‘Fired me illegally’: Emotional ex-USAID employees leave building with belongings after mass layoffs
Former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) employees were seen collecting their belongings and exiting the federal building a final time following a slew of layoffs, video obtained by Fox News Digital showed. Dozens of individuals gathered outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to support the ex-USAID employees who were recently placed on leave, holding signs that read “you’re not the federal worker that should be fired” and “make America compassionate again.” The ex-USAID employees were met by supporters outside protesting the layoffs, carrying their belongings and flowers as they left the building together in a line. “DOGE fired me illegally, and all I got was this stupid sign,” one employee’s poster read. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTTING 90% OF USAID FOREIGN AID CONTRACTS, DOCUMENTS SHOW Workers and supporters were seen getting emotional as the former employees left the building, images captured by Fox News Digital showed. The slew of layoffs came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, conducted a sweep of the agency and recommended cuts after identifying “wasteful” spending on programs and initiatives around the world. Following the DOGE probe, the Trump administration placed nearly 1,600 USAID employees on administrative leave globally on Sunday. Those fired or placed on administrative leave were given two days, Thursday and Friday, to enter the building and collect their belongings, according to instructions from USAID. Employees were given about 15 minutes to collect personal belongings from their workspaces. SUPREME COURT TEMPORARILY ALLOWS TRUMP’S FREEZE ON USAID PAYMENTS “Staff will be given approximately 15 minutes to complete this retrieval, and must be finished removing items within their time slot only,” USAID stated in their instructions. “Staff with a significant amount of personal belongings to retrieve must be cognizant of time; however, flexibility may be granted in select circumstances with the approval of the Office of Security,” the agency said. USAID did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
On a pause from genocide, Israel turns its focus to ethnic cleansing
On Sunday, February 23, Israel deployed tanks in the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades. It was the latest in a series of bellicose stunts that escalated in January, in tandem with the implementation of the tenuous ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. Of course, the inherently long-term nature of Israel’s genocidal policy in Gaza means that any ceasefire is inevitably temporary. In the 15-month assault on the Palestinian enclave that began in October 2023, the Israeli military officially killed at least 48,365 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children – although the true death toll is undoubtedly far higher. Most of Gaza’s inhabitants were displaced by the Israeli onslaught, many of them more than once. Now, The Times of Israel reports that more than 40,100 Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps like Jenin have “fled their homes” since January 21, which is “allegedly the largest displacement in the territory since the Six Day War in 1967”. And on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the army to prepare for an “extended presence in the cleared camps for the next year, and not to allow the return of residents”. Advertisement Anyway, there’s nothing like ethnic cleansing to pave the way for annexation, the chief fantasy of the Israeli right wing. The thoroughly illegal scheme may also soon be receiving an explicit endorsement from United States President Donald Trump, who remarked in early February: “People do like the idea, but we haven’t taken a position on it yet.” On Monday – one day after Israel’s deployment of tanks in the West Bank and Katz’s de facto ethnic cleansing announcement – the European Union and Israel held the 13th meeting in Brussels of the EU-Israel Association Council, attended by representatives of all 27 EU states and co-chaired by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. In theory, the meeting would have been a timely opportunity to call Israel out on mass forced displacement and ongoing slaughter in the West Bank – not to mention, you know, genocide in Gaza. Three days prior to the Brussels rendezvous, Israeli forces fatally shot two Palestinian children in the back near Jenin and Hebron, respectively. Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement specifies that “relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.” And it was this article that was invoked in February 2024 by the leaders of Spain and Ireland, who called for a review of whether Israel was violating the agreement’s human rights obligations. But at Monday’s meeting with Sa’ar, it was clear that the EU – Israel’s largest trading partner – was more concerned with preserving its association with a country guilty of all manner of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the official pre-meeting “note” regarding the EU position, the General Secretariat of the EU-Israel Association Council started by emphasizing that “the EU attaches great significance to its close relations with the State of Israel.” Advertisement A lot more kissing of Israel’s backside ensues throughout the remainder of the 28-page PDF document, with the EU alternately expressing “its full solidarity and support to Israel and its people” and identifying Israel as a “key partner for cooperation” in numerous areas. The note underscores how much the EU “looks forward” to working with Israel to “address global challenges” as well as to “accelerate the world shift to a secure and just food system” – a pretty rich task to assign the folks who were just using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. This is not to say that the Europeans have not managed a single critique of Israel in 28 pages. The note takes care to mention that “the EU deeply deplores the unacceptable number of civilians, especially women and children, who have lost their lives” in Gaza; that “the EU recalls that annexation is illegal under international law”; and that “the EU remains gravely concerned about the extensive recourse by Israel to indiscriminate arrests and administrative detention without formal charge.” But any substantive condemnation is ultimately drowned out by the fact that Europe is just so darn excited to cooperate with Israel, now and forevermore. The statement also informs us that “the EU is gravely concerned that the occupation of the Palestinian territory that began in 1967 continues to this day,” and repeatedly reiterates support for a two-state solution. And yet it’s anyone’s guess how, exactly, an end to occupation is supposed to come about, when the state that’s not only doing the occupying but also endeavouring to disappear the Palestinian people is being hailed as an awesome regional partner. Advertisement Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar defended Israel’s current campaign of forced displacement in the West Bank, which has entailed widespread killing by the army and illegal settlers as well as house demolitions: “It’s military operations taking place there against terrorists, and no other objectives but that.” To be sure, the good old anti-terror excuse never fails to justify Israel’s perpetual terrorisation of Palestinians. At the start of Israel’s West Bank escalation in January, Defense Minister Katz also trotted out the T-word to explain how Israel was now applying “the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza” by subjecting Jenin to “a powerful operation to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure in the camp, ensuring that terrorism does not return to the camp after the operation is over”. Indeed, Israel’s West Bank operations are but an extension of the genocidal approach to Gaza, with mass slaughter and displacement transpiring with full US and European complicity – minus the intermittent lip service paid to Palestinian rights. It remains to be seen whether Trump will now propose a “Dead Sea Riviera” in the West Bank to rival his vision of the “Riviera of the Middle East”, which will supposedly spring forth from the ruins of the Gaza Strip once the US wrests control
Ramadan Mubarak 2025: Hear greetings in different languages
Here is how to wish someone during the holy month of Ramadan in different languages around the world. Following the sighting of the crescent by the moon-sighting committee on Friday, Saudi Arabia has announced that the first day of fasting will be Saturday, March 1. Other countries follow their own moon sightings, and the crescent moon was not sighted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and several other countries across Asia making the first day of Ramadan March 2. BREAKING NEWS | The crescent moon has been sighted in Saudi Arabia.Therefore, Ramadhān 1446 will begin tonight. May Allāh ﷻ accept our siyām, qiyām & acts of worship, and may He grant us the ability to utilise the precious moments of this Blessed month to engage in that which… pic.twitter.com/F5HcJou7es — 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 (@HaramainInfo) February 28, 2025 About 1.9 billion Muslims — almost one-fourth of the world population — observe Ramadan. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population, approximately 240 million, followed by Pakistan (225 million), India (211 million), Bangladesh (155 million), and Nigeria (111 million). Advertisement As the holy month begins, many Muslims are preparing for a period of fasting, reflection, and community. Those observing the fast start their day with a predawn meal, suhoor, and break their fast at sunset with iftar. Why is Ramadan holy? Muslims believe that Ramadan is the month when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the Muslim declaration of faith, daily prayers, charity, and performing the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca if physically and financially capable. Ramadan sayings in different languages The month begins with the sighting of the new moon, often accompanied by an outpouring of greetings to mark the occasion. Many Muslim-majority countries have their own traditional greetings in their native languages. Among the most common sayings are “Ramadan Mubarak” and “Ramadan Kareem”. These are Arabic sayings that translate to “blessed Ramadan” and “generous Ramadan”, respectively. Greetings are not limited to the spoken language. They also extend to sign language and Braille. Some countries have their version of sign language, but placing one hand horizontally across the mouth is common among most to represent fasting. Below is a collection of Ramadan greeting cards that you can download and share. Listen to Ramadan greetings in different languages Adblock test (Why?)
How the film I’m Still Here forces Brazil to face a dictatorship’s legacy
But the film has found resonance in the present as well as the past, as Brazil grapples with the fallout of a modern-day coup attempt. Just last month, President Lula marked the second anniversary of a riot in Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza, where protesters had hoped to spark another military uprising. Thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro descended on the plaza on January 8, 2023, just a week after Lula took office for a third, nonconsecutive term. There, the rioters ransacked the Supreme Court, the National Congress building and the presidential palace in Brasilia, clashing with security officers. Police say the violence was part of a multipronged attempt to oust Lula and return Bolsonaro to power. Security forces stand guard as rioters converge on the presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on January 8, 2023 [Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters] Lucas Figueiredo, a journalist and author of several books about the dictatorship, believes a lack of awareness about the past has allowed many Brazilians to romanticise the era of military rule. “To this day, the military sees itself as having the right to attempt a coup d’etat in the 21st century. This is ample proof that no memory has been built up about those events,” Figueiredo said. A former army captain, Bolsonaro has publicly defended the military dictatorship and expressed nostalgia for that period. During his presidency, from 2019 to 2022, he also gutted the Amnesty Commission and the Special Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances — two panels designed to document and respond to the human rights abuses of the past. When asked about the film I’m Still Here, Bolsonaro told a Bloomberg reporter, “I’m not even going to waste my time.” Figueiredo believes the fact that no officials were punished for their role in the military dictatorship has helped fuel the present-day turmoil. “This created a dynamic of impunity which favours attitudes like the ones we saw on January 8,” Figueiredo said. A family album picture shows author Marcelo Rubens Paiva during his childhood with his family [Lais Morais/Reuters] But Marcia Carneiro, who teaches history at the Fluminense Federal University, observed that the sense of impunity may be fading, given the push to hold Bolsonaro and his allies accountable. On February 18, Brazil’s top prosecutor, Paulo Gonet, filed charges against Bolsonaro and 33 others, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the government. Bolsonaro could face decades in prison if convicted. “There is a new awareness emerging that those who act against the rule of law can be punished. This is interesting and new in Brazil,” Carneiro said. If Bolsonaro had been in power, Carneiro believes the film I’m Still Here may have been greeted with protests and even attacks. She pointed out that, under Bolsonaro in 2019, protesters launched Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the comedy group Porta dos Fundos, in the wake of a short Christmas film on Netflix that portrayed Jesus as gay. But even the politics of the film may have blunted some of the right-wing criticisms. I’m Still Here focuses intimately on the power of family, sketching an idyllic home life disrupted by violence. Experts say its emphasis on family dynamics over politics has made it appealing to a wide audience. “Everyone has a family — a mother, a father — and is affected when they see them suffering. Viewers recognise the possibility of something like this happening in their home,” Carneiro explained. Adblock test (Why?)
Over 100 tourists rescued after being stranded on island in Rishikesh, advised not to…
As many as 100 devotees from Haryana, who were stranded on an island near Janki Jhula in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh, were safely rescued, Times of India reported.
Rep Jeffries warns Americans will be ‘devastated’ after House Republicans advance ‘largest Medicaid cut’
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned Friday that children, families, seniors and everyday Americans with disabilities will be “devastated” after House Republicans this week “passed the budget resolution that sets in motion the largest Medicaid cut in American history.” “Children will be devastated in the city of New York and beyond. Families will be devastated. Seniors will be devastated. Everyday Americans with disabilities will be devastated,” the New York Democrat said. “Hospitals will potentially close here in New York state, in rural America and across the country. And nursing homes will certainly be shut down. “Every single House Democrat from New York City, from New York State and across the country oppose this reckless Republican budget, and we will continue to do so as long as the health care of the American people is being targeted, as long as nutritional assistance for children and families is being targeted by the extreme MAGA Republicans,” Jeffries added. Jeffries spoke Friday as Republicans in Congress searching for a way around the $880 billion budget shortfall needed to be covered in order to extend President Donald Trump’s tax cuts are considering changing the way Medicaid is funded, according to Politico. TRUMP BUDGET BILL EXTENDING FIRST-TERM TAX CUTS SURVIVES HOUSE VOTE As it stands, states must contribute their own matching funds to qualify for federal Medicaid dollars, but Republicans are weighing whether to prevent states from taxing insurers and healthcare providers as a way to raise that cash, a Politico report said Wednesday. Doing so would leave states with a $612 billion hole in their budgets over the next 10 years, the report said. GOP leaders argue that states are inflating Medicaid costs because they are kicking back the taxes to those sources through higher payment rates, the report added. “States and providers scheme so that the provider gets an enormous flow of federal dollars with no state cost exposure,” Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute think-tank told the outlet. MEDICAID BECOMES FLASHPOINT IN HOUSE DEBATE OVER TRUMP BUDGET BILL However, the American Hospital Association is calling on Congress to “reject changes to states’ use of provider taxes, which help fund their Medicaid programs,” as “Even small adjustments in the use of this financing source would result in negative consequences for Medicaid beneficiaries as well as the broader health care system.” “States’ approaches to financing their share of the program are subject to federal rules and oversight, including limits on the amount of revenue that states can generate through provider taxes. Congress is contemplating further restrictions on states’ ability to finance their share of Medicaid spending through such taxes,” it said earlier this month. “Most states would be unable to close the financing gap created by further limiting states’ ability to tax providers,” it warned. “States would need to make significant cuts to Medicaid to balance their budgets, including reducing eligibility, eliminating or limiting benefits, and reducing already low payment rates for providers.” “States can use various sources to finance the non-federal share and would look to other sources if Congress limited their ability to use provider taxes,” it also said. “This means that some states would have to consider increasing other forms of taxes, including income and sales tax, levied on all state residents.”
‘Great job’ or ‘no idea what he’s doing’? Elon Musk email sets Capitol Hill ablaze
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democrats in Congress are fighting mad about Elon Musk’s email to federal workers asking them to name five things they accomplished in a week, with one representative saying the DOGE chief’s demands are “illegal” and another claiming Musk “has no idea what he’s doing.” “It’s only controversial because it’s against the law, and we’re a country of laws, so you just have to follow the law,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. told Fox News Digital. “The bottom line is Elon Musk and Trump don’t seem to care about following the law, as you and I are expected to follow.” At Musk’s direction, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email titled, “What did you do last week?” to federal employees. The message called on workers to submit five accomplishments over the past week or face possible termination. In response, several federal agency leaders, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, advised employees that compliance with the email was not necessary. For many, the email represented what they believe to be the new administration’s disregard for the law and the value of federal workers. DOGE TAKES A CHAINSAW TO FEDERAL SPENDING WITH 7 MAJOR VICTORIES THIS WEEK: ‘GOT TO BE DONE’ This week, the American Federation of Federal Workers and several other groups launched a lawsuit against the OPM, arguing that the office cannot fire workers who do not comply with the email’s demands. Fox News Digital spoke with Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate to ask why the email ended up being so controversial. “Who is Elon Musk to be sending out something like that?” said Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Illinois. WHITE HOUSE FIRES BACK AT PROGRESSIVE FILMMAKER: ‘DUMBEST STATEMENT OF THE YEAR’ “Someone who hasn’t been vetted or who hasn’t come before Congress trying to intimidate people into doing things they don’t want to do. It’s illegal. It’s probably unconstitutional,” he went on. “And that’s why workers are pushing back.” Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, said that in her view, “it’s clear that Elon Musk has no idea what he’s doing.” “He has no idea, he’s incompetent,” Balint said. “He sends out emails that contradict each other, sometimes within a 24-hour period. He sends out information that contradicts the people that Trump has appointed to be Cabinet secretaries. So, I think the sort of this mystique around him as being some kind of a genius is very quickly being shown to be actually just an illusion.” Musk called the email a “pulse check” to see if any supposed government employees were fraudulently collecting paychecks without actually working. President Donald Trump backed the message, saying it was “great” and that if you don’t answer the email “you’re fired.” REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL, D-WA., SLAMS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND ELON MUSK IN ANTI-DEPORTATION REMARKS Washington State Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said the consequences of Musk and DOGE firing anyone who does not reply to email would be significant. “The havoc that it would wreak on people to not answer an email and have that constitute termination is extreme for Americans across this country,” she told Fox News Digital. “If people can’t control air traffic in the skies, it makes Americans unsafe. If veterans don’t have staff to actually give them benefits, and federal workers are fired in our National Parks, and Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security means average Americans are not going to get their checks.” “This is not a software company that you can blow up and nobody notices,” she went on. “This is the federal government that provides critical benefits to American people everywhere.” Offering a slightly different take, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said that the email was an example of “cancel culture,” and that Musk’s goal was to “have federal employees who are professionals be replaced by loyal minions who won’t serve the people.” “His email was all about the cancel culture, canceling professionals in the government, delivering good services, and replacing them with loyalists who have no interest in sustaining the vision of our ‘We the People’ democracy,” he said. Republicans, meanwhile, stood firmly behind DOGE and said Musk’s email was a perfectly reasonable request. “I think we should be very, very thankful for what Musk is doing,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “We’ve got the most entrenched bureaucracy in all of world history, and if we’re actually going to fight back against waste, fraud and abuse, you’ve got to do things a little bit differently.” ‘NEW LOW’: LONGTIME HOUSE DEM RIPPED FOR ‘DISGUSTING’ QUESTIONING OF MUSK’S LOYALTY TO US AS AN IMMIGRANT “Asking federal employees a simple question of, ‘What did you do today? What did you accomplish this past week?’ I think it’s about as basic as it gets,” he went on. “I’m thrilled that he’s doing it. I think that every single employee who didn’t respond to him the first time should be fired, but they’re being gracious and giving them a second chance.” “Bottom line is everybody who works for the government ought to be responsive,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. “I understand why it’s disruptive if it’s not the way things have been done,” he added. “But it’s the president who calls the shots, and the president yesterday reiterated that he thought it was important for the people who work for him, who work up through the government to the president to respond to what they’re doing.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTTING 90% OF USAID FOREIGN AID CONTRACTS, DOCUMENTS SHOW Roy noted that he believed Musk was “doing a great job with DOGE,” and that the average American understands the email, “because they certainly have to answer for what they’re doing in their real job.” “The president has the ability and the determination to decide whether people are upholding their job and doing the work that they’re supposed to do and they’re hired to do,” he explained. “It’s kind of sending a shock to the system because it’s forcing people to do what they
Vance vows Trump administration will be ‘biggest defenders of religious liberties,’ Catholics
Vice President JD Vance promised the Trump administration would advocate for Christians and serve as the “biggest defenders of religious liberties” during Friday’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. “While you’re certainly not always going to agree with everything that we do in President Trump’s administration, I feel very confident in saying that between protecting the rights of pro-life protesters, between ensuring that we have an opportunity to protect the rights of the unborn in the first place, and importantly, protecting the religious liberty of all people, but in particular Catholics,” Vance said. “I think that we can say that President Trump, though not a Catholic himself, has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America,” said Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019. US CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS SUES TRUMP IMMIGRATION, REFUGEE FUNDING FREEZE President Donald Trump signed an executive order Feb. 6 to stand up the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which seeks to end the “anti-Christian weaponization of government and unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” according to the White House. Members of Trump’s Cabinet and other key agencies are part of the task force, which will conduct a review of any “anti-Christian” policies, practices or conduct within the federal government. A White House fact sheet on the executive order claimed the Biden administration engaged in “an egregious pattern” of targeting peaceful Christians, while turning a blind eye to “violent, anti-Christian offenses.” Former President Joe Biden was the second Catholic president in the U.S., after President John F. Kennedy. Specifically, the fact sheet pointed to pro-life Christians who were “praying and peacefully demonstrating” outside abortion clinics. In January, Trump pardoned more than 20 people convicted of illegally blocking the entrance of abortion clinics and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The law prohibits anyone from attempting to obstruct or interfere with others receiving reproductive health services. As a result, Vance said that the Trump administration was headed in the “exact opposite direction” of the Biden administration. PRIEST ATTACKED DURING SERVICE IN WASHINGTON CATHOLIC CHURCH, SAYS HOLY SPIRIT HELPED HIM RESPOND Vance also said that, historically, one of the “biggest impediments” to religious liberty around the world has been the result of mistakes from U.S. foreign policy that have resulted in the “eradication” of Christian communities globally. As a result, Vance said that peacekeeping efforts from the Trump administration are a policy geared toward “saving lives and carrying out one of Christ’s most important commandments.” “Perhaps the most important way in which Donald Trump has been a defender of Christian rights all over the world is he has a foreign policy that is oriented toward peace,” said Vance, who received standing ovations before and after his speech. “We have done it already so much in the past 30 days, and I’m proud that we will work for peace all over the world in the remaining four years of President Trump’s term, and I think that’s an important thing.” Vance’s comments coincide with the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion in February 2022. On Friday, Trump is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate terms of a peace deal.
India records warmest February in 124 years since 1901 with average temperature above…
India recorded its hottest February in 124 years, with average temperatures exceeding 22°C, making it the second warmest after 2023.
ICE makes major move on detaining illegal immigrants in heart of blue state
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making moves to detain illegal immigrants as the Trump administration looks to expand its arrest and deportation operations throughout the United States. ICE announced the “imminent reopening” of the Delaney Hall facility in Newark, N.J. The agency said it has reached an agreement with the facility’s owner to re-establish a processing and detention center, which can accommodate up to 1,000 beds. “This detention center is the first to open under the new administration,” acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello said in a statement. STATES FIRE BACK AGAINST ‘SANCTUARY’ RESISTANCE AS THEY RALLY AROUND TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS “The location near an international airport streamlines logistics and helps facilitate the timely processing of individuals in our custody as we pursue President Trump’s mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from our communities,” he said. The agency said the facility will expand the capacity in the Northeast and increase the agency’s ability to manage a “growing” enforcement and removal operation in the region. FLORIDA SHERIFF SAYS ICE PARTNERSHIP ONLY THE BEGINNING IN ILLEGAL MIGRANT CRACKDOWN It comes after interior ICE arrests have skyrocketed compared to Biden-era numbers as the agency seeks to launch a “historic” deportation campaign promised by the Trump campaign. Fox reported this month that Department of Homeland Security data showed 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan 20 to Feb 8, compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That is a 137% increase. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has since said that over 20,000 illegal immigrants were arrested in a single month under the new administration. The administration has sought to unleash ICE agents by removing restrictions placed on them by the Biden administration, and ending Temporary Protected Status for some nationalities. It has also taken off limits on the use of expedited removal and allowed for ICE to review the parole status of migrants brought in via humanitarian parole, opening them up for deportation. The administration has been making agreements with other nations to take back their illegal immigrants or ramp up their own border security efforts. Fox News Digital reported earlier this month that ICE has just under 42,000 beds available to it and that it has been exceeding capacity under the current administration. The Trump administration has been pushing hard to obtain more beds and detention space, but sources told Fox News Digital that it typically takes around 30 days for contractors to deliver, due to the time necessary to identify buildings, hire people and conduct background checks and related requirements.