Canadian ministers head to Florida for talks with incoming Trump administration: report
Two top Canadian ministers headed to President-elect Trump’s home in Florida on Thursday to talk about border security and trade as the incoming president’s inauguration day nears. New Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly will be in Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday for the talks this week, Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesperson for LeBlanc, told the Associated Press. Comeau said that LeBlanc alongside Joly will meet with Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming “border czar,” after Christmas to discuss Canada’s plan to secure the border as part of a bid to avoid sweeping tariffs. The spokesperson said LeBlanc and Joly “look forward to building on the discussions that took place when the Prime Minister met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, as well as the positive call the Ministers held with Mr. Tom Homan earlier this month.” TRUMP SUGGESTS CANADA BECOME 51ST STATE AFTER TRUDEAU SAID TARIFF WOULD KILL ECONOMY: SOURCES Along with discussing border security, the Canadian leaders hope to center talks on fentanyl trafficking and “negative impacts” of Trump’s tariffs on goods. “The Ministers intend to focus on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration and the measures outlined in Canada’s Border Plan, as well as the negative impacts that the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian goods would have on both Canada and the United States,” Comeau added in a statement. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Canada when he takes office in January unless the country reduces the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the U.S. Trump has made snide remarks about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media, referring to the ally as “Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada.” TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON POLITICAL TURMOIL IN THE ‘GREAT STATE OF CANADA,’ TROLLS ‘GOVERNOR JUSTIN TRUDEAU’ The statement on Christmas Day came after Trump suggested to Trudeau that if tariffs on Canada would kill its economy, then perhaps Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canadian imports, meanwhile, have unnerved Canada, which is highly integrated with the U.S. economy. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian – or $2.7 billion U.S. – worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump team for comment. Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
‘Absolute necessity’: Trump sparks concerns after floating desire to control Panama Canal, Greenland
President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that the U.S. could take control of Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal—an unexpected Christmas Day message that has sparked concerns among world leaders in recent days as they scramble to prepare for Trump’s second White House term. In a Wednesday post on the platform Truth Social, Trump wished a “Merry Christmas to all,” including to the “wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal,” before moving on to take aim at Canada and Greenland as well, which he suggested again could be better off under U.S. governance. Trump reiterated his claim that U.S. shippers are being forced to pay “ridiculous” and “exorbitant” prices to navigate the Panama Canal—an artificial, 51-mile waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He has suggested, without evidence, that Chinese interests are gaining outsize influence over the waterway, something Panamanian leaders have steadfastly denied. TRUMP FLOATS IDEA OF US RECLAIMING PANAMA CANAL: ‘FOOLISHLY GAVE IT AWAY’ In his Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump also mockingly referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” reiterating his recent suggestion that Canada should be turned into a U.S. state. “If Canada was to become our 51st state, their taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other country anywhere in the world,” Trump said. Finally, the president-elect turned his attention to Greenland; an autonomous, geographically important Arctic location rife with natural resources, including rare earth minerals. The U.S., Trump said on Wednesday, “feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for reasons of national security and “global freedom.’ Bigger picture Trump’s lengthy Truth Social post did little to assuage the concerns of some world leaders, who have carefully watched Trump’s actions and his statements in recent weeks for clues as to how he might govern in a second term. The remarks also appear to be at odds with the “America First” policies long espoused by Trump, which seek to prioritize domestic policy rather than expansion or U.S. presence abroad. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., echoed Trump’s concerns in an interview Thursday, describing China’s influence in the Panama Canal, and the higher prices incurred by shippers, as a “shot across the bow.” “Remember, we have China and Cuba,” Zinke said on “Mornings with Maria.“ “We have Maduro in Venezuela. We have had Russian ships there. And the Panama Canal is critical to our national security. And at present, it is being run by the Chinese Communist Party. So it’s a concern—absolutely.” ‘AMERICA FIRST’ VS. ‘AMERICA LAST’: WHAT DOES TRUMP’S RETURN MEAN FOR US FOREIGN POLICY? To be sure, it is not the first time Trump has indicated interest in Greenland, a mineral-rich, geographically important territory. In 2019, then-President Trump told reporters he was “interested” in purchasing Greenland, which he described at the time as “essentially” a “large real estate deal.” The 2019 effort never gained traction, however; and this week, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede immediately poured cold water on the idea that their territory could be sold to the U.S. “Greenland is ours,” Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said this week, in response to Trump’s suggestion. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” he said. “We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.” Meanwhile, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino also disputed the notion that U.S. vessels have been singled out or paid higher fees to traverse the Panama Canal—as well as the notion that the U.S., which phased out its ownership beginning in the 1970s, has any right to reassert control over the shipping waypoint. In a video posted to social media earlier this week, Mulino reassured his country’s people that the “sovereignty and independence of our country is non-negotiable.” The Panama Canal is one of the largest and most strategically important commodity shipping waterways in the world. It handles roughly 5% of all global maritime trade and roughly 40% of U.S. container ship traffic. Recent higher prices are primarily the result of drought and more competition, which sent water levels plummeting last year to their lowest point on record. Though water levels have since rebounded, operators of the canal were forced to temporarily limit vessel traffic and increase costs for ships using the waypoint. Other factors have also played a role in higher maritime shipping prices. A series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea late last year prompted many major commodities shippers, including BP and Equinor, to pause or reroute their shipments away from the Suez Canal. Some opted to reroute supplies via the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks of additional time to their trips. The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, incorrectly claimed on social media last week that the Panama Canal cost U.S. taxpayers $15.7 billion. In fact, the higher costs are shouldered by the ships that pass through the waterway, in the form of tolls. The U.S. government does not subsidize the canal. ‘AMERICA FIRST’ VS. ‘AMERICA LAST’: WHAT DOES TRUMP’S RETURN MEAN FOR US FOREIGN POLICY? Panamanian authorities have stressed that the prices are not the result of “unfair” treatment, or capitulation to China or any other nation-state influence. “The canal has no direct or indirect control from China, nor the European Union, nor the United States or any other power,” Mulino said in his remarks. “As a Panamanian, I reject any manifestation that misrepresents this reality.” Still, Trump does not appear to be backing down on expansion claims. “The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America’s Economy and National Security,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday. “A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. Commerce, and rapid deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and drastically cuts shipping times to U.S. ports.” “We’re not going to stand for it,” he said. “So, to the officials
What could happen to gas prices if Biden issues new sanctions against Russian energy sector?
New sanctions on Russia’s energy sector could temporarily raise gas prices and shift oil export patterns, according to experts who analyzed the global impact of penalties previously placed against the country’s fossil fuels. President Joe Biden is reportedly considering imposing new sanctions on Russian energy before he leaves office, the Washington Post reported, citing four people familiar with the matter. Sources suggested that such a move could give President-elect Donald Trump more leverage in potential negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. If Biden proceeds with the sanction, analysis of U.S. sanctions against Russia at the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine indicate energy sanctions can result in higher gas prices globally. The price of natural gas began to rise amid tensions in Russia in 2022 but reached a record high in the U.S. after the country invaded and sparked a yearslong war with its neighboring country, Ukraine. PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA READY TO COMPROMISE WITH TRUMP ON UKRAINE WAR “Western sanctions on the Russian energy sector have reduced Russian revenues, but have also created costs for the sanctioning nations,” the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis wrote in a review of the impact of energy sanctions on Russia. Biden and Western countries imposed sanctions on Russian energy after the country invaded Ukraine, resulting in rising diesel prices worldwide because there “simply weren’t enough refineries to meet diesel demand, especially after the U.S. and other countries stopped purchasing energy exports from Russia,” according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). US SLAPS SANCTIONS ON COMPANIES TIED TO NORD STREAM 2 IN BID TO SQUEEZE RUSSIA According to FRED, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for diesel in June 2022 was approximately 109% higher than in June 2021. However, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that prices have decreased considerably since. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank, says that sanctions can have varying effects, such as a “significant shift in oil export patterns, rerouting trade flows in an economically inefficient manner and forcing sanctioned countries such as Iran, Russia, and Venezuela to sell crude at below-market prices.” While the move could increase oil costs, one advocate of the idea suggested that the election being over could be a reason for Biden to move forward with the penalty. “The Biden administration has been worried about increasing gas prices and worsening inflation. That was the main constraint on their Russia sanctions policy, the domestic ramifications,” said Edward Fishman, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, the Washington Post reported. “But the election is over, and inflation is under control. The reasons to be this cautious on sanctions don’t apply anymore.” The report comes just days after the U.S. issued fresh sanctions against several Russian-linked entities and individuals involved in the building of Nord Stream 2, the massive undersea gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany. Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
ICE deports former high-ranking Somalian military official accused of torture and terror
ICE officials in Washington, D.C., deported a former high-ranking Somalian military officer who they say carried out torture, terror and other human rights abuses on civilians. The officer, 71-year-old Yusuf Abdi Ali – also known as “Tukeh” – was removed from the U.S. by ICE officials on Dec. 20. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Somali National Army and commander of the Fifth Brigade in northwest Somalia during the dictatorship of Siad Barre from 1987 to 1989. As a high-ranking officer in the Somali National Army, Ali allegedly oversaw terror activities against the Isaaq clan in northwestern Somalia. He is believed to have carried out an array of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention. ICE DEPORTATIONS CATCH UP TO TRUMP-ERA NUMBERS IN FY 2024 AS BIDEN ADMIN COMES TO A CLOSE According to a Dec. 23 statement by ICE, the Somali National Army committed numerous human rights violations against civilians in those years, including the execution of suspected political opponents, the burning of entire towns, the unlawful use of landmines and the destruction of water reservoirs to target civilian populations. In February 2024, a Department of Justice immigration judge issued a 65-page decision determining that Ali personally engaged in torture while in leadership in the Somali National Army. According to the decision, Ali ordered soldiers under his command to detain, torture and assist in extrajudicial killings. The judge ordered him removed to Somalia. The U.S.-based law firm the Center for Justice & Accountability, which has represented one of Ali’s alleged victims, Farhan Warfaa, calls him “one of the most ruthless commanders” of the Barre Somalian dictatorship. Warfaa was abducted as a teenager by soldiers under Ali’s command, held for months, repeatedly beaten and eventually shot and left for dead. ICE NABS ILLEGAL MIGRANT ACCUSED OF HEINOUS CRIME AND RELEASED BY MASSACHUSETTS SHERIFF’S OFFICE Warfaa ended up surviving, and in 2019 a federal civil court in Alexandria, Virginia, found Ali liable for his torture. Ali was living as a permanent resident in Springfield, Virginia, until Homeland Security Investigations arrested him in November 2022. “The United States will not be a safe haven for those who commit human rights violations, and we will persist in our efforts to pursue justice for the victims of these crimes,” said Russell Hott, acting executive associate director for Washington, D.C., ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Hott said that “though justice was delayed in this case, it ultimately prevailed.”
Border czar Tom Homan says children of illegal immigrants could be put in halfway homes
Tom Homan, President-elect Trump’s “border czar,” floated the idea of putting the children of illegal immigrants in halfway homes as part of the incoming administration’s mass deportation plan. “As far as U.S. children — children, that’s going to be a difficult situation, because we’re not going to detain your U.S. citizen children, which means, you know, they’re going to be put in a halfway house,” Homan told NewsNation on Thursday, The Hill reported .CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM’S TEAM CONSIDERING WAYS TO HELP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AHEAD OF SECOND TRUMP ADMIN: REPORT “They can — or they can stay at home and wait for the officers to get the travel arrangements and come back to get the family,” he added. As part of his plan to address the border crisis, Trump has said he plans to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants. One of the administration’s priorities will be to find the hundreds of thousands of migrant children unaccounted for in the United States. MIGRANT CRIME WAVE DURING BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN UNDER SCRUTINY AMID SERIES OF ASSAULTS, MURDERS: A TIMELINE “We’re going to ask the American people to take notice: see something, say something and contact us,” Holman told Kellyanne Conway on “Hannity.” “If one phone call out of a thousand saves a child from sex trafficking or forced labor, then that’s one life saved.” Homan acknowledged it would be a “daunting task,” but “we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.” During his interview with NewsNation, Homan said giving birth to children born in the U.S. won’t spare illegal immigrants from being deported. “Having a U.S. citizen child does not make you immune to our laws, and that’s not the message we want to send to the whole world, that you can have a child and you’re immune to the laws of this country,” Homan said. In addition to mass deportations, Trump has threatened to go after birthright citizenship, which automatically grants American citizenship to those born in the country.
New bill would mandate gyms to carry equipment for Americans with disabilities
Congressional Democrats are pushing for federal policies mandating that gyms and fitness centers in the U.S. be accessible for Americans with disabilities. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., introduced a bill “to promote the provision of exercise machines and equipment, and exercise and fitness classes and instruction, that are accessible to individuals with disabilities” earlier this week, the Congressional Record shows. It appears to be a companion bill to the “Exercise and Fitness For All Act” introduced in the upper chamber by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., earlier this year. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ The legislation would direct the U.S. Access Board, a federal agency regulating accessibility for people with disabilities, to create new rules for fitness facilities across the country. It would mandate “that exercise or fitness instruction offered by the exercise or fitness service provider are accessible to individuals with disabilities,” and that at least one employee trained in working with people with disabilities be on the clock during all operating hours. If implemented, it would be a significant step forward for accessibility advocates in the U.S., and a significant change for potentially hundreds of U.S. businesses. DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER Duckworth told Forbes in July of this year that part of her inspiration for the bill came from her own struggles to find adequate gym equipment. Duckworth, a retired lieutenant colonel, lost both of her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was co-piloting in Iraq in 2004. She and DeSaulnier were both part of a prior push in the 117th Congress to introduce the bill, alongside late Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. “[F]ar too many Americans are still excluded from basic access to exercise equipment and fitness classes due to outdated equipment and services, inaccessible to individuals with disabilities,” DeSaulnier said in a statement at the time. “It is unacceptable that these barriers still exist that make it more difficult for individuals with disabilities to get the exercise they need to live healthy lives.” His re-introduction of the bill on Tuesday appears to be largely symbolic, considering there are no more legislative days in the 118th Congress’ calendar. Fox News Digital reached out to DeSaulnier’s office for further comment.
Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announces bid for DNC chair, looks to ‘reinvent the party’
Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announced a bid to become the next Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair. In a letter addressed to DNC members posted to her Transform with Marianne Williamson site, she pledged that as chair she would seek to “reinvent the party.” She also warned that President-elect Trump’s political accomplishments should not be underestimated. “President Trump has ushered in an age of political theatre – a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” Williamson said. DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: MORE CANDIDATES JUMP INTO WIDE-OPEN RACE FOR DNC CHAIR “In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it. MAGA is a distinctly 21st century political movement, and it will not be defeated by a 20th century tool kit. Data analysis, fundraising, field organizing, and beefed-up technology – while all are important – will not be enough to prepare the way for Democratic victory in 2024 and beyond,” she asserted. “We will create a surge of patriotic fervor, and a connectedness of the American heart to the great historical legacy of this country. Our ultimate success will be creating in people’s minds a sense that in order to further that legacy, your smartest move is to vote for Democrats,” she contended. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR FRONTRUNNER ACKNOWLEDGES ‘WE’RE GETTING OUR BUTTS KICKED RIGHT NOW’ Williamson, an author who says she has “worked as a spiritual/political activist” over the course of her career, pursued the Democratic presidential nomination during the last two presidential election cycles but failed to gain traction in both cases. In early 2020 she dropped out before the first nominating contest, the Iowa caucus, took place. In 2024, she suspended her campaign in February but unsuspended it later that same month. OUTGOING DNC CHAIR DEFENDS PARTY, SAYS 2024 COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE FOR DEMOCRATS Other figures have also announced bids for the DNC chair role, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who recently served as Social Security Administration commissioner.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to failing to elect a House speaker quickly
The problem has been percolating for a while. It’s been subterranean. Lurking underneath the surface. Not necessarily perceptible. Except to those who follow Congress closely. But the issue has gurgled to the top since the House stumbled badly trying to avert a government shutdown last week. DOZENS OF HOUSE LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND FUNDING AFGHAN VISA PROGRAMS AS TRUMP VOWS MAJOR SPENDING CUTS To wit: Congress spasmed between a staggering, 1,500-page spending bill. Then defeated a narrow, 116-page bill – which President-elect Trump endorsed. Things got worse when the House only commandeered a scant 174 yeas for the Trump-supported bill and 38 Republicans voted nay. Circumstances grew even more dire when the House actually voted to avert a holiday government shutdown – but passed the bill with more Democrats (196) than Republicans (170). Thirty-four GOPers voted nay. It was long likely that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., might face a problem winning the speaker’s gavel immediately when the new Congress convenes at noon ET on Jan. 3. Congressional experts knew that Johnson could be in trouble once the contours of the reed-thin House majority came into focus weeks after the November election. This could blossom into a full-blown crisis for Johnson – and House Republicans –when the speaker’s vote commences a little after 1 p.m. ET next Friday. Johnson emerges bruised from last week’s government funding donnybrook. Anywhere from four to 10 Republicans could oppose Johnson in the speaker’s race. DONALD TRUMP SAYS MIKE JOHNSON WILL ‘EASILY REMAIN SPEAKER’ IF HE ACTS ‘DECISIVELY AND TOUGH’ ON SPENDING BILL Here’s the math: The House clocks in at 434 members with one vacancy. That’s thanks to former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. He resigned his position for this Congress a few weeks ago. Even though Gaetz won re-election in November, his resignation letter – read on the floor of the House – signaled he did not plan to serve in the new Congress, which begins in January. This is the breakdown when the Congress starts: 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., remains in the House for now. So does Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Trump tapped her to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. That’s pending Senate confirmation – perhaps in late January or early February. Once Waltz and Stefanik resign, the GOP majority dwindles to 217-214. But the speaker’s election on Jan. 3 poses a special challenge. Here’s the bar for Johnson – or anyone else: The speaker of the House must win an outright majority of all members casting ballots for someone by name. In other words, the person with the most votes does not win. That’s what happened repeatedly to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., when he routinely outpolled House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for speaker to begin this Congress in January 2023. But it took days for McCarthy to cross the proper threshold. More on that in a moment. So let’s crunch the math for Mike Johnson. If there are 219 Republicans and four voted for someone besides him – and all Democrats cast ballots for Jeffries, the tally is 215-214. But there’s no speaker. No one attained an outright majority of all members casting ballots for someone by name. The magic number is 218 if all 434 members vote. By rule, this paralyzes the House. The House absolutely, unequivocally, cannot do anything until it elects a speaker. Period. The House can’t swear in members. Technically, they’re still representatives-elect. Only after the House chooses its speaker does he or she in turn swear in the membership. The House certainly can’t pass legislation. It can’t form committees. It’s frozen in a parliamentary paralysis until it elects a speaker. Now, I hope you’re sitting down for the next part. This also means that the House cannot certify the results of the Electoral College, making Trump the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 6. The failure to elect a speaker compels the House to vote over and over… And over… and… over… Until it finally taps someone. McCarthy’s election incinerated 15 ballots over five days two years ago. The House settled into a congressional cryogenic freeze for three weeks after members ousted McCarthy in October 2023. It burned through two speaker candidates off the floor – House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. – and one candidate on the floor: Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. So you see the problem. Consider for a moment that prior to last year, the House never went to a second ballot to select a speaker since Speaker Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., in 1923. It took 63 ballots before the House finally settled on Speaker Howell Cobb, D-Ga., in 1849. But that’s nothing. The longest speaker’s election consumed two months before the House elected Speaker Nathaniel Banks, R-Mass., in 1856 – on the 133rd ballot. So anything which elongates this into a collision with Jan. 6 – the statutory day to certify the election results and now one of the most ignominious days in American history – is dangerous. JOHNSON ALLIES URGE TRUMP TO INTERVENE AS MESSY SPEAKER BATTLE THREATENS TO DELAY 2024 CERTIFICATION To be clear: there is no dispute that Trump won the election. There is no anticipation of a repeat of a riot at the Capitol like four years ago. But a failure to certify the Electoral College on the day it’s supposed to be completed – especially after the 2021 experience – is playing with fire. Such a scenario would again reveal another, never-before-considered vulnerability in the fragile American political system. On Jan. 6, the House and Senate are supposed to meet in a joint session of Congress to tabulate and certify the electoral votes. Any disputes over a state’s slate of electoral votes compels the House and Senate to then debate and vote separately on those results. The election is not final until the joint session concludes and the vice president – in this
Texas man indicted in smuggling of dozens of illegal immigrants in locked tractor trailer
A Texas man is being charged with attempting to smuggle over 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. in a locked tractor trailer. Juan Manuel Aguirre, 49, is facing a three-count indictment of conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien within the United States and the transportation of an undocumented alien within the United States for financial gain, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas on Monday. Aguirre, a resident of the South Texas city of Laredo, was observed by law enforcement loading a large group of migrants into a white trailer in a warehouse parking lot on Dec. 2. After it departed, authorities conducted a traffic stop on the white truck hauling the trailer and allegedly found 101 undocumented immigrants, including 12 unaccompanied children, crammed in. CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM’S TEAM CONSIDERING WAYS TO HELP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AHEAD OF SECOND TRUMP ADMIN: REPORT The Justice Department statement said two of the migrants reported having difficulty breathing and feared for their lives due to the conditions in the trailer. Aguirre is facing 10 years in prison for each of the three counts and fines of up to $250,000. The number of individuals sentenced for alien smuggling offenses in the U.S. has steadily risen under the Biden administration, reaching 4,731 in fiscal year 2023, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. MIGRANT CRIME WAVE DURING BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN UNDER SCRUTINY AMID SERIES OF ASSAULTS, MURDERS: A TIMELINE The top five districts for human smuggling are all along the southern border. With Texas accounting for over 60% of the U.S. border with Mexico, the top two districts for human smuggling were both in Texas. There were 64,124 alien smuggling offense cases reported in 2023. About 10% of alien smuggling cases involve unaccompanied minors. In October, local news source KGNS reported a concerning rise in human smuggling incidents in Laredo, resulting in high-risk vehicle pursuits and other dangerous situations. THESE ARE TRUMP’S THREE PRIORITIES FOR BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN | FOX NEWS VIDEO Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a new billboard ad campaign in Mexico and Central America to warn potential illegal migrants of the dangers of attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally. “We’re here to expose the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here, the truth about the traffickers who assault so many of the women and children along the way,” the governor said. “The message is: Do not risk a dangerous trip just to be arrested and deported.”
State Department’s ‘Global Engagement Center’ accused of censoring Americans shuts its doors
The State Department’s foreign disinformation center, accused by conservatives of censoring U.S. citizens, shut its doors due to lack of funding this week. Elon Musk had deemed the Global Engagement Center (GEC), established in 2016, the “worst offender in U.S. government censorship & media manipulation,” and its funding was stripped as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon’s yearly policy bill. “The Global Engagement Center will terminate by operation of law [by the end of the day] on December 23, 2024,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “The Department of State has consulted with Congress regarding next steps.” Lawmakers had originally included funding for the GEC in its continuing resolution (CR), or bill to fund the government beyond a Friday deadline. But conservatives balked at that iteration of the funding bill, and it was rewritten without money for the GEC and other funding riders. The agency had a budget of around $61 million and 120 people on staff. At a time when adversaries like Iran and Russia sow disinformation throughout the world, Republicans saw little value in the agency’s work, arguing that much of its disinformation analysis is already offered by the private sector. The GEC, according to reporter Matt Taibbi, “funded a secret list of subcontractors and helped pioneer an insidious—and idiotic—new form of blacklisting” during the pandemic. Taibbi wrote last year when exposing the Twitter Files that the GEC “flagged accounts as ‘Russian personas and proxies’ based on criteria like, ‘Describing the Coronavirus as an engineered bioweapon,’ blaming ‘research conducted at the Wuhan institute,’ and ‘attributing the appearance of the virus to the CIA.’” “State also flagged accounts that retweeted news that Twitter banned the popular U.S. website ZeroHedge, claiming that it ‘led to another flurry of disinformation narratives.’” ZeroHedge had made reports speculating that the virus had a lab origin. The GEC is part of the State Department but also partners with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Special Operations Command and the Department of Homeland Security. The GEC also funds the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab). SPENDING BILL TO FUND STATE DEPARTMENT AGENCY ACCUSED OF CENSORING, BLACKLISTING AMERICANS DFRLab Director Graham Brookie previously denied the claim that they use tax money to track Americans, saying its GEC grants have “an exclusively international focus.” A 2024 report from the Republican-led House Small Business Committee criticized the GEC for awarding grants to organizations whose work includes tracking domestic as well as foreign misinformation and rating the credibility of U.S.-based publishers, according to the Washington Post. The lawsuit was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Daily Wire and the Federalist, who sued the State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other government officials earlier this month for “engaging in a conspiracy to censor, deplatform and demonetize American media outlets disfavored by the federal government.” The lawsuit stated that the GEC was used as a tool for the defendants to carry out its censorship. ”Congress authorized the creation of the Global Engagement Center expressly to counter foreign propaganda and misinformation,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office said in a press release. “Instead, the agency weaponized this authority to violate the First Amendment and suppress Americans’ constitutionally-protected speech. STATE DEPARTMENT FUNDS ‘DISINFORMATION’ INDEX TARGETING NON-LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE NEWS OUTLETS: REPORT The complaint describes the State Department’s project as “one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation.’” The lawsuit argued that The Daily Wire, The Federalist and other conservative news organizations were branded “unreliable” or “risky” by the agency, “starving them of advertising revenue and reducing the circulation of their reporting and speech—all as a direct result of [the State Department’s] unlawful censorship scheme.” Meanwhile, America First Legal, headed up by Stephen Miller, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for deputy chief of staff for policy, revealed that the GEC had used taxpayer dollars to create a video game called “Cat Park” to “Inoculate Youth Against Disinformation” abroad. The game “inoculates players . . . by showing how sensational headlines, memes, and manipulated media can be used to advance conspiracy theories and incite real-world violence,” according to a memo obtained by America First Legal. Mike Benz, the executive director at the Foundation For Freedom Online, said the game was “anti-populist” and pushed certain political beliefs instead of protecting Americans from foreign disinformation, accordig to the Tennessee Star.