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Year: 2025

House Republicans unveil national memorial plan honoring Americans killed by illegal immigrants

House Republicans unveil national memorial plan honoring Americans killed by illegal immigrants

Almost a year after record heights of illegal border crossings, Republican lawmakers unveiled plans to construct a memorial honoring Americans who had lost loved ones to violence caused by illegal immigrants at a press event on Friday afternoon. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., the lawmaker spearheading the effort, said it would serve as a reminder of the costs of bad policy. ALINA HABBA BLASTS BIDEN IMMIGRATION POLICIES AS ‘ABSOLUTE FAILURE’ AFTER DEADLY NATIONAL GUARD AMBUSH “Now, this bill authorizes a permanent national memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring U.S. citizens and lawful residents whose lives are taken by individuals unlawfully present in the United States,” Hamadeh said. “But in many ways, it also shames the politicians who allowed this situation to happen,” he added. Hamadeh was joined Friday by several angel families who had experienced personal loss and by members of The American Border Story (TABS), an organization dedicated to documenting the U.S. southern border crisis. TABS Executive Director Nicole Kiprilov thanked President Donald Trump for his efforts to tamp down immigration-related crime. “I’d like to thank President Trump for leading an historic administration that has put these victims and families at the center of our immigration agenda,” Kiprilov said. “Secretary Kristi Noem, border czar Tom Homan and the entirety of the Trump administration has been working night and day tirelessly to ensure that our border is secure and that these tragedies that the Biden administration allowed to happen will never happen again.” NATIONAL GUARD KILLING REIGNITES IMMIGRATION WAR IN CONGRESS AS REPUBLICANS DEMAND SWEEPING REFORMS Hamadeh said his proposal would serve as a contrast between the Biden and Trump administrations. His announcement comes as the Trump administration’s DHS announced this past week that it had deported more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants in under a year.  According to data collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, encounters at the U.S. Southern Border peaked last year with over 300,000 encounters in December 2024. Almost a year later, encounters have dropped precipitously with just 11,600 encounters this past September. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., one of the lawmakers who also attended Friday’s event, said those numbers demonstrate two different postures towards enforcing the country’s laws. “They ended the remain in Mexico policy, restarted catch and release,” Biggs said of the Biden administration’s decision to bring immigrants with pending asylum claims inside the United States before adjudicating them. TOP REPUBLICAN REBUKES NOTIONS TO ARREST DHS AGENTS WITH PLAN TO PULL FUNDING FROM PROBLEM CITIES Angel families of victims at the event expressed outrage that the remnants of those policies persisted in some cases.  In particular, they decried efforts to protect illegal immigrants with criminal records. Jennifer Boss, one of the parents there, said that after authorities discovered her daughter’s remains in a trash can mixed with bleach, the man suspected of having committed the crime had been let go. “He was let go the day after he was arrested. Illinois gave him grace and freedom in the name of fairness with their policies. And let him go. They also protected him from being picked up from ICE. Again, because of their policies,” Boss said. Kiprilov said that in addition to pointing back to a chapter in American history, the memorial proposed by Hamadeh would serve as a reminder going forward of the importance of strong immigration policy. “Today’s legislation, the American Border Story Memorial, is about truth, memory and accountability,” Kiprilov said.

House Democrat pushes Senate to reverse Trump federal union order after GOP revolt by 20 Republicans

House Democrat pushes Senate to reverse Trump federal union order after GOP revolt by 20 Republicans

EXCLUSIVE: Bipartisan House lawmakers are actively lobbying the Senate to take action on a bill reversing President Donald Trump’s executive order on federal worker unions, a moderate Democrat said. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, successfully forced a vote on his legislation Thursday evening despite little appetite from the majority of House Republicans. It passed, however, with 20 GOP lawmakers’ support — a significant number at a time when few in the party are willing to publicly butt heads with Trump. “When I said on the House floor that union collective bargaining rights are not a partisan issue, I meant it,” Golden told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “The greatest evidence of that is union members themselves. They vote Democrat, they vote Republican. They don’t all vote, but they might vote if they knew that someone supported their collective bargaining rights.” Golden introduced his bill in April and a companion was brought forward in the Senate in September. It has support from two Republicans as of now — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine — the latter of which appeared to sign on after House passage on Thursday evening. MODERATE REPUBLICANS STAGE OBAMACARE REBELLION AS HEALTH COST FRUSTRATIONS ERUPT IN HOUSE “I didn’t talk to her last night, but I’m really glad to see her on. It’s not a surprise to me. She’s supported unions on certain issues in the past, so she’s obviously a very important senator,” said Golden, who worked for Collins before coming to Congress himself. He did say he spoke with “a few” senators after the bill passed but added, “the real push is gonna be coming in the days and weeks ahead.” And Golden is not lobbying senators alone — he said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a moderate Republican who championed the bill in the House, is working alongside him. Fox News Digital reached out to Fitzpatrick’s office for comment. “As you probably saw, it was a long process in the House, so you’ve got to stay dogged and be patient. It’s important to do it in a way that’s bipartisan, to create space for members of both parties to work together,” Golden said. “I made sure all along that the Republican co-sponsors of the bill were comfortable with our messaging and also the steps that we were taking, so it’s gonna need to be just like that in the Senate, too.” Golden said he expected more Republican senators to sign on in the coming days. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., for instance, has not backed the legislation as of Friday afternoon, but Golden said he was a “great example” of someone who’s “shown himself to be pro-labor.” 58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK Hawley has also previously introduced his own bipartisan pro-union legislation earlier this year that would speed up the labor contract process for new unions. That bill is endorsed by Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, a friend of the lawmaker’s.  Fox News Digital reached out to Collins, Murkowski and Hawley’s offices for further comment. Golden got his bill passed by filing it as a discharge petition, which is designed to force a vote on legislation over the wishes of leadership, provided it gets support from a majority of House lawmakers. Discharge petitions are rarely successful in the House but have been used more frequently this year as Republicans grapple with a razor-thin majority. In Golden’s case, five House Republicans had signed onto the petition along with 213 Democrats — Fitzpatrick and Reps. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Nick LaLota, R-N.Y. Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced the companion version of Golden’s legislation in September. He said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “The bipartisan momentum in the House only strengthens our hand in the Senate, and I intend to build on it.” Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Golden have a relationship that dates back to his first time in Washington, D.C., not as a lawmaker, but as a staffer for the longtime Maine senator. They’re also both known to buck their respective parties. Just before Golden’s successful vote, Collins joined Senate Democrats to back their three-year extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies.  But Warner’s bill has sat in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, for several months. Whether it survives committee is unclear, given that Paul has introduced several right-to-work bills over the years. Republican opponents of the bill have said federal workers’ unions are not the same as labor unions in the private sector, arguing that collective bargaining is a different scenario when working against Americans’ own elected officials rather than for-profit companies.

Inside Minnesota’s $1B fraud: fake offices, phony firms and a scandal hiding in plain sight

Inside Minnesota’s B fraud: fake offices, phony firms and a scandal hiding in plain sight

As a massive fraud scheme costing state and federal taxpayers at least $1 billion dollars continues to unfold in Minnesota, Fox News Digital visited several locations that received funding through programs like Feeding Our Future and found several inconsistencies exposing the depth of the scandal.  The now-infamous Griggs-Midway Building housed an “unusual concentration” of fraudulent entities involved in the HSS scheme, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. Twenty-two “businesses” connected to the HSS program were registered to this single location. Thompson described these entities as “purely fictitious companies solely created to defraud the system.” These 22 fraudulent businesses collectively billed Medicaid for a staggering $8 million between January 2024 and May 2025. OMAR ACCUSED BY GOP OPPONENT OF OPENING UP THE DOOR TO MASSIVE MINNEAPOLIS FRAUD: ‘DEEP, DEEP TIES’ An in-person investigation by Fox News Digital of the building, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, showed huge swaths of the southern side of the building completely abandoned. A black and white banner advertising open spaces in the building was adorned atop the “Griggs-Midway Building” sign. Several men sat together and engaged in conversation at the building entrance. When approached, the men told Fox News Digital that they did not speak English. However, the western side of the building housed a number of seemingly legitimate businesses on the first floor, including a hair salon, a financial support and loan service for African immigrants and a property management office. Following extensive FBI searches of the building, the Minnesota Department of Human Services conducted approximately 40 investigations into providers associated with the larger Griggs-Midway building. Brilliant Minds Services allegedly submitted over $2.3 million of the $8 million in fraudulent claims from the Griggs-Midway location, ranking as one of the state’s highest-billing HSS providers last year. Four defendants, Moktar Hassan Aden, 30; Mustafa Dayib Ali, 29; Khalid Ahmed Dayib, 26; Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, 27, were charged in the fraud case. Mohamed was the owner of one of the other fraudulent businesses implicated, Foundation First Services LLC. ‘HE HAD YEARS TO STOP THIS’: GOP LAWMAKERS BLAST WALZ OVER MASSIVE MINNESOTA FRAUD SCHEME Another false claim location took Fox News Digital to a second-story walkup above a sushi shop just blocks away from the Mississippi River. The entryway was locked, and it was unclear whether the fraudster simply utilized the address to keep distance, or if the fraudster was actually located at the unit number listed on the claim. The second floor showed little sign of life. Though one window displayed a “No Kings, No Fascists” sign facing out onto the snowy city street. A large uniform reddish-brown brick building known as “Winsor Plaza” was the next destination of Fox News Digital’s trek through a brewing Minnesota snowstorm. The simple, box-like form of the building was centered by a red canopy protruding from the structure’s primary entrance. A white-water tower with “Roseville” painted in red letters rose in the distance through the fog. Inside, a directory showed dozens of legitimate businesses, including doctors’ offices and wealth management services. A search through the quiet halls of 1935 W County Road gave way to confusion. Unit 150, the office space listed on the false claim, was nowhere to be found. It appeared that in the building’s current configuration the suite simply did not exist. Not only was the claim fraudulent, so was the address. A similar situation occurred at 9120 Baltimore St N. The claims report noted that the fraudulent entity was operating out of suite 100. Upon arrival, 9120 was seen affixed to a stone pillar in the center of a business parking lot. However, there was no conglomerate of office spaces or apartment units, no numbers affixed to different storefronts. Only a singular, operational dental office. Another apparent fraudulent address. The trend was broken at the next two locations. 2756 Douglas Dr N is a commercial address in Crystal, Minnesota, housing businesses like Rock Bridge Counseling & Mental Health and All Kind Painting & Cleaning, offering services for teens in crisis and home improvement, respectively. These two businesses comprise suites A and B of the building but were not the fraudulent entities listed on location claims. A real building, with real businesses, but a fake company that appeared to never exist in that space. MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS VOW NEW CRACKDOWN AFTER $1B FRAUD MELTDOWN THEY SAY WALZ LET SPIRAL Another stop, 1541 Como Ave, was found inside a narrow St. Paul, Minnesota alleyway. The address housed a small, rusted garage affixed to the back of a church. The garage appeared vacant, with no mailbox or garbage cans. A picnic bench just outside the garage door was covered in leaves, snow and other debris. Several gentlemen inside a nearby local business told Fox News Digital that a man named “John” had used the location for a small pop-up gym and fitness center. He was often seen driving around in a fancy car. There was no indication as to whether this location was the legitimate operation center of the fraudulent claim. 4601 E 54th St, another location tied to the scandal, was visited by Fox News Digital only to find an empty parking lot. The address listed was in the 400s on the street. However, there are no 400s on that street, only 500s. Another location, 2720 E Lake St, was completely boarded up and covered in graffiti with a homeless individual sleeping out front. The building appeared to have been inoperable for a long period of time. “Most of that $500 million hasn’t served a single meal and some of the simple things are if they would have just gone to the facilities, you know, you hear of the thousands of people being served out of an apartment twice a day, all they would have to do is show up and look at it,” Minnesota Republican state Sen. Mark Koran told Fox News Digital about the fraud that was hiding in plain sight in Minneapolis. “There was an legislative auditor report that showed that 30 property

Bolivia pivots to US as it breaks from China, Maduro and years of leftist rule

Bolivia pivots to US as it breaks from China, Maduro and years of leftist rule

EXCLUSIVE: After decades of strained relations, Bolivia is seeking a new partnership with the U.S. as it repositions itself in the region and works to reduce its dependence on China.  The country’s pro-business conservative President, Rodrigo Paz, was sworn in last month, and made quick work of pivoting his country away from alliances with China and Venezuela and toward Western nations.   Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo spoke with Fox News Digital as he visited Washington this week to sign an agreement reestablishing diplomatic ties with Israel, which had been cut off during the war in Gaza by the previous government. HOUSE REPUBLICANS SPLIT OVER WHETHER TRUMP SHOULD PURSUE REGIME CHANGE IN VENEZUELA  “We are looking for a long-term relationship with U.S., relations based on the same values and interests that we share, for democracy and to create a new alliance in South America,” Aramayo said. Paz’s victory followed the unraveling of nearly two decades of leftist rule under Evo Morales and Luis Arce, whose MAS party fractured amid economic crises, corruption scandals and mounting public anger over alleged narcotrafficking networks embedded in the state. The collapse of that political machine opened the door for a conservative, pro-business candidate — a dramatic turn for a country that had been one of China and Venezuela’s closest ideological allies in the region. Aramayo said his nation would institute new laws and regulations to attract U.S. investment and break up China’s “monopoly” on mining its natural resources, particularly lithium.  The “U.S. has a lot of technology and has a lot of experience and sustainable extraction of resources,” Aramayo said. “We want to take advantage of that. Of course, we want to receive some technology transfers and to be part of the whole chain of production.” PUTIN DOUBLES DOWN ON BACKING MADURO AMID MOUNTING US PRESSURE ON VENEZUELA  Aramayo said he “of course” shares U.S. concerns that China uses its investments in Latin America to extract leverage. “We want to diversify our portfolio and we want serious investors.” Aramayo said one of the region’s most urgent challenges is the growing influence of transnational criminal organizations, which he argues have flourished amid years of political instability. He warned that cartels have embedded themselves across South America and that Bolivia is still grappling with the legacy of what he described as “narco authorities” governing the country over the past two decades. “We’re very concerned about the presence of these cartels in South America,” he said, noting that criminal networks undermine confidence in state institutions and fuel cross-border instability. The interview comes as the U.S. steps up pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, striking what U.S. officials describe as narco-trafficking vessels linked to his regime and seizing an oil tanker allegedly used to evade sanctions. Aramayo did not criticize or oppose the U.S. actions, saying instead that Washington — like any government — “has the right to represent their own interests.” He added that South American nations broadly share concerns about Venezuela’s trajectory and are open to diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis. Bolivia’s new administration, he said, intends to support a “democratic transition” in Venezuela and work with regional partners to help restore the “legitimacy and reliability” of its institutions after years of political repression and economic collapse.