After years of pushing for better jobs, Rio Grande Valley leaders land high-skilled manufacturing plant
McAllen leaders hope the new Valeo manufacturing plant is a sign that the region, one of the most impoverished in the state, can attract better-paying jobs for its college graduates.
Texas quietly shuttered Operation Lone Star booking facility in Del Rio
Gov. Greg Abbott had opened two such sites as he surged thousands of DPS troopers and Guard members to the Texas-Mexico border.
Alito blasts lawyer’s word-salad blurring asylum law
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito pushed back Tuesday on an attorney defending migrants seeking asylum, challenging the argument that those stopped at the border have “arrived in” the United States — a key issue in an immigration case. The case stems from a Trump administration petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that found migrants remain eligible for asylum even if stopped at a port of entry on the Mexico side, concluding they had still “arrived” in the United States. The Supreme Court’s decision could determine whether migrants blocked at the border can seek asylum and how officials will handle future surges. Kelsi Corkran, an attorney representing asylum seekers, argued that the phrases “arriving at” and “arriving in” a location carry the same meaning, and that the only difference between “at” and “in” is grammatical. Alito challenged that interpretation, repeatedly pressing whether migrants stopped at the border can be said to have “arrived in” the United States, a distinction that determines whether they qualify for asylum protection. SUPREME COURT AGREES TO REVIEW TRUMP ADMIN EFFORT TO LIMIT IMMIGRANT ASYLUM PROCESSING CLAIMS AT BORDER “So there’s been talk about knocking at the door. Do you think someone who comes to the front door and knocks at the door has arrived in the house? The person may have arrived at the house?” Alito asked, testing that logic. “No, but that’s past tense,” Corkran said. “Are they arriving in the house?” ‘BLANKIES,’ ICE TACTICS, AND LUXURY JETS: TOP MOMENTS FROM NOEM’S HOUSE TESTIMONY Alito pressed Corkran again, asking whether someone still knocking outside could be said to have arrived inside the house. “Yes, I think here the door is open,” Corkran said. JUSTICE JACKSON AUTHORS UNANIMOUS SCOTUS OPINION HANDING TRUMP AN IMMIGRATION WIN She said asylum seekers at the “threshold” should be treated as arriving. U.S. law allows migrants at the border to seek asylum by claiming fear of persecution, a process that can lead to legal status if approved. Critics argue the system is often abused, with some migrants filing weak claims and not appearing for hearings. An amicus brief filed by the HIAS Foundation affirmed Corkran’s point, asserting that denying asylum for refugees not physically on U.S. soil creates a “a legal no-man’s land.” “People are left in limbo in dangerous border towns, unable to access the process our laws guarantee to those who arrive at a port of entry and present themselves to U.S. officials standing on U.S. soil,” the brief stated. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in his brief that “arrive in the United States” does not include someone stopped in Mexico. The Supreme Court’s ruling on the case may come as late as June.
Democrats rip Trump’s ICE airport move as shutdown nears 40 days: ‘no reason’
Democrats blasted President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to airports across the country on Monday as travel centers struggle to maintain a security presence amid a partial government shutdown, which is now nearing the 40-day mark. “There’s absolutely no reason for him to do that,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. “[Trump] has put a stop to it.” Instead of using ICE to meet security needs at airports, Escobar said that Congress should pass a proposal that separates funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from the gridlock. HOUSE GOP TARGETING VULNERABLE DEMS OVER DHS SHUTDOWN, TSA CHAOS Fellow Democrat Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., echoed Escobar’s condemnation of the deployment. “I think it’s a horrible, horrible idea that’s just going to cause more problems,” Grijalva said. Like the rest of the agencies that operate under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), funding for TSA ran dry on Feb. 14 over Democrat-led demands to reform ICE, the agency at the heart of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Democrats have conditioned their support for DHS funding on a ban on masks for ICE agents, stiffer warrant requirements for apprehending suspects in public and a ban on roaming patrols, among other changes. LIZ PEEK: VOTERS TELL CONGRESS ‘DO YOUR JOB’ AND END THE DHS SHOWDOWN Republicans have rebuffed the demands, arguing they would handcuff Trump’s immigration enforcement goals. Republicans need at least seven Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster in the Senate, where they hold just 53 seats. As the standoff reaches the 40-day mark, TSA agents have struggled to continue working while covering costs. Trump announced on Monday that he would deploy ICE in an effort to shore up airport security. However, Grijalva voiced concern that their immigration-focused work might clash with places of travel. “I think that their whole job is to try to pick people off that they think are not legally in the United States. That’s most of our big travel hubs,” Grijalva said. SENATE REPUBLICANS MOVE TO REOPEN DHS WITH NEW PLAN, WAIT FOR DEMOCRATIC BUY-IN She expressed concern that ICE agents wouldn’t have sufficient time to receive the training afforded to regular airport security. “So, if you think about it, I don’t know how they would be helpful in making people feel calm. If I were an international traveler, I wouldn’t want to come to the United States to deal with a rogue agency that is under-trained,” Grijalva said. According to DHS, more than 366 TSA agents have left the force. TSA agents missed their first full paychecks on March 13.
DHS deal in limbo as Democrats demand tougher ICE crackdown despite GOP compromise
Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ latest offer to reopen Homeland Security, despite the deal giving them much of what they asked for. Senate Republicans crafted a framework to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after meeting with President Donald Trump earlier in the week that would carve out immigration enforcement funding and include some reforms to immigration operations. It mirrors a similar proposal that Democrats tried to advance on the Senate floor twice during the shutdown, which entered its 39th day on Wednesday. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats aren’t satisfied with the latest offer, which is still being finalized. SENATE REPUBLICANS MOVE TO REOPEN DHS WITH NEW PLAN, WAIT FOR DEMOCRATIC BUY-IN “Negotiations are ongoing, and they’ve sent us an offer,” Schumer said. “And we’ll be sending them an offer back. And I can assure you it will contain significant reform in it.” But by Wednesday morning, Senate Democrats had yet to send an offer to Republicans. After meeting with Trump and hoping that they had a workable deal, Republicans are now frustrated that Democrats are balking. “We finally just said, ‘Stop. We’ll just fund everything but [Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)],’” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. “That’s what you said you wanted at the beginning. Let’s do that.” “That’s what we’re doing,” he continued. “So no extra language, no extra playing with it. We’re doing just the baseline. We don’t like it. They don’t like it. It opens everything up and gets everybody funded again.” CORNYN TARGETS LAWMAKERS’ AIRPORT FAST PASS AS TSA LINES GROW DURING DHS SHUTDOWN Republicans’ framework also hit a snag on Tuesday when Trump acknowledged that the GOP was getting “fairly close, but I think any deal they make, I’m pretty much not happy with it.” Democrats still want stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) baked into any deal and have shut down previous offers from the White House that addressed most of their main concerns, minus requiring judicial warrants for DHS agents and unmasking. “If we are talking about funding any part of ICE or [Customs and Border Protection], we absolutely must take some key steps to rein them in,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said. “The current Republican offer in front of us does not do that.” The latest chapter in the ongoing back-and-forth comes after negotiations between both sides appeared dead in the water, but reignited last week. Republicans were hopeful that after finally getting Democrats into a room, they could break through the logjam and reopen the agency as thousands of federal workers go without pay, lines at airports produce staggering delays, and worries about attacks on the homeland increase. DHS SHUTDOWN TIED FOR SECOND-LONGEST EVER AS DEMS AGAIN BLOCK FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS, TERRORISM CONCERNS That shifted over the weekend when Trump demanded that the GOP combine DHS funding with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which had a chilling effect on the talks between Democrats and Republicans. Now, despite concessions on ICE funding, Democrats say funding for that portion of DHS wasn’t the real problem. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that immigration enforcement wasn’t just happening at ERO, but operating through Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). “They’ve created this problem in which it’s really hard to address an immigration enforcement operation that’s out of control because it is funded out of almost every part of the DHS budget,” Murphy said. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who has been involved in direct talks with Senate Republicans and Trump officials, said that the remaining question was to ensure that funding that is going to HSI and CBP does make its way back into ERO, effectively requiring strict guardrails to prevent any funding from going where it shouldn’t. “The idea is, HSI should do what HSI should do, CBP does what CBP should do, but not end up augmenting and running the pause on the funding of enforcement,” King said. Still, Republicans aren’t happy with Democrats turning their back on the framework that they believed gave them exactly what they wanted. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told Fox News Digital that Democrats couldn’t just “back up” every time a deal was put on the table. “Look, we did all this work, we talked about framework, we get it squared away with the White House, we get it squared away with our caucus, and then they want something more,” Hoeven said. “So I’m not sure.”
Left-wing influencer downplays Cuba blackouts, worsening shortages: ‘People are partying’
Hasan Piker, a progressive media personality and streamer, downplayed the severity of rolling blackouts in Cuba while on a recent trip to the communist island, telling viewers that the population was “partying.” “There are rolling blackouts that take place throughout the day, every day, all around the country. But today is a beautiful day out here. People are partying. People are partying in the f—ing streets. I don’t know if it’s an island mindset,” Piker said. The remarks come as U.S. officials warn the island faces a deepening energy crisis, highlighting a stark divide between firsthand accounts and government assessments. Piker, who has supported self-declared progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, praised the Cubans for their endurance. “The people’s resilience is remarkable. There are rolling blackouts that take place throughout the day, every day, all around the country, right? 11 million people.” POST-MADURO, PRESSURE BUILDS ON MEXICO OVER CUBA’S NEW OIL LIFELINE Piker’s descriptions come as Cuba’s communist regime finds itself choked off from access to energy imports after a U.S. operation in Venezuela resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. According to the Department of State, Cuba began to experience energy shortages shortly afterward. “Understand that Cuba has largely survived on the basis of subsidies. The Maduro regime was providing them fuel,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press event at the White House. “So, the reason why Cuba’s electricity grid was already in collapse — before Maduro was captured, it was already in collapse — the reason why things are as bad as they are is because they have an economic model that does not work. It’s not functional,” Rubio said. CUBAN ACTIVIST TO TRUMP: ‘MAKE CUBA GREAT AGAIN’ BY ENDING COMMUNIST RULE President Donald Trump has characterized the energy crisis as severe and said he believes public unrest has strengthened U.S. influence over the island. “I do believe I’ll be the honor of taking Cuba… That’s a big honor. They’re a very weakened nation right now. They were for a long time,” Trump told reporters last week. Trump did not expand on what he meant by “taking” the island. Piker’s characterizations, however, contrast sharply with the way the administration has framed the on-the-ground circumstances on the island. RUBIO SAYS CUBA NEEDS ‘NEW PEOPLE IN CHARGE’ AS BLACKOUTS, UNREST GRIP ISLAND “A lot of the info that you see and hear from the island is like directly coming from like, most of the time, National Endowment for Democracy-Foundation-backed individuals, State Department propaganda, things like that,” Piker said, referring to a pro-Democracy group. “It’s very difficult to get information out of here. Even though it’s so close,” he added. “They’re just chilling. Cubans they vibe,” Piker did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Bipartisan Senate bill to cap insulin for Americans at $35 has new momentum
A bipartisan group of senators is resurfacing legislation to cap many American patients’ insulin costs at $35 a month — the INSULIN Act of 2026 — reviving a push that previously stalled. The bill, co-authored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and John Kennedy, R-La., would bar group and individual health plans from imposing deductibles on selected insulin products and could not charge more than $35 for a 30-day supply starting in plan year 2027. Beginning in 2028, patients would pay the lesser of $35 or 25% of the negotiated net price. Congress had already mandated a Medicare-only cap of $35 in 2022, and President Donald Trump‘s long-running agenda to lower prescription medicine costs gives the effort some momentum before the 2026 midterms, where Collins’ seat could be targeted for a Democrat flip amid the very narrow Republican Senate majority (53-47). SENATE QUIETLY WORKS ON BIPARTISAN OBAMACARE FIX AS HEALTHCARE CLIFF NEARS “We are the long-time chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, and one of our top priorities is to make insulin more affordable,” Collins said in a Senate hearing last week. “Our INSULIN Act would impose out-of-pocket limits for patients with commercial insurance, tackle commercial pharmacy benefit managers, and ensure that patients are the ones who are benefiting from the savings that they negotiate, and encourage biosimilar competition in order to lower list prices.” The bill, first introduced in 2023, has been reworked at Kennedy and Warnock’s urging to include some work to provide capped insulin prices even for the uninsured. “Our bill also includes provisions to help uninsured Americans access affordable insulin,” Collins continued. “Just this week, I met with a young woman who, a few years ago, ended up in the hospital because she was stretching out her insulin, not taking as much as she was prescribed, because she simply couldn’t afford the cost.” REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP TARGETS AFFORDABILITY WITH RECONCILIATION 2.0 PLAN AHEAD OF MIDTERMS The issue aligns with a 2024 Trump presidential campaign vow. Trump has already announced other initiatives to lower prescription drug prices, including an executive order last May on his “Most Favored Nation” (MNF) policy to take action on Big Pharma companies that are not offering the world’s lowest price on drugs to Americans. “Americans should not be forced to subsidize low-cost prescription drugs and biologics in other developed countries, and face overcharges for the same products in the United States,” Trump’s policy ordered. “Americans must therefore have access to the most-favored-nation price for these products.” “My Administration will take immediate steps to end global freeloading and, should drug manufacturers fail to offer American consumers the most-favored-nation’s lowest price, my Administration will take additional aggressive action.” Then, this December, Trump announced agreements with nine Big Pharma companies to lower prices on Americans under the MFN policy, including offering direct to the consumer lowest pricing on TrumpRx, the president’s new prescription drug portal. GOP MUST RACE FOR NEW ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ TO SLASH COSTS BEFORE MIDTERMS, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICANS WARN TrumpRX lists Insulin Lispro from Eli Lilly for $25. Collin and Shaheen’s legislation would also offer a limited cap on insulin for the uninsured — an issue reportedly driven by Warnock and Kennedy in the bipartisan group — creating a five-year pilot in 10 states to help uninsured patients get insulin for no more than $35 a month. “We have already capped insulin for Medicare enrollees at $35 a month — this new INSULIN Act, which we plan to introduce next [this] week, will address insulin affordability for children, adults and those who are uninsured,” Shaheen said in a statement. “It will do, as the Medicare provision does, cap the cost of employer and private insurance coverage of insulin at $35 a month, create a pilot program to provide $35 a month insulin for uninsured diabetes patients, and it is a direct way to help American families facing economic pressures, and will make people healthier in the long run.” TRUMP’S RX PLAN PROMISES SAVINGS, BUT ECONOMISTS SEE A HIDDEN TRADE-OFF While Collins might need the bill for her 2026 midterm election hopes, Shaheen is serving out her final year in the Senate. “I would really like to be able to leave the Senate thinking that we had helped to address insulin costs for a lot of Americans: This is the most expensive chronic disease,” Shaheen told Semafor, noting Trump’s agenda for capping prices. “This is something that he should support, because it is affordability.” Affordability has been the Democrats’ buzzword for the midterms, but Republicans and Trump have argued it has only been an issue Democrats have made after years of inflation under former President Joe Biden. TRUMP ENDS BIDEN’S DRUG PRICE NIGHTMARE — AMERICANS GET REAL RELIEF WITH TRUMPRX The bill authorizes $100 million for fiscal 2027 for cost-cutting and defines “affordable” insulin as out-of-pocket costs of no more than $35 for a one-month supply. Collins framed the measure as a response to patients rationing medicine they need to survive. “I have heard far too many stories from people in Maine and across the country who have been forced to ration their insulin because of the cost, and that is simply unacceptable,” she told Semafor. Beyond the consumer cap, the bill also tries to lower underlying costs by targeting pharmacy benefit manager practices and encouraging more competition from biosimilars and generics. It orders a federal study on delays in bringing insulin products to market and barriers to biosimilar uptake. The proposal now faces the harder political test: winning buy-in from Senate leadership and finding a path to must-pass legislation later this year. But after years of failed starts, backers say they finally have a bipartisan framework that could move.
Khanna urges King Charles to meet Epstein victims during Capitol visit
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., tells Fox News he wants King Charles to meet with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and others when he comes to Capitol Hill next month to deliver a speech before a joint meeting of Congress. British authorities arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew and the brother of King Charles, in connection with an inquiry into the Epstein matter. Khanna says King Charles could shed light on what the royal family knew about Andrew or Epstein. KING CHARLES EXPRESSES ‘DEEPEST CONCERN’ AFTER BROTHER ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR’S ARREST Khanna tells Fox he wants the King to meet with victims, then with him and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and the House Oversight Committee. Khanna stressed that he would request Charles to appear. Fox pressed Khanna on whether he would ask that the King be subpoenaed, but Khanna was not ready to go there yet. One Oversight Committee source tells Fox that this request is “very delicate” and they risk “an international incident” by asking King Charles to meet with the committee.
SEE IT: Travelers sound off as ICE agents deployed to airports as shutdown nears 40 days
Travelers weighed in on President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports across the country on Monday as the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) workforce struggles to continue operations amid a government shutdown that’s nearing the 40-day mark. Some travelers blasted the idea, fearing that the training received by ICE agents wouldn’t translate to airport security. “I think it’s ludicrous,” one observer told Fox News Digital. “First of all, they’re not trained for screening. Secondly, the last thing we need in airports is armed people.” Others believe the solution is better than nothing. SCHUMER GAMBIT FAILS AS DHS SHUTDOWN HITS 36 DAYS AND AIRPORT LINES GROW “I’m a traveler — anything that helps people get through the airports and have a good experience and keeps us safe is great,” a second person said. Like the rest of the agencies that operate under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), funding for TSA ran dry on Feb. 14 over Democrat-led demands to reform ICE — the agency at the heart of Trump’s immigration crackdown. In the wake of two deadly encounters with protesters, Democrats have conditioned their support for DHS funding on a slew of procedural guardrails. Those include a ban on masks for ICE agents, stiffer warrant requirements for apprehending suspects in public and a ban on roaming patrols, among other demands. TRUMP DEMANDS ‘SAVE AMERICA ACT’ BE TIED TO DHS FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS Republicans have rebuffed the demands, arguing they would handcuff Trump’s immigration enforcement goals. Republicans need at least seven Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster in the Senate, where they hold just 53 seats. As the standoff reaches the 40-day mark, TSA agents have struggled to continue working while covering costs. According to DHS, more than 366 TSA officials have left the force. “Transportation Security Officers and other Transportation Security Administration roles critical to national safety at our nation’s airports are going without pay for the third time in nearly six months,” DHS said in a statement. “Because of this DHS shutdown, Americans are facing hours-long waits at airports across the country. Democrats must reopen DHS now.” TSA agents missed their first full paychecks on March 13. Some travelers warned that the public might not receive ICE well in airports due to their role in Trump’s immigration crackdown. MASK-FREE ICE AGENTS BEGIN PATROLLING US AIRPORTS; TRUMP FLOATS NATIONAL GUARD “I don’t think it’s a good idea just because of the optics,” another traveler said. “I think that ICE agents — what’s happened has kind of wrecked their reputation in communities all over the United States, and so I don’t think it is a good idea. I think it will make people nervous. They could be coming here to do really good things, but they’ve already set that reputation, and I think that’s going to stick with them and people aren’t going to trust them.”
American Dennis Coyle lands in Texas after over a year in Taliban captivity
Dennis Coyle, an American man held by the Taliban for more than a year without charges, landed Wednesday on American soil following his release Tuesday from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan. Video and images showed the 64-year-old walking off a plane at a base in San Antonio, Texas, before embracing family members. Coyle, an academic who spent nearly two decades working in Afghanistan, was taken from his home in Kabul in January 2025 by Taliban intelligence and held in near-solitary confinement, Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler told Fox News on Tuesday, adding that Coyle committed no crime and was used as leverage. “The United States welcomes the release of American citizen Dennis Coyle, who was wrongfully detained in Afghanistan for more than a year,” Boehler said in a statement to Fox News. AFGHANISTAN FREES US CITIZEN DENNIS COYLE OVER A YEAR AFTER TALIBAN ARREST “President Trump made clear: the United States will not tolerate the unjust detention of its citizens — anywhere. His personal determination — executed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a fully aligned interagency team — has driven a shift to accountability, pressure and results.” IRAN CONFLICT WON’T TRIGGER BIDEN-STYLE REFUGEE REPLAY, EXPERT PREDICTS Coyle’s family said he had been legally working in Afghanistan to support language communities as an academic researcher. Rubio welcomed Coyle’s release, saying it was a “positive step by the Taliban,” but added that the United States is still seeking the immediate return of Mahmood Habibi, Paul Overby and all other unjustly detained Americans. “The Taliban must end their practice of hostage diplomacy,” Rubio said. “President Trump is committed to ending unjust detentions overseas – Dennis joins over 100 Americans who have been freed in the past 15 months under his second term in office.” Fox News’ Trey Yingst contributed to this report.