Boston police commissioner doubles down on ICE resistance: ‘We don’t enforce’ detainers
Democrat-appointed Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox is echoing Mayor Michelle Wu’s pledged resistance to the Trump administration’s deportations, saying on a local news station on Sunday that “we don’t enforce” civil immigration detainers filed by ICE. While speaking on a segment of WCVB’s “On the Record” show, Cox, who was appointed as police commissioner by Wu in 2022, said that in line with state and city laws, Boston police officers “don’t have authority to enforce federal immigration law.” Pressed on whether this policy conflicts with federal immigration law, Cox said that “the Boston Police Department has pretty defined rules and we abide by the law here in the state.” “We just don’t do that,” he said. “We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It’s defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works.” ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR Both the Boston “Trust Act,” passed in 2014, and a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling known as Lunn vs. Commonwealth both limit law enforcement entities in the city and state from cooperating with ICE “detainer” requests to hold illegal immigrants for potential deportation. Speaking on the same show shortly after the presidential election, Wu said: “Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that. But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact.” ICE has said that such policies endanger local communities by forcing the agency to track down illegals and to make often high-risk arrests in public spaces. ICE ARRESTS ‘PREDATOR’ MIGRANT CONVICTED OF SECRETLY RECORDING OTHERS IN BATHROOM Despite this, and repeated criticisms by the Trump administration and border czar Tom Homan, Cox insisted that his department “abides by Boston law and Massachusetts law,” saying: “We don’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration law.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “From our perspective and what we tell anyone who comes to visit our city, lives in our city, is that we don’t care about your immigration status, but what we do care about is: Are you a victim of crime in our city or are you a victimizer, right? We will hold you accountable for that, and that doesn’t matter what your immigration status is,” he said. Asked what he would say to Massachusetts residents who are concerned that the Boston Police Department’s policy does not protect them, the commissioner tripled down, saying: “We just don’t have the authority to enforce federal law.” He also went on to say that “what people don’t understand is that there is a difference between criminal warrants and civil detainers” and that “if it’s a warrant involved, we will absolutely enforce it.” TRANS MIGRANT FINDING SANCTUARY IN NYC ACCUSED OF RAPING 14-YEAR-OLD Homan, meanwhile, has warned jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement authorities, telling them: “Don’t cross that line.” On her first day in office, Trump’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a 60-day pause on federal funding to migrant “sanctuary cities.” In response to the possibility of Boston having its federal funding cut or removed, Cox said, “We could not be as safe as we are without the help of the federal government. They are partners with us, so I don’t know why that would be undone. But when it comes to financing and income flows into our city, I can only control what we can control, whether it’s the city council, through a budget process every year, or however, the way people talk about funding the police department.”
Fox News Politics Newletter: Duffy Calls Out Clinton
The Fox News Politics newsletter for Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Trump chooses team of four to negotiate end of the Russia-Ukraine war –Elon Musk says there are millions in the Social Security database between the ages of 100 and 159 -Iran says Israel and US ‘can’t do a damn thing’ to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions SpaceX workers will visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted in a Sunday post on X, in which he also mentioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with whom he recently engaged in a social media spat. “America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Duffy declared, noting that he’d welcome assistance from American developers or businesses. “Tomorrow, members of @elonmusk’s SpaceX team will be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in VA to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.” He then brought up Clinton… Read more ‘JIM CROW 2.0’: Biden DOJ’s lingering ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Georgia election lawsuit should be ‘immediately dismissed’: expert… Read more YOU’RE FIRED: Trump admin aims for a fatal blow to the independence of ‘Deep State’ agencies… Read more FAB FOUR: Meet the team Trump picked to negotiate ending the Russia-Ukraine war… Read more TO THE STREETS: Academic unions plan demonstrations outside HHS building, at med schools, to protest Trump research cuts… Read more ‘TDS’ BACKLASH: California Democratic congressman faces social media backlash for post tying Trump to Georgia small plane crash… Read more ‘VAMPIRES’: Elon Musk says millions in Social Security database are between ages of 100 and 159… Read more ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: DOGE puts DEI on chopping block with termination of over $370M in education department grants… Read more SHOCKING MOVE: VA Dems spurn antisemitism expert from GMU board… Read more SECESSION!: Effort in ‘red’ swath of Oregon to join Idaho gets new life, as political secession has had mixed results… Read more ‘STEPPING UP,’ NOT DOWN: NYC Mayor Adams refuses to resign in sermon: ‘I have a mission to finish’… Read more ‘RADICAL AND LAWLESS’: Department of Education probing some Virginia school districts over gender identity policies… Read more DEI BOYCOTT: NAACP urges Black consumers to steer buying power away from companies that have ditched DEI… Read more READY FOR LAUNCH: Vivek Ramaswamy to launch Ohio gubernatorial campaign one week from today… Read more FIRST ON FOX: GOP leaders rally to revoke China’s ‘most favored nation’ status after 20-year run… Read more ‘DESERVE TO BE RECOUPED’: Zelenskyy not yet signing US economic agreement ‘short-sighted,’ White House official says… Read more ‘COLLAPSE HAMAS’: Israeli military experts weigh in on Trump’s ‘all hell’ threat to Hamas and what it could look like… Read more ‘READY FOR NEGOTIATIONS’: Putin sending foreign minister to Saudi Arabia for talks with Trump officials… Read more ‘SENDS A WRONG SIGNAL’: China outraged after Trump state department deletes key phrase on Taiwan relations… Read more ‘DM ME’: Illegal-smuggling coyotes now advertising at Canada border amid Trump migrant crackdown: report… Read more IRAN GOES NUCLEAR: Iran warns Israel and US ‘can’t do a damn thing’ to thwart Tehran nuclear ambitions as tensions escalate… Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Trump right to keep European allies from Ukraine talks, they’d be ‘obstacle’ to peace, expert says
The Trump administration’s potential plan to exclude European allies from negotiations to end the war in Ukraine has caused panic among the continent’s leaders but may be the only way to finally resolve the conflict, an expert tells Fox News Digital. “Trump’s likely rationale for excluding European allies out of direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations is this. First, there’s no agreement among NATO members on the NATO membership for Ukraine. Some are for it and some are against. So it would be a waste of time to add this obstacle to the talks. Second, the Europeans don’t add anything to the talks,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst, former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital. “They [Europeans] are not decision-makers here. The only ‘deciders’ – using George Bush’s famous phrase – here are Putin and Trump. And even more accurately it’s Putin,” Koffler added. “He holds all the cards, given the realities on the battlefield and outside of it.” The comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts an “emergency meeting” of European leaders Monday to discuss President Donald Trump’s potential plan to largely exclude them from negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a move that has caused anxiety on a continent that believes it has a vital stake in determining the terms of any settlement. Despite the uncertainty for European leaders, Trump has insisted that Ukraine will be involved in any talks to end the conflict. TRUMP ADDRESSES UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE TALKS, SAYS ZELENSKYY WILL BE INVOLVED “He will be involved, yes,” Trump said Sunday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, Politico reported Monday that Macron and Trump had a “frank” 20-minute discussion just before the meetings in Paris were held, though the details of that discussion are still unclear. The emergency meeting is being held after a security conference over the weekend in Munich, Germany, where Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, hinted European leaders may not be allowed to take part in a deal the U.S. helps broker between Ukraine and Russia. Asked about Europe’s potential role in resolving the conflict during the conference, Kellogg indicated such involvement “is not going to happen,” arguing he was “from the school of realism” and that adding the Europeans to the mix may only serve to add too many voices to the discussion. “What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,” Kellogg said, adding that Trump is hoping to have a resolution to the conflict within “days and weeks.” “You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I’m not talking six months,” he said. Koffler believes that Trump shares a similar realism, a dose of reality she believes has been lacking from media coverage of the war. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE ‘ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE’ “President Trump is a realist and he understands that Ukraine has lost the war. In fact, Ukraine lost the war before it started,” Koffler said. “Russia holds massive, massive combat potential advantage over Ukraine. Always has, always will. I’ve been saying it for three years. It’s a shame that the Biden administration, assisted by the mainstream media, has created a alternate reality, lying to the American people that Ukraine was winning or could win, just like they lied about so many other things.” “But any serious and honest military intelligence analyst who is not on the payroll of the U.S.-NATO military-industrial complex or of the Zelenskyy’s regime, and who isn’t afraid to go against the media’s party line, known as the editorial line, has known from the very start how this war will end,” she added. But Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for the Obama administration, cautioned against excluding European allies from the discussions, arguing that a deal without their involvement is “unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict.” “President Trump is right to seek an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and he should be applauded for his efforts. Yet by staking out a role for the United States to be the indispensable negotiator in the war, he risks creating major commitments, as this is not America’s war and we are now being inserted directly into it,” Rubin told Fox News Digital. “In analogous diplomatic situations, such as the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, we clinched a deal only after providing major commitments to both parties in the form of economic assistance and military aid, totaling well past $100 billion so far.” While Rubin acknowledged that inclusion of European leaders would be more “complex initially,” the payoff would be to “spread the costs” of any guarantees that arise from negotiations. EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT “And of course, because Europe is directly impacted by Russia’s belligerence, any deal that’s finalized will need their support (in addition to Ukraine’s), otherwise it’s unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict, instead turning these negotiations into just one more stalled diplomatic effort of the many that have taken place in this war since it truly began in 2014,” Rubin said. Macron’s emergency meeting in Paris is expected to be attended by a host of European leaders, according to Politico, including Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Poland’s Donald Tusk and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. But Koffler believes Trump is the only leader in a position to handle what are sure to be difficult negotiations, where none of the world’s leaders will have any leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Trump is the only U.S. leader who has the courage to acknowledge the obvious – he is not afraid of being blamed for losing the war and handing Putin victory. Which the Democrats and the neocons will almost certainly do,” Koffler said. “It is why Trump
Conservative group slaps top federal agency with lawsuit over Biden-era handling of illegal immigrants
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to get what it says is “maximum transparency” about the agency’s handling of criminal illegal immigrants during the Biden administration. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing DHS for records it requested in October during the Biden administration about the release of data on noncitizens on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s non-detained docket with criminal backgrounds. The data, released to lawmakers in September, stated that there were 425,431 convicted criminals on ICE’s non-detained docket, and an additional 222,141 with pending criminal charges. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions, and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions. There were an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges. At the time, the Biden DHS said the data was being misinterpreted, noting it goes back decades, and includes those who are not only free but also those who are incarcerated by federal, state or local authorities but who are not in ICE custody. CASA requested internal communications and records from ICE and Customs and Border Protection related to the data and the release of the data, including meeting requests, call logs and communications with media outlets. It requested the documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER CONVICTIONS IN US: ICE DATA The group did not receive a response and so has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia to compel compliance from the agency. “Through DHS’s failure to make a determination within the time period required by law, CASA has constructively exhausted its administrative remedies and seeks immediate judicial review,” the lawsuit says. “The American people deserve maximum transparency regarding the government’s handling of all illegal aliens, but particularly about those aliens with serious criminal convictions,” CASA director James Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. “This lawsuit will force DHS to provide records and communications related to the release of these illegal alien criminals into communities throughout the country,” he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE It is unclear how DHS under the Trump administration will handle the request, given the administration’s significantly different attitude to the release of illegal immigrants. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has largely stopped the release of migrants into the U.S., in part due to President Trump’s order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. That, in turn, has meant that migrants can be removed without being offered the ability to claim asylum. In addition, the administration has launched a mass deportation campaign and has been making significant steps to not only conduct arrests, but also to house illegal immigrants without releasing them and to increase the rate of deportations. Fox News Digital reported last week that the arrests of illegal immigrants have skyrocketed in the first weeks of the Trump administration compared to the same period last year under former President Biden.
DOGE Caucus senator pushes to end ‘slush fund’ for presidential candidates: ‘Welfare for politicians’
EXCLUSIVE: In commemoration of Presidents Day, a top DOGE senator is seeking to claw back $400 million sitting in a “slush fund” set up to help presidential candidates that hasn’t borne fruit since Y2K. Through the Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act, Sen. Joni Ernst said she hopes to defund an account she calls “welfare for politicians.” “This Presidents Day I am fighting for the integrity of the office because the last thing we need to spend tax dollars on is more political attack ads,” said Ernst, R-Iowa. “There is no better way to pay down the $36 trillion debt than by defunding welfare for politicians. Washington should be working to benefit all Americans instead of itself.” DRAIN THE SWAMP ACT SEEKS TO MOVE DC BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CRAZYTOWN, DOGE LEADER SAYS Ernst, the chair of the DOGE caucus in the upper chamber, remarked the fund has not been successfully utilized in decades. The last winning presidential candidate to pull from the fund was Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000, and later in 2004. Since then, a handful of unsuccessful candidates have utilized it, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Green Party candidate Jill Stein; both in the 2024 cycle. Pence’s campaign reportedly received more than $1 million from the fund amid his GOP primary bid, while Stein utilized $380,000. The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also received $84.1 million from the fund in 2008. An FEC release from that time said nominees of major parties are entitled to $20 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment back to 1974. Defunding the account was first floated as one of several proposals in a DOGE-centric November letter from Ernst to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Stein told Fox News Digital the candidates’ fund was “raided” of $375 million, and that Democrats too have tried to moot the effectiveness of the fund by trying to put public funding “out of reach of grassroots candidates” through their H.R.-1 (the For the People Act) during the Biden era. TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS ISSUES THAT SPURRED DOGE’S GENESIS CAME FULL CIRCLE WITH TRUMP FIXES A checkbox on the IRS’ 1099 tax form asks filers whether they would like to pay $3 into the fund, which Stein said showed it is different than other public monies. “It’s outrageous,” Stein said, calling the effort to end the fund “part of a bipartisan, anti-democratic effort to stifle competition in presidential elections – specifically by denying voters the option to support publicly financed candidates who refuse the legalized bribery of big corporate contributions.” Stein added that a majority of voters have called for presidential candidates outside the two major parties, citing a Gallup survey showing they “do such a poor job” of representing Americans. “Publicly funded campaigns are the antidote to the massive legalized corruption that puts more money in the hands of billionaires than ever… the American people abhor the corporate buyout of our elections,” Stein said. “As life becomes increasingly unlivable for everyday Americans, while billionaire wealth skyrockets, the demand to end the sale of our democracy will be unstoppable, through simple reforms including publicly funded elections, inclusive debates, ranked choice voting, ending obstructive ballot access laws and voter suppression, and more.” “Eliminating public funding denies voters the option to support candidates who refuse pay-to-play politics.” A source familiar said FEC rules also allow candidates to continue seeking public funds for campaign debt. IRS Code 9006, with footnotes dating the fund to at least the 1970s, allows for eligible candidates to be paid out of the fund “upon receipt of a certification from the [Federal Election] Commission.” “Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the control of such candidates.” In 2014, the portion of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund allocated to assist political parties with their conventions was redirected to pediatric cancer research through an act of Congress. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Then-Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., drafted a bill later signed by President Barack Obama that diverted such funds to an NIH research initiative. Then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., gave the measure a major leadership push after he heard the case of a young Leesburg girl afflicted with the disease and decided to name the legislation the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act in her name. Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Pence for comment.
Trump supporting California sheriff launches Republican run for governor in race to succeed Newsom
A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff who was a supporter of President Donald Trump in last year’s election on Monday launched a campaign for California governor. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy at an event Monday in Riverside, California, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. “As Californians we want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living …and leaders who will do something about it,” Bianco said in his address, according to prepared excerpts. He emphasized that “we want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government. We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.” TOP TRUMP OFFICIAL TEASES CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL BID IF FORMER VP HARRIS RUNS Bianco, a vocal critic of Newsom and other state Democratic leaders when it comes to the issues of crime and punishment, was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections. The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes. “I am running for Governor because our beautiful state – which I absolutely love – is heading down the wrong track and has been for years. Everyone knows it, except those sitting in the Sacramento echo chamber. For decades the party in complete control of our state government has tried the same failed ideas and implemented the same failed policies,” Bianco argued, as he took aim at Newsom and the Democratic majorities in the state legislature. Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. He’s been openly flirting with a 2026 gubernatorial run since at least last spring. It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in heavily blue California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory. There has been plenty of speculation since former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election defeat last November to Trump regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028. MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREEDICTS FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WOULD CLEAR GUBERNATORIAL FIELD Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president. Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps. The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded. Among the more than half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign. Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender. Former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor. And one of Trump’s top aides is floating a potential bid for California governor if Harris also runs. Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump loyalist who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president’s second administration, told reporters late last week, “If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot.” Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, considered a run for California governor during the 2021 recall election that Newsom eventually ended up easily winning, but he ultimately decided against launching a campaign. In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.
Homan takes victory lap after illegal immigrant crossings plummet during Trump admin: ‘He is delivering’
President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan is touting the administration’s dramatic drop in illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border compared to the Biden administration. Homan took to X to say that Border Patrol “has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border.” “That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden,” he said. “I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984, and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low.” HOMAN, AOC CLASH OVER WEBINAR TO HELP IMMIGRANTS’ ‘EVADE’ ICE RAIDS: ‘I THOUGHT I EDUCATED HER’ “President Trump promised a secure border and he is delivering,” he said. The Trump administration has come in with an agenda to launch a historic mass deportation campaign and to provide additional border security. Trump signed orders on day one restarting border wall construction, limiting the ability to claim asylum, declaring a national emergency and ending Biden-era parole programs. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE His administration has expanded expedited removal, removed limits on “sensitive places” on ICE agents, and launched raids across the country – while also suing “sanctuary” jurisdictions. Fox News Digital reported last week that illegal immigrant arrests have soared. According to Department of Homeland Security data, obtained by Fox News Digital, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan 20 to Feb 8., compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That’s a 137% increase. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR Arrests of aliens with criminal histories have soared by nearly 100% from 4,526 in the same period in 2024 to 8,993 under Trump this year. Arrests of fugitive aliens at-large, meanwhile, have gone up from 2,164 to 5,538 – a 156% increase. Arrests of criminal aliens in local jails have gone up 59%. Fox News also reported that the daily average number of known gotaways – illegal migrants who successfully entered the U.S. without apprehension – at the southern border since the beginning of February has plummeted to just 132 per day, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office. On “America’s Newsroom,” Homan was asked when he is likely to run out of criminal illegal immigrant targets. “We got almost 600,000 illegal aliens in the United States with a criminal conviction. So I won’t be happy till we eradicate every one of those,” he said.
ICE arrests ‘predator’ migrant convicted of secretly recording others in bathroom
ICE officials in Houston arrested an immigrant “predator” previously convicted of secretly recording others in a bathroom in one of the latest developments in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The immigrant, Mexican national Daniel Alejandro Tristan-Guerra, was arrested by Houston Homeland Security Investigations officials “when his guard was down” on Feb. 11, according to an ICE statement released on Friday. Tristan-Guerra, 28, was arrested in a small town called Hallettsville in Lavaca County, Texas. After his arrest, he was taken to the Victoria County Jail pending his removal from the U.S. TOM HOMAN ON SUCCESS OF IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN: WON’T BE HAPPY UNTIL EVERY CRIMINAL MIGRANT IS ‘ERADICATED’ While several law enforcement entities in Democrat-controlled cities and states are refusing to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations, this arrest was made following a joint investigation by ICE and the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. Tristan-Guerra was convicted on two counts of invasive visual recording in a bathroom in August 2021 after an investigation by ICE HSI Houston and the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. ICE and federal agents in Houston have been very active in recent weeks, making several arrests in addition to Tristan-Guerra, including the arrest of several suspected members of the international criminal migrant group Tren de Aragua. FIRST 10 ‘HIGH THREAT’ ILLEGALS TO ARRIVE TO GUANTÁNAMO BAY ARE ALL TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS On Feb. 12, HSI Houston arrested three suspected Tren de Aragua associates wanted for their involvement in a multi-state sex trafficking ring operated by the group. Elsewhere in Texas, a South Texas man named Eusebio Cavazos, 33, pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle 36 illegal aliens in a tractor-trailer after an investigation by ICE and U.S. Border Patrol. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE Commenting on the recent operations, ICE HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz said “the days of transnational criminal organizations raking in billions in illicit profits each year by trampling on our nation’s sovereignty and flooding our country with millions of unvetted aliens who could present a threat to public safety or national security are over.” TRANS MIGRANT FINDING SANCTUARY IN NYC ACCUSED OF RAPING 14-YEAR-OLD “The law enforcement community in Southeast Texas is united in our effort to restore law and order along the southern border by aggressively pursuing and dismantling human smuggling organizations and other criminal organizations who are bold enough to test our collective resolve,” he said. Addressing Tristan-Guerra’s recent arrest, Plantz commended local law enforcement for cooperating with ICE, which he said ensured the safety of the community. “Working alongside our partners in Lavaca County, ICE HSI special agents were able to safely apprehend him when his guard was down and minimize any threat to the public,” said Plantz. “The residents in Southeast Texas can rest easier today knowing this predator has been removed from the community.”
DOGE’s access to critical IRS system containing taxpayer information is imminent
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, will soon have access to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) system that contains sensitive taxpayer information, Fox News has learned. DOGE has requested access to the IRS Integrated Data Retrieval System, which allows IRS workers to view taxpayer accounts. Harrison Fields, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News in a statement that access to this system is necessary to identify fraud and fix the system. “Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” Fields said. “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it. DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on.” WHAT HAS DOGE CUT SO FAR? The IRS website states that the system allows workers “to have instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts.” Other functions of the system include “researching account information and requesting returns,” entering transactions and collection information, and “automatically generating notices, collection documents and other outputs.” Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Donald Trump. It was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission. DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS The group has faced criticism over its access to federal systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment system, as well as moves to cancel federal contracts and make cuts at various agencies. Attorneys general from 14 states are suing to block DOGE from accessing federal data, arguing Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach. The newly formed cost-cutting agency scored a win on Friday when a federal judge in Washington declined a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
Rubio meets Saudi Arabian officials ahead of US-Russia talks expected to lay groundwork for Trump-Putin summit
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi Arabian officials Monday ahead of planned talks in the country between United States diplomats and their Russian counterparts meant to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war. Rubio was joined by U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman at his palace in the capital city of Riyadh. Rubio also met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud earlier Monday after traveling to Riyadh from Israel during his first trip to the Middle East as secretary of state. Talks are scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and Russia. Ukrainian officials are notably expected to be absent from the negotiating table. Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE ‘ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov set off for the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV. Addressing reporters in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov said he looked forward to putting an “absolutely abnormal period” of estrangement between the U.S. and Russia behind them, according to the Washington Post. “We want to listen to our partners,” Lavrov reportedly said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire range of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents.” Bruce said the meeting is aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started. “I think the goal, obviously, for everyone is to determine if this is something that can move forward,” she told reporters traveling with Rubio in Riyadh, according to the Associated Press. Bruce said that even though Ukraine would not be at the table for Tuesday’s talks, actual peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine’s involvement. Tuesday’s talks are expected to lay the groundwork for the summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said he spoke to Putin on the phone last week and they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. Trump phoned Zelenskyy afterward to inform him about their conversation. Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy “will be involved” but did not elaborate. ZELENSKYY NOT YET SIGNING US ECONOMIC AGREEMENT ‘SHORT-SIGHTED,’ WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL SAYS Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is convening an emergency meeting between the main European powers in Paris on Monday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Speaking on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Witkoff said he and Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president,” and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.” Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia. The Ukrainian president said Monday his country had not been invited to the upcoming talks and won’t accept the outcome if Kyiv doesn’t take part. The U.S.-Russia talks would “yield no results,” given the absence of any Ukrainian officials, Zelenskyy said on a conference call with journalists from the United Arab Emirates, according to the AP. Zelenskyy said he would travel to Turkey on Monday and to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip was unrelated to the U.S.-Russia talks. In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Waltz rejected the notion that European allies are not being consulted on negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, noting how Rubio, Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spent last week in Europe meeting with allies. Bessent, in particular, traveled to Kyiv, while Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Waltz said one of the key tenants in negotiating a peace deal would be ensuring “a permanent end to the war,” describing how the conflict has devolved “into a World War I-style meat grinder of human beings.” He said long-term military security guarantees have to be European-led, criticizing how a third of NATO countries are not contributing what they agreed upon a decade ago. As for the billions in U.S. aid sent to Ukraine during the Biden administration, Waltz said the American people “deserve to be recouped, deserve to have some type of payback for the billions they have invested in this war.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.