontline Dignity, a nonprofit organization that focuses on immigrant rights, also responded and are working to direct the impacted families to the proper resources.

FOX News [5/5/2026 11:30 AM, Andrew Mark Miller, 37576K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is blasting local officials in Virginia after the agency says it arrested an illegal immigrant accused of child rape who was released back onto the streets by local officials. On Friday, ICE says it arrested Guatemalan national Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia after an appearance in Fairfax County court following his June arrest on felony charges of rape of a child less than 13 years of age, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13 years of age, use of a computer to commit sex offense with a minor, and distributing drugs to a minor. ICE had lodged a detainer after his arrest in June asking the county not to release Garcia but, according to an ICE press release, "sanctuary politicians refused to cooperate with ICE" and Garcia was "allowed to leave court without ICE being notified.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement placing the blame at the feet of local officials in Virginia, as well as with Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger. "Governor Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Fairfax, Virginia refused to cooperate with ICE and RELEASED this child rapist from jail back onto the streets," Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This criminal illegal alien from Guatemala has been charged with raping a child under 13, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13, and distributing drugs to a minor. Thanks to our brave law enforcement, this sicko is out of our communities. Governor Spanberger and Fairfax sanctuary politicians are playing Russian roulette with American lives by releasing criminals from jail into American neighborhoods.”

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [5/5/2026 2:29 PM, John Binder, 2238K]

CBS News [5/5/2026 6:46 AM, Staff, 51110K] reports a Dunwoody, Georgia, teenager is speaking out for the first time since he was deported to Honduras. According to the teen’s immigration attorney, Axel Gerardo Archaga Rios was removed from the United States despite ongoing legal efforts to halt his deportation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [5/5/2026 11:10 AM, Jeanine Santucci, 70643K] reports authorities in Tennessee are combing through the wilderness trying to find a military special forces veteran with "extensive training in survival tactics" accused of shooting his wife. Deputies responded the morning of May 1 at about 1:30 a.m. after Craig Berry allegedly shot his wife during a "domestic altercation" and then fled into the woods, according to the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office. Berry is believed to be armed and dangerous, and "very familiar" with the area, the sheriff’s office said. He was still on the run as of May 4. Berry has a warrant for second-degree attempted murder for the shooting of his wife, officials said. Berry’s wife was taken to a medical facility, and her condition was not made public. The sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies searched the woods and surrounding areas, starting with Gray’s Landing to Highway 232 and River Trace Road in Dover, Tennessee, in the northwestern part of the state. A trail camera picked up an image of Berry in the wooded area wearing camouflage, officials said. Authorities are still looking, but "have NO idea if he is still in the area," the sheriff’s office said in an update on May 2. Berry could be receiving outside help to evade law enforcement, the sheriff’s office said. Agencies including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Marshals Service are involved in the investigation and manhunt.

NPR [5/5/2026 12:42 PM, Meg Anderson, 28764K] reports at a press conference in March, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, flanked by American flags, had a collection of large checks to give out. The money was part of a pool of $250 million from the state, and one by one, four sheriffs posed with oversized novelty checks. "Let’s start giving the money away," Ingoglia told the room. "I am proud to give out these checks to these sheriffs standing in front of me for all the hard work that they’ve been doing, keeping our communities safe and helping to deport criminal illegal aliens." The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office got around $100,000; the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office: nearly $1 million; the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office: more than $280,000; and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office: nearly $50,000. The counties received the money after joining a federal program called 287(g), which gives local police the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants, normally the work of federal immigration officers. And the sheriffs were celebratory: They’re getting a lot of money for cooperating, from both the state and federal government. Nationwide, the Department of Homeland Security is promising $100,000 for new vehicles and potentially tens of thousands more in equipment to law enforcement agencies who sign on.

CubaHeadlines [5/6/2026 1:15 AM, Oscar Fernandez] reports law enforcement officers in Broward County have transferred Cuban national Noslan Ruiz Bernal to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following his second arrest for armed burglary in southern Florida, according to official reports. Ruiz Bernal had a prior conviction for a similar crime: in 2014, shortly after securing his permanent residency card in the United States, he was found guilty of committing an armed burglary of a vehicle in Davie, Florida. He served over a year in prison before being released back into the community, as revealed by ICE on social media platform X. This time, local authorities adopted a different approach. Broward County, part of the 287(g) program which facilitates cooperation between local and federal agencies, complied with ICE’s immigration detainer and transferred Ruiz Bernal to federal custody instead of releasing him. ICE specifically lauded this action: "Broward County honored ICE’s detainer and handed him over to federal agents, preventing his release into the community, which sanctuary jurisdictions are generally reluctant to do." Ruiz Bernal’s case was highlighted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a statement reporting the arrests of foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes, including murder and sexual assault of minors, as of April 30. Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary at DHS, stated, "ICE will continue to remove these threats to public safety from our communities."

Chicago Tribune [5/5/2026 10:46 PM, Jeremy Gorner and Olivia Olander, 5209K] reports the Illinois State Police is investigating last year’s controversial fatal shooting of a father of two by an immigration enforcement agent in Franklin Park during the early days of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz immigration-enforcement raids. The state police investigation is the first independent probe of federal agents’ actions during the intense immigration and deportation sweep that lasted more than two months. Silverio Villegas González, 38, had just dropped off his children at daycare on Sept. 12 and was on his way to work when agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pulled him over near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Elder Lane in the near west suburb. During the confrontation, Villegas González was shot in the neck before crashing his car into a semi truck, officials have said. “The Franklin Park Police Department requested the (state police’s) Public Integrity Task Force to investigate the shooting of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez,” state police spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said in a prepared statement Tuesday night. “PITF has begun the initial investigation. When complete, the case will be turned over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.” The controversial shooting spurred calls for a vigorous and transparent investigation by figures, including Gov. JB Pritzker and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Last year, after the shooting, Illinois Democrats led by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wrote to then-U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem asking for transparency and urging her to end what they called “dangerous operations” in the Chicago area. The calls for more transparency occurred because of questions surrounding the events of the shooting. In a statement released shortly afterwards, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said Villegas González “refused to follow law enforcement commands and drove his car” at the agents, striking one and dragging him “a significant distance,” and that the officer who shot him was “fearing for his life.” In addition, DHS officials originally said the agent who was dragged was in critical condition, but body-worn camera footage released by Franklin Park police two weeks later showed the agent told police at the scene his injuries were “nothing major.” Both the agent and Villegas González were taken to nearby Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where Villegas González was pronounced dead. Neither of the ICE agents involved in the shooting was wearing a body camera, and no surveillance footage showing the agent allegedly being dragged or opening fire has publicly surfaced. Autopsy results from the Cook County medical examiner’s office, meanwhile, showed Villegas González was struck in the left side of his neck by a bullet that wound up lodged in his lower-right chest, suggesting the gunfire came from someone above him on the driver’s side of the car. He also suffered graze wounds to the pinky and ring fingers on his left hand, the report showed. Toxicology tests showed Villegas Gonzalez had relatively low amounts of cocaine and benzoylecgonine — a byproduct of the body breaking down the narcotic — in his blood at the time of his death.

New York Times [5/6/2026 12:15 AM, Mitch Smith, 330K] reports the state police in Illinois said on Tuesday that they were investigating the fatal shooting of a man by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last summer in suburban Chicago. The shooting of the man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, who was from Mexico, came in the midst of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area, and it immediately drew outrage from residents and local officials. Federal officials claimed that Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez, who they said was in the country illegally, drove a Subaru into officers and dragged an officer while fleeing a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Ill., near O’Hare International Airport. The agency said one officer had been severely injured. But video of the shooting, which took place on Sept. 12, raised questions about aspects of that account. Footage reviewed by New York Times showed Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez attempting to flee from officers. But it did not show Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez, 38, hitting an officer with his car, and an officer was heard on one of the videos saying his own injuries were “nothing major.” Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond for a request to comment on Tuesday night about the Illinois State Police investigation. Federal officials also did not immediately respond to questions about the status of the officer who fired or of any internal investigations into the shooting. The investigation of Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez’s death, and any attempt to bring criminal charges, could face several hurdles. Law enforcement officers have wide latitude to use deadly force in situations in which they reasonably fear that they or someone else is at risk of death or significant injury. And the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause bars the state prosecution of federal officers in a broad range of circumstances. Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the State Police, said in an emailed statement on Tuesday night that the Franklin Park Police Department had requested the state investigation. Once it is finished, she said, the findings will be turned over to the county prosecutor’s office. She declined to comment further. The police chief in Franklin Park, a Chicago suburb with about 18,000 residents, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The shooting of Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez was one of several events during the immigration crackdown in the Chicago area that raised questions about how federal agents were using force and interacting with residents.

Daily Caller [5/5/2026 3:47 PM, Derek VanBuskirk, 803K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of an illegal alien and alleged child rapist Tuesday, after he had been previously released by Fairfax County "sanctuary politicians.” Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested by local authorities in June on felony charges of rape of a child less than 13 years of age, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13 years of age, use of a computer to commit a sex offense with a minor, and distributing drugs to a minor, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). During his initial arrest, ICE lodged a detainer requesting that Fairfax County not release Garcia and instead notify ICE so officials could pick him up; however, the statement said the county refused to cooperate and instead released Garcia from custody. Garcia, who first entered the country illegally through Texas in 2023 and was paroled into the interior by the Biden administration, was eventually delivered a final order of removal in February. He was arrested by ICE on Friday, the statement said. "Governor Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Fairfax, Virginia, refused to cooperate with ICE and released this child rapist from jail back onto the streets," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in the statement. "Thanks to our brave law enforcement, this sicko is out of our communities. Governor Spanberger and Fairfax sanctuary politicians are playing Russian roulette with American lives by releasing criminals from jail into American neighborhoods.”

NPR [5/5/2026 4:47 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 28764K] Audio: HERE reports of the iconic Gruene Hall, often called Texas’ oldest continuously operating dance hall, men and women wearing cowboy hats and boots start lining up. They are there early to see country superstar Kacey Musgraves debut her latest album "Middle of Nowhere.” But heads turn when the Mariachi brothers Antonio, Caleb, and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar walk past — wearing their charro suits, with embroidered white and blue florals, and their big, red bow ties. The brothers, ages ranging from 12 to 18, have been playing mariachi music together for years. And this week they, along with their dad Luis Gámez Martínez, opened for Musgrave’s three sold-out shows in New Braunfels, Texas. "It was incredible," 18-year-old Antonio told NPR after the first show. "I loved it. I felt all the emotions at the same time.” The boys are living a dream, shared by five generations of their musical family. But their journey here was anything but smooth. Earlier this year they, along with their parents, were detained by federal immigration authorities after attending a required check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a nightmare they said lasted 13 days. The family came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2023 through a Biden-era program called CBP One, that allowed migrants to stay in the U.S. legally while their asylum claims were considered. "I’ve never committed a crime, I haven’t gotten in trouble at school," Antonio, the eldest son, said in Spanish. Yet in late February, Antonio was shackled and transported to a detention center in Texas. Because he is 18, he was separated from his family. His brothers and parents were sent to a different ICE detention facility. Emma Cuéllar, their mother, said seeing how Antonio was taken away to a different detention center was devastating. After bipartisan outcry from Texas politicians, the family was released. They are now waiting for a new immigration court date.

FOX News [5/5/2026 1:18 PM, Kristine Parks, 37576K] reports that a Kansas City, Kansas, church has moved its services underground in order to protect illegal immigrants from federal immigration enforcement, according to a new report. "It is ironic and shameful, is it not, that the safe spaces we call sanctuaries are no longer safe spaces," Rick Behrens, senior pastor at Grandview Park Presbyterian Church, told the Kansas Reflector. "Because we are under attack from our own government." According to the Reflector, services will now be held in a church basement. The story continued, saying that Behrens "moved services to the locked basement in response to the administration’s decision to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to enter churches." In January 2025, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that restricted immigration enforcement actions in or near houses of worship, schools, hospitals and other protected areas. At the time, a DHS spokesperson said the move would empower law enforcement and stop criminals from "being able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest." In addition to moving services, the church has also become a training hub for community activists, according to the report, teaching volunteers how to "spot immigration enforcement officers, accompany immigrants, and monitor the courts." Behrens was among several faith leaders and immigration activists who spoke at an interfaith prayer vigil last week, encouraging larger churches to take action as Kansas City prepares to host six matches during the FIFA World Cup this summer. DHS did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Blaze [5/5/2026 5:45 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1556K] reports an illegal alien accused of torturing dogs at the animal shelter where he worked was arrested and charged with animal torture, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement. The alleged animal abuse at the Working Dogs of Nevada training facility in Las Vegas was first reported by a woman who applied for a job and surreptitiously took video of the treatment of the dogs in February. Those allegations led to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Animal Cruelty Section performing a search warrant at the business and the removal of 35 dogs on April 1. John Young Cotter Johnstone, 38, was arrested at that time and charged with four felony counts of willfully or maliciously torturing, maiming, or mutilating an animal kept for companionship or pleasure. Tabitha Berube, 32, was also arrested and charged with one count of the same crime. On Tuesday, DHS confirmed that Johnstone was an illegal alien from the United Kingdom after he entered the country in 2021 but overstayed his visa since Feb. 2022. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer request the day after his arrest, and he was turned over to federal custody. Some of the secret video footage was published by KTNV-TV and showed a man kicking and dragging a dog. DHS said the other videos provided to police showed Johnstone using shock collars and swinging dogs in mid-air by their leashes. "This disgusting criminal tortured dogs at the shelter where he worked," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. "Thanks to the cooperation of Clark County officials who honored the ICE detainer, this freak is in ICE custody," she added. "Seven of the 10 safest cities cooperate with ICE. We need more state and local politicians to work with us to keep criminals off our streets and out of our country.”

FOX News [5/5/2026 9:00 PM, Rachel del Guidice, 37576K] reports a new bill from a California state lawmaker would let illegal immigrant professors who get deported continue to teach students remotely. The recently introduced bill by Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Democrat who represents Los Angeles, would allow professors who came into the country illegally and who get deported the ability to have what the bill calls a "remote teaching arrangement.” According to the bill, this is "an arrangement that allows a deported or detained faculty member to perform, to the extent possible, their instruction and professional duties through distance education or other remote modalities offered by the community college district.” It would "require a community college district to allow its faculty who departed the United States on or after January 1, 2027, for a specified reason, including, among others, due to immigration enforcement actions by the Department of Homeland Security, and who was teaching for the community college district at the time of departure to perform their instruction and professional duties through distance education or other remote modalities offered by the community college district, as provided.” A post from the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC), shared by Gipson in April supporting his bill, said that the legislation "protects student learning by ensuring instructional continuity when community college faculty are impacted by immigration enforcement.” It added that the bill "allows affected faculty to continue teaching remotely, preventing sudden course disruptions and keeping students on track.” The Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences estimates that of the approximately 8.1 million teachers in the country, about 857,200 are immigrant teachers, and nearly half of those are post secondary teachers, or college professors. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [5/5/2026 2:40 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1556K] reports that "anti-ICE" signs are reportedly popping up all over official buildings in Los Angeles at the order of Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for re-election. Bass ordered the signs to be installed at over 450 sites in order to warn federal agents against entering and using the locations to launch immigration enforcement operations. "I will not stand by while federal agents use our neighborhoods as staging grounds for fear and intimidation," Bass said in a statement to KTTV-TV. "In Los Angeles, we are setting clear boundaries: City property will not be used to carry out these raids." Bill Essayli, the first assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California, derided the signs and the order from Bass. "I just think this whole thing is silly. The signs have no legal weight, force, or effect on anything the federal government does," he said. "Federal agents will go anywhere they need to go to enforce federal law, including city property." He went on to deny the signs would prevent federal officers from performing their duty. "No. Not at all. They’re null and void. They mean nothing to us," he said of the signs. The signs read as follows: "This property is owned or controlled by the city of Los Angeles. It may only be used for its intended city purpose and not used for immigration enforcement as a staging area, processing location, or operations base."

Bloomberg Law [5/5/2026 6:22 PM, Khorri Atkinson, 50K] reports the Seventh Circuit declined to revive a former Department of Homeland Security employee’s lawsuit challenging his termination and alleging disability discrimination, ruling that he failed to timely follow administrative requirements before filing a complaint in court. Dored Shiba, who worked as an immigration officer for US Citizenship and Immigration Services, didn’t initiate an internal equal employment opportunity complaint within 45 days of the alleged discrimination, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held Tuesday. The court affirmed summary judgment to DHS on Shiba’s claims that the agency failed to accommodate a disability tied to a workplace injury and subjected him to harassment. The appeals court also declined to invoke the continuing violation doctrine to keep Shiba’s claims alive, saying it only applies to allegedly hostile actions that are part of the same claim. Nothing in the record suggests Shiba’s workplace was permeated with discriminatory ridicule, intimidation, and insult to give rise to a hostile work environment claim, Judge Diane Sykes, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the panel.

Univision [5/6/2026 12:50 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has partially resumed immigration processes for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela that had been paused. Authorities indicated that the measure applied only to certain cases and that each application was reviewed under rigorous security controls. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [5/5/2026 8:29 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports that, two months ago, an immigrant woman received a notice at her home: a fine of more than $1.8 million. The reason for the penalty was her failure to comply with a voluntary departure order. However, in 2017, she began the process of obtaining a U visa after surviving an attempted murder along with her son , and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ultimately waived the fine while her case progresses toward permanent residency. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

San Francisco Chronicle [5/5/2026 7:00 AM, Christian Leonard, 3833K] reports after two years of strong post-pandemic recovery, California’s population dipped last year, new state estimates show. The decline was marginal — roughly 54,000 people from January 2025 to January 2026, putting the state population at just under 39.6 million — but still notable for a state whose population had only recently bounced back from the pandemic. San Francisco was one of the few California counties with a higher number of residents at the start of the year — about 846,000, up from 844,000. The California Department of Finance, which publishes the annual estimates, said that federal cuts to legal immigration hamstrung the state’s population growth. U.S. Census Bureau data released late last year also indicated that immigration restrictions made California the slowest-growing state in the country, which also saw an overall decrease in population growth.

The Hill [5/5/2026 1:52 PM, Sophie Brams, 18170K] reports that the first wave of tariff refunds is expected to be issued electronically starting on May 12, just under three months after the Supreme Court invalidated the cornerstone of President Trump’s trade agenda. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shared the updated timeline in a message to shippers on Monday with information on how to monitor the status of their refunds. The estimated start date is one day later than indicated in previous court filings. The agency — which collects tariffs and duties on goods coming into the country — opened a portal on April 20 to process reimbursements for importers and brokers who paid import taxes before they were struck down in February. The court ruled in a 6-3 decision that Trump’s expanded use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act exceeded his authority but left open the question of what to do with the $166 billion that had already been collected. More than 75,000 businesses had applied for refunds through CBP’s portal as of April 26, according to an April 28 court filing. The agency said more than 47,000 claims were determined to have been properly filed, and approximately 1.7 million tariff payments were in the process of being refunded.

NewsNation [5/5/2026 7:31 AM, Sandra Sanchez, 4464K] reports a bundle of cash totaling $272,000 was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at an international bridge in Laredo, Texas, that leads to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, the agency says. The cash was confiscated at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge on April 21 and was found in an outbound vehicle driven by a Mexican national, CBP says. The 46-year-old female driver was sent to secondary inspection where the unreported U.S. currency was found within the floor of the vehicle, the agency says. Currency exceeding $10,000 must be reported to U.S. officials at ports upon entering or exiting the United States. Mexican cartel often rely on cash and weapons coming from the United States to fuel their business interests, officials say. “Our frontline CBP officers continue to remain vigilant in the outbound environment and that attention to detail resulted in a significant outbound currency seizure,” Laredo Port Director Albert Flores said. “Bulk cash seizures like these, often proceeds from illicit activity, directly impact the pocketbook of foreign terror organizations and deprive them of the ability to profit from such activity.”

FOX News [5/5/2026 5:00 AM, Leo Briceno, 37576K] reports in two back-to-back arrests, Border Patrol agents arrested a pair of illegal aliens convicted of child sex offenses last week. Agents near San Diego arrested an unnamed Mexican native last Monday who had been convicted in Jan. 2024 of contacting a minor with intent to commit a sex offense. On Tuesday, CBP agents from the San Clemente Border Patrol Station detained a Guatemalan national convicted of assault and battery, as well as molesting a child. "These arrests are a direct result of the proactive work our agents do every day to identify and remove these predators from our neighborhoods," Justin De La Torre, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent, said. Agency officials praised the arrests, calling them demonstrative of the agency’s continued effectiveness under the new leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, noting that the agency has arrested and removed thousands of criminal aliens from the country — including gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers—to make our communities safer.

Washington Times [5/5/2026 10:39 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports Customs and Border Protection officers manning the cargo lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport felt there might be something fishy about a shipment arriving from Hong Kong. An inspection found a firearm suppressor that had been falsely labeled as an automotive fuel filter. By the time the investigation was done, authorities had arrested a Connecticut man and seized 39 guns, 58 high-capacity magazines, five suppressors, three sets of body armor, ammunition and drugs. Alexander Oranzo, 46, of Branford, Connecticut, now faces more than 100 criminal charges in state court. “This is exactly the kind of major case that shows what is at stake in our cargo facilities every single day,” said Francis J. Russo, CBP’s New York director of field operations. “This seizure prevented a dangerous cache of weapons and explosives from remaining hidden in our communities.” He pointed out that the operation took place during the Homeland Security partial government shutdown.

Breitbart [5/5/2026 4:40 PM, Jeff Poor, 2238K] reports Tuesday on FBN’s "Mornings with Maria," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) reacted to his colleague Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) posting "86 47" on multiple occasions to his X social media account. The "86 47" posts were a response to the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. The Louisiana Republican called Lieu’s actions "disgusting.” "I also want to ask you about this, because California Democrat Ted Lieu posted the phrase ‘86 47′ on X," FBN host Cheryl Cason said. "This directly references the slogan at the heart of James Comey’s indictment. And the Congressman framed the post as a prediction of failure of the DoJ, suggesting the case against Comey is going to collapse, and that his win damages for selective prosecution. And then, acting A.G. Todd Blanche, he says, he is going to be disbarred in all of this. But this is just days after President Trump faced a third assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. You were there, Congressman, that night. I want to get your reaction to these comments from Ted Lieu.” Scalise replied, "It’s disgusting, and frankly, when you look at now the third, as you mentioned, assassination attempt on President Trump, we’ve seen a rise in political violence from the left. It’s not happening on both sides. Everybody knows that. And it’s language like that, it’s rhetoric like that, inciting just the far-left base of the party, some of these unhinged people, and it only takes one in the case of this California man who just decided, I’m going to take a train to California and try to kill the president and everybody else in that room. That was his intention. I was there. It was chaos. But luckily, he was not successful because of the brave men and women in the Secret Service who stopped him.”

NBC News [5/5/2026 8:17 PM, Michael Kosnar and Kyla Guilfoil, 42967K] reports a New Hampshire man working for the Federal Aviation Administration has been charged with threatening President Donald Trump via email. Dean DelleChiaie, 35, a mechanical engineer at the FAA from Nashua, is alleged to have sent an email to the White House on April 21 that said: "I, Dean DelleChiaie, am going neutralize/kill you - Donald John Trump - because you decided to kill kids - and say that it was War - when in reality - it is terrorism. God knows your actions and where you belong.” DelleChiaie was arrested Monday and appeared before a federal judge Tuesday. He is charged with "interstate communication of a threat.” The FAA, which has gone through periods of volatility and job cuts during Trump’s second term, first alerted the Secret Service in January that DelleChiaie had used his work computer to search for ways to harm Trump, according to court documents. The searches included how to get a gun into a federal facility, what percentage of the population wants Trump dead and the phrase "I am going to kill Donald John Trump," the criminal complaint says. DelleChiaie is also alleged to have searched for the location of Vice President JD Vance’s and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s homes and the names and ages of their children. After having made those searches, DelleChiaie asked the IT department at the FAA to clear his search history, according to court documents. The IT department alerted the FAA about the request, and the FAA suspended DelleChiaie before it passed the information along to the Secret Service, the complaint says. A Secret Service agent and a Nashua police officer interviewed DelleChiaie at his apartment in early February, according to the agent’s affidavit. DelleChiaie is alleged to have admitted conducting the searches and also owning three firearms. While the charging documents do not specify whether DelleChiaie possessed the firearms legally, there was no reference to authorities’ confiscating them. DelleChiaie told the officers that he was remorseful, but he shared that he was upset with the Trump administration because of the election, Trump’s presidential pardons and the Jeffrey Epstein files, the complaint says. It says he also said that he was depressed and in therapy, that he drinks to "black out" and that he uses marijuana daily. The Secret Service agent detailed in the complaint that he had noticed several phrases written on a whiteboard on DelleChiaie’s refrigerator, including "Calm down more," "Go to DC office if they do not action" and "Say arrest me ‘I am going to murder Donald John Trump - per defense of oath.’".

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/5/2026 5:44 PM, Karoun Demirjian, 148038K]
AP [5/5/2026 1:35 PM, Holly Ramer, 35287K]
Reuters [5/5/2026 12:19 PM, David Shepardson, 38315K]
ABC News [5/5/2026 11:31 AM, Aaron Katersky, 34146K]
NewsMax [5/5/2026 12:14 PM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K]
Daily Wire [5/5/2026 1:27 PM, Jacob Wheeler, 2314K]
Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 3:45 PM, Emily Hallas, 1147K]

New York Times [5/5/2026 5:51 PM, Zach Montague, 148038K] reports a federal grand jury on Tuesday returned a four-count indictment against Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of rushing a security point at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an attempt to kill President Trump. The indictment charged Mr. Allen with assaulting a federal agent, indicating that prosecutors now believe Mr. Allen wounded a secret service officer who was shot during the incident, as officers scrambled to secure the annual press gala. The Justice Department had charged Mr. Allen with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting guns with the intent to commit a felony, and firing a shotgun. But it had stopped short of accusing him of shooting the officer, who was hit in his ballistic vest and survived. Prosecutors say that Mr. Allen, 31, traveled from California in April with plans to ambush Mr. Trump and other senior administration officials as they mingled with journalists at the dinner. In an email Mr. Allen is said to have sent to friends and family before the attack, he laid out a hierarchy of potential targets, prioritizing cabinet officials and including Secret Service agents “only if necessary.” In court filings in April, prosecutors accused Mr. Allen of booking a room in the Washington Hilton, where the event has been held for decades, and plotting the attack ahead of the dinner. Video and photos submitted by the government appeared to show Mr. Allen storming into the area the dinner was being held armed with a shotgun, a pistol and several knives. He was immediately tackled and arrested. Upon receiving the grand jury indictment, a federal judge scheduled a May 11 arraignment for Mr. Allen, who has yet to enter a plea regarding the initial charges. “Today’s indictment underscores a simple truth: There is evidence this defendant intended to assassinate the president, and that he shot a U.S. Secret Service officer after he traversed the country with a cache of ammunition to accomplish his goals,” Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said in a statement.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [5/5/2026 6:16 PM, Salvador Rizzo, 24826K]
Washington Examiner [5/5/2026 6:22 PM, Rena Rowe, 1147K]

CBS News [5/5/2026 4:45 PM, Jake Rosen, 51110K] reports accused White House Correspondents’ Dinner attacker Cole Allen is now facing charges of assaulting a federal officer. Allen was formally indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on four charges, including three counts that he was charged with through a criminal complaint last week — attempting to assassinate President Trump and two firearm charges — and a new count of assault on a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon. Federal prosecutors charged Allen in the hours after the attempted attack at the annual press gala in Washington, D.C., but had not presented the charges to a grand jury to secure an indictment until Tuesday. Prosecutors allege on April 25, Allen — armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives — attempted to break through a security checkpoint one story above the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where Mr. Trump, top administration officials and members of the press corps were dining. The indictment also accuses Allen of assaulting a federal officer referred to as V.G. with a shotgun. Law enforcement officials have alleged that Allen shot at a uniformed Secret Service officer who was hit on his protective vest by buckshot. The officer was not seriously hurt.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [5/5/2026 7:03 PM, Staff, 2238K]
AP [5/5/2026 4:32 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 1323K]

Daily Wire [5/5/2026 11:27 AM, Jacob Wheeler, 2314K] reports the judge who apologized to the gunman accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner released a man who attacked a member of Congress and has "devoted" his career to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Public backlash is now intensifying against Judge Zia Faruqui who grilled jail officials on Monday over the conditions Cole Allen, the suspect, has faced behind bars. "I’m sorry," Faruqui told Allen, who was reportedly held in solitary confinement. "Whatever you’ve been through, I apologize for the prior week," The Daily Wire previously reported. Jail officials placed Allen on a temporary suicide watch that required 24-hour-a-day placement in a padded cell. The judge complained that those measures were punitive and not based on a medical assessment.

FOX News [5/5/2026 5:01 PM, Julia Bonavita, 37576K] reports Fox News has learned the name of the suspect shot by U.S. Secret Service officers near the White House this week. Michael Marx, a 45-year-old Texan, has been identified as the individual seen allegedly carrying a firearm just blocks from the White House on Monday, sources told Fox News on Tuesday. Secret Service Uniformed Division officers engaged the suspect after he was observed pulling a gun, a federal source previously told Fox News Digital. In a news conference, Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn told reporters that the suspect allegedly shot in the direction of officers after they tried to confront him near 15th Street and Independence Avenue, causing the agents to return fire. A juvenile suspect was also struck by the suspect and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Quinn said. Quinn said the confrontation began after trained surveillance personnel spotted a "visual print" of a weapon. "My understanding is they observed a print," Quinn said. "These are trained surveillance detection personnel out there looking every day to look for just that... and they observed a visual print of a firearm.”

Reported similarly:
USA Today [5/5/2026 1:36 PM, Mike Stunson, 70643K]
Washington Times [5/5/2026 4:32 PM, Matt Delaney, 1323K]

NBC News [5/5/2026 11:26 AM, Megan Lebowitz, Raquel Coronell Uribe, and Nicole Duarte, 42967K] reports an off-duty Secret Service officer was arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida, at around midnight Monday on charges of indecent exposure after allegedly masturbating in a hotel hallway, according to a police affidavit. The officer, identified in the arrest record as John Spillman, 33, was placed on administrative leave, Richard Macauley, the chief of the Secret Service’s uniformed division, said in a statement obtained by NBC station WTVJ. "We are aware of the arrest of an off-duty Secret Service officer by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office," Macauley said. "The alleged conduct is unacceptable and stands in stark contrast to the professionalism and integrity that I demand of our personnel." "This agency takes these matters with the utmost seriousness," he added, saying Spillman would remain on administrative leave "pending the results of this criminal matter and a complete and thorough internal investigation.” The Daily Caller [5/5/2026 1:23 PM, Leena Nasir, 803K] reports that the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s office arrested United States Secret Service agent John Spillman Monday after he allegedly masturbated in public. Spillman, 33, was in Miami working exterior security for President Donald Trump’s appearance at the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship on Sunday, according to CNBC. The sheriff said they responded to a call about a naked man on the sixth floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center Sunday night. They alleged they found Spillman "masturbating at the end of the hallway" when they arrived on scene, according to CNBC, citing an arrest report. The arrest report claimed guests called hotel security, who arrived to witness "the defendant with his pants lowered and masturbating on the sixth floor," according to Daily Beast. After he was arrested, a woman in a nearby room reportedly told deputies Spillman followed her from the hotel lobby to the sixth floor. "The victim advised they immediately entered their room" because she feared for her life, the arrest report said, according to CNBC. "The victim saw the defendant masturbating next to their hotel room," the report continued. Hotel security reported seeing the same alleged conduct, according to the arrest report. CNBC reported Spillman was kept at the Miami-Dade County Jail, according to jail records. Spillman was still in jail on a $1,000 bond as of Tuesday morning, according to News 7 Miami. It is unclear when he will be released as of publication.

ABC News [5/5/2026 12:58 AM, Riley Hoffman, 34146K] reports aMexican navy sailboat with 277 people on board crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening, killing two people and injuring more than a dozen others who were on board in a dramatic scene along the New York City waterfront, according to authorities. The crash occurred at 8:30 p.m., resulting in at least 19 people injured, according to the New York Police Department. Four people were left with serious injuries, according to city officials, who gave a press briefing late Saturday evening. Mayor Eric Adams said early Sunday that two people were dead following the crash. Two others remained in critical condition, he said in a statement posted to social media. On Sunday, Mexican Sen. Manuel Huerta identified the two sailors killed in the crash as América Yamilet Sánchez and Adal Jair Marcos. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a go-team to New York City to investigate the crash, the federal agency said Sunday. They began arriving that same day. The multidisciplinary investigative team is comprised of experts in nautical operations, marine and bridge engineering and survival factors, the NTSB said. The captain, who was maneuvering the ship, lost power and mechanical function, and the current caused the ship to go right into the pillar of the bridge, hitting the mast of the ship where there was a couple of sailors," NYPD Chief Wilson Aramboles said during a press briefing. The sailors were injured as a result of the mast striking the bridge, according to Aramboles. The U.S. Coast Guard, which responded to the incident, described the vessel, called the Cuauhtémoc, as a 297-foot-long training ship. The Coast Guard said all three of the tall ship’s masts were damaged as a result of the collision with the bridge. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [5/5/2026 7:26 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] reports that federal investigators are now seeking the public’s help in identifying the owners of a sailboat that may have been moored next to Lynette Hooker’s vessel the night she disappeared in the Bahamas, marking a new development in the search for the missing Michigan woman. The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the criminal investigative arm of the service branch, is searching for additional information about Hooker’s disappearance near Aunt Pat’s Bay, near Elbow Cay and Hope Town, on the night of April 4, 2026. According to sources close to the investigation, CGIS has launched a search to locate the owner of a sailboat that was moored near the sailing vessel Soulmate in Aunt Pat’s Bay that day in early April. Lynette Hooker and her husband, Brian Hooker, had been traveling aboard Soulmate before she vanished. "The owners/occupants of the sailing vessel may have information relevant to the CGIS investigation," a Coast Guard memo obtained by CBS News states. Federal investigators have been looking beyond the dinghy route described in earlier accounts and are now seeking potential witnesses who may have been near Soulmate before or around the time Lynette was reported missing. Hooker, 55, disappeared after what her husband has described as a drop from an 8-foot dinghy during a nighttime ride in the Abacos. Brian Hooker told authorities Lynette fell overboard with the boat keys, causing the engine to shut off and leaving him to paddle for hours before reaching shore. A month after her disappearance, Lynette Hooker remains missing, with no charges filed in connection to her disappearance.

ABC News [5/5/2026 7:13 PM, Staff, 34146K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday it is seeking tips from the public in connection with the disappearance of Lynette Hooker, including information on a sailboat moored near the missing American’s vessel in the Bahamas. Lynette Hooker, 55, of Michigan, has been missing since April 4. Her husband, Brian Hooker, told authorities that she fell off their dinghy during bad weather while they were headed toward their yacht, Soulmate, in Elbow Cay. The U.S. Coast Guard Southeast Division said on social media Tuesday that it is "asking the public for info about the disappearance of Lynette Hooker" within Aunt Pat’s Bay, where the Soulmate was moored. The Coast Guard posted two images of a sailboat moored near the Soulmate and said it is looking for the owner of that vessel. It also urged anyone with information to submit tips. Brian Hooker, 58, was arrested by Bahamian police on April 8 in connection with his wife’s disappearance but released days later without being charged following questioning. A day after his release, Brian Hooker told ABC News on April 14 that he was staying in the Bahamas with a "sole focus" of finding his wife, "no matter how likely or unlikely that is.” "My only focus is to go back to the boat and then hire or beg people to help me go find some areas to search," he said.

CBS Miami [5/5/2026 5:33 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a drug smuggling boat near Haiti, seizing about 3,200 pounds of marijuana valued at nearly $4 million. One person was detained and, along with the seized drugs, handed over to Haitian authorities. Officials say most of the drugs.

Federal News Network [5/5/2026 5:42 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports fresh off the longest shutdown in government history, CISA is pushing critical infrastructure orgs to plan for a cybersecurity emergency. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – fresh out of the longest shutdown in government history and ready to begin hiring again after shedding staff for the past year – is out with new cybersecurity crisis planning guidance for critical infrastructure organizations. CISA’s new "CI Fortify" initiative notably pushes water utilities, the transportation sector and other critical infrastructure organizations to plan for a "geopolitical crisis" involving cyber attacks that could sever their connections to internet, telecommunications and other technology services. CISA’s guidance features two primary emergency planning objectives: "isolation" and "recovery" to mitigate threats. The former involves "proactively disconnecting from third-party and business networks" to safeguard operational technology, such as industrial control systems, from cyber attack during a crisis. CISA says organizations should be prepared to sustain "essential operations" rather than completely shutting down. "Recovery" involves documenting systems, backing up critical files, and practicing "the replacement of systems or the transition to manual" in case a cyber attack shuts down critical systems, according to CISA. CISA says it plans to perform "targeted assessments" of how prepared certain critical infrastructure organizations are to meet CI Fortify’s objectives. CISA is prioritizing "defense critical infrastructure," meaning systems that are crucial to military forces and operations, including dams, radars, weapon systems, satellite communications and other facilities. Acting CISA Director Nick Andersen said the cyber agency has already started evaluating some organizations, which he declined to identify. "We’ve already started to kick off the first couple of assessments under a pilot phase of this initiative that is already up and moving," Andersen said during a call with reporters today. The guidance comes after CISA was prevented from doing many planning and engagement activities during the 75-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown. Most CISA staff were furloughed during the lapse in funding, which ended after Congress passed fiscal 2027 appropriations for most of DHS last week. But even prior to the shutdown, CISA was weathering the departure of roughly 1,000 employees – one-third of its staff – amid budget cuts under the Trump administration. Those cuts and the elimination of certain authorities have left the agency’s cyber partnerships at a "standstill.” But Andersen pointed to recently approved plans for CISA to make 329 "mission-critical" hires as evidence of new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s support for CISA. Andersen said that represented "an initial tranche of additional hiring.”

Federal News Network [5/5/2026 5:10 PM, Staff, 1297K] reports Federal cybersecurity directives don’t often leave much room for interpretation. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency’s Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-02 is one of those moments. Its message is direct: Unsupported edge devices must be identified, remediated and removed from federal networks. For agencies, the instinct may be to treat this as another compliance exercise; meet the deadlines, check the boxes and move on. BOD 26-02 is more than a mandate. It’s an opportunity to fix one of the federal government’s most persistent cybersecurity challenges: understanding what’s running at the edge of the network and whether it can be trusted. Edge devices, including routers, firewalls and VPN appliances, are some of the most critical assets in federal environments. They’re also some of the hardest to track. They live outside traditional inventories. They’re managed by different teams. They span legacy infrastructure, cloud environments and field operations. And in many cases, no single system can answer a simple question with confidence: "What do we actually have deployed right now?". That’s why the directive’s first requirement, identifying affected devices within 90 days, is so significant. But agencies shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking in terms of simply building a list. They should focus on building a capability around continuously identifying, validating and tracking edge devices and their lifecycle status across complex, distributed environments.

CyberScoop [5/5/2026 3:10 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has gotten “by far” the biggest gains from artificial intelligence automation in its security operations unit to help analysts sift through threats, but it’s also proven valuable elsewhere within the agency, CISA officials said Tuesday. It’s “really allowing those analysts to do triage very fast, so they focus on what matters versus the noise,” Tammy Barbour, acting chief of application management at CISA, said. “They’re able to do a lot of real-time, quick looks before events happen in most places.” Barbour, speaking at the UiPath FUSION Public Sector event hosted by Scoop News Group, said automation has also been a boon to CISA’s Technology Operations Center. “The top analysts are able to quickly respond to customers who are reaching out to talk and asking questions, and be able to get real-time efficiencies with that,” she said. And it’s been a big help for data migration, Barbour said. Lauren Wind, acting deputy chief technology officer at CISA, said from her wing of the department, it’s focused on finding benefits from automation in areas like human resources, contracting and finance. “So we can continue to drive mission, but also accelerate the mission-supporting functions,” she said. “We really want to ensure that our cyber analysts are focusing on the things that matter, like malware.”

CyberScoop [5/5/2026 6:10 PM, Derek B. Johnson, 122K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is urging critical infrastructure owners and operators to plan for delivering essential services under emergency conditions – potentially for months at a time. The federal government’s top cybersecurity agency warned that state-sponsored hackers, particularly two Chinese groups known as Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon, continue to threaten critical sectors like electricity, water, and internet. The agency is now working with the private sector to protect operational technology – the systems that control the heavy machinery and equipment that powers most critical infrastructure – from attacks that enter through business IT systems or third-party vendor products. The initiative — known as CI Fortify – will include CISA conducting targeted technical assessments of critical infrastructure entities and aims to create plans that “allow for safe operations for weeks to months while isolated” from IT networks and third-party tools, according to the agency’s website. Nick Andersen, CISA’s acting director, told reporters that the goal is “service delivery [that] can still reach critical infrastructure after the asset owner has disconnected with IT and OT, disconnected from third party vendors and service provider connections and disconnected from third party telecommunications equipment.”

HS Today [5/5/2026 6:25 AM, Staff, 38K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD ACSC), and other U.S. and international partners have published, Careful Adoption of Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) Services, a joint guide that presents organizations with the cybersecurity challenges and risks associated with introducing agentic AI along with recommended mitigations. Critical infrastructure and defense sectors are increasingly deploying agentic AI systems to support mission-critical systems and capitalize on significant automation benefits. However, these systems can introduce additional cybersecurity risks, such as an expanded attack surface, privilege creep, behavioral misalignment, and obscure event records. This joint guide provides developers, vendors and operators with best practices for securing agentic AI systems and recommended actions to defend against future risks. “CISA is committed to supporting the US’s adoption of AI that includes ensuring it aligns with President Trump’s Cyber Strategy for America and is cyber secure,” said CISA Acting Director Nick Andersen. “We actively collaborate with government and international partners on shared priorities with AI advancements while addressing cybersecurity challenges and risks. CISA encourages agentic AI developers, vendors and operators to review this guide.”

NewsMax [5/5/2026 4:12 PM, James Morley III, 3760K] reports that FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau has begun deploying artificial intelligence tools to disrupt potential acts of violence, including planned school shootings, as part of a broader effort to modernize federal law enforcement. "AI was never used at the FBI till we got there," Patel said. "I’m using it everywhere." In an interview Monday on Sean Hannity’s podcast, Patel said the FBI has integrated AI into its investigative workflow to process the thousands of tips it receives each week. He described the shift as a significant departure from prior practices. According to Patel, AI-assisted analysis helped agents intervene in multiple cases, including a potential school massacre in North Carolina and a separate planned attack in New York. In both instances, tips were rapidly assessed using AI tools, allowing investigators to prioritize credible threats and act quickly. The FBI has increasingly emphasized partnerships with private-sector technology firms, Patel added, noting that some intelligence originated from companies developing AI infrastructure. The remarks come as the bureau works to reshape its public image following years of political scrutiny and declining trust. During the Biden administration, the FBI faced criticism from Republican lawmakers and some segments of the public over its handling of politically sensitive investigations and allegations of bias.

FOX News [5/5/2026 7:21 PM, Sophia Compton, 37576K] reports a suspected robocalling campaign may be behind a wave of school bomb threats reported across Kentucky, authorities said. The Kentucky State Police (KSP) announced Tuesday that it is actively investigating multiple threats targeting schools statewide in coordination with local law enforcement agencies. Preliminary findings suggest the calls may be part of a robocall campaign, according to officials. "Preliminary findings suggest the threats may be linked to a robocalling campaign. These threats are illegal, disruptive, and unacceptable," Kentucky State Police said in a statement. "We will thoroughly investigate each incident and hold those responsible fully accountable.” So far, officials say none of the threats have been deemed credible. Police have not specified which schools were targeted. The news has prompted concern among parents calling for police to share more information. "Which schools are getting the threats parents have the right to know," one person wrote on social media. Robocalls — automated phone calls that use prerecorded or artificial voice messages — are often a "preferred tool" for scammers, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The incidents follow a series of hoax calls on Friday that led to evacuations and closures at zoos across the country, including the Louisville Zoo, according to WLKY. Similar fake threats were also reported Monday at high schools in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and across the Philadelphia suburbs, according to FOX 29.

CBS News [5/5/2026 6:31 AM, Staff, 51110K] reports Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has pleaded for U.S. court authorities to transfer him back to his country of birth, court filings showed Monday, as he serves out a life sentence he deemed "cruel." Extradited in 2017 after escaping twice from Mexican prisons, Guzman is serving a life sentence at a maximum security facility in Colorado on multiple charges including drug trafficking and money laundering. AFP reviewed three letters the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel wrote, each one filed on Monday. CBS News also obtained one of the letters, which is written in grammatically incorrect English. "This is a polite letter (about) the hardcore evidence that wasn’t proven for my case," Guzman wrote in the letter, dated April 23. In the letter directed to the Eastern District Court of New York, Guzman asked that authorities recognize his "rights to be request back (sic) to my country," without clarifying if his request is to serve the rest of his sentence in Mexico. In another missive on April 20, Guzman complained that his requests for the documents behind his sentencing have gone unanswered.

New York Times [5/5/2026 10:01 PM, Pooja Salhotra, 148038K] reports the suspect charged in connection with a firebombing attack against marchers in Boulder, Colo., last year who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza will plead guilty to murder and other state charges this week, according to court documents. The man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 46-year-old Egyptian national, will be sentenced to life in prison on the state charges, according to the documents. Federal prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty for federal charges related to the attack, the documents said. Mr. Soliman was arrested last June after the authorities said he had assembled, lit and thrown Molotov cocktails at a group of people demonstrating near the Boulder County Courthouse. The demonstrators were calling for Hamas to release the hostages it had taken in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. More than a dozen people were wounded in Mr. Soliman’s attack, and one person later died of her wounds. Mr. Soliman was charged with 12 federal hate crime counts along with more than 100 state charges, including murder, assault and the use of explosives. He had previously pleaded not guilty, but in court documents filed on Sunday in the federal case, lawyers for Mr. Soliman said that he would plead guilty to all state charges this week. The documents also said that Mr. Soliman had offered last August to plead guilty in the federal case and accept a life sentence. The government has not decided whether to accept the offer because it is considering pursuing the death penalty, the documents said. Neither the Justice Department nor Mr. Soliman’s lawyers responded to requests for comment. In court records, lawyers for Mr. Soliman described the attack as “profoundly inconsistent with his prior conduct.” They also said that “these events came as a total shock to his family” and that he hadn’t indicated that he was planning to commit a crime. Mr. Soliman came to the United States in August 2022 with his then-wife, Hayam El Gamal, and their five children. They lived in Colorado Springs, where Mr. Soliman worked in a variety of jobs, including food delivery and rideshare driving, while Ms. El Gamal cared for the children, who now range in age from 5 to 18. The family had entered the country on tourist visas that authorized them to stay until Feb. 26, 2023. Shortly after they arrived, Mr. Soliman applied for asylum for the whole family. After Mr. Soliman was arrested, his family, including his now ex-wife and children, were taken into federal custody and sent to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, about 75 miles southwest of San Antonio. The family fought for their release, arguing that they had known nothing about Mr. Soliman’s plans. The family was finally released on bond last month after spending more than 10 months at the Dilley facility, which detainees have criticized for inadequate medical care and deplorable conditions. Two days after their release, they were detained during an immigration hearing and put onto a plane bound for Michigan. Their lawyer filed emergency petitions for their release, which judges granted, prompting the plane to turn around and bring the family back to Denver.

New York Post [5/5/2026 10:24 AM, Anthony Blair, 40934K] reports shocking video shows a car packed with explosives being driven into a bar by a former bartender who developed a "violent obsession" after being fired several years ago. Bruce Whitman, 45, was the driver who rammed a vehicle full of propane tanks and pipe bombs into the Oregon sports club just before 3 a.m. Saturday, triggering a fiery blast that killed him instantly, his mother confirmed to The Oregonian. Bizarre security footage shows the terrifying moment the black Nissan Rogue pulls up to the entrance of Portland’s Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC) before crashing through the glass and into the lobby. The video cuts just before the vehicle detonated, leaving the lobby of the building in ruins and causing millions of dollars worth of damage, but thankfully no other injuries. His mother confirmed that she had texted her son, a former bartender at the club, on Friday morning. "And then I didn’t hear from him until I got a call from the detective the next morning," Rita Lenzer told The Oregonian. She said her son hadn’t appeared to struggle with mental illness growing up, but was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in February.

Univision [5/5/2026 11:31 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports that the U.S. government has outlined its counter-drug strategy, proposing joint operations with Mexico and the deployment of military forces to target drug trafficking gangs beyond its own borders, as these groups pose a threat to its national security. In a 195-page document, Washington established its objectives for confronting criminal factions that President Donald Trump designated as foreign terrorist groups last year, citing the thousands of overdose deaths these groups cause within the United States. "This designation is not merely symbolic; it is a strategic trigger that reframes the U.S. government’s approach, shifting from a traditional law enforcement issue to a national security threat," the document stated. In essence, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) seeks to combat Mexican cartels by transitioning from a strictly law enforcement and judicial perspective—established under Titles 18 and 21 of the U.S. Code—to a broader approach that incorporates the Armed Forces within a wartime context, invoking authorities granted under Titles 10 and 50. "This shift provides new and expanded authorities to target the entirety of these networks—including their financial and logistical support systems—by leveraging the full spectrum of U.S. government capabilities, including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic tools," the ONDCP added. The document explains that criminal groups will be combated not merely by seizing drugs at the Mexican border, but by utilizing drug trafficking itself as the primary lens through which to understand their operations—tracing the entire network, from its leadership and financial flows to its transportation methods and its facilitators. This approach is characterized as a "multi-layered defense."

FOX News [5/5/2026 8:22 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports foreign correspondent Jeff Paul reports a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship has led to 3 deaths and 147 people quarantined off Africa. Local health officials are not allowing the ship to dock due to public health concerns. A terrifying hantavirus outbreak is suspected aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, with 3 individuals confirmed dead and 147 people quarantined. Foreign correspondent Jeff Paul delivers the latest from London, detailing how Cape Verde officials have refused to allow docking due to health concerns. The World Health Organization (WHO) is actively investigating the source of the outbreak, as the disease can cause deadly respiratory illness.

Washington Post [5/5/2026 3:47 PM, Gerrit De Vynck, 24826K] reports that the U.S. Commerce Department’s national standards agency will run tests on new artificial intelligence models from Google, Microsoft and Elon Musk’s xAI before they are released, in a step toward greater oversight of Silicon Valley by the Trump administration. The agreement between the Commerce Department and the tech companies builds on a deal struck in 2024 by the Biden administration for prerelease testing of AI technology from start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic. The companies have agreed to provide early access to their technology to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation. The center will “conduct pre-deployment evaluations and targeted research to better assess frontier AI capabilities and advance the state of AI security,” it said in an announcement Tuesday. “Independent, rigorous measurement science is essential to understanding frontier AI and its national security implications,” CAISI Director Chris Fall said in a statement. The agreements do not set specific standards that the companies must meet. But they mark a shift in the Trump administration’s position on AI and regulation of the industry. At the beginning of his second term last year, President Donald Trump rolled back requirements introduced by the Biden administration that AI companies submit results of their own AI testing to the government. Trump has been a vocal proponent of giving AI companies space to innovate freely, issuing an executive order in December directing the Justice Department to sue states that pass new AI laws that the government does not approve of.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [5/5/2026 1:25 PM, Eric Revell, 7946K]
USA Today [5/5/2026 2:41 PM, Courtney Rozen and Aditya Soni, 70643K]

Washington Times [5/5/2026 4:41 PM, Christopher A. Iacovella, 1323K] reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently summoned Wall Street’s top CEOs to an emergency meeting for one reason: Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview has made our financial system vulnerable in ways Washington is unprepared to address. Still, they missed the most vulnerable target of all: a little-known government database that has become the world’s largest collection of retail investor financial information ever assembled. Most Americans have never heard of the Consolidated Audit Trail. That is about to change. Here is what the audit trail contains: the name, address, birth year and trade-by-trade history of every retail brokerage customer in America. Every buy and sell order, every account, every investor — all mapped to a single government-assigned ID. The Consolidated Audit Trail effectively places every American saver under continuous financial observation. It is the digital equivalent of forcing citizens to wear a government tracking device — not for any crime or misconduct, but merely for daring to invest in their futures. Now consider what Mythos can do. Anthropic’s own Frontier Red Team documented thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities, previously unknown flaws with no existing patch or defense, autonomously identified and exploited across every major operating system and web browser.

The Hill [5/5/2026 3:27 PM, Laura Kelly, 18170K] reports that the Trump administration is pushing a resolution at the United Nations Security Council condemning Iran’s effective shutting down of the Strait of Hormuz and calling for open passage on the critical maritime route, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday. The resolution comes after Trump announced Project Freedom for the U.S. Navy to assist international commercial shipping to pass through the Strait under threat from Iranian missile and drone attacks and sea mines. Iran shut down the Strait as retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli strikes against the country beginning on Feb. 28. “The draft resolution requires Iran to cease attacks, mining, and tolling,” Rubio said in a statement released just before he appeared at the White House podium as a replacement for press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave. “It demands that Iran disclose the number and location of the sea mines it has laid and cooperate with efforts to remove them, while also supporting the establishment of a humanitarian corridor,” he said. Trump has instituted a blockade on Iranian oil tankers and commercial shipping in response to Iran’s actions. The battle has led to skyrocketing gas prices around the world and in the United States, where it has emerged as a critical issue in this fall’s midterm elections. The resolution is titled “Defend Freedom of Navigation and Secure the Strait of Hormuz” and is co-sponsored by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

NewsMax [5/5/2026 5:02 PM, Jim Thomas, 3760K] reports Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry announced, placing Tehran’s top diplomat in the Chinese capital roughly a week before President Donald Trump arrives for his own summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The visit comes at a delicate moment in U.S.-Iran negotiations to convert a fragile ceasefire into a durable peace, as Washington presses Beijing to pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese announcement said Araghchi was traveling "upon invitation" and that Wang would hold talks with him on May 6. Iran’s Foreign Ministry separately said on Telegram that the two would discuss bilateral ties and "regional and international developments," without disclosing the length of the trip. Bloomberg reported it is Araghchi’s first visit to China since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 ignited the current war. The trip caps a stretch of diplomacy by Araghchi through Oman, Pakistan, and Russia as Tehran tries to shape the terms of any settlement. Wang and Araghchi have spoken at least three times by phone since the war began, most recently on April 15, when Wang said China was ready to help with de-escalation, Al-Monitor reported. The Chinese stop is consequential because of what follows it. The White House confirmed in March that Trump will travel to Beijing on May 14 and 15 for a summit with Xi, his first trip to China since 2017, and a meeting originally scheduled for late March, which was delayed by the Iran war. U.S. officials have said Iran will be high on the agenda. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has led preliminary U.S. talks with Beijing ahead of the summit, told Fox News on Monday that China should "step up with some diplomacy" to push Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters [5/5/2026 8:41 AM, John Irish, 38315K] reports U.N. Security Council members were to begin talks on Tuesday on a U.S.-backed draft resolution that could lead to sanctions against Iran, and potentially authorise force, if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Western diplomats said. Fresh exchanges of fire on Monday underscored the stakes as the U.S. and Iran struggle for ‌control of the narrow waterway, a vital artery for global energy and trade, shaking a fragile four-week-old truce and reinforcing rival maritime blockades. A statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the resolution, also drafted by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, would require Iran "to cease attacks, mining, and tolling" and demands that Iran disclose the number and location of the sea mines it has laid and cooperate with efforts to remove them. Rubio said it would also require Iran to support the establishment of a humanitarian corridor. "The United States looks forward to this resolution being voted on  in the coming days and to receiving support from Security Council members," he said.

FOX News [5/5/2026 10:46 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports Fox News anchor Bret Baier discusses escalating Iran tensions, with military leaders warning against further violations after commercial vessel attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and previews his new book, ‘The Case for America.’ Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino discuss escalating Iran tensions, with military leaders warning against further violations after commercial vessel attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. They then cover President Trump’s upcoming ‘very important’ China visit, expected to address various geopolitical issues. Bret Baier also details his new book, ‘The Case for America,’ during the segment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [5/5/2026 5:47 PM, Courtney Kube, 42967K] reports two U.S. commercial ships that crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday had U.S. military security teams aboard as Iran launched attacks against them during the transit, according to two U.S. officials. Iran targeted both ships with missiles, drones and armed small boats, but the U.S. military intercepted the attacks and blew up the small boats, the Pentagon said. It was the first time U.S. military security personnel were reported aboard the ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz as part of President Donald Trump’s latest effort to open up the key passageway, called Project Freedom, where military vessels were guiding ships through Iran’s blockade of the strait. It was a new entanglement in the conflict that increased the military’s exposure to Iran’s aggression. Pentagon leaders on Tuesday tried to distinguish between the ongoing U.S. military actions in the Strait of Hormuz; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued that Trump’s weekend announcement of Project Freedom was distinctly different from the overall war operation, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

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