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

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

The AP [5/7/2026 4:53 PM, Gabriela Aoun Angueira, 35287K] reports a council meant to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency proposed Thursday a series of long-awaited changes to the disaster recovery body that stop short of the administration’s promises to dismantle it, but could reduce the number of disasters the federal government supports and the amount of money it doles out. The council appointed by President Donald Trump approved a highly anticipated report that outlines ways the Trump administration could potentially put far more responsibility on states, tribes and territories for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. It proposes upending how the federal government determines which disasters to support, how FEMA pays states and other governments for disaster recovery costs, and what kind of FEMA assistance survivors receive, among other reforms. “These recommendations are all about accelerating federal dollars, streamlining the process, making it less bureaucratic so that Americans can get the help they need on the worst day of their lives,” former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a council member, said in a public meeting Thursday with nearly 6,000 virtual attendees. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the report offered him “a clear direction and an oversight of an agency that is in need of reform, but is still mission capable.” The Federal News Network [5/7/2026 5:44 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the co-chairman of the council, said he is ready to get the council’s recommendations "into action.” "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come to this position with a clear direction and oversight of an agency that is in need of reform, but still mission capable," Mullin said. "So I get to go to work, and I hope to continue to work with you guys moving forward.” President Donald Trump established the FEMA Review Council last January. It includes several current and former governors, state emergency managers and local officials, among others. Major recommendations include streamlining how FEMA disburses disaster funds, mitigation grants and other types of assistance; replacing the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program; reforming the National Flood Insurance Program; and raising the threshold for when an event would qualify for federal disaster assistance.Bloomberg [5/7/2026 2:45 PM, Zahra Hirji and Lauren Rosenthal, 18082K] reports that the recommendations, finalized at a council meeting in Washington, include reassessing FEMA staffing, rethinking what disasters qualify for federal disaster aid and then streamlining its distribution, reforming the National Flood Insurance Program, and shifting more training and spending decisions to state, local and tribal authorities, over a period of two to three years. At least half of the recommendations require action by Congress. A final report detailing the recommendations now goes to the White House and will be released for public comment. “Emergency managers have been waiting for these recommendations for more than 16 months. This is a pivotal moment — not only for FEMA, but for every state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency manager who depends on a strong federal partnership before, during, and after disasters,” said Carrie Speranza, former chair of FEMA National Advisory Council, a now-disbanded group of experts that advised the agency on all aspects of emergency management. “The implementation phase will ultimately determine the success of these reforms and their impact on communities nationwide.”

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NewsMax [5/7/2026 9:54 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be transformed into a smaller, coordination-focused department that shifts primary disaster responsibilities to states and local governments, according to a report issued Thursday by a review council appointed by President Donald Trump. The report from the 12-member FEMA Review Council said the disaster-relief agency was "irreparably damaged" by "mission creep and endemic program failures" under the Biden administration and declared: "It is time to close the chapter on FEMA.” The panel was tasked by Trump with recommending reforms for FEMA and restructuring the federal government’s disaster-response system. "‘FEMA’ as a brand and as an agency was irreparably damaged by the previous Administration’s proclivity to mission creep and endemic program failures," the report stated. "A transformed agency should be established that retains the core missions of FEMA, while highlighting the renewed emphasis on locally executed, state or tribally managed, and federally supported emergency management," it continued. "Beyond boldly transforming the agency, it should refocus on its core mission to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards by reducing bureaucracy, improving efficiency, and building stronger partnerships with SLTT [state, local, tribal, and territorial] governments," it stated. "Therefore, the agency should shift from a District of Columbia-centric bureaucracy and regulatory bottleneck to a new, lean coordination-focused workforce that empowers SLTT officials to provide relief for their citizens.” The report said FEMA intervenes too often in disasters that states should handle themselves and recommended raising the federal "per capita" disaster threshold from $1.94 to $2.99, while requiring states to meet minimum annual disaster spending levels before seeking federal assistance. The council estimated that nearly 29% of disasters declared between 2012 and 2025 would not have qualified for federal aid under the revised threshold, reducing federal spending by about $1.5 billion. The report also proposed replacing FEMA’s reimbursement-heavy disaster-funding structure with a direct-payment system that would send states lump-sum federal disaster funds within 30 days of a presidential disaster declaration. Under the proposal, states would gain broader authority over spending decisions and recovery operations, while the federal government would shift into more of a supporting and coordinating role.

NPR [5/7/2026 3:32 PM, Lauren Sommer and Rebecca Hersher, 28764K] reports that a 12-person council of disaster experts appointed by President Trump is recommending sweeping changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). If enacted, the changes would represent the most significant reimagining of disaster preparedness and response policy in the United States in a generation. The council’s report, approved at a public meeting today, is meant to advise President Trump’s decisions about the agency, though some changes will likely need Congressional approval. The changes include making it simpler for disaster survivors to get money, raising the threshold for the federal government to get involved in disaster recovery and shrinking the National Flood Insurance Program. Altogether, the recommendations would put more responsibility on states. "Many in America do not believe FEMA was doing the job that it was intended to complete," said former Mississippi Governor and FEMA Review Council member Phil Bryant at today’s meeting to approve the report. Many of the council’s recommendations are very broad, and it’s unclear exactly how they would be implemented. "The devil is in the details here," says Dominik Lett, who studies FEMA at the Cato Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. that promotes market-based policies. "I think that there’s a lot of promising ideas that are being pitched by the review council, a lot of which could reduce disaster costs for the federal government." In a statement to NPR, DHS said the office shut down because of the current funding lapse in Congress targeting immigration enforcement.

Washington Post [5/7/2026 3:25 PM, Brianna Sacks, Amy B Wang, and Brady Dennis, 24826K] reports that a panel tasked with shaping the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency voted Thursday to approve a report recommending that the Trump administration gradually cut FEMA by 50 percent, among other significant overhauls meant to streamline the beleaguered agency. The report also recommends that FEMA shift leadership of emergency response and recovery to the state level, make changes to some of its most relied-on programs, and do away with reviews that members said can often slow disaster response and recovery. While the document does not carry any legal weight, it is meant to guide the Trump administration’s next steps for an agency the president has frequently criticized — though some environmental advocacy groups were quick to denounce its recommendations. President Donald Trump established the FEMA Review Council shortly after taking office again last year, in part to address criticism of the way the federal government responds to natural disasters. The panel, co-chaired by the heads of the Defense and Homeland Security departments with 10 additional members, spent nearly a year researching FEMA’s programs, reviewing thousands of public comments and hosting listening sessions with disaster-stricken communities across the United States. “At the end of the day, we know FEMA is broken and it needs to be fundamentally transformed,” former Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, a member of the council, said Thursday. “What we see here is a need to change, and it has to happen, and it can’t be trimming around the edges.”

FOX Business [5/7/2026 11:09 AM, Staff, 7946K] reports DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to detail shutdown fallout, President Donald Trump’s border security push, and rising threats from immigration, terrorism and global events. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [5/8/2026 4:30 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said that “we’re seeing an increase on our northern border now that we’ve got to put more assets to.” Mullin said that there has been progress on wall construction along the border and “we’re taking care of our border.” He continued, “But as we take care of the southern border, it pushes pressure for the drugs and the human smuggling, pushing it to the north. So we’re seeing an increase on our northern border now that we’ve got to put more assets to.”

ABC News [5/7/2026 11:48 AM, Luke Barr and Steven Portnoy, 34146K] Video: HERE reports amid intensifying scrutiny of the Senate Republican proposal to spend up to $1 billion on security for the new White House ballroom, top Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Secret Service officials say the money would also be spent on "other critical missions." Those missions, they said, would include securing "frequently visited venues" outside of the White House. In a letter to congressional leaders obtained by ABC News, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Secret Service Director Sean Curran described the proposed billion-dollar package as "critical funding to address urgent needs in response to the unprecedented increase in threats against the President and other public officials." Mullin and Curran said that the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month as well as a shooting near the National Mall earlier this week show a need for a secure White House ballroom. The letter said the security upgrades to the "East Wing Modernization Project" will "afford needed protection for the President, his family, and visitors, along with the below-ground security functions." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [5/7/2026 10:01 AM, Neil Munro, 2238K] reports Border Czar Tom Homan told CBS News that President Donald Trump is talking to his advisors about offering some form of "legal status" to many illegal migrants. A pro-migration reporter at CBS asked Homan on Wednesday: "Would you support a compromise, sir, that involves giving legal status [amnesty] to the millions of people who are here illegally but are otherwise law-abiding?". "I’m not gonna get ahead of the President on that," Homan cautiously responded. "I work for the President," Homan added, as the Colombian-born migrant reporter interrupted him to insist that "Something has to be done to address that [illegal migrant] population, or is a solution to deport them all?" I’m not going to get ahead of President. You know, the President’s talking to various members of his cabinet, there’s discussions going on. I’m involved in some, but not others, but I’m not going to get ahead of the President on this. Many different polls show that Trump’s base strongly opposes amnesty and illegal migration. Opposition is increasingly built on a recognition that migration moves money from ordinary people towards the elite and the stock market.

Univision [5/7/2026 8:57 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Tom Homan, the well-known "border czar," said in an interview with Fox News that some 7,000 new agents are being integrated, while another 3,000 are currently in the formation phase at the academy. "We have 7,000 new agents on board and we have another 3,000 in training at the academy," the "border czar" explained on the conservative network. "I expect deportation figures to increase ... while detentions at the border decrease," he added. Homan also referred to the report released by USA Today, which reported that ICE plans to deploy some 330 new agents in cities in more than 40 states, in addition to Puerto Rico. According to this publication, Texas will receive the most, with 49 troops deployed. Some cities where an increase in ICE presence is expected to include Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville and Seattle. Smaller locations include Concho, Arizona; Manhattan, Kansas; and Hot Springs, South Dakota. It was not immediately clear how many of the localities on the list already have the presence of ICE or the Office of Customs and Border Protection, or whether the agents are newly hired or relocated. This hardening of discourse and operability occurs at a time of internal tension within the Government. Sectors of the toughest wing of Trumpism have recently questioned the management of Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security, who they accuse of taking an excessively moderate tone following the January incidents in Minneapolis.

FOX News [5/7/2026 4:48 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports ‘Border czar’ Tom Homan argues that stepping up the deportation of illegal immigrants is a core promise to President Donald Trump’s voters on ‘The Will Cain Show.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/7/2026 11:44 AM, Madison Colombo, 37576K] reports Trump administration border czar Tom Homan issued a warning to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, vowing to "flood the zone" with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers despite her efforts to block federal operations. Homan joined "The Ingraham Angle" to respond to Hochul’s claim that federal agents aren’t welcome in her state without permission and that she is not asking for help. "Well, Governor Hochul, I’m not asking either. I said it. We’re going to do it," Homan said Wednesday. "We’re going to flood the zone in New York — we have to," he added later. Their feud began after Homan promised to send more ICE agents to the state at the Border Security Expo in Arizona this week. He was responding to proposed legislation, the "Local Cops, Local Crimes Act," which would stop local police from helping federal immigration officers and void existing partnerships. "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 Tuesday. "I’m not asking." But Homan said he’s not going to back down, stating: "This is what we have to do because she forces this position. And we’re going to do it. They’re not going to stop us. They can put all the roadblocks they want, but we’re [going to] do this job.”

New York Times [5/7/2026 12:14 PM, Grace Ashford, 148038K] reports four months after masked federal agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis, New York leaders announced a plan to implement some of the strictest rules for immigration officials of any state in the country. The package, which was included in the state budget deal announced on Thursday, prohibits state and local officials from entering into formal or informal cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and forbids law enforcement agents from wearing masks. The rules also prohibit ICE from using local jails to house detainees and from searching New Yorkers’ homes, hospitals, churches and schools without a warrant signed by a judge. Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday that the changes were necessary given the extent of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. “They didn’t just target hardened criminals and gang members, which I would have supported — we did support,” Ms. Hochul said. “They also targeted mothers still nursing their infants, separating them, an 85-year-old widow in her nightgown.” She said that ICE had used intimidation tactics to evade responsibility, adding: “New York will no longer stand for it.” Even so, she said, the new rules would not interfere with law enforcement’s ability to coordinate on public safety matters.

New York Times [5/7/2026 11:42 AM, Patricia Mazzei and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] reports Florida is in talks with the Trump administration to shut down a high-profile immigration detention center that opened last summer in the Everglades and has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars to operate, according to a federal official, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, and a person close to the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The shutdown talks are preliminary, the people said. But officials at the Department of Homeland Security have concluded that it is too expensive to keep operating the center, known as Alligator Alcatraz. Homeland security officials have also come to consider the center ineffective, the federal official said. All three people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal talks. The DeSantis administration has been spending more than $1 million a day to run the center, which is in a swampy, isolated area between Miami and Naples. Some private vendors hired by the state to operate it have been struggling to front costs, according to the person close to the DeSantis administration. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which operates the center, nor Mr. DeSantis’s office. Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, has repeatedly called the Everglades detention center a success, saying it has helped the Trump administration by providing more beds to house federal detainees. He has also said that the facility was intended to be temporary. But the center’s shutdown would be hailed by immigration lawyers, activists and many detainees and their families as a huge win.

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FOX News [5/7/2026 5:01 PM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports Governor Ron DeSantis’ famed "Alligator Alcatraz" U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holding facility in the Florida swamp will "return to the Everglades" after it is no longer needed, a senior Florida government official has told Fox News. The New York Times reported Thursday that Florida is in talks with the Trump administration to shut the facility down, citing massive operational costs amounting to hundreds of millions. The outlet also reported that the Department of Homeland Security determined the facility was too expensive to continue operating. Though calling Alligator Alcatraz a "massive success," the Florida official emphasized that the facility’s purpose was "to provide Florida and the Trump administration with a rapid, temporary solution to four years of Biden’s open border invasion." "President Trump secured record funding from Congress to set up permanent sites for detaining and deporting illegal aliens," the official noted, explaining, "As those sites come online, the need for Alligator Alcatraz as a holding area will wane." The official said Florida "is glad to see DHS rebuilt" under President Donald Trump. "We continue to fully support the mission," they said. "And when it’s no longer required, Alligator Alcatraz will return to the Everglades with Florida’s commitment that it will never be developed.”

AP [5/7/2026 7:34 PM, Staff, 3833K] reports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that the immigration detention center known as “ Alligator Alcatraz “ always was meant to be temporary. His comments came on the same day that The New York Times reported state and federal officials were in early talks about shutting down the facility in the Florida Everglades that DeSantis said has processed and deported 22,000 detainees since it opened last summer. “At some point, we will, of course, break it down. That was always the goal,” the Republican governor said at a news conference in Lakeland. If the Department of Homeland Security feels it has the resources to house detainees elsewhere, the facility will wind down, DeSantis said. DHS officials have not said they want the facility to close, though the idea has been discussed since the department got a new secretary, Markwayne Mullin, in late March, and “you take a fresh look at these things,” the governor added. Detainees at the facility have described poor physical conditions and difficulty accessing lawyers. DHS on Thursday denied that it was urging Florida to cease operations at the facility. “Florida continues to be a valuable partner in advancing President Trump’s immigration agenda, and DHS appreciates their support,” the department said in a statement. “DHS continuously evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements.”

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AP [5/7/2026 4:58 PM, Kate Brumback, 16072K] reports an Atlanta-based appeals court has rejected a no-bond policy implemented by the Trump administration for people in immigration proceedings, further deepening a divide among federal appeals courts about whether people can be kept in detention while their cases are pending. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the 2-1 ruling Wednesday. The 2nd Circuit had already reached a similar conclusion in April, while the 8th and 5th circuit courts previously upheld the policy that has been in effect since July. Meanwhile, a 7th Circuit panel on Tuesday split three ways on the policy, with one judge rejecting the Trump administration policy, another agreeing with it and the third declining to weigh in on the matter. With the circuit split deepening, the U.S. Supreme Court could be called upon to resolve the issue. The appeal decided by the 11th Circuit stemmed from lower court rulings in the cases of two Mexican men who had been living in the United States without authorization since 2019 and 2015 and were arrested during traffic stops in Florida in September and placed in deportation proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security policy has been denying bond hearings to people in immigration detention, including those who have been in the country for years without any criminal history. Previously, most noncitizens without a criminal record who were not arrested at the border were allowed to seek a bond hearing while their immigration cases were pending. Bond was often granted if the person was not deemed a flight risk. Mandatory detention was generally reserved for people who had just entered the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security "strongly disagrees with the Eleventh Circuit panel and is confident in its legal position regarding mandatory detention," an agency spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The agency cited opinions from the Board of Immigration Appeals, the other two courts of appeals that sided with it and the dissent in this case. "President Trump and Secretary Mullin are now enforcing the law as it was actually written to keep America safe," the statement said. Trump administration lawyers have argued that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 supports the mandatory detention policy. That law simplified the process for deporting new arrivals who lacked authorization to be in the country, but a different law allowed people already in the country to ask an immigration judge for bond. But Todd Lyons, acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in July that all people in deportation proceedings would be treated the same as new arrivals.

New York Post [5/7/2026 2:22 PM, Caitlin Doornbos, 147K] reports President Trump enacted a sweeping new counterterrorism strategy aimed at crushing threats “at home and abroad,” with a heavy focus on drug cartels, Islamist terror groups and violent political extremists inside the US, a top White House official said on a press call Wednesday. Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president, described the 16-page framework as an “America First counterterrorism” blueprint centered on protecting the homeland by aggressively dismantling threats before they reach US soil. In line with the “Donroe Doctrine,” the strategy’s first priority is the “neutralization of hemispheric terror threats” — placing cartels squarely in the crosshairs. Gorka said the administration plans to “incapacitate cartel operations” and expand the use of Foreign Terrorist Organization designations to choke off their financing and logistics.

CNN [5/7/2026 11:58 AM, Holmes Lybrand, 19874K] reports the Trump administration has classified left-wing networks like Antifa among "three major types of terror groups" the US faces, according to a counter-terrorism plan released Thursday. "In addition to cartels and Islamist terror groups," the plan says, "our national (counter terrorism) activities will also prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist." In recent months, as Trump administration officials have ramped up the rhetoric around investigating and prosecuting people who it says are part of groups like Antifa, they have struggled to answer basic questions about the organizations. During a congressional hearing late last year, Michael Glasheen, operations director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, could not answer questions about Antifa’s group size, location or other details. "Investigations are active," Glasheen said after declaring Antifa as the "primary concern" of the FBI. The FBI official said the situation was "very fluid.”

New York Times [5/7/2026 11:18 PM, Jack Nicas, 148038K] reports the State Department said it would review the 53 Mexican consulates in the United States, the latest sign of growing tensions between the Trump administration and one of its most important foreign allies. The State Department declined to elaborate on what the review would entail, but said that it could lead to the closure of Mexican consulates. The review comes after claims have been circulating in conservative media in recent months that Mexican consulates interfere in American politics and encourage mass migration to the United States. The accusations largely originated from Peter Schweizer, a right-wing author and contributor to Breitbart News who has promoted conspiracy theories about foreign government influence. His claims include that Mexican consular officials have praised protests against U.S. immigration policies, assisted migrants targeted by immigration raids and distributed Spanish-language textbooks to some schools, which discourages Mexican immigrants from assimilating. The Mexican government has repeatedly disputed his claims, with President Claudia Sheinbaum calling them “absolutely false.” On Wednesday, the Mexican Embassy in the United States responded to a post online from Mr. Schweizer, saying that Mexican consulates help Mexicans “in a wide array of matters, from ensuring their documentation is up to date to supporting people that have been victims of a crime.” It added, “There is nothing political about consular work, only the commitment to ensuring people’s rights are respected.” A Mexican government spokesman declined to comment on the review of its consulates in the United States, saying the government had no information about it. Dylan Johnson, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that the department was “constantly reviewing all aspects of American foreign relations to ensure they are in line with the president’s America First foreign policy agenda and advance American interests.” CBS News earlier reported that the State Department was starting a review of the Mexican consulates. President Trump and Ms. Sheinbaum have often cooperated on immigration enforcement and security issues, but they have also been at odds on a number of fronts. Most recently, Ms. Sheinbaum has been upset with the revelation that two Central Intelligence Agency personnel participated in a Mexican state government operation in northern Mexico last month to dismantle a drug lab. The C.I.A. agents’ presence was revealed when they died in a car crash during the operation.

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FOX News [5/7/2026 1:54 PM, Adam Pack, 37576K] reports that President Donald Trump accused House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., of inciting the most recent assassination attempt against him, further escalating his feud with the top Democrat. Trump argued in a Truth Social post on Thursday that Jeffries should be arrested after promoting "warfare" against Republicans just days before the assassination scare at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April. "This lunatic, Hakeem "Low IQ" Jeffries, should be charged with INCITING VIOLENCE!" Trump wrote on social media. He included images of Jeffries standing with a sign displaying the words "maximum warfare" and the faces of Trump and his aide James Blair alongside an image "three days later" of alleged assassin Cole Allen storming the Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. "Should Hakeem Jeffries be charged with inciting violence?" Trump’s post asked his 12.6 million followers to ponder. A spokesperson for Jeffries referred Fox News Digital to a social media post where the top Democrat labeled Trump’s comments as "another deranged rant" and dinged the president on affordability. "Gas prices are sky high, grocery bills are surging and families can’t catch a break," he wrote on X. "Democrats are about to take back the House and you’re losing your mind." The online skirmish came after Jeffries already defended his "maximum warfare" language amid GOP backlash in late April. "I don’t give a damn about your criticism," he told Republicans.

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FOX News [5/7/2026 9:54 PM, Bonny Chu, 37576K] reports a man is facing several federal charges after prosecutors say he posted gruesome death threats targeting two prominent former Trump administration officials, including ex-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Around April 3, Elliott Owen Schroer allegedly used X to publish a series of graphic messages describing how he would physically assault, kidnap or kill the former officials, according to federal court documents filed Tuesday in the Northern District of Georgia’s Gainesville Division. Schroer, whose age was not released, is reportedly from Georgia, according to Law & Crime. "The defendant, Elliott Owen Schroer, consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communication would be viewed as threatening violence," the document stated. Officials alleged that Schroer directed a barrage of disturbing threats to Noem, saying "I will stab your eyes out with a dull knife.” "I will blow your esophagus out the back of your neck with a 12-gauge slug," he added, prosecutors alleged. "We will put your head on a stake.” Authorities emphasized that the listed threats were "not limited to" those posts referenced in the indictment. Separately, Schroer also allegedly posted a threatening message directed at Bondi, prosecutors said. "Were going to kill you Pam," the post allegedly read. Prosecutors said Schroer’s posts were intended to retaliate against Noem and Bondi over the performance of their official duties while serving in office. The four-count indictment against Schroer includes two counts of interstate communication of threats and two counts of making threats against former government officials. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg and Assistant Attorney Jennifer Keen are the prosecuting attorneys representing the federal government in this case.

Daily Wire [5/7/2026 11:51 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports the Minnesota Board of Pardons — which includes Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison — voted unanimously to pardon an illegal immigrant from Laos with three assault convictions, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At Xayasounethone Chandee was convicted of assault in 1992, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation in 1995, DHS said. Chandee also had a conviction from 2008 for two felony counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, according to the agency. Chandee entered the country as a Green Card holder when he was a minor. He was later stripped of his immigration status due to his criminal convictions, DHS said. The board called an emergency meeting Monday after learning that the Trump administration could deport Chandee this week, according to Minnesota Public Radio. DHS called the board’s decision “absolute insanity,” adding that it could foil its plans to deport him.

Washington Examiner [5/7/2026 10:37 AM, Mia Cathell, 1147K] reports Minnesota is handing healthcare fraud cases off to federal investigators amid a surge in criminal referrals overwhelming state oversight officials. The heads of various Minnesota agencies tasked with tackling fraud are turning to the federal government to take the reins on a wave of new fraud reports piling up in the state’s social services programs. Nick Wanka, director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office, said his staff is “drowning in referrals.” Wanka told the Minnesota Star Tribune that they will rely heavily on federal law enforcement to lead the investigative efforts, while state prosecutors serve in an ancillary support role, providing “some data analysis or other secondary help.” “It’s a volume issue,” James Clark, inspector general of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, told the Minnesota Star Tribune. Clark said it may otherwise take years to sift through the growing backlog of fraud referrals, from the time a tip comes in to when charges are actually filed against alleged fraudsters. According to Minnesota DHS data, the state agency referred 265 cases of Medicaid fraud for criminal prosecution in 2025, more than triple the previous year’s referrals.

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NewsMax [5/7/2026 4:32 PM, Sam Barron, 3760K]

Reuters [5/7/2026 6:01 AM, Brad Heath and Andrew Goudsward, 38315K] reports the Trump administration blitz that flooded Minnesota with immigration agents also dramatically slowed other federal investigations and prosecutions into an array of serious crimes, a Reuters review of federal court records found. New gun and drug prosecutions stalled. Several top prosecutors quit. Some federal agents disappeared from drug task forces and gang cases. Others took the unusual step of bringing their investigations to state authorities. U.S. President Donald Trump touted the immigration operation as an urgent crime-fighting effort, targeting violent offenders. But the upheaval disrupted the regular work of the federal authorities charged with protecting public safety, according to the records and interviews with 10 current and former officials from state and federal law enforcement agencies. Between January and the end of April, federal prosecutors charged eight people with gun or drug offenses – compared to 77 in the same period last year, the court records show. Overall, prosecutors charged 90 people with felonies, about half as many as a year earlier. Those felony cases included 39 people, among them journalist Don Lemon, accused of disrupting a church service during a protest of the immigration crackdown. Another 17 of the total criminal cases involved immigration offenses such as returning to the United States after being deported. The cases don’t include deportation proceedings, which are not criminal and take place in separate immigration courts.

Blaze [5/7/2026 1:35 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1556K] reports that the Justice Department is holding the feet of a weak-on-crime Democratic prosecutor to the fire over an apparently discriminatory policy that requires special treatment for criminal noncitizens when making charging and plea decisions. Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano, elected to office in 2019 with the help of backing from a pair of George Soros-funded organizations, has developed a reputation for failing to bring illegally present suspects to justice, in at least one instance with deadly consequences. For instance, Descano’s office dropped a felony charge last year against Wilmer Osmany Ramos Giron, an illegal alien from Guatemala who was accused of abducting and strangling the mother of his child. Owing to a sweetheart plea deal agreed to by Descano’s office, Ramos Giron — who was previously deported on multiple occasions and arrested repeatedly on gun-related charges — served only two months at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The light-touch from Descano’s office has also set the stage for tragedy. Abdul Jalloh is an illegal alien from Sierra Leone who, according to the Department of Homeland Security, has been arrested over 30 times on charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny, firing a weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and pick-pocketing.

AP [5/7/2026 4:51 PM, Tim Sullivan, 1257K] reports a man who sprayed vinegar at Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall meeting in Minneapolis pleaded guilty to assault Thursday in federal court after reaching a deal with prosecutors. Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, is awaiting sentencing. Kazmierczak, dressed in bright orange jail clothing, gave only a fragmentary explanation Thursday of the Jan. 27 assault, which came as the city was already on edge after the fatal shootings of two people by federal agents during a White House crackdown that brought thousands of immigration officers to Minnesota. After being asked what he remembered of the assault, he told U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen: “It’s fuzzy.” Kazmierczak, who was in the audience during Omar’s January town hall, leaped up when the representative called for the ouster of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He sprayed liquid from a syringe as court documents say he shouted that Noem would not resign and that Omar was “splitting Minnesota apart.” Security officers tackled Kazmierczak, who told them the liquid was vinegar. “I didn’t want anybody to think she was in danger,” he said Thursday. Omar, who was not injured, continued with the town hall after the arrest. Authorities later determined he’d sprayed her with a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. He was charged with assaulting a U.S. officer. Court documents say Kazmierczak, a critic of Omar who has made online posts supportive of President Donald Trump, told a close associate several years ago that “somebody should kill” her.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/7/2026 5:48 PM, Ernesto Londoño, 148038K]
NBC News [5/7/2026 3:29 PM, Ava Kelley and David K Li, 42967K]
Washington Examiner [5/7/2026 3:35 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K]

FOX News [5/7/2026 5:45 PM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 37576K] reports a man who entered the U.S. illegally from Haiti and murdered a Fort Myers store clerk will face the death penalty, prosecutors said. State Attorney Amira Fox announced Thursday that a Lee County grand jury returned an indictment against Rolbert Joachin, 40, in connection with the April 2 killing of Nilufa Easmın, a 51-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh, at a gas station in Fort Myers, Florida. According to prosecutors, Joachin is accused of attacking the victim outside a gas station, striking her repeatedly in the head with a hammer and killing her. Surveillance video captured the assault, which showed the victim being repeatedly struck in the head with a hammer after confronting the suspect for smashing her car window. Joachim first entered the U.S. in August 2022, and was released into the country under former President Joe Biden, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A federal judge later issued a final order of removal against Joachim, but he was granted Temporary Protected Status, which Trump has described as "a massively abused and fraudulent program." He has also blamed what he called "radical liberal district court judges" for blocking efforts by his administration to end it. While a federal judge issued a final order of removal against him, Joachim was reportedly granted Temporary Protected Status, a program Trump called "massively abused and fraudulent" and difficult to eliminate due to Democratic support.

FOX News [5/7/2026 1:59 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports that surveillance footage from Garland, Texas, captures a father fatally shooting an alleged illegal immigrant attempting to carjack his family of eight. ‘Outnumbered’ debates the self-defense incident, comparing legal responses in different states regarding protection and crime. The panel also discusses the murder of a Chicago student by an illegal immigrant. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/7/2026 4:37 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports Republicans in Pennsylvania are pressuring Democrats to act on a legislative crackdown targeting illegal immigrant truckers on America’s highways. Several foreign nationals involved in dangerous incidents around the country were found to be holding commercial driver’s licenses from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, leading to tensions between Harrisburg and Homeland Security. Republicans have called on state Democrats to address the issue, arguing such discrepancies do not appear to occur at the same level in other states. Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, previously alleged DHS failed to properly maintain its "alien verification" (SAVE) database, which PennDOT said it uses to verify an applicant’s "lawful presence," while a top Republican recently demanded answers from PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll after illegal immigrants with CDLs were apprehended as far away as Oklahoma. On Wednesday, Shapiro’s camp did not dismiss Republican-led bills aimed at addressing the issue, including efforts to shut down so-called "CDL mills," which allegedly produce unqualified truckers and generate significant profits. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Biden administration adjusted rules to allow trucking schools to self-certify, creating a dynamic he compared to the Minnesota-Somali social-services fraud scandal and called "total bull---" at a recent conference.

Federal News Network [5/7/2026 11:55 AM, Michele Sandiford, 1297K] reports that federal workers’ compensation is getting an overhaul from the Trump administration. The Labor Department says it’s expanding the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act Pharmacy Benefit Program to cover more types of beneficiaries and compensation programs. That includes claimants under the Black Lung Benefits Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Labor Department leadership says the goal is to improve drug pricing transparency, as well as promote cost savings. The Department of Homeland Security is modernizing the electronic health record systems used for immigration detainees. In a procurement preview notice, DHS says it has a requirement for an integrated EHR system to serve both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol. The department wants a platform that can maintain a single record for detainees across both CBP and ICE custody. DHS plans to release the solicitation for the EHR contract by June 15, with contract award expected in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.

NewsMax [5/7/2026 6:03 PM, Staff, 3760K] reports a federal trade court on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s new 10% global tariffs for the small businesses and the state of Washington that challenged the levies, handing the administration another legal setback after the Supreme Court earlier this year struck down a broader round of tariffs. A split 2-1 panel on the US Court of International Trade ruled the administration had not properly justified the tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, according to the court’s order and reporting by The Associated Press and Reuters. The ruling applies narrowly to the plaintiffs in the case, which included several small businesses and Washington state, and does not immediately halt the tariffs nationwide, AP reported. The Trump administration imposed the tariffs in February after the Supreme Court ruled that the president lacked authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on nearly all major US trading partners. Following that defeat, the White House pivoted to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows a president to temporarily impose tariffs of up to 15% for no more than 150 days to address serious balance-of-payments deficits or threats to the dollar. Administration officials argued the tariffs were needed to combat the nation’s growing trade imbalance and protect domestic manufacturing. The Office of the US Trade Representative and White House economic advisers pointed to a US goods trade deficit that topped $1 trillion last year. The trade court, however, concluded the administration failed to show the type of economic emergency contemplated by the law. One judge dissented, arguing the court moved too quickly in granting relief to the plaintiffs. In February, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that IEEPA — a law historically used for sanctions and financial restrictions during national emergencies — did not give the president unlimited authority to impose tariffs. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that Congress retains primary constitutional authority over tariffs and taxation. After that ruling, US Customs and Border Protection paused collection of the invalidated tariffs and began preparations to issue refunds to importers that had already paid billions in duties, according to Reuters.

Reported similarly:
AP [5/7/2026 5:42 PM, Staff, 35287K]
Washington Times [5/7/2026 6:55 PM, Tom Howell Jr, 1323K]

Washington Examiner [5/7/2026 8:00 AM, Gary L. Brown, 1147K] reports the Dignity Act represents an opportunity for this Congress and the Trump administration to accomplish something that has eluded their predecessors for decades. At long last, they can restore the rule of law to the governance of immigration. The absence of the rule of law is at the root of the myriad chronic pathologies associated with illegal immigration. Corruption and exploitation metastasize in the space between law and enforcement. With respect to immigration policy, that space has been cavernous for decades. Ostensibly to remedy this failure, the Trump administration has focused on the enforcement of existing law. These efforts have resulted in a secure border and increased deportations of immigrants here illegally. However, as immigration enforcement has grown increasingly aggressive, shifting from a focus on those with criminal histories to those who are merely in the country to work and raise their families, popular support has begun to wane. Ironically, this commitment on the part of the Trump administration to enforce immigration law rigorously has made evident the reasons why it must be changed. The existing law is no longer consistent with either the sensibilities of the people or with the realities of the American economy. To have sustainable enforcement of immigration policy that endures across subsequent congresses and administrations, it is necessary to reform the law.

Daily Signal [5/7/2026 4:20 PM, Tyler O’Neil, 474K] reports America’s counterterror forces can no longer ignore the threat of extremism motivated by transgender ideology, and President Donald Trump’s new counterterrorism strategy rightly addresses this threat. The counterterrorism strategyopens in a new tab, released Wednesday, outlines three major threats: narcoterrorists and transnational gangs; legacy Islamist terrorists; and violent left-wing extremists, including anarchists and anti-fascists. That third category includes transgender ideology-motivated extremists. According to the strategy, America’s counterterrorism efforts will "prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist." "Americans have witnessed the politically motivated killings of Christians and conservatives committed by violent left-wing extremists, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a radical who espoused extreme transgender ideologies," the document adds. It remains unclear whether the FBI will accept the Oversight Project and The Heritage Foundation’s request to use its authority under 18 U.S. Code § 2331 to designate "transgender ideology-inspired violent extremism as domestic terrorism," but this document may enable that move.

Blaze [5/8/2026 4:25 PM, Daniel Horowitz, 1442K] reports the Trump administration refused to allow FISA Section 702 to lapse for even one day, calling it a vital tool for counterterrorism. However, when it comes to ensuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the necessary tools to remove alien criminals without enduring endless lawfare by sanctuary judges, there seems to be no such reservation. Simply throwing more money at ICE in the budget reconciliation bill without changing policy will not alter the current landscape of failed deportation promises. On the same day House Republicans, at the behest of the White House, rushed passage of the FISA reauthorization, they passed the Senate budget reconciliation bill, which offers ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection $75 billion in mandatory funding for the remainder of the presidency. It is understandable why Trump would want to use his last party-line bill to front-load ICE funding in the face of Democrat opposition, but what is the purpose of funding ICE if it can’t even deport violent illegal aliens without lawfare? Why is the White House opposing efforts from House conservatives to expand reconciliation?

NewsMax [5/7/2026 5:02 PM, Staff, 3760K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may purchase large immigration detention facilities from two of its largest private prison contractors as the Trump administration faces growing resistance to plans for converting warehouses into mass detention centers, Axios reports. The ongoing discussions signal a major shift in the federal government’s immigration detention strategy as DHS moves toward owning more of its detention infrastructure instead of relying primarily on leased facilities. "The broader vision is to develop a nationwide network that consolidates populations in relatively larger facilities that allows them to be able to service the needs of the entire country," CoreCivic Chief Operating Officer Patrick Swindle said Thursday during an investor call. CoreCivic, which leases roughly one-quarter of ICE detention beds, confirmed it is discussing the sale of some "turnkey" detention facilities to the federal government. GEO Group, another major ICE contractor that currently provides about 25,000 detention beds, also acknowledged negotiations with ICE and DHS officials. "I can respectfully acknowledge that we have been in discussions with ICE regarding the potential sale of multiple facilities subject to mutual agreement on price and our continued management of those facilities under long term support services contracts," GEO Group Executive Chairman George Zoley said during an earnings call Wednesday. Zoley said any potential sales could occur during the second or third quarter of this year. The effort comes after ICE earlier purchased 11 warehouse properties intended for large-scale detention use as part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown and mass deportation agenda. Several of those warehouse conversion projects, however, have stalled amid lawsuits, environmental concerns and local opposition. ICE currently operates more than 200 detention facilities across the country and has reported holding more than 70,000 detainees in custody this year, the highest level in the agency’s history.

USA Today [5/7/2026 12:46 PM, Trevor Hughes, 70643K] reports that hundreds of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and staff are being dispatched across the country to bolster immigration enforcement in big cities like New York and Houston and tiny towns like Derby, Vermont and Caribou, Maine, federal purchasing records show. The purchasing records are for co-working style offices and desks, but not detention facilities. However, they provide a rare but narrow behind-the-scenes glimpse at how White House and Department of Homeland Security officials are preparing to ramp up immigration enforcement nationwide as billions of dollars flow into DHS and its agencies under last summer’s federal spending plan. ICE plans to deploy about 330 people to cities in more than 40 states, along with Puerto Rico, according to records reviewed by USA TODAY. Texas will receive the most, with 49 people deployed. Other cities targeted for increased ICE presence include Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville and Seattle. Smaller locations include Concho, Arizona; Manhattan, Kansas; and Hot Springs, South Dakota. It was not immediately clear how many of the locations on the list already have ICE or Customs and Border Patrol presence, or if the officers are new hires or relocations. White House officials now appear to be ramping up detention and deportation efforts under new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who told Newsmax on May 9 that, "we haven’t missed a beat. We are still on track, pushing as hard as we can. We’re just doing it in a different way..."

Axios [5/7/2026 1:38 PM, Brittany Gibson, 17364K] reports that ICE is in talks to buy turnkey immigration detention facilities from its biggest vendors as local backlash derails its plan to rapidly renovate warehouses into large-scale detention spaces . Why it matters: The Department of Homeland Security wants to own its detention spaces, a pivot from the mostly leased network of beds that held a peak a population of more than 70,000 detainees earlier this year. Zoom in: "The broader vision is to develop a nationwide network that consolidates populations in relatively larger facilities that allows them to be able to service the needs of the entire country," CoreCivic CEO Patrick Swindle said on an investors call on Thursday. CoreCivic leases roughly one-quarter of ICE’s immigrant detention beds to the agency and is in talks to sell some of its "turnkey" facilities to the agency. GeoGroup, one of ICE’s largest vendors, is also in talks to sell ICE some of its detention space, executives said on an earnings call on Wednesday. It currently hosts about 25,000 beds for ICE. "I can respectfully acknowledge that we have been in discussions with ICE regarding the potential sale of multiple facilities subject to mutual agreement on price and our continued management of those facilities under long term support services contracts," Geo Group chairman and CEO George Zoley said. Zoley said the talks are fluid but the sales could come in its second or third quarter of this year. The other side: DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters [5/7/2026 5:07 PM, Jasper Ward, 38315K] reports New York state is set to ban law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty, Governor ​Kathy Hochul said on Thursday, a move that ‌is likely to be challenged by the Trump administration. The announcement was made as Hochul, a Democrat, said an agreement had been reached ​with state lawmakers on New York’s 2027 budget, which ​included sweeping immigration changes. Blake G. Washington, the state’s ⁠budget director, expects the bills to be passed by the ​Democratic-led legislature as soon as next week. Under that agreement, state ​law enforcement will be prohibited from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on federal immigration efforts. It will also ban ICE from ​entering schools, healthcare facilities, homes and other sensitive locations ​without a judicial warrant. "We’re also banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks, ‌except ⁠in rare circumstances where there’s a genuine operational need, like a gas mask," Hochul said. "No members of state, local or federal law enforcement wear masks during ordinary operations," she ​said. The U.S. Department ​of Homeland ⁠Security, which has federal oversight of immigration operations, did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment.

AP [5/7/2026 5:34 PM, Anthony Izaguirre, 3833K] reports President Donald Trump’s border czar has threatened to “ flood the zone “ with immigration agents if New York passes bills to limit local coordination with the federal government’s crackdown. New York seems ready to do so anyway. “I don’t take well to threats,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday. “We’re going to pass what we think is important to protect New Yorkers.” Tensions are escalating as Democrats attempt to place guardrails around the Trump administration’s immigration agenda following the Republican’s often chaotic and violent deportation efforts. The proposals, which are not yet finalized, would bar state and local law enforcement from entering into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or acting as civil immigration agents, and deny ICE from entering sensitive locations such as schools or hospitals without a judicial warrant. The governor, a Democrat, is also moving to ban federal, state and local law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty, along with a measure creating a path for people to sue ICE officers. Hochul, who on Thursday announced she had reached a deal with legislative leaders to include the immigration proposals in the state budget, said the state would “help you go after the hardened criminals, the violent, the worst of the worst.” “This does not restrict our ability to help in criminal situations and I want people to understand that, but my God, it has gone too far,” she said. Homan told Fox News this week that “of course we’re going to increase manpower, a lot” if New York moved forward with the proposals. Homan and Hochul met at New York state Capitol earlier this year, and though the sit-down was private, the governor told reporters Thursday that Homan had told her “the era of the surges is over.”

Politico [5/7/2026 4:59 PM, Chris Sommerfeldt, 21784K] reports Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing mounting pressure from progressive leaders to enact stricter rules on how the NYPD can interact with federal immigration authorities — the latest sign of a broadening chasm between the mayor and his own supporters. Attention on the issue intensified Saturday when police officers blocked protesters advancing toward U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were transporting an immigrant detainee from a Brooklyn hospital. As video of the chaos went viral, accusations that Mamdani’s NYPD had coordinated with ICE — in violation of local sanctuary laws — quickly accumulated. The mayor has rejected the claim. In a letter to Mamdani, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and four other elected Democrats who endorsed the mayor’s 2025 campaign wrote that they believe the NYPD “coordinated on the ground with ICE agents” outside the hospital. And they implored him to immediately overhaul NYPD policies in response. “Officers arriving at a scene where federal agents are already operating cannot be left to improvise. They need a bright-line rule, communicated up and down the chain of command, that informs them when to disengage, when to step back, when to refuse a request for assistance, and how to document what they observed,” they wrote in the Wednesday letter, which was obtained by POLITICO. “The absence of such a standard, or the failure to enforce one, is how we ended up with NYPD officers visibly working alongside ICE outside a hospital.” Specifically, they called on Mamdani to release new rules within 30 days that “clearly outline” how NYPD officers should interact with ICE agents in the field. The rules, they wrote, should dictate when “disengagement” and “refusal of assistance” to ICE is appropriate so NYPD officers “do not aid, facilitate, or appear to facilitate civil immigration enforcement.” Among the letter’s other signatories was state Sen. Julia Salazar, one of the earliest supporters of Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign and a fellow democratic socialist. The fact that Mamdani’s elected supporters opted to call him out in such a direct way is a strong indication elements of his base are growing frustrated with his handling of public safety issues — and his perceived drift to the political center since entering City Hall. One way that dissatisfaction has become most apparent is the left’s growing animosity over Mamdani’s decision to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, a politically moderate technocrat who openly disagrees with him on various policy fronts. There are other signs Mamdani’s grip on his base is slipping, including uneasiness in progressive corners about his chummy relationship with President Donald Trump, whose hardline immigration agenda has paved the way for increasingly aggressive ICE tactics across the country.

Telemundo [5/7/2026 11:26 PM, Luis Gerardo Núñezand, 78K] reports an ICE raid, captured on video in the Bronx, left a 19-year-old man bleeding and needing stitches to his head. The agents didn’t realize until later that they had arrested the wrong person. A cell phone video shows the young man being tackled and arrested by officers Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Gun Hill Road and Hull Avenue. Once the officers realized their mistake, they left him in a park, bloodied and bruised. Jeury Concepción told Telemundo 47 that he also suffered a concussion as a result of his encounter with federal immigration agents. The incident was captured by several videos obtained by T47. In one of them, a federal agent is seen running with his weapon drawn towards Concepción, who was standing in front of a barbershop on Hull Avenue. The young man stated that several ICE agents approached him, ordered him to stop, knocked him to the ground, and handcuffed him. A cell phone video shows agents lifting the handcuffed 19-year-old from the ground, blood dripping from his head. The federal agents then took Concepción away, pressing him against a car before putting him inside and driving off. During the ride, Concepción said the officers asked for her ID and cell phone. That’s when they realized they had made a mistake, she stated. "He apologized, mistaking me for someone else, and assured me it wouldn’t happen again, and that he didn’t want me to think they were responsible," Concepción said. "And I told him I was going to report them." Concepción said the officers left him in a park he didn’t recognize. He was eventually reunited with his mother, who took him to a hospital for a checkup. The teenager said they plan to file a complaint. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The incident comes as Border Czar Tom Homan has threatened to deploy a large number of immigration agents to New York City, while the state legislature considers a bill backed by Governor Kathy Hochul that would limit local cooperation with federal immigration operations. The U.S. has threatened to deploy a large number of immigration agents in New York City, while the state legislature considers a law backed by Governor Kathy Hochul that would limit local cooperation with federal immigration operations. However, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated Thursday morning that he did not plan to send a large number of agents to the state at this time.

Breitbart [5/7/2026 8:02 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal alien, wanted in his home country for murder, in the sanctuary state of New Jersey, Breitbart News has learned. "The brave men and women of ICE have removed another dangerous criminal from our streets. This illegal alien is wanted for murder in his home country of Honduras," the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Lauren Bis said in a statement. On April 20, ICE agents arrested illegal alien Fredy Alexander Lopez Lara of Honduras near Eatontown, New Jersey, during a vehicle stop. Lopez Lara is a fugitive with an active international warrant and wanted in his country for murder. The warrant was issued in 2020. "This is the kind of illegal alien that the mainstream media falsely describes as a ‘non-criminal’ because he lacks a criminal history in the United States," Bis said. "Nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. This statistic does not even include foreign fugitives wanted for crimes in their home country like this illegal alien.” Lopez Lara crossed the southern border at an unknown date and location as an illegal alien got-away. He will remain in ICE custody pending deportation to Honduras.

CBS Philadelphia [5/7/2026 3:32 PM, Laura Fay, 51110K] reports that Philadelphia City Council’s "ICE Out" legislation limiting city and police cooperation with federal immigration officers is now law after Mayor Cherelle Parker signed six of the seven bills Thursday. Parker declined to sign one, but she did not veto it, meaning it became law as well. The bills limit city and police cooperation with immigration officers and restrict how the city can use data related to immigration status. City Council passed the bills on April 23, and Parker’s office on Thursday said she signed six of them. The mayor declined to sign Bill No. 260060, which would ban law enforcement officers from concealing their identity, require them to visibly display their badges and prohibit people from impersonating law enforcement officers. She shared a letter from City Solicitor Renee Garcia about that bill. The bill poses "significant legal problems," Garcia writes, because it would regulate the behavior of state and federal officers. A similar law in California was recently found to violate the U.S. Constitution. Garcia also says in the letter that impersonating officers is already prohibited. All of the bills, including the one Parker declined to sign, will now become law. The other measures in the package will: Make city property off limits for Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Limit Philadelphia Police Department collaboration with ICE through. Put restrictions on how the city can collect and use information and data related to citizenship and immigration status. Strengthen protections against discrimination based on citizenship and immigration status.

New York Times [5/7/2026 5:17 PM, Zach Montague, 148038K]
The Trump administration violated a court order from last year that strictly limited instances in which the government can make immigration arrests in the District of Columbia without a warrant, a federal judge found on Thursday. In a 45-page opinion, Judge Beryl A. Howell wrote that the Department of Homeland Security has relied on guidance that advised immigration agents to make arrests without warrants in cases beyond what she had dictated in her December order. The next month, Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, circulated a memo authorizing all ICE personnel they could immediately arrest individuals deemed “likely to escape” before a warrant could be obtained. Judge Howell said that guidance was at odds with her order, which required agents to demonstrate a real belief that a suspect might flee and to take into account factors that might suggest they would not, including their ties to the community. Judge Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, did not immediately impose any punishment on the government but again ordered compliance. She said the agency’s continued implementation of that January guidance left her “no alternative but to prohibit reliance on the memorandum in its entirety” in Washington.

AP [5/8/2026 10:20 PM, Gary Fields, 34146K] reports a federal judge said Thursday that instructions received by immigration enforcement officers to make civil immigrant arrests without warrants do not meet probable cause standards and should not used as guidance. In continuing a preliminary injunction she issued in December, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell in Washington, D.C., said that "when conducting civil immigration arrests without a warrant in this District, defendants shall not rely on the probable cause standard or analytical approach set forth in the five-page memorandum" from the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Among the issues, the judge wrote that the instructions failed to instruct officers to assess a person’s connections to the community before concluding that person is a flight risk and therefore needs to be taken into custody immediately. The action is the latest step in a lawsuit filed by four noncitizens and the nonprofit organization CASA in Washington in 2025 challenging their arrests during immigration sweeps by the federal agency, which were part of a law-enforcement surge ordered by President Donald Trump. Howell approved another request by the plaintiffs seeking more records to help explain how the policy will be implemented, but she rejected some of their arguments and said the government had adhered to her preliminary injunction order on some issues. The Department of Homeland Security responded to questions about Thursday’s order in an email saying, "ICE has authority for lawful arrests.” "Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," the DHS email said. "The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.” "We got what we were asking for essentially," said Madeleine Gates, associate counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. The ruling "reaffirms that federal agents have to comply with the law. They do not get a pass in doing immigration enforcement.” "This particular case is all about what happens at the outset, before the arrest is made," she said.

FOX News [5/7/2026 1:03 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, 37576K] reports that an illegal alien living in Georgia is facing a litany of charges after allegedly causing a car crash while under the influence that killed a father with young children. "On May 1, Deiby Jhonatan Janamejoy Jansasoy, a criminal illegal alien from Colombia, was arrested for vehicular homicide, DUI, and driving without a valid license after killing a Georgia father," the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X. "Janamejoy Jansasoy illegally entered our nation in 2023, and was RELEASED into the country under the Biden Administration — completely unvetted." "ICE has placed a detainer requesting local authorities not release this criminal illegal alien without notifying ICE," the post said. The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia said that the 27-year-old illegal alien crossed the center line while driving in his Ford Escape, striking a Chevrolet Silverado driven by 47-year-old father of two Michael Sharpe. The county is located just northeast of Savannah, Georgia. Janamejoy Jansasoy attempted to leave the hospital before he was discharged, "presumably due to being wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation," according to the sheriff’s office. "Due to this behavior and inherent flight risk due to attempting to leave, Jansasoy was immediately arrested and taken to the Effingham County Jail," the sheriff’s office said. Janamejoy Jansasoy could face more charges.

Reuters [5/7/2026 10:25 PM, Staff, 38315K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not be seen at World Cup matches this summer, according to the co-chair of the Miami host committee. Rodney Barreto told The Athletic on Thursday that he received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ‌ICE would steer clear of the world soccer showcase. "ICE is not going to be at the stadium," Barreto told The Athletic. "This is not going to turn into some ‘round them up’ type of thing. ​That’s not the purpose of this. "It’ll be a great experience for everybody. I ​think that we’re lucky that we do have a president who loves ⁠sports and has given us the resources to reimburse the cities for their police ​protection." Barreto added, "I spoke to Marco and, first of all, he’s going to make sure that the passports get processed and people can get here and there is an orderly process so people won’t be held up. It’s going to be a major undertaking by the federal government to do that. We feel very comfortable that we’re going to be in good hands." The deployment of ICE for immigration-enforcement raids has increased since Donald Trump began his second stint as president last year, ‌igniting ⁠a significant political debate in the U.S. South Florida’s role as a World Cup host market also comes against the backdrop of scenes from the 2024 Copa America championship game, when fans stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., causing a number of injuries and ​delaying the start of ⁠the Argentina-Colombia match. "(The Miami World Cup organizing committee) took the position that we didn’t want to be critical of the planners of ​that event," Barreto told The Athletic. "It wasn’t our event. But now that time ⁠has passed, I would tell you that where the failure was, which was that there were no perimeters. "People without tickets should have been nowhere near the entrance ways of that stadium. ⁠It didn’t take much to overrun an entrance. But listen, you learn from all these events, and you learn to do it better and come up with different scenarios ​which mitigate this from happening in the future. So that’s where we’re at."

FOX News [5/7/2026 4:26 PM, Madison Colombo, 37576K] Video: HERE reports the grieving mother of slain Loyola student Sheridan Gorman slammed "galling" claims from a Chicago official that her daughter was in the "wrong place at the wrong time" when authorities say she was shot and killed by an illegal migrant as the family spoke out in an emotional interview Thursday on "The Story." "Someone said, ‘wrong place, wrong time,’ the alderwoman, and actually, suggested that she might have startled this man, and that just, it flays me." Jess Gorman, Sheridan’s mother, told anchor Martha MacCallum. "It just lays my heart wide open. My daughter was not in the wrong place at the wrong time—this man was." Chicago Alderwoman Maria Hadden would apologize for those comments, saying "conservative media" misconstrued remarks she said were comparing Gorman’s death to a separate case. But that brought little solace to the Gorman family. The Gorman family is mourning the loss of their daughter and sister, saying policies could have prevented her death. "She was supposed to be my maid of honor, one day, right beside me. I’m supposed to be the aunt of her children," said Madelon Gorman, Sheridan’s sister. "It’s something you never, ever expect to happen to you, to happen to your sibling, your best friend, your daughter." Gorman, a freshman at Loyola University, was shot and killed in Chicago in March. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Jose Medina-Medina, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, was released from custody months earlier despite an active Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer. Gorman’s mother is now calling for answers, arguing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could have spared her daughter’s life.

Breitbart [5/7/2026 3:24 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports that an illegal alien, released into the United States by former President Joe Biden’s administration, is accused of sexually assaulting elderly women at a Wisconsin nursing home where he was employed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged a detainer against illegal alien Julio Cesar Morales Jarquin of Nicaragua. Morales Jarquin was released into the United States interior in 2023 as part of Biden’s parole pipeline. Even after the Trump administration terminated the parole pipeline in April of last year, Morales Jarquin remained in the United States illegally. According to police, Morales Jarquin was employed at an assisted living facility in Dane County, Wisconsin, a sanctuary jurisdiction, when he was accused of sexually assaulting elderly women living at the facility. Morales Jarquin has been charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an elderly victim. ICE agents are pleading with Dane County officials to ensure that the illegal alien is not released back into the community. "This illegal alien is charged with two counts of sexual assault of an elderly victim at an assisted living facility," the Department of Homeland Security’s Lauren Bis said: This dirtbag was released into the country by the Biden Administration. DHS is calling on sanctuary politicians in Dane County, Wisconsin to not release this criminal from jail back onto the streets to commit more crimes. We need Wisconsin sanctuary politicians to cooperate with us to remove criminals from our country.

Daily Signal [5/7/2026 1:20 PM, Fred Lucas, 474K] reports that the Trump administration scored a legal victory in combating illegal immigration when a federal judge cleared the way for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to operate near schools, for now. The lawsuit brought by Minnesota public school districts sought a temporary injunction against immigration enforcement agents having a presence near schools, claiming it increased absenteeism and disrupted learning. U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino of the District of Minnesota denied the schools’ request for a preliminary injunction while the case moves forward and said the plaintiffs likely lacked standing. Provinzino is a Biden appointee. "Accordingly, because the Court concludes that Plaintiffs have not shown they are likely to establish standing, the Court also must conclude that Plaintiffs are unlikely to prevail on the merits," the judge wrote in a 38-page opinion released Wednesday. The plaintiffs include the Fridley and Duluth public school districts, as well as the Education Minnesota union. They are represented by Democracy Forward, a liberal litigation group chaired by veteran Democrat election lawyer Marc Elias. In January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded restrictions on immigration enforcement actions in or near "sensitive locations," such as schools and school bus stops. The guidance directed agents to use discretion in these situations.

Breitbart [5/7/2026 9:39 AM, Randy Clark, 2238K] reports Democratic members of Congress called for the closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center at a press conference held at the facility on Tuesday. The lawmakers spoke to reporters as a small group of protesters gathered outside, demanding the release of detainees being held at the facility designed to hold families as they await deportation. The delegation of Democrats, led by Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), was organized to protest the detention of two children and their stepmother by ICE in San Antonio earlier in the week. In a report from KSAT news, the Venezuelan family of three was detained by ICE in the affluent Alamo Heights area, and according to DHS, they were in the United States illegally. Maria Betania Uzategui-Castillo and two stepchildren, who attend Cambridge Elementary in Alamo Heights, were transported to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center after their arrest, where they remain as they await removal proceedings. A DHS spokesperson commented on the arrest, saying, "They illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico on December 4, 2021. This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law."

NBC News [5/7/2026 5:38 PM, Daniella Silva, 42967K] reports Olivia Andre, a 19-year-old woman from Congo who remains detained in ICE custody in Texas despite her family’s release in March, said she was "in shock" and overjoyed about a judge’s order for her release by Friday. "I couldn’t believe it. I started crying, shaking," Andre said Thursday in her first interview since she learned about the judge’s order. She has been detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas for about six months. "I was so happy.” On Wednesday, a federal district court in San Antonio ordered Andre’s release from the facility no later than Friday, according to court documents. The court found that Andre’s right to due process was violated and that her detention was unlawful. She will join her mother, brother, 16, and sister, 14, in Maine upon her release. Andre said she quickly called her mother to tell her the news. "I had a lot of emotion at the same time. I just remember telling her, ‘Mama, I’m coming home,’" Andre said, her bright smile beaming. Her mother was so overcome with emotion that she began to scream with joy. Soon, her sister heard the news and joined her. But there were still fears the news could be too good to be true, Andre said. She called her mom late Wednesday to be sure nothing had changed, just in case. "Part of me was worried, scared about being detained for a long, long time," she said. "A lot of people have been waiting months and months.” A federal appeals court has blocked the family’s deportation for now — a ruling that includes Andre — as it reviews their asylum case, a process that could take months or longer, said Elora Mukherjee, an attorney who represents the family. "The federal court ordered Olivia’s release because the Trump administration had no lawful basis for detaining her," she said. "She needlessly suffered in detention for six months in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protections. Her mental and physical health deteriorated during this time because she did not have access to sufficient clean drinking water, palatable food or appropriate medical care.” A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that "the facts of this case have not changed; Olivia Mabiala Andre is an adult illegal alien with a final order of removal and no right to remain in the United States. Despite receiving full due process, this activist judge is releasing an illegal alien onto American streets.” "Under President Trump, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of those who have no right to be in our country," the spokesperson said, adding that if a migrant is found to have "no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period.” A DHS spokesperson previously said, "Carine Mbizi, the mother, and her minor children have been released from ICE custody pending their removal from the U.S.” "DHS is working rapidly and overtime to remove these aliens from detention centers to their final destination — home," the spokesperson said.

CBS News [5/7/2026 1:13 PM, Shanelle Kaul, Costanza Maio, Suvro Banerji, Elli Fitzgerald, 51110K] reports that after spending more than six weeks in ICE custody, a Texas single mother of four said she is "absolutely" fearful of it happening again. "No one is safe," Meenu Batra said in an exclusive interview with CBS News. But she added,"I believe in the system. I believe I have the documents." Born in India, Batra said she has been living and working legally in the U.S. for decades. The court translator spent 45 days in ICE custody after she was arrested on March 17 at a Texas airport while on her way to Milwaukee for work. "They told me you’re here illegally," Batra previously told CBS News while in detention at El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas, which is located near the U.S.-Mexico border. "And I said, ‘No, sir, I have my documents with me, in my bag right now.’" Now that she’s been released, she described the uncertainty while she was detained, saying, "you become small. Last week a federal judge ordered the 53-year-old’s release, ruling that she had been detained for "no discernible reason." In a statement to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security said, "On March 17, ICE arrested Meenu Batra, an illegal alien from India, during a targeted enforcement operation. Batra was issued a final order of removal from an immigration judge in 2000. She first entered the country illegally at an unknown date and location. An activist judge appointed by Barack Obama RELEASED her from ICE custody on April 30. We will continue to fight for the removal of illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country." Batra called the statement from DHS "very disrespectful to the judges and judiciary." "They forget that aliens are humans and humans have rights," she said.

Univision [5/7/2026 1:37 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports that Several members of an organization were pepper-sprayed by alleged federal agents outside the Immigration Office at Crosspoint in San Antonio. The incident occurred around 8:00 a.m. at the ICE offices when, according to witnesses, several representatives of a pro-migrant organization were handing out bottles of water to people waiting outside the facility for family members or who had routine appointments. Witnesses stated that two men who exited the Immigration Office were questioned by members of the organization, who asked them if they were public officials. The two alleged ICE officers became agitated at being questioned and because several people were already recording them with their phones. The alleged federal agents demanded that they stop recording; when met with a refusal, the individuals sprayed the volunteers in the face with pepper spray. A man and a woman—identified only as Cooper and Willow—suffered severe irritation from the pepper spray on various parts of their bodies. "We didn’t even approach them until they were already on public property. They started walking. We kept a distance of about two meters the entire time. We had our camera rolling, and when they turned around, they told us, ‘Back off, now.’ We didn’t back off because there was no need to. We held our ground and didn’t move closer to them. *They* approached *us*, put their hands in our faces, and fired the pepper spray," said one of the victims.

NBC News [5/7/2026 3:55 PM, Nicole Acevedo and Jesús Hiram González, 42967K] reports the urgent plea from the parents of an 18-year-old with terminal cancer in Mexico was answered Thursday when a federal judge in Arizona authorized their expedited deportation from the U.S. so they could reunite with their dying son. Kevin González has metastatic Stage 4 colon cancer and is currently under his grandmother’s care. Born in Chicago to Mexican immigrant parents, Kevin was diagnosed with the terminal disease in January. His brother, Jovany Ramírez, began caring for him in Chicago following the diagnosis. Their parents, Isidoro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya, were living in Mexico at the time after being deported several years back. After doctors told the family that Kevin stopped responding to treatment, his parents filed humanitarian requests asking to be allowed into the U.S. and be with their son, Virginia Amaya, Kevin’s grandmother, told Telemundo Chicago, which first reported the story. When the parents’ petitions were denied, the parents crossed the border in a desperate attempt to reunite with their terminally ill son, Amaya said. González Avilés, 48, and Ramírez Amaya, 43, were taken into immigration custody on April 14 near Douglas, Arizona, and sent to a detention center. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told NBC Chicago in a statement on Wednesday that the parents "did not apply for humanitarian parole." Instead, they applied for B1/B2 visitor visas, "which were denied due to their previous unlawful presence and entries into the United States.” Following his parents’ detention, Kevin left Chicago and flew to Mexico; his health soon deteriorated and he hasn’t been allowed to fly. Kevin has hoped to reunite with his parents in his grandmother’s home. His doctors in Chicago wrote letters calling for the "compassionate release" of González Avilés and Ramírez Amaya so they could reunite with their sick son in Mexico. They recommended that Kevin "receive comfort care until the end of his life" with his family in Mexico. On Thursday he faced a crucial court hearing in Tucson, Arizona, where a federal judge was to decide if he would face criminal charges for illegal re-entry or if he would be repatriated to Mexico, according to Fernando Sánchez, the consul of Mexico in Tucson, who spoke to Telemundo Chicago on Wednesday. The judge was moved, saying he was understanding of the situation since he also has children, and authorized his expedited deportation. Both González Avilés and Ramírez Amaya are expected to be removed to Mexico through the Nogales Port of Entry in Arizona later on Thursday, according to Telemundo Chicago. Immigration authorities had not confirmed an exact timeline for their deportation. Susana Villalvazo, a spokesperson for the Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago, told NBC News in a statement Thursday afternoon that consulate officials in Tucson remained in close contact with the parents and their attorney "during today’s hearing and are currently coordinating with ICE authorities their expedite repatriation.”

FOX News [5/7/2026 7:00 AM, Alec Schemmel, 37576K] reports the University of Oregon caved to student demands after infusing a new ICE alert into the university’s campus-wide emergency alert system, which took effect Wednesday. An April 30 email to students from Associate Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Jimmy Howard said that the university’s official campus-wide alert system will be allowed to be used for an alert system, which utilizes campus police and other university resources, to warn students about any nearby activity from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The decision follows Oregon House Bill (H.B.) 4709, passed in February and signed by the governor in April, which required public K-12 schools and higher education institutions to designate a system to notify students of federal immigration presence. However, the deadline to set that system up was not until the end of September and students complained that the system needed to be set up sooner. "As requested by our campus community and required by Oregon House Bill 4079, we are implementing a notification system in the event of immigration enforcement activity on campus," Howard’s email stated, which was shared with Fox News Digital by students at an independent campus publication that first covered the story, The Daily Emerald. The university sent Fox News Digital a statement pointing out H.B. 4079 was signed into law by Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on April 9, less than a month prior, after making its way through the state legislature, which has both a Democratic House and Senate majority.

Bloomberg Industry Group Bloomberg Law [5/7/2026 8:36 PM, Quinn Wilson, 763K] reports a nonprofit suing on behalf of immigrant detainees failed to convince a district court on Thursday to issue an injunction at a California US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center after the court found it lacked organizational standing to challenge the facility’s conditions. While the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles lacks standing to challenge detention conditions, four individual detainee plaintiffs can pursue claims against ICE and US Department of Homeland Security officials, Judge Sunshine S. Sykes said in court minutes from Tuesday. [Editorial note: Consult source link for extended commentary]

San Diego Union Tribune [5/7/2026 5:46 PM, Staff, 1257K] reports a federal judge indicated Wednesday that he will grant a request from San Diego County to conduct a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center, though he said some of the county’s requests — such as having local lawmakers be part of the inspection team — will require additional arguments from the county. The county sued the federal government and private prison company CoreCivic earlier this year after a coalition of lawmakers — including County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre — were blocked from inspecting the facility. The county’s public health officer was provided access, but county officials say that inspection did not include access to medical records, confidential interviews with detainees, and a review of facility health policies. U.S. District Judge James Simmons agreed with the county that it has authority to evaluate the conditions of the facility, but said some other requests from the county regarding the scope of what that inspection would look like were “broad and vague.” Those requests include permitting “non-subject matter experts” to inspect the facility. Attorneys representing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security argued in court filings that ICE determined the lawmakers who previously sought to enter the facility “were not public health professionals with the appropriate subject matter expertise to conduct health and safety inspections.” County attorneys argue in their filings that the county’s health officer has the discretion to select the members of the inspection team. Simmons, who gave both sides three weeks to file supplemental briefs on their respective positions before he would render a final decision, also said he wanted more information regarding what facility policies and procedures county officials would seek to review and how they would go about examining detainees.

San Diego Union Tribune [5/7/2026 11:26 AM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1257K] reports that alarmed by the surge in immigration enforcement measures across San Diego County last summer, members of the local Democratic congressional delegation requested information from the Trump administration regarding the scope of the operation and the tactics employed. Nine months later, they received some answers. The response—provided in a letter sent by the Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—revealed that the agency deported nearly 16,400 people and detained 10,500 in San Diego and Imperial counties during the first 14 months of President Donald Trump’s second term. Furthermore, 1,454 of those detentions took place "at or near" sensitive locations, such as churches, schools, and hospitals. "We need these figures to be public knowledge so that people understand what is really happening," stated U.S. Representative Mike Levin in an interview. These data—which are rarely made public—arrived in response to a letter dated July 17, in which Levin, along with Representatives Juan Vargas, Scott Peters, and Sara Jacobs, expressed concern regarding the "tactics and lack of transparency" employed during two ICE operations conducted in Oceanside the previous month. On Wednesday, ICE did not respond to an inquiry regarding how many detainees and deportees in the San Diego area had criminal records.

Telemundo [5/8/2026 3:14 AM, Staff, 56K] reports a total of 16,368 people were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Diego County between January 20, 2025, and April 1, 2026, the agency revealed Wednesday. The data was received in a letter responding to Representative Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano), who expressed concern about ICE tactics during operations in Oceanside and requested information about the warrants involved and the criminal records of those detained. This latter information was not provided. “ICE has the legal authority to detain and remove aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States, regardless of the severity of their criminal history,” the agency’s letter stated. “That authority comes from laws passed by Congress. These laws have been in effect for decades and have been amended and strengthened over the years by bipartisan majorities. ICE enforces immigration law against all aliens subject to removal, and the commission of violent crimes is not a prerequisite for enforcement. Unlawful presence in the United States is, in and of itself, a violation of federal law.” President Donald Trump had previously pledged to go after “the worst” immigrants who are in the country illegally; however, many of those being arrested, taken into ICE detention centers and deported have committed a civil infraction and no other crime, The Guardian reported in February. “I suspect these high numbers are part of the demands of White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller to meet high detention quotas. What this letter fails to answer is how many of those detained and deported had criminal records. That is a question that deserves an answer,” Levin stated. “I expect ICE to record even more data than what is presented here, and they need to be able to provide information about where people are being held and why. This kind of oversight, which requires ICE to be publicly accountable, is something I will continue to advocate for. This letter offers only a partial view of the situation, not the full picture.” Of the more than 16,000 expulsions carried out by ICE in the first quarter of the year, 10,847 corresponded to Mexican citizens, 996 to Guatemalans, and 554 to Venezuelans, with smaller numbers coming from 116 other countries. “I appreciate ICE’s response, which largely aligns with what we believed was happening in San Diego. However, the numbers in this letter are deeply troubling,” said Representative Scott Petter (D-San Diego). “When President Trump took office, he promised the American people that his immigration agenda would focus on ‘the worst of the worst.’ However, this letter raises serious questions: Are the 16,000 individuals being removed from San Diego ‘the worst of the worst’? Do they have criminal records, or are these removals simply part of a broader effort by this administration to meet an arbitrary quota? Our constituents deserve to know who is being removed from their communities and why.”

AP [5/8/2026 12:04 AM, Safiyah Riddle and Amy Taxin, 2238K] reports Libyan Dr. Faysal Alghoula must renew his green card to continue caring for roughly 1,000 patients in southwestern Indiana, but hasn’t been able to since the Trump administration stopped reviewing applications for people from several dozen countries it deemed high-risk. Alghoula’s current visa will expire in September if his application is denied. But last week, the administration quietly made an exemption for medical doctors with pending visa or green card applications, possibly allowing Alghoula’s case to move forward. It’s a move physicians organizations and immigration attorneys had sought for months, citing widespread shortages and a high proportion of foreign-trained doctors, who disproportionately work in underserved areas, according to the National Library of Medicine. The lack of doctors is top of mind for Alghoula, a pulmonologist and Intensive Care Unit doctor who serves a mostly rural population spanning parts of Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. “It is about four to five months wait to get the pulmonologist here,” he said. Still, applicants and immigration attorneys say its unclear how big a difference the exemption will make. The change means doctors can have their cases reviewed, but it doesn’t guarantee their green cards or visas will be renewed. It is also unclear whether U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be able to process those applications in time to meet immigration deadlines like Alghoula’s. Alghoula said he doesn’t trust the administration will approve him due to numerous stories about immigrants being detained at appointments to renew their paperwork like the one he has next month. “I’m still scared to go to my interview,” said Alghoula, who has lived in the U.S. since 2016. Meanwhile, the pause remains in affect for thousands of others including researchers and entrepreneurs from 39 countries including Iran, Afghanistan and Venezuela. While they’re on hold, many can’t legally work, get health insurance or a driver’s license. If they leave the U.S., they won’t be let back in. The Trump administration decided last year to stop reviewing green card and visa applications for people from a list of countries deemed high-risk and this year stopped reviewing visa applications for citizens of more than 75 countries over concerns they would seek public assistance. The moves came amid the U.S. government’s broader crackdown on immigrants. The pause followed the shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan citizen, which the administration said highlighted “what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people.” The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration officials, didn’t answer questions about the pause or recent changes to exempt physicians but said in an email it wants to ensure applicants are properly screened after determining the prior administration failed to do so. “There are lots of bans and lots of pauses that are happening right now,” said Greg Siskind, an immigration attorney based in Memphis, Tennessee. “It is all about making life miserable for people who are here legally so they will choose other countries.” It isn’t clear how many doctors have been affected by the pause, according to a spokesperson for the American Academy of Family Physicians, who said several doctors have reached out to the organization asking for help.

CBS News [5/7/2026 7:12 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports Border czar Tom Homan deferred to President Trump when asked whether he supports giving legal status to millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally but who are otherwise law-abiding. "There’s discussions going on," Homan told CBS News’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez in an exclusive interview. "I’m involved with some and not others, but I’m not going to get ahead of the president on this."

CBS News [5/7/2026 6:04 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51110K] Video: HERE reports Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche touted the Trump administration’s expanded efforts to revoke the citizenship of certain foreign-born Americans on Wednesday, telling CBS News "a lot" of them should not be citizens. In a sit-down interview in Phoenix, Blanche said the second Trump administration is pursuing more denaturalization cases now than in the last nine years and asserted that immigrants who have obtained American citizenship fraudulently should be "worried." "If you’re going to come and become a citizen in this country, but you’re going to do it by fraud, you’re going to do it in a way that’s illegal, you should be worried," Blanche said. Asked who is being targeted by the denaturalization campaign, Blanche said, "We are not limiting ourselves to anybody in particular, except to say that unfortunately, and I think you’re going to hear more about this in the coming days and weeks, there are a lot of individuals who are citizens who shouldn’t be." Blanche declined to provide a specific number on how many naturalized citizens could lose their citizenship under the crackdown, which is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to more heavily scrutinize legal immigrants. While most components of the U.S. immigration system are overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department is responsible for revoking the citizenship of naturalized citizens. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [5/7/2026 3:28 PM, Matthew Lee, 3833K] reports that the U.S. State Department will begin revoking the U.S. passports of thousands of parents who owe a significant amount of unpaid child support. The department told The Associated Press on Thursday that the revocations would begin Friday and be focused on those who owe $100,000 or more. That would apply to about 2,700 American passport holders, according to figures supplied to the State Department by the Department of Health and Human Services. The revocation program, plans for which were first reported by the AP in February, soon will be greatly expanded to cover parents who owe more than $2,500 in unpaid child support — the threshold set by a little-enforced 1996 law, the State Department said. It was not clear on Thursday how many passport holders owe more than $2,500 because HHS is still collecting data from state agencies that track the figures, but it could encompass many more thousands of people, officials said. Until this week, only those who applied to renew their passports were subject to the penalty. Under the new policy, HHS will inform the State Department of all past-due payments of more than $2,500 and parents in that group with passports will have their documents revoked, the department said. “We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt,” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said. “Once these parents resolve their debts, they can once again enjoy the privilege of a U.S. passport.”

Reported similarly:
Reuters [5/7/2026 3:40 PM, Staff, 38315K]

CBS Chicago [5/7/2026 5:49 PM, Sabrina Franza, 51110K] Video: HERE reports two suburban women are facing Mother’s Day without their mom, a Polish immigrant who has been in ICE custody since last August even though she has a valid visa and permanent resident card. Beata Siemionkowicz’s immigration case has puzzled her family and experts. Her daughters are trying to raise awareness about their mother’s deportation case and be reunited with her. Claudia and Gabriela Siemionkowicz said their mom is a Polish national with no violent criminal history. She was first detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August 2025 as she helped her tend Claudia’s garden while she was at work. "I answer my phone, and the first thing he says to me is, ‘Your mom’s gone, they took her,’" Claudia recalled. Beata is a Polish national who came to the U.S. in 1995 with a visa. Now her daughters say she has a permanent resident card, commonly called a Green Card, which doesn’t expire until later in 2026. Beata was arrested before Operation Midway Blitz even started. While she has no violent criminal history, she does have two petty theft crimes on her record from the early 2000s. In documents given to CBS News Chicago by her family, it appears the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has pointed to those crimes as reasons to detain her. Her daughters said she had already taken full accountability for those crimes while also working to pass her citizenship test. The Trump administration has repeatedly said their immigration crackdowns are taking "the worst of the worst" off the streets. That’s not Beata, her daughters say. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [5/7/2026 1:47 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz, and Miriam Jordan,148038K] reports that President Trump has instituted the most dramatic retrenchment of the country’s refugee program in decades, largely walling off the United States to anyone fleeing war and persecution. But Mr. Trump has made one notable carve out: Since last year, Afrikaners, the white minority from South Africa, have had the rare ability to seek refugee status. Now the administration is considering substantially expanding access for the white South Africans by declaring that an “unforeseen emergency” in that country warrants more than doubling the number who could enter as refugees, according to multiple people familiar with the matter and documents obtained by The New York Times. The move could bring thousands of additional Afrikaners to the United States, on top of the roughly 6,000 who have entered the country so far this fiscal year, the vast majority among all refugees allowed entry. Mr. Trump and his aides have claimed Afrikaners face racial persecution, an assertion strongly disputed by South African officials. Now, the administration is weighing whether to expand the program by arguing that South Africa’s response to Mr. Trump’s claims of persecution, the rhetoric of political leaders and what it calls the disruption of the Afrikaner refugee program constitute an emergency that requires resettling even more white minorities in the United States, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

NewsNation [5/7/2026 5:37 PM, Sean Noone, 4464K] reports Federal officials in San Diego detained and deported over two dozen cruise ship workers, including some from Disney Magic, in a child pornography operation late last month at a port in San Diego. Between April 23 and 27, 2026, U.S Customs and Border Protection officers boarded eight cruise ships at the Port of San Diego Cruise Ship Terminal located along Harbor Drive as part of ongoing Child Sexual Exploitation Material enforcement operations, the agency confirmed in a statement. CBP reports 27 of the 28 people detained by federal officials were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of child pornography. In total, after boarding all eight cruise ships, officers detained 26 crew members from the Philippines, one crew member from Portugal and one from Indonesia as part of the enforcement operations, according to CBP. Ten of the suspected crew members detained were reportedly workers aboard the Disney Magic cruise ship. The Daily Wire [5/7/2026 11:39 AM, Amanda Harding, 2314K] reports that “After boarding the vessels and interviewing 26 suspected crew members from the Philippines, one suspected crew member from Portugal, and one from Indonesia, officers confirmed all subjects were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of CSEM or child pornography,” a CBP spokesperson told the outlet. “CBP cancelled their visas and these criminals are being removed from our country,” the statement went on. The Los Angeles Times [5/7/2026 6:00 PM, Salvador Hernandez, 12718K] reports that a Disney Cruise Line ship was among those that were boarded and where employees were detained in connection with the investigation. In a statement, a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said the workers were no longer with the company. "We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and fully cooperated with law enforcement," the statement read. "While the majority of these individuals were not from our cruise line, those who were are no longer with the company.” Officials did not disclose Thursday whether any charges have been filed in connection with the investigation.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [5/7/2026 11:41 AM, Ross O’Keefe, 40934K]
Breitbart [5/7/2026 4:05 PM, Jerome Hudson, 2238K]
FOX News [5/7/2026 5:29 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, Kelsie Cairns, and Brittany Miller, 37576K] Video: HERE

Daily Wire [5/7/2026 8:24 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports that the northern border has historically been open season for smugglers, who exploit its harsh terrain and wall-less boundary for profit. Edgar Sanchez-Solis, 23, himself an illegal immigrant from Mexico, helped smuggle hundreds of others through the U.S.-Canada border on a weekly basis for years. Now, the Daily Wire can exclusively report that he’s pleaded guilty to his role in international conspiracy. The illegal immigrant led the smuggling operation while living in Kansas City, Missouri, according to court documents. The group brought hundreds of illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and South America, into the United States through New York each week, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Each migrant presented thousands of dollars in profits for the smuggling ring. Once his customers crossed into the United States, Sanchez-Solis’ organization sent drivers to pick them up and take them farther south, according to court documents. Sanchez-Solis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and five counts of alien smuggling for commercial advantage and private financial gain, according to the Justice Department. He now awaits sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years behind bars and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Three other Mexican illegal immigrants were arrested and charged alongside Sanchez-Solis. Two of them were previously deported from the United States, according to ICE.

Reuters [5/8/2026 5:05 AM, Staff, 38315K] reports U.S. container imports dropped 5.5% in April as importers contend with trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks, supply chain technology provider Descartes Systems Group ‌said on Friday. Containerized import volumes have been hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policies and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a vital shipping corridor for energy supplies — following U.S.-Israeli strikes on the country. Import trends ⁠are seen as a measure of the health of the U.S. economy — rising when the economy is strong and falling when the economy is weak. U.S. seaports handled 2,277,965 twenty-foot equivalent units last month, which were down 3.2% from March levels, data from Descartes showed. This marked the first sequential drop in volumes for the month of April since ‌2022. Still, ⁠last month’s container import volumes were about 19% higher than pre-pandemic levels from April 2019, which the firm said is a reflection of "continued resilience in underlying demand." So far in 2026, however, ⁠U.S. containerized imports are down 5%. Meanwhile, China-origin containerized imports dropped 15.3% year-on-year to 680,778 TEUs in April 2026. Importers are likely to get ⁠a "a short-term cash flow boost" as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency issues the first tariff refunds from ⁠May 12, Descartes said, but warned that policy uncertainty and cost pressures would persist as "replacement tariffs remain in effect."

New York Post [5/7/2026 4:09 PM, Emily Goodin, 40934K] reports three sex offenders, including one wanted in New York on child sex crimes, were arrested at the Texas border under Operation Predator as the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on criminal aliens. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as of March, has made 5,313 arrests based on National Crime Information Center records, which includes many sex offenders. Operation Predator is Homeland Security’s flagship initiative targeting child sex predators. President Trump and DHS have prioritized removing illegals with criminal records, taking a new approach to increase arrests under Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "We’re still enforcing immigration laws. We’re still deporting illegals that shouldn’t be here. We’re still going after the worst of the worst — but we’re doing it in a more quiet way," Mullin told CNBC in April. Mullin, in a change of pace from predecessor Kristi Noem, has let agents do their jobs without making flashy trips to arrest sites to video the work in action. And the crackdown continues. The three men apprehended in Texas were a U.S. citizen and illegal aliens from Mexico and Honduras who were wanted on outstanding felony warrants for sex-related offenses. CBP officers assigned to the Laredo Field Office made the arrests on April 30th, including a man wanted for several felony accounts of sexual abuse in New York. "Put simply, you can run, but you can’t hide," said Donald Kusser, director of field operations at Laredo. "These are among the most heinous offenses we encounter and apprehensions like these not only illustrate the importance of our border security mission but also drive home the important role we play in protecting our communities.”

FOX News [5/7/2026 8:06 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 37576K] reports three fugitives wanted for sex crimes — including a man accused of predatory sexual assault against a child — were arrested at Texas border crossings in a single 24-hour period, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday, displaying the type of dangerous suspects agents say they are encountering at the southern border. Among those arrested was Pedro Garcia Martinez, 44, a Mexican citizen wanted in New York on felony warrants including first-degree rape and predatory sexual assault against a child, according to CBP. CBP officers at Laredo’s Juarez-Lincoln Bridge referred Garcia Martinez, a southbound bus passenger, for secondary inspection April 30. Officers used biometric verification and federal law enforcement databases to confirm his identity and active warrants out of Sullivan County, New York, the agency said. Garcia Martinez was processed for federal immigration law violations and transported to a detention facility with detainers to ensure extradition to New York after final adjudication of the immigration violations, CBP said. The arrests come as border security remains a central political issue, with federal officials emphasizing efforts to identify and detain individuals accused of serious crimes, including offenses against children, as they attempt to cross or move through ports of entry. In a separate arrest the same day, officers at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge stopped Allan Josue Cabrera Maradiaga, 49, a Honduran citizen and southbound bus passenger who was wanted on an active felony warrant for sexual assault out of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, according to CBP. A third suspect, Jesus Hernandez Resendez, 53, a U.S. citizen, was arrested at the Anzalduas International Bridge after arriving from Mexico as a vehicle driver. CBP said he was wanted in Hidalgo County, Texas, on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child. "Put simply, you can run, but you can’t hide," said Donald R. Kusser, director of field operations for CBP’s Laredo Field Office. "These are among the most heinous offenses we encounter," Kusser added. In a statement, CBP said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is "fulfilling President Donald J. Trump’s mandate" to secure the border and stop dangerous criminals from entering the country. CBP officers routinely rely on biometric screening and federal databases, including the National Crime Information Center, to identify individuals wanted for crimes such as homicide, sexual abuse, drug trafficking and robbery, the agency said. The agency noted that criminal charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

FOX News [5/7/2026 6:00 AM, Landon Mion, 37576K] reports the U.S. House’s Texas GOP Caucus announced Thursday that it is united behind a resolution from Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, arguing that states have constitutional authority to secure their borders against an "invasion" or "imminent danger." The caucus is urging Congress to approve the measure, citing what Republicans called the "failed open-border policies" under former President Joe Biden and the millions of illegal immigrants who crossed into the country during his administration. "It is the job of elected officials to protect the Americans that sent them to office," Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Unfortunately, we’ve seen Democrat leaders willfully facilitate a border invasion time and time again. States ought to be able to step in and secure the border when federal government cannot or will not do so. I am proud to join the Texas GOP Caucus in standing up for the American people.”

Reported similarly:
USA Today [5/7/2026 11:45 AM, Mateo Rosiles, 70643K]

San Diego Union Tribune [5/7/2026 9:31 PM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1257K] reports an ongoing investigation into child sexual exploitation material led to the arrests of 27 crew members aboard several cruise ships in San Diego, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said. News of the incidents emerged Tuesday when a video taken April 23 appeared to show federal agents placing crew members in a van in the B Street Pier parking lot. Some of the workers were from a Disney cruise that had just docked, according to an eyewitness who had just disembarked from the ship. The operations took place from April 23 to April 27. The CBP spokesperson said that, after boarding eight vessels, agents interviewed 28 individuals and determined that all but one were allegedly involved in “either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of (child sexual exploitation material) or child pornography.” Officials said that 26 of the crew members interviewed were from the Philippines, while one was from Portugal and another from Indonesia. CBP canceled the visas of those allegedly involved and deported the suspects to their countries of citizenship, the spokesperson said. No further details about the federal investigation were provided. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and fully cooperated with law enforcement,” a Disney spokesperson said Thursday in a statement. “While the majority of these individuals were not from our cruise line, those who were are no longer with the company.” CBP did not identify the cruise ships. Some of the arrested crew members were reportedly from a Holland America Line ship, according to local organizations that reported the arrests. On Tuesday, the company referred questions to CBP. The Harbor Police Department released a statement on Tuesday stating that they were not involved in the reported enforcement actions and had not received any calls for service related to the incidents. “The B Street Cruise Terminal is a federal port of entry, where law enforcement authority for immigration and customs matters rests with U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” the statement reads in part. “As such, any enforcement actions taken onboard vessels or within the federal inspection area fall under CBP’s jurisdiction.”

CBS News [5/7/2026 11:07 AM, Kerry Breen, 51110K] reports United States and Mexican law enforcement said they seized dozens of packages of cocaine from a go-fast vessel as part of one of several operations aimed at stopping the flow of illicit drugs around the world. Customs and Border Patrol air assets first spotted the go-fast boat in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, the Joint Interagency Task Force South, a group made up of 21 partner nations including the U.S. and Mexico, said on social media. The boat’s crew allegedly threw bales of illicit drugs into the ocean as they realized they had been spotted. The Mexican navy was able to quickly respond and retrieve the drugs. They seized about 1,990 pounds of cocaine, the task force said. Photos show the efforts to rescue the drugs from the ocean. Officials said the navy also fast-roped Marines directly onto the deck of the go-fast vessel. The task force did not say if any arrests were conducted.

New York Times [5/7/2026 4:03 PM, Cara Buckley, 148038K] reports today, I published an article that surprised me as I was reporting it out. We often hear about the sorry state of U.S. waterways. But thanks to the removal of dams, more sections of rivers across the U.S. were reconnected last year than at any other point in history, according to the nonprofit group American Rivers. Nearly 4,900 miles of waterways were reconnected because of the removal of around 100 dams. The biggest reason cited for the removals? The ecological benefits, followed by concerns about dam dilapidation and failure, with safety issues coming in third. Last year, Pennsylvania led the way, with 14 dams removed; followed by Massachusetts, with 11; and Vermont, with nine. This tracks with where dams were built in the U.S. in the first place. “Dams were part of our early history and the Industrial Revolution,” said Serena McClain, who oversees dam removal for American Rivers. “If you look at all the dams in the Northeast, they powered grist mills to grind flour, and textile mills to make fabric. And all of these early industries certainly put in dams for irrigation so that farmers and others could withdraw water from the stream.” Of course, the Industrial Revolution happened a long time ago, and many of the dams built then, and since, have become not just obsolete, but also harmful. The average dam in the U.S. was built around 60 years ago. Along with creating stagnant water and preventing fish and other aquatic species from reaching healthy habitats, many of America’s dams are in danger of failing, and can pose a safety risk. A vast majority of the country’s dams are what Desiree Tullos, a professor in biological and ecological engineering at Oregon State University, described as “dinky” and “deadbeat.” Oftentimes, they were built decades ago to create swimming holes and for fishing. While the National Inventory of Dams tracks 92,000 dams, including those deemed high-risk, there are hundreds of thousands of such smaller dams in place all over the country. Over the years, an increasing number of dams have been taken out. Between 1912 and 2025, some 2,350 dams have been removed, according to American Rivers. Two big reasons that states such as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts lead the way in removals are the state measures put in place to deal with aging infrastructure and the initiatives that promote resilience in the face of extreme weather. For example, Massachusetts has a bond act that funds dam repair and removal, McClain said. And Pennsylvania has a dam safety law that dates back more than 100 years, and also allows dams to be removed for ecological reasons.

New York Times [5/7/2026 6:25 PM, Jacey Fortin, Natalie Chandler, Stacey Cato, and Christina Morales, 148038K] reports residents of Southern Mississippi combed through piles of rubble on Thursday in the aftermath of a devastating string of storms and tornadoes overnight that destroyed hundreds of homes and injured at least 17 people. In Purvis, Miss., south of Hattiesburg, Frances Breazeale recalled blaring sirens and roaring wind as she and dozens of other people gathered Wednesday evening at the Coaltown Baptist Church, where Ms. Breazeale’s husband, Jimmy, is the pastor. The tornado was terrifying but quick, she said. People inside the church prayed and sang songs as it passed. When it was over, pieces of the church were wrapped around trees, and part of the steeple had punched through Ms. Breazeale’s windshield. “It was something I’ve never been through,” she said. “And it’s nothing I want to go through again.” Lynn Lewallen, another Purvis resident, ducked into her bathroom with her family when the tornado came. “It was like a train starting to barrel through,” she said. Her home was intact on Thursday, but someone’s trampoline had landed in her backyard, and a barn on the nearby street corner had been flattened. Local officials were working on Thursday to assess the full magnitude of the damage. Three major tornadoes — and, possibly, some smaller ones — tore through several counties, according to Eric Carpenter, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Jackson office. The destruction loosely followed the path of U.S. Route 84, south of Jackson, the state capital — an area that extended more than 100 miles. Rooftops lay in yards, splintered trees and other debris littered streets, and thousands of people lost power. But as of Thursday morning, there were no reported fatalities.

CBS News [5/7/2026 5:27 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports severe storms in Mississippi left at least 17 people injured and damaged hundreds of homes after three confirmed tornadoes swept through the state. In Lincoln County, residents searched through debris at a devastated trailer park, where one young man collapsed in grief after losing his home. The storms also destroyed a church in Purvis, leaving only a wooden cross standing. Thousands across the state were left without power as officials continued assessing the damage. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [5/7/2026 1:54 PM, Taylor Ardrey, Jeanine Santucci, Dinah Voyles Pulver, and Brian Broom, 70643K] reports tornadoes that rolled through parts of Mississippi the night of May 6 injured at least 17 people, damaged hundreds of homes and toppled trees over roadways, officials said. Gov. Tate Reeves said late Wednesday that multiple tornadoes were reported in the central and western part of the state. Photos and videos circulating online show the devastating aftermath: fallen trees and power lines, rubble and debris. In an update on the morning of May 7, Reeves said 17 injuries have been reported so far. No fatalities have been reported, he said. Thousands of people were also without power the morning of May 7, reported the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. "Please continue to pray for Mississippi!" Reeves said. Reeves said 200 homes were damaged in Lincoln County and 12 were damaged in Lawrence County in southern Mississippi. Another 275 homes and 50 apartment units saw damage in Lamar County, also in the southern part of the state, he said. "The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is supporting damage and operations assessments," Reeves said. "Road clearing teams are being deployed to remove debris and the state is deploying additional resources as requested by local emergency managers.”

Politico [5/7/2026 10:00 AM, Thomas Frank, 21784K] reports that, two weeks after 139 people died in raging Texas floods last summer, the leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ridiculed reporting that said the agency had missed thousands of calls to its emergency help center. “Fake news,” David Richardson, the acting administrator at the time, told House lawmakers who were probing officials’ response to the flash flooding that killed more than two dozen children. “The vast majority of phone calls were answered,” Richardson said. “All calls were answered within three minutes.” Now, newly released FEMA records raise questions about the accuracy of his sworn testimony — and whether the agency was able to provide timely disaster services during one of the nation’s deadliest catastrophes. FEMA’s shortcomings during the Texas flood and its jumbled answers afterwards came amid internal turbulence at the agency,which President Donald Trump has threatened to weaken since taking office. Under three temporary FEMA leaders with no emergency management background, the administration cut agency staff, canceled grant programs, slowed recovery funding and denied most aid requests from Democratic-led states. Over nine days in early July, as flooding swamped Texas Hill Country, nearly 80,000 people called the toll-free FEMA Helpline, according to FEMA records disclosed for the first time in a recent Government Accountability Office report. The agency failed to answer 58 percent of the calls. Callers who connected had to wait 25 minutes on average. When call volume peaked from July 7 through July 9, FEMA failed to answer 78 percent of calls, records show. The average wait was 61 minutes. Richardson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FEMA did not answer questions about whether Richardson’s testimony to Congress was inaccurate. An agency spokesperson told POLITICO’s E&E News that during the flood FEMA prioritized “intake” callers registering for disaster aid over callers who were following up on existing cases. “Intake was prioritized during the 2025 Texas Flooding event due to the increased incoming call traffic volume and to address immediate survivor needs,” a FEMA spokesperson said in an email. Richardson was citing FEMA answer rates only for intake calls, which “appeared higher” than the total answer rates reported by GAO, the spokesperson said. FEMA declined to provide E&E News the number of intake calls it received.

FOX News [5/7/2026 11:28 AM, Adam Pack, 37576K] reports that a pair of House lawmakers are seeking a major change to the Secret Service after heightened scrutiny following the third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in April. Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Russell Fry, R-S.C., introduced legislation Thursday that would transfer the Secret Service from DHS supervision and make the agency a direct report to the White House. The measure is part of a broader package of bipartisan reforms that Moskowitz, a former emergency management director, is unveiling to reform the sprawling department that has come under frequent criticism for bureaucratic dysfunction. His legislative package would also make FEMA an independent cabinet-level agency and move TSA under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. The goal, Moskowitz said, is to cut red tape at DHS that impedes its subagencies’ ability to function — an observation he saw up close as a member of the congressional task force investigating the first assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pa. "Going to Butler, talking to Secret Service, is when I realized, well, the Secret Service is suffering the same problems that FEMA is suffering," Moskowitz said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "Because they were such a small agency, they couldn’t get the resources they needed. They couldn’t get decisions being made." "These pieces of legislation would streamline all three of those agencies," Moskowitz added. "It would cut a lot of the bureaucracy we’re getting at DHS."

Reuters [5/7/2026 2:41 PM, Staff, 16072K] reports that the White ⁠House ⁠called "Star Wars" star Mark ⁠Hamill "one sick individual" on Thursday after an AI-generated image ​of U.S. President Donald Trump in a shallow grave was posted on ‌one of the actor’s social ‌media accounts. "If Only" was inscribed on the image of Trump ⁠lying with ⁠his eyes closed adjacent to a gravestone, surrounded by daisies, ​with the inscription "Donald J. Trump 1946-2024." The image was posted on Hamill’s verified Bluesky account. Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the classic "Star Wars" films ​that debuted in 1977, wrote that Trump "should live long enough to ⁠witness his ⁠inevitable devastating loss in ⁠the ​midterms, be held accountable for his unprecedented corruption, impeached, convicted & humiliated for ​his countless crimes. "Long ⁠enough to realize he’ll be disgraced in the history books, forevermore," the actor added. The White House responded on X, calling Hamill "one sick individual." "These Radical Left lunatics just can’t help themselves," a post from the White ⁠House press team said. "This kind of rhetoric is exactly what has ⁠inspired three assassination attempts in two years against our President." A representative for Hamill did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House remarks.

FOX News [5/7/2026 10:18 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirms new charges against Cole Allen for assaulting a federal officer during his attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. Pirro discusses Allen’s political motivations and a probe revealing 13 high-ranking D.C. police officers allegedly manipulated crime statistics. This crucial investigation by her office stems from an August 2025 inquiry into crime reporting integrity. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [5/8/2026 1:23 AM, Staff, 1147K] reports President Donald Trump inspected the progress on the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday evening. In doing so, the presidential motorcade drove across the drained pool’s surface to inspect the new "American flag blue" protective coating being installed. Afterward, the president exited his vehicle and answered questions from the media. He was joined by multiple Cabinet members, including Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Border Czar Tom Homan, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Trump touted the success of the renovations and the aesthetics of the new coating at the base of the pool, calling it a "great color.” "It never had the color people wanted, but now it’s going to have a great color," Trump said regarding the renovations. Trump also explained the motive for the change and new construction in the area, claiming the pool and its surroundings were unsightly and dirty. "I want to keep our country beautiful and safe," Trump said when asked by a reporter about the changes. "The place was a disgusting place.” "It was [the] Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial … And you walk down this pond, if you were to walk down, they’ll tell you better than anybody (pointing to a group of contractors working on the project), they had to take 11 or 12 truckloads of garbage out of that lake, out of that water," Trump added. "And it sat there for years like that, and that’s not what our country’s about. Our country’s about beauty, cleanliness, safety, great people, not a filthy capital.” The last renovation of the Reflecting Pool took place between 2010 and 2012 at a cost of $34 million, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The original reflecting pool was completed in 1923 and has undergone renovations since, in the 1980s to address foundation problems and leaks, and the aforementioned change between 2010 and 2012. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [5/7/2026 8:30 AM, Dave Urbanski, 1556K] reports a Florida man is accused of posting repeated social media threats to assassinate President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. Nathaniel Sanders II, 32, of Miami Beach — who appeared in federal court Monday — used X and Instagram from at least January through April 2026 to make numerous posts threatening the lives of Trump, Rubio, and Bondi, officials claimed, citing court records. Sanders is charged with threatening the president of the United States and transmitting threats in interstate commerce, officials said, adding that he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison if convicted. A criminal complaint from the Secret Service details a number of instances Sanders allegedly made threats on Instagram, the Palm Beach Daily News said. Sanders allegedly said in an April 10 post directed at Rubio that "like a lot of people be forgetting they bleed just like everybody else. Like when I get my hands on him, I’m gonna hurt him. Simple as that," the paper reported. Sanders also allegedly posted that he would "bomb" the White House and added that "I mean it," the Daily News reported.

ExecutiveGov [5/7/2026 5:30 PM, Miles Jamison, 36K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard is consolidating its deployable specialized forces under a new Special Missions Command headquartered in Kearneysville, West Virginia, the service said Wednesday. As the Coast Guard advances modernization efforts with its new Special Missions Command, the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 12 will bring together DHS and industry leaders to discuss evolving security priorities, operational capabilities and emerging technologies. he Special Missions Command is intended to enhance the Coast Guard’s readiness, coordination, response capabilities, mission effectiveness and interoperability across service, departmental and joint military requirements for national emergencies and joint operations. According to Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard, the new command will consolidate the service’s “most elite operators” under a unified structure to better support homeland security missions and joint force operations. “The Special Missions Command is not an administrative change; it is an investment ensuring these elite teams are the best trained, equipped, and organized force possible, ready to protect the Homeland and support the Joint Force,” Lunday said. Set to be commissioned in October, the Special Missions Command comes amid growing demand for elite operational units and reflects the Coast Guard’s broader modernization efforts under its Force Design 2028 initiative. The new command also aligns with emerging capability development efforts, including the establishment of the Rapid Response Prototype Team, which is designed to accelerate technology delivery.

FOX News [5/7/2026 7:05 PM, Brittany Miller, 37576K] reports thousands of students across the U.S. were unable to access the Canvas learning platform Thursday as universities investigated a cybersecurity incident affecting multiple institutions. Canvas, a cloud-based system used by schools to manage coursework, grades and communication, went offline for some users during a critical period as many colleges administer final exams. The platform is used by thousands of institutions nationwide, meaning any prolonged disruption could interfere with exams and academic deadlines while raising concerns about the potential exposure of sensitive student data if the hackers’ claims are legitimate. Alicia Acuna told Fox News Digital that her son, a student at a Florida university, was in the middle of an exam when his computer screen was taken over by the message, underscoring the disruption facing students during a critical academic period. A message appearing on some users’ dashboards claimed responsibility for the disruption, saying cybercrime group ShinyHunters had "breached Instructure (again)," referring to the company that operates Canvas. The message urged affected schools to "negotiate a settlement" to prevent the release of data and set a deadline of May 12, 2026. University officials confirmed they were aware of the issue and working to restore access. In a message to faculty and students, University of Pennsylvania administrators said the school is "actively investigating" and "working with Instructure to restore access to Canvas as soon as possible," adding that the disruption "is not limited to Penn and is affecting multiple institutions.” A Maryland school district also warned families and staff not to access the platform. Anne Arundel County Public Schools said it shut down access to Canvas after detecting suspicious activity and instructed users not to attempt to log in or enter their usernames or passwords "on any interface," according to a message reviewed by Fox News Digital. Instructure said on its status page that it is "currently investigating this issue." Earlier updates indicated the company had identified a cybersecurity incident in recent days and was working with outside experts. CNN [5/7/2026 7:04 PM, Ramishah Maruf and Emma Tucker, 19874K] reports that universities and school systems across the country, from local school districts to Georgetown University to the University of Oklahoma, reported a ransom note on the homepage of their schools’ Canvas sites. Canvas is a popular, cloud-based digital hub for classrooms. Canvas has more than 30 million active users globally, parent company Instructure says on its website, with more than 8,000 institutions as customers. Many of those students are in the middle of a busy Spring finals week. In an update Thursday night, Instructure said Canvas was available again "for most users," after stating earlier the platform was "in maintenance mode" while it investigated the issue. Several universities across the country, including Columbia University, Rutgers, Princeton, Kent State, Harvard and Georgetown had issued statements alerting students to the hack impacting institutions nationwide. School districts in California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin were also affected. This is the second data breach this month among schools and universities. Hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for both attacks. In the note, reported by different student news outlets, the group demanded ransoms to prevent further data leaks. "ShinyHunters has breached Instructure (again)," read a warning on a University of Washington student’s account around noon PT, which was seen by CNN. "Instead of contacting us to resolve it they ignored us and did some ‘security patches.’". On May 1, in a different attack, Instructure said it "experienced a cybersecurity incident perpetrated by a criminal threat actor" but contained the situation the next day. But the company indicated user names, email addresses and student ID numbers were breached. "Instructure still has until EOD 12 May 2026 to contact us," Thursday’s note from the hacking group said. CNN has reached out to Instructure for comment. Some students in panic, others welcome deadline extensions. One student impacted by the hack said he was in a panic when he was logged out of his Canvas account while trying to study for finals at the University of Pennsylvania. "The biggest cause of fear and anxiety in me is that I was deprived of significant resources to study and do the best," Anish Garimidi, a junior at the university, told CNN. Garimidi called the incident "very troubling" but said he is grateful his professors "were accommodating and sending materials through other means.” Bloomberg [5/7/2026 6:49 PM, Alicia Tang, 18082K] reports that universities including Stanford, Columbia and Princeton were among the schools that reported outages tied to the incident or warned students to remain alert for suspicious messages. The Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported Thursday that students had also lost access to the Canvas platform. Instructure Chief Information Security Officer Steve Proud reported a cybersecurity incident involving a “criminal threat actor” on its website on May 1. Stanford said it was affected by the “nationwide cybersecurity incident” and cited information from Instructure saying the breach involved certain identifying information, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers and messages among users. Rutgers University said in a statement on its website that it was unclear what school data may have been compromised. Baylor University urged students to beware of phishing messages that may aim to steal their information from attackers impersonating the school’s IT staff. A Duke security spokesperson confirmed the incident and told the student body that they are “closely monitoring the incident,” according to the school’s student publication.

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Los Angeles Times [5/7/2026 9:07 PM, Jaweed Kaleem, 12718K]
CBS News [5/7/2026 11:40 PM, Staff, 51110K]
NewsMax [5/7/2026 9:18 PM, Heather Hollingsworth, 3760K]

AP [5/7/2026 11:19 PM, Heather Hollingsworth, 2238K] reports a system that thousands of schools and universities use was offline Thursday during a cyberattack, creating chaos as students tried to study for finals and underscoring education’s dependence on technology. The hacking group named ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach at Canvas, said Luke Connolly, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emisoft. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment or questions about whether the system was taken down as a precaution or because the hackers knocked it offline. Canvas is used to manage grades, course notes, assignments, lecture videos and more. The hacking group posted online that nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were affected, with billions of private messages and other records accessed, Connolly said. Students quickly took to social media to ask if others were unable to access Canvas, with many panicking that they could no longer view course materials housed within the platform to study for their final exams. Screen shots Connolly provided showed that the group began threatening Sunday to leak the trove of data, giving deadlines of Thursday and May 12. Connolly said the later date indicates that discussions regarding extortion payments may be ongoing. Rich in digitized data, the nation’s schools are prime targets for far-flung criminal hackers, who are assiduously locating and scooping up sensitive files that not long ago were committed to paper in locked cabinets. Past attacks have hit Minneapolis Public Schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Instructure has not posted about the attack on its social media. Connolly said the Canvas attack is strikingly similar to a breach at PowerSchool, which also offers learning management tools. In that case a Massachusetts college student was charged. Connolly described ShinyHunters as a loose affiliation of teenagers and young adults based in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The group also has been tied to a other attacks, including one aimed at Live Nation’s Ticketmaster subsidiary. Universities and school districts quickly began notifying students and parents. “This is being reported as a national-level cyber-security incident,” the director of information technology at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health wrote in announcing that the school’s online system was down. “Hopefully we will have a resolution soon.” Virginia Tech acknowledged in a notice to students that the administration was aware of the effect on final exams and other end-of-semester activities. The University of New Mexico sent a similar message to the campus community, and the University of Florida urged students to stay alert for any phishing messages that appear to be from Canvas. Teachers say they are having to find workarounds to help students study for exams and submit final assignments. Damon Linker, a senior lecturer in the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a post on the social media platform X that his students had been relying on Canvas to access every reading from the semester and all of his lecture slides before their Monday final exams. The outage leaves students and faculty “dead in the water here in academia right now,” he said.

EDScoop [5/7/2026 6:25 PM, Colin Wood, 5K] reports ShinyHunters, the prolific criminal hacker and extortion group, on Thursday provided additional details about its recent breach of Canvas, the learning management system developed by Instructure, with hopes of coaxing payments from some of the nearly 9,000 educational institutions it claims are affected. After announcing on May 1 that it had exfiltrated several terabytes of data containing the personal information of 275 million users, it announced a deadline of Thursday before “everything is leaked and there will be no chance at a negociation for anyone. Instructure has not even bothered speaking to us to understand the situation or to even negociate with us to prevent the release of this data. Our demand was not even as high as you might think it is.” On Thursday, the group presented to Canvas users a second message and extended the deadline for payment until May 12. “ShinyHunters has breached Instructure (again). Instead of contacting us to resolve it they ignored us and did some ‘security patches’,” the note reads. The group advised affected schools to consult security professionals and use the Tox messaging protocol to negotiate a “settlement.” The attached list of affected institutions includes many school districts, along with well-known universities, including Cambridge, Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley.

Washington Times [5/7/2026 5:46 PM, Bill Gertz, 1323K] reports American critical infrastructures are vulnerable to Chinese sabotage and the federal government is taking steps to mitigate the threats, according to the lead U.S. cybersecurity agency. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Tuesday launched a new program called "CI Fortify," a program to help civilian utilities and other infrastructure stakeholders "prepare to operate through a crisis or conflict, continuing vital service delivery even as their systems are under attack.” "In a geopolitical crisis, the critical infrastructure organizations Americans rely on must be able to continue delivering — at a minimum — crucial services," CISA Acting Director Nick Anderson said in a statement. "They must be able to isolate vital systems from harm, continue operating in that isolated state, and quickly recover any systems that an adversary may successfully compromise," he said. The CI Fortify program will seek to strengthen security against adversaries, notably the Chinese state-run cyber intrusions that have been detected inside some of 16 critical U.S. infrastructures, including electric grids and financial computer networks. Most critical infrastructure computer networks are not government-owned, making securing them more difficult from sophisticated cyber penetrations. The new CI Fortify web page states that Chinese hackers have successfully pre-positioned malware and access points across critical infrastructure that can be used to "disrupt and destroy the operational technology (OT) running the United States.” The page contains a link to a security advisory from CISA, the FBI and National Security Agency identifying Chinese government hackers as working to pre-position themselves in information technology networks for disruptive or destructive cyberattacks on critical infrastructures in a crisis or conflict with the United States.

ABC News [5/7/2026 8:36 PM, Luke Barr and Jack Date, 34146K] reports the FBI has released new information about the mass shooting outside an Austin, Texas, bar in March that left three people dead, concluding the suspected shooter was a lone actor, who was not associated with a Foreign Terrorist Organization. "There is no evidence of outside direction or radicalization; rather, the investigation indicates an escalation in violent behavior in part tied to specific personal triggers and grievances related to U.S. and Israeli military actions involving Iran, culminating in a violent, impulsive attack," according to a press release from the FBI. Ndiaga Diagne, a 53-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Senegal, circled the bar on the popular 6th Street in Austin, Texas, in the early morning hours on March 1 and then opened fire on people outside the bar, according to authorities. Three people were killed and more a dozen were injured. Diagne was killed in a confrontation with police officers. The gunfire occurred the same weekend the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of the war. Initially, the FBI said it was investigating terrorism as a possible motive in the shooting. "The investigation revealed that Diagne admired the recently deceased Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," the FBI press release stated. "At the time of the attack Diagne was wearing clothes that included an Iranian flag design t-shirt and a sweatshirt that read: "Property of Allah." While Diagne’s affinity for Iran and the Ayatollah were most certainly factors in his mobilization to violence, the FBI has not identified conclusive evidence to explain Diagne’s motivation or how and why he selected the location for his attack.” The FBI said it had personnel from 14 field offices and headquarters at the scene of the shooting -- more than 400 in total along with state and local law enforcement partners. The FBI says they will continue to pursue every lead related to the case.

AP [5/7/2026 2:50 PM, Jim Vertuno, 1323K] reports the gunman who killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others in a mass shooting at a downtown Austin, Texas, bar in March was a "lone actor" and there is no evidence he was supported or directed by a foreign terrorist group, FBI investigators said Thursday. The agency released a two-page update of its investigation into the attack on Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden in the early morning hours of March 1 that ended when gunman, Ndiaga Diagne, was killed by police. The shooting happened after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran. Diagne was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words "Property of Allah.” Despite lacking direct evidence of a motive for the shooting, investigators said Diagne was likely triggered into violent behavior by the war against Iran, "culminating in a violent, impulsive attack" at the bar, the report said. Investigators determined Diagne admired Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been killed. His affinity for Iran and its former leader were likely factors in the attack Diagne perpetrated on his own, investigators said. "The investigation to date indicates Diagne was a lone actor," the report said. He had never been the subject of an FBI investigation prior to the shooting. Diagne, 53, was born in Senegal. He first entered the U.S. in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa and became a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security. "There is no evidence at this time that he was associated with a Foreign Terrorist Organization or that he received any direction, funding, or operational support for his attack," the report said. The bar is located in the city’s popular hub of bars and nightclubs. Police said the gunman drove past the bar before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside. He then parked, got out with a rifle and began shooting at people walking along the street before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis has said officers arrived within 56 seconds of the first 911 call and killed the shooter after he fired at police. Killed in the attack were 21-year-old Savitha Shan, 19-year-old Ryder Harrington and 30-year-old Jorge Pederson. The FBI said the investigation into the attack remains open.

New York Times [5/7/2026 3:43 PM, Kelley Manley and Jack Healy, 148038K] reports the man accused of carrying out an antisemitic firebombing attack in Boulder, Colo., was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to every state charge against him. The defendant, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, pleaded guilty to 101 charges, including one count of murder for the death of Karen Diamond, 82, in an attack last June against a group of marchers calling for the release of hostages captured by Hamas in its October 2023 attack on Israel. The firebombing attack wounded more than a dozen other people, horrified Boulder’s tightknit Jewish community and intensified fears of rising antisemitic violence in the United States. It sowed “terror, fear and death,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty of Boulder told the court. On Thursday, many of the victims and their families stood up to recount the physical and mental pain they have endured since the attack. They described how they ran in terror that day, as Molotov cocktails hurled by Mr. Soliman exploded around them, how they tried to extinguish fires that scorched their clothes and shoes and burned their friends and fellow marchers. “When I’m alone and close my eyes I can vividly see Karen’s body in flames,” Orrie Gartner, who was at the march, said in court. Several people said they spent the past year haunted by memories of the screams and the flames, the stench of gasoline and burned hair. Some said they now searched for threats wherever they went. Others worry they could be targeted again.

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Breitbart [5/7/2026 7:37 PM, Staff, 2238K]
AP [5/7/2026 4:26 PM, Mead Gruver, 35287K]

FOX News [5/7/2026 8:51 AM, Julia Bonavita, 37576K] reports federal agents swarmed a California park Wednesday as part of a sweeping operation targeting an infamous open-air drug market notorious for peddling fentanyl and methamphetamine. The sting, dubbed "Operation Free MacArthur Park," led to at least 18 arrests and more than $10 million worth of fentanyl seized in a massive joint effort between local and federal authorities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. "Today, we begin reclaiming MacArthur Park from criminals and drug addicts to return this public space to the citizens of Los Angeles," First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said. "Together with our federal and local law enforcement partners, we are executing multiple arrest and search warrants targeting those who are distributing drugs in and around the park." MacArthur Park, located west of downtown Los Angeles, is known as a hotbed for drug users looking to purchase narcotics despite being surrounded by apartments and office complexes.

Breitbart [5/7/2026 9:04 AM, Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, 2238K] reports United States President Donald J. Trump has once again increased the pressure on Mexico by declaring that if they won’t fight cartels head-on, his government will and threatened the use of ground forces, which he claimed are easier to move than the ongoing attacks on cartel boats at sea. The statements came during a speech this week in which Trump briefly noted that his administration was serious about fighting cartels. "If they (Mexico) are not going to do the job, we are going to do the job," he said. During his speech, Trump threatened the use of ground forces to fight cartels, claiming that his prior use of military assets to attack cartel boats had led to a reduction of 97 percent in smuggling by sea. The comments sent shockwaves through Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum has been sternly opposed to any U.S. troops or agents operating in Mexico.

ABC News [5/7/2026 12:31 PM, Mary Kekatos and Zoe Magee, 34146K] Video: HERE reports an epidemiologist from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that the suspected hantavirus cluster aboard a cruise ship is not the beginning of another COVID-19 pandemic. Eight cases are currently being reported by the WHO, including five laboratory-confirmed cases and three suspected cases. Of those eight cases, three have died. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and acting director of epidemic and pandemic management at the WHO, was asked during a press conference what the difference was between this cluster and the early days of the COVID pandemic. "I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship," Van Kerkhove said. Van Kerkhove explained that hantavirus doesn’t spread in the same way that coronaviruses do, but rather through "close, intimate contact." Most hantaviruses don’t transmit from person to person. "The actions that are being taken on board [the ship] are precautionary to prevent any onward spread," she added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Signal [5/7/2026 10:54 AM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 474K] reports the White House is contemplating executive orders on artificial intelligence regulation, but the specifics of the orders are still the subject of active debate, sources close to the administration told The Daily Signal. The New York Times first reported that the White House is looking into an executive order to create a vetting system for frontier AI models. The White House has worked on several draft executive orders, but the matter of which proposals make it to the president’s desk is still being debated, sources familiar with the matter said. It is likely that one or more AI executive orders will be signed in the next two weeks. There are differences of opinion within the administration about how strong the vetting process of new models should be, as some officials prefer a light touch to regulation while others want to aggressively vet new models. The administration had previously taken a light touch to AI regulation, with officials like former AI czar David Sacks criticizing AI "doomers" who fear negative outcomes from the rapidly advancing technology. However, White House officials were motivated to implement a more heavy-handed approach due to increased awareness of the national security risks posed by new models like Anthropic’s Mythos, as well as concerns about AI-enabled cyber attacks before the midterms, sources said. A White House official told The Daily Signal that any policy announcement on the subject will come directly from the president.

Washington Times [5/7/2026 8:04 AM, John T. Seward and Ben Wolfgang, 1323K] reports the United States set a record for space launches in 2025, and with the Trump administration saying 2026 will be even bigger, concerns are swirling in U.S. national security circles over the extent to which the country’s launch facilities are overstretched. The two U.S. primary space launchpad complexes are already facing a crowded schedule amid the rising number of satellite and rocket launches with direct ties to national security assets, as well as the growing number of launches relating to civilian infrastructure in space. There were roughly 200 total launches in 2025, and the White House is calling for that number to be quintupled to 1,000 annual launches by the end of 2030. Space industry sources say current schedules are dominated by the priorities of launch providers like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. Both of those companies are engaged in a rising number of civilian infrastructure-type launches, while also supplying rockets for NASA and for secretive national security missions. The dominance of SpaceX and Blue Origin in both arenas has caused some smaller but vital national security-focused launch providers to schedule their own satellite projects up to two years ahead of time, according to two high-level space industry executives who spoke on condition of anonymity with Threat Status at The Washington Times.

Federal News Network [5/7/2026 4:43 PM, Melissa Swisher, 1297K] reports drones have advanced rapidly over the past decade, transforming from a novelty hobby into advanced aircraft capable of long-range flights, potential payload delivery and high-resolution imaging. The technology now presents clear threats to national security and critical infrastructure, which we’re already seeing play out domestically. At the same time, drone technology has outpaced counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS). A flurry of activity across Europe in late 2025, where drones grounded commercial flights and appeared near key military installations, demonstrates these gaps. European leaders struggled to mitigate attacks and pin down who was behind them, with some reports even finding that several incidents weren’t drones at all, but instead conventional aircraft that were misclassified. As drone threats continue to escalate and events like the World Cup and America250 — which will concentrate massive crowds — quickly approach, it’s imperative the United States identifies and addresses key vulnerabilities to ensure public safety.

AP [5/7/2026 6:36 PM, Matthew Lee, 35287K] reports the United States is not looking at imminent military action against Havana despite President Donald Trump’s repeated threats that “Cuba is next” and that American warships deployed in the Middle East for the Iran conflict could return by way of the island, U.S. officials say. The officials involved in preliminary discussions with Cuban authorities also told The Associated Press that they are not optimistic the communist government will accept an offer for tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, two years of free Starlink internet access for all Cubans, agricultural assistance and infrastructure support. But they say Cuba has not yet outright refused the offer, which comes with conditions that the government has long resisted, even after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions Thursday on Havana. The largest of those sanctions is against GAESA, or Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, say there is still time for the government to accept the offer. They cautioned, though, that Trump could change his mind at any time and that military options are still on the table.

USA Today [5/7/2026 2:57 PM, Francesca Chambers, 70643K] reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio slapped Cuba’s military regime and elites with sanctions, hours after a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, where the humanitarian crisis on the communist-run island was on the agenda. Rubio said he was sanctioning a military-run economic group, known as GAESA, and its leader, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, using authority granted to him by President Donald Trump in recently-issued executive order. He also sanctioned Moa ​Nickel SA, a joint venture that mines and sells Cuba’s nickel. In a statement, Rubio said the sanctions "are part of the Trump Administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and hold accountable the regime and those who provide it material or financial support." He indicated the punishing actions were just the beginning — with additional sanctions designations coming within days or weeks. The sanctions are the latest attempt by the Trump administration to weaken the Cuban regime and force it to make economic and political changes that would make Havana more reliant on the U.S. Since its attack on Venezuela at the start of the year, the U.S. has maintained a near-total oil blockade on Cuba, exacerbating the island’s energy crisis. Trump has alternatively floated an economic-focused agreement, which his administration hopes would lead to more freedoms, and military action that could make the Cuban government more pliant.

ABC News [5/7/2026 8:10 PM, Meredith Deliso, 34146K] reports Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez warned that the United States is on a "dangerous path" that could lead to a "bloodbath in Cuba" in response to President Donald Trump’s continued rhetoric about taking over the country, and said there has been "no progress" in talks between the two countries. In a sit-down interview with ABC News’ Whit Johnson in Havana on Thursday, Rodriguez said he takes Trump’s threats "very seriously," and that Cuba will "exercise its right for its legitimate defense" if attacked militarily. "It seems that the U.S. government has chosen a dangerous path, a path that could lead to unimaginable consequences, to humanitarian catastrophe, to a genocide, to the loss of Cuban and young American lives, it could also lead to a bloodbath in Cuba," Rodriguez told ABC News in Spanish. In recent weeks, Trump has said that Cuba’s political system needs to change "dramatically" and has repeatedly declared that the U.S. will be "doing something with Cuba very soon.” Most recently, while speaking in Florida last week, Trump said that after the operation in Iran, "Cuba is going to be next," and that the U.S. will be "taking over Cuba almost immediately." He also suggested that he could send the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to Cuba and stop about 100 yards offshore, before expressing his belief that Cuba would say, "thank you very much. We give up.” So far, the administration has relied on economic tactics to pressure Cuba, including a blockade earlier this year cutting off Havana’s access to foreign oil shipments, including those from Venezuela. Last week, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions aimed at members of the regime that the White House said were "complicit in government corruption or serious human rights violations, or are agents, officials, or material supporters of the Cuban government," according to a fact sheet published by the White House. In the interview on Thursday, Rodriguez maintained Cuba’s independence and said that if attacked militarily, "Cuba will exercise its right for its legitimate defense to the very last consequences with massive, mass support of the people.” "Cuba is not a threat to the U.S., national security or foreign policy or economy or the American way of life," he told ABC News. In March, Cuban President Miquel Díaz-Canel publicly acknowledged that his government had been holding secretive talks with the U.S. for weeks, as Trump intensified his pressure campaign against the regime. Rodriguez told ABC News on Thursday that there has been no progress in the talks with the U.S and dismissed recent demands from the Trump administration for political and economic reforms. "I can tell you that I see no progress," Rodriguez said.

NBC News [5/7/2026 5:04 PM, Abigail Williams, 42967K] reports the U.S. is urging the Iraqi government to break with Tehran-backed militia groups and has sanctioned Iraqi officials over their ties with Iran, following more than 600 attacks against U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq since the start of the U.S. and Israel-led war, according to the State Department and a senior state department official. One facility, the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, which is a logistics hub for U.S. diplomats, has been targeted by repeated drone strikes and was hit in mid-March. As recently as Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad urged Americans to leave Iraq, warning that “militias continue to plot additional attacks against U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq.” Videos from some of the attacks in Baghdad show smoke rising from a facility near the airport in April, and a fire on the roof of the embassy in March. The State Department on Thursday announced it sanctioned Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Oil Ali Maarij al-Bahadly, arguing he had abused his position to divert Iraqi oil in support of the Iranian regime. Iranian oil was mixed with Iraqi oil and sold for Iran’s benefit, spokesman Tommy Pigott said. Oil sector companies that support militias were also hit with sanctions. Iraq’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The move is the latest effort by the Trump administration to manage the growing presence of Iran inside Iraq, where Tehran-linked militia groups that would like to see U.S. troops expelled from the country have gained a foothold in the government. In April, the U.S. summoned Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Khirullah to Washington, where Deputy Secretary of State Landau condemned the hundreds of attacks in Iraqi territory, including what the U.S. called an ambush of U.S. diplomats on April 8, the day the ceasefire began between the U.S. and Iran. Landau emphasized the Iraqi government’s failure to prevent the attacks and said the U.S. “expects the Iraqi government to immediately take all measures to dismantle the Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq,” according to a readout of the meeting.

Breitbart [5/7/2026 1:52 PM, Frances Martel, 2238K] reports the Chinese news outlet Caixin reported on Thursday that a Chinese-owned ship, openly marked as such, was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, days before the Iranian foreign minister visited Beijing to discuss his country’s ongoing conflict with the United States. The Caixin report, citing sources familiar with the situation, did not identify any perpetrators of the attack, though it did note that Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was intentionally targeting random civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt global commerce and had targeted a French company’s ship on Wednesday. The allegedly targeted Chinese ship in question was believed to be departing the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been the subject of sustained Iranian bombing since the United States launched "Operation Epic Fury" to disable Iran’s ability to continue engaging in and funding terrorism around the world. Reuters, citing Caixin, reported on Thursday that the ship in question bore a mark reading "CHINA OWNER & CREW" while it passed through the Strait in an apparent attempt to avoid being targeted. An anonymous source speaking to Caixin, apparently on behalf of Chinese shippers, lamented that the attack was "psychologically very hard ⁠to ​accept.” Iran and the United States have been embroiled in an unofficial war since February 28, when "Operation Epic Fury" killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. American and Israeli military activities have since killed dozens of senior Iranian leaders, while Iran has focused on bombing perceived American allies in the region such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, as well as some isolated and seemingly random attacks on countries such as Azerbaijan, which the Iranian regime has denied. As part of its attempts to protect itself, the Iranian regime also launched an operation to prevent regular commercial shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important transit routes for crude oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) in the world. President Donald Trump announced in response a blockade of Iranian ships in the Strait, which is believed to remain ongoing, and "Project Freedom," a plan to escort commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz that the president said had been paused this week. The president is also observing an indefinite ceasefire of attacks directly on Iran to allow for negotiations to continue between Washington and Tehran, currently mediated by the government of Pakistan.

New York Times [5/7/2026 10:51 PM, Erica L. Green, 148038K] reports that, even after the United States and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, President Trump insisted the cease-fire was still in effect and dismissed the Iranian attacks as a mere “trifle.” “They trifled with us today,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he made an unannounced visit to the site of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which he is renovating. He was visiting shortly after the U.S. military confirmed the strikes on Iranian military sites. “We blew them away. They trifled — I call that a trifle.” The president then asserted that the world would know when the United States considered the cease-fire over. “​If there’s no cease-fire​, you’re not going to have to know,” he added. “You’re just going to have to look at one ​big glow​ coming out of Iran​. And they better sign their agreement fast.” He was referring to the deal made in a one-page proposal from the United States that would have both sides reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting for 30 days while they work on a comprehensive deal. Mr. Trump’s effort to minimize the outbreak of violence on Thursday comes as he tries to keep a lid on the most serious crisis of his presidency — a war in Iran that has lasted longer than he predicted and has caused growing political problems at home. The war is deeply unpopular with the American public, increasingly expensive, and even his Republican allies in Congress — which did not authorize the war — are growing impatient about when it will end. The war, which started in February when the U.S. joined Israel in a bombardment of Iran, has sent gas prices surging, compounding a cost-of-living crisis for everyday Americans that Mr. Trump has largely downplayed or brushed off. (On Thursday, Mr. Trump falsely claimed that “gas prices are way down).” Asked whether Iran has responded to the one-page proposal, Mr. Trump said that it was “more than a one-page offer,” and provided an overview about the agreement’s sticking points. “It’s an offer that basically said they will not have nuclear weapons​,” he said​. “They’re going to hand us the nuclear dust and many other things that we want​.” When asked whether they had agreed to that, he said yes, but added, “​when​ they agree, it doesn’t mean much, because the next day they forget.​” Still, though Mr. Trump said diplomacy was going in a positive direction, he cast uncertainty on the end result. He said “talks are going very well,​” but ​warned that Iran​ was ​ “going to have a lot of pain​,” if the Iranians didn’t sign the American agreement. ​He added: “They want to sign it. I will tell you they want to sign it a lot more than I do.​” He said a deal “could happen any day — and it might not happen.”

Breitbart [5/7/2026 1:20 PM, John Hayward, 2238K] reports that two unnamed U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s "Project Freedom" — the plan for American military forces to safely escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz — was "paused" after less than 48 hours because Saudi Arabia denied the use of its airbases to protect ships from attacks by Iran. According to NBC’s sources, the Saudi government was "surprised" and "angered" when Trump announced Project Freedom with a Truth Social post on Sunday afternoon. Trump said he was acting in response to requests from "countries from all over the world" who were "neutral and innocent bystanders" to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. "For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways, so that they can freel and ably get on with their business," the president wrote. Trump dubbed the initiative "Project Freedom" and said it would begin on Monday, only a few hours after he wrote his Truth Social post. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was ready to support the effort immediately, as part of America’s commitment to freedom of navigation. "Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade," CENTCOM commander Adm. Bradley Cooper said on Sunday.

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