Trump DHS makes key move against migrants allowed in via controversial Biden parole programs
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to review the parole status of migrants who were brought in under a dramatic expansion of humanitarian parole by the Biden administration, opening the door for their quick removal from the country. In an internal memo signed Thursday, and obtained by Fox News Digital, acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman noted moves he made this week to take limits off expedited removal, which allows for the rapid removal of recently-arrived migrants if they do not claim asylum or fail to meet an initial standard. The power can now be used anywhere in the U.S. for migrants in the U.S. for less than two years. The new memo says that with those expanded powers, any immigrant whom DHS knows who could be put on expedited removal, but has not, should have their case reviewed and “consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether to apply expedited removal.” The memo was first reported by The New York Times. TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW “This may include steps to terminate any ongoing removal proceeding and/or any active parole status,” it says. It also says that for any immigrant who has been granted parole under a policy paused, modified or terminated by the Trump administration, officers can decide whether they should be placed in removal proceedings and “review the alien’s parole status to determine, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether parole remains appropriate in light of any changed legal or factual status.” TRUMP’S ICE NABS CHILD SEX OFFENDERS AMONG 530+ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUGHT IN SINGLE DAY The memo also notes that parole is a “positive exercise of enforcement discretion to which no alien is entitled and that parole ‘shall not be regarded as an admission of the alien.’” This would mean that migrants who were granted parole at ports of entry after making an appointment via the CBP One app, or who were given travel authorization to be paroled under the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV), could be eligible for removal. The administration also launched parole programs for nationals from Ukraine and Afghanistan. Nearly 1.5 million migrants were allowed in under CBP One and CHNV, and both parole channels were closed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. The Biden administration said the expanded “lawful pathways” were part of an effort to reduce illegal crossings, but Republicans accused the administration of abusing limited parole power and allowing in migrants who should not legally have entered. Huffman’s memo follows a memo from earlier this week in which he ordered a review of the use of parole. The memo notes that the statute demands the authority be used on a “case by case basis,” something that Republican critics claim the administration has abused. It emphasizes that parole is “a limited use authority, applicable only in a very narrow set of circumstances.” It also claims that “it has been repeatedly abused by the Executive Branch over the past several decades in ways that are blatantly inconsistent with the statute.” “Most important, the parole statute does not authorize categorical parole programs that make aliens presumptively eligible on the basis of some set of broadly applicable criteria,” it says. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The memo directs the heads of (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection to compile a list of instructions, policies and procedures related to parole, review them and formulate a plan to phase out any that are not in accord with the statute. The latest memo comes amid a flurry of moves by the administration on illegal immigration and immigration, including moves to send military to the border, end refugee resettlement, build the border wall and launch a massive deportation operation. ICE on Thursday arrested more than 530 illegal immigrants in another day of raids across the U.S. Agents have focused on public safety threats, but officials have said that no-one is off the table if they are in the country illegally.
Massie and other Republicans push ‘National Constitutional Carry Act’ to protect Americans’ gun rights
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and a slew of other House Republicans are pushing a proposal that would compel states to allow Americans to carry guns in public areas. The measure, dubbed the “National Constitutional Carry Act,” would prohibit states and localities from limiting U.S. citizens from carrying firearms in public if they are eligible to have the weapons under state and federal law. “By prohibiting state or local restrictions on the right to bear arms, H.R. 645 upholds the original purpose of the Second Amendment—to ensure the security of a free state—while safeguarding individual liberties against government infringement,” Massie noted, according to a press release. MASSIE DROPS COLORFUL ANALOGY OPPOSING FOREIGN AID, MOCKS SPEAKER JOHNSON WITH AI-GENERATED IMAGE Specifically, the text of the measure stipulates that “No State or political subdivision of a State may impose a criminal or civil penalty on, or otherwise indirectly limit the carrying of firearms (including by imposing a financial or other barrier to entry) in public by residents or nonresidents of that State who are citizens of the United States and otherwise eligible to possess firearms under State and Federal law.” “Any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of a State or a political subdivision of a State that criminalizes, penalizes, or otherwise indirectly dissuades the carrying of firearms (including by imposing a financial or other barrier to entry) in public by any resident or nonresident who is a United States citizen and otherwise eligible to possess firearms under State and Federal law, shall have no force or effect,” the measure reads. The measure would not apply to locations “where screening for firearms is conducted under state law,” and it would not block the owners of privately-owned facilities from banning guns on their premises. Massie and others had previously pushed such a proposal last year as well. IN ONE U.S. TOWN, RESIDENTS ARE LEGALLY REQUIRED TO OWN GUNS AND AMMO In 2021, Massie shared a family Christmas photo in which each person was holding a gun. “Merry Christmas!” the staunch gun rights advocate wrote when sharing the photo, adding, “ps. Santa, please bring ammo.” In a 2022 post, he criticized the term “Gun Violence,” asserting that it “is part of the language leftists use to shift blame away from evil perpetrators of violence” and that it “suggests that guns are to blame instead of people, which sets the table for their anti-second amendment agenda.” “There’s a reason you never see a Communist, a Marxist, or even a Socialist politician support the right of common people to keep and bear arms: Those forms of government require more submission to the state than armed citizens would tolerate,” Massie also tweeted in 2022. REP. MASSIE LAUNCHES ‘MAXIMUM TRIGGERING’ WITH FAMILY CHRISTMAS PHOTO: ‘SANTA, PLEASE BRING AMMO’ The congressman’s press release lists dozens of House Republicans as original cosponsors, including: Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Ben Cline of Virginia, Michael Cloud of Texas, Mike Collins of Georgia, Eli Crane of Arizona, Brandon Gill of Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Andy Harris of Maryland, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Nick Langworthy of New York, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Mary Miller of Illinois, Barry Moore of Alabama, Nathaniel Moran of Texas, Andrew Ogles of Tennessee, John Rose of Tennessee, Chip Roy of Texas, Keith Self of Texas, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Claudia Tenney of New York, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, Randy Weber of Texas and Tony Wied of Wisconsin.
House Republicans clear path for Trump to act on tariff plans
House Republicans are unveiling a new bill to clear a path for President Donald Trump to enact his sweeping tariff plans. First-term Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., is reintroducing the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act on Friday, which, if passed, would allow Trump to unilaterally make moves on import taxes from both adversaries and allies. He would be required to notify Congress, however, which could file a joint resolution of disapproval against the moves. “American manufacturing has endured decades of decline under the globalist system that has hollowed out our industrial base and shipped countless jobs overseas. Leaders in both political parties deserve blame. But those days are over,” Moore said in a statement. TRUMP CONFRONTS BANK OF AMERICA CEO FOR NOT TAKING ‘CONSERVATIVE BUSINESS’ Moore said Trump was “the first national politician in my lifetime to recognize this problem, campaign on it, and work to reverse that trend.” “With the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, we’ll give the executive the leverage necessary to go to bat for the American people and achieve tariff reductions on U.S. goods,” he said. Trump released a campaign video in 2023 pledging to work with Congress to pass the Reciprocal Trade Act, declaring, “Under the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, other countries will have two choices—they’ll get rid of their tariffs on us, or they will pay us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the United States will make an absolute FORTUNE.” TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA, CHINA WILL INCREASE INFLATION, GOLDMAN SACHS WARNS This week, the president announced that he wanted to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, making good on a campaign promise to use such taxes to lower the U.S. national debt, which is currently over $36 trillion. “We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China, based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said Tuesday. “Probably February 1st is the date we’re looking at.” During his campaign, Trump promised to levy a 60% tariff on goods from China and as much as 20% on other countries the U.S. trades with. He also recently pledged on Truth Social to create an “External Revenue Service” to “collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources.” Trump has praised the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act by name multiple times, including during a January 2019 meeting with House Republicans, including the bill’s former lead, ex-Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis. Trump recently nominated Duffy to be secretary of Transportation. “The United States Reciprocal Trade Act — this legislation will help, finally, to give our workers a fair and level playing field against other countries. Countries are taking advantage of us, whether they think we’re very nice or not so smart. They’ve been doing it for many, many years, and we want to end it,” Trump said at the time. However, not everyone is in agreement that tariffs are an effective way to bolster the U.S. economy, with some economists warning it would only raise costs for consumers. “Not only would widespread tariffs drive up costs at home and likely send our economy into recession, but they would likely lead to significant retaliation, hurting American workers, farmers, and businesses,” Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said while unveiling a measure to block Trump from using unilateral tariff powers by declaring a trade emergency.
ATF accused of ‘circumventing’ Trump order to place DEI staff on paid leave
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been accused of allegedly quietly changing the job title of its former diversity officer as President Donald Trump ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees be placed on paid leave. “The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title. They attack citizens’ rights, ignore leadership, and act as though they’re above the law. Enough is enough. Time to abolish the ATF!” Republican Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison posted to X. The ATF, a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice’s umbrella, previously employed Lisa T. Boykin as its chief diversity officer before her title was changed on the ATF’s website this week to “senior executive” with the ATF. An archived link of the ATF’s website reviewed by Fox Digital shows Boykin was listed as the chief diversity officer as recently as Tuesday – Trump’s second day in the Oval Office – and now shows her as working as the agency’s “senior executive.” Trump had railed against DEI programs and offices at the federal level, as well as in the education system, throughout his campaign. Upon taking office on Monday, he inked an executive order terminating ”illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.” TRUMP REVOKES BIDEN ORDER ALLOWING TRANSGENDER TROOPS IN BID TO RID DEI FROM MILITARY The following day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told agency and department leaders to begin shutting down DEI offices and to place DEI employees on paid leave. TRUMP’S DISMANTLING OF DEI IS DEEPER AND BIGGER THAN YOU EVEN KNOW “Send a notification to all employees of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs,” the OPM directive, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, read. A biography for Boykin from 2023 detailed that she began working as ATF’s Human Resources Operations Division in 2016 and “as a collateral duty, in 2021, Mrs. Boykin also began serving as the Bureau’s Chief Diversity Officer,” the New York Post reported. “With the Bureau’s continued focus on enhancing DEIA, Mrs. Boykin currently assumes the work of the CDO in a fulltime capacity, leading and implementing departmental programs and mandates, while bringing renewed vision and effective strategies to maintain an informed DEIA culture for the Bureau,” Boykin’s bio added. WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY When asked about the title change and subsequent criticism on social media, an ATF spokesman responded that the agency has followed DEI directives from the Trump administration. “ATF began implementing OPM’s Initial Guidance on DEIA immediately after its issuance on January 21, 2025, in response to the President’s Executive Orders. We have proactively taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance with this guidance, including by placing impacted personnel on administrative leave,” an ATF spokesman told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital asked for clarification on whether Boykin’s new title protects her from administrative leave but did not immediately receive a reply. Fox News Digital also reached out to Boykin on her ATF email and received an automatic response noting she was unavailable to reply. “I am currently unavailable and unable to return e-mails at this time,” the email read. Social media commenters and critics of the Biden administration’s diversity initiatives slammed the ATF employee’s title change on social media, clamming the agency is “circumventing” the Trump administration’s orders. 3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS Biden championed diversity initiatives under his administration, rolling back the first Trump administration’s policies that banned diversity training in government agencies during his first week in office in 2021. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “In the weeks ahead, I will be reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility, building on the work we started in the Obama-Biden administration. That’s why I’m rescinding the previous administration’s harmful ban on diversity and sensitivity training,” Biden said in January of 2021. “Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies.”
DeSantis pushes Florida lawmakers to take action on illegal immigration, warns of consequences for defiance
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday pushed Republican state lawmakers to take urgent action on illegal immigration, voting to fight like a “junkyard dog” and warning of political consequences for defiance. The governor leaned on the Florida legislature ahead of a special session next week, during which he wants legislators to pass new bills to crack down on illegal immigration in sync with President Donald Trump’s administration at the federal level. But GOP leaders have called the session “premature” and signaled that they may gavel out without taking action on the governor’s agenda items. DeSantis warned that would be a costly mistake. “It would be very, very hazardous politically,” he told reporters during a roundtable discussion at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He also suggested that he will call for another special session of the legislature if GOP leaders delay action. BORDER ENCOUNTERS DROP SHARPLY AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION “I have my constitutional authority to wield in this process and I will continue to wield it as appropriate so that we’re able to get the job done,” he said, adding that he would fight like a “junkyard dog” to get his immigration policies enacted. “You don’t let go.” DeSantis wants Republicans to enact laws that would require state and local officials to comply with the new immigration orders issued by the White House and provide funding for them to do so. He has also called for legislation that would penalize state and local officials who violate Florida’s “anti-sanctuary policies,” WPTV reported. The governor also directed lawmakers to consider additional hurricane aid, crack down on ballot initiative signature fraud and address rising HOA fees. DESANTIS CITES ‘GULF OF AMERICA’ IN WINTER STORM ORDER AFTER TRUMP REBRANDING House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton reacted coolly when the governor called for a special legislative session starting on Jan. 27. In a joint statement on Jan. 13, they called it “irresponsible” for the legislature to act ahead of any announcements Trump may make on immigration and criticized DeSantis, stating the governor had offered only “fragmented ideas” and had not released any bill language or details for legislators to consider. Lawmakers “will decide when and what legislation we consider,” the Florida House and Senate leaders said. Trump has already issued a flurry of executive orders to begin promised “mass deportations” of illegal immigrants present in the United States. On Monday, Trump declared an emergency on the southern border, deployed 1,500 soldiers to the border and ended the Biden administration’s CBP One app program to process migrants at ports of entry via humanitarian parole. His administration then launched a mass deportation operation, with ICE agents active in multiple cities and states across the U.S. DESANTIS’ CHOSEN RUBIO REPLACEMENT MOODY WANTS TO TACKLE INFLATION, SPENDING, BORDER: ‘AUDIT THE FED!’ The Department of Homeland Security has also issued memos rescinding limits placed on ICE by the Biden administration, ordering a review of parole and expanding the use of expedited removal for recently-arrived illegal immigrants. And Trump’s administration has moved to restore border wall construction and reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which requires migrants to stay in Mexico for the duration of their asylum cases. These combined policies have resulted in a sharp 35% drop in illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border, multiple Department of Homeland Security sources told Fox News Digital. DeSantis rejected the concerns of the legislature, telling reporters Thursday, “we’ve been waiting years for this moment. It’s not premature.” “We can’t drag our feet. We can’t wait for something to go into effect in July. We need something immediately and we need to get everything moving, and we need to do what we told the people that elected us that we would do.”
JFK’s grandson says there is ‘nothing heroic’ about Trump’s declassification order
President Donald Trump’s executive order to declassify the JFK files left one of the 35th president’s descendants unimpressed. Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, made his stance on the order clear in a post on X, saying that there was “nothing heroic” about Trump’s latest move. “Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he’s not here to punch back,” Schlossberg wrote. “There’s nothing heroic about it.” TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO DECLASSIFY FILES ON JFK, RFK AND MLK ASSASSINATIONS After signing the order, which included the declassification of files on the assassinations of JFK, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., Trump told reporters that “everything will be revealed.” RFK Jr., son of the late senator and Trump’s HHS nominee, told press that the order was a “great move” on the president’s part. He believes that the move will bring “more transparency” and it shows that Trump is “keeping his promise to have the government tell the truth to the American people about everything.” Kennedy has called for answers on his father and uncle’s assassinations. TRUMP’S AI ‘DECLARATION’ REMINISCENT OF JFK PLEDGE TO PUT A MAN ON THE MOON: FORMER WHITE HOUSE IT OFFICIAL “I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue,” Trump’s order reads. The order gives officials just over two weeks (15 days) to give Trump a plan for “the full and complete release of records” on the JFK assassination. Additionally, officials have 45 days to present a plan on files relating to RFK and MLK Jr.’s assassinations. King’s family reacted to the order in a statement, saying that they “hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release.” While Trump promised to release the JFK files during his first administration, there is still an undisclosed amount of material that remains under wraps more than 60 years later. Trump ultimately agreed to block the release of the files after pleas from the CIA and FBI. At the time, he said that the threat of making the documents public were of “significant gravity” that they outweighed “public interest.” In a recent appearance on “Hannity,” Trump said that then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked him not to release the documents, though he did not say if Pompeo explained why the files should remain classified. Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
‘Deportation flights have begun’ as Trump sends ‘strong and clear message,’ White House says
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Friday that “deportation flights have begun,” releasing photos of people boarding military aircraft. “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences,” she wrote on X. One of the photos was taken at Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources told Fox News. The sources added that the plane in the image holds 80 people and departed for Guatemala. It is not immediately clear who was boarding the planes. Leavitt did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. TRUMP’S ICE NABS CHILD SEX OFFENDERS AMONG 530+ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUGHT IN SINGLE DAY Information obtained by Fox News Digital shows that between midnight Jan. 21 and 9 a.m. Jan 22, a 33-hour period, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested more than 460 illegal immigrants that include criminal histories of sexual assault, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, drugs and weapons offenses, resisting arrest and domestic violence. Agents arrested nationals from a slew of countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Senegal and Venezuela. On Thursday, ICE agents also detained several workers at a fish market in Newark, N.J., Fox 5 NY reported. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka slammed the operation as an “egregious act” and a violation of the Fourth Amendment after agents reportedly swooped in to raid the business “without producing a warrant.” TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT ASKS GOVERNMENT TO REIMBURSE STATE FOR $11 BILLION TO SECURE SOUTHERN BORDER Baraka said that one of those detained is a U.S. military veteran who “suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned.” “This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures….’” Baraka wrote in a statement. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” Barak said, adding that he is “ready and willing to defend and protect civil and human rights.” Fox News’ Brooke Taylor, Adam Shaw and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Dems rail against ‘egregious’ ICE raid after military veteran questioned
A New Jersey mayor and other leading Democrats have blasted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on a worksite which they say resulted in undocumented residents as well as a U.S. citizen being “detained.” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka slammed the operation as an “egregious act” and a violation of the Fourth Amendment after agents reportedly swooped in to raid a business establishment “without producing a warrant.” Baraka said that one of those detained is a U.S. military veteran who “suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned.” TRUMP BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN REVEALS ICE TEAMS ARE ALREADY ARRESTING ‘PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS’ “This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures….’” Baraka wrote in a statement. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” Barak said, adding that he is “ready and willing to defend and protect civil and human rights.” It is not clear if the U.S. citizen in the Newark case was taken into custody, with an ICE spokesperson telling Fox News that the U.S. citizen was asked to produce identification. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual’s identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a worksite today in Newark, New Jersey,” an ICE spokesperson told Fox News in relation to Thursday’s Newark operation. “This is an active investigation, and, per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations.” ICE raids have ramped up across the country this week as President Donald Trump looks to clamp down on illegal immigration, a key campaign promise. Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan has said ICE agents will focus on the “worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they got a problem.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE New Jersey senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim joined Baraka in condemning the raid. “We are deeply concerned about the news of an ICE raid in Newark today. Our offices have reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to demand answers,” the senators said in a joint statement. “Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities — and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics. We will continue to work with Mayor Baraka and other local officials to gather more information to ensure all New Jerseyans are safe and their dignity and rights are protected.” Baraka, a progressive Democrat, has been mayor of Newark since 2014 and is running for New Jersey governor this year. He has called for a “progressive overhaul” of the blue state and his campaign agenda includes reparations, sanctuary state laws, baby bonds, and a universal basic income.” Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., also slammed the raid in a statement. “Already, Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities are hitting home and we will not back down,” she said. “We will always fight for the dignity and rights of everyone in our district and across the country.” In the first days of the Trump administration, ICE has made more than 460 arrests of illegal immigrants, including those with criminal histories that include sexual assault, domestic violence and drugs and weapons crimes. Arrests took place across the U.S., including Illinois, Utah, California, Minnesota, New York, Florida and Maryland. Agents arrested nationals from a slew of countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Senegal and Venezuela. Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Stephen Sorace and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
McCormick responds to Squad member who claims ‘white supremacy and xenophobia’ are the right’s ‘true religion’
Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., claimed in a post on X that “white supremacy and xenophobia” are the political right’s “true religion” and that the values of those on the right do not stem from Christ’s life and instruction. “It’s long been known that the true religion of the right is white supremacy and xenophobia. None of their real values are from the life and teachings of the Christ of the Christian Bible…” she wrote in a post on her @SummerForPA account. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., fired back at the congresswoman. SEN. DAVE MCCORMICK ‘OPTIMISTIC’ ABOUT WORKING WITH SEN. FETTERMAN TO FIND ‘COMMON GROUND’: ‘EMBRACING’ CHANGE “None of us should take lectures from someone who has repeatedly demonstrated antisemitic behavior and is now condemning millions of her fellow citizens who simply want freedom, opportunity and secure borders,” he declared in a tweet. Lee swiftly fired right back at him. “Senator, I’m condemning those who profess to follow the teachings of Christ but do not love their neighbor or do right unto the least of these. Is that you? When he’s hungry, will you feed him or cut SNAP benefits? When he’s a stranger, will you invite him in or build a wall?” she replied. ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER SURVIVES CHALLENGE FROM CENTRIST DEMOCRAT AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC THREATENED RE-ELECTION Lee has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2023. McCormick was just sworn in as a senator earlier this month. Lee has criticized newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump’s executive orders. WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY “Trump’s executive orders scapegoat Black + brown communities while his billionaire donors profit off the polluted air, overcrowded detention centers, and prison labor these EOs create. Immigrants aren’t why your wages are low and costs are high—it’s the billionaires,” she declared in a post on her @RepSummerLee X account.
Trump’s latest hires and fires rankle Iran hawks as new president suggests nuclear deal
If President Donald Trump’s personnel moves are any tell, he may come out of the gate toward Iran with a tone that is more diplomatic than combative. And Trump on Thursday evening suggested he was open to a nuclear deal with Iran. Asked if he would support Israel striking Iran’s nuclear facilities, Trump told reporters, “We’ll have to see. I’m going to be meeting with various people over the next couple of days. We’ll see, but hopefully that could be worked out without having to worry about it.” “Iran hopefully will make a deal. I mean, they don’t make a deal, I guess that’s OK, too.” Iran, at least, is hoping for just that. The Tehran Times, a regime-linked English language newspaper, questioned in a recent article whether the firing of Brian Hook, the architect of the “maximum pressure” policy on Iran during Trump’s first term, could “signal a change in [Trump’s] Iran policy.” In November, news outlets reported that Hook was running the transition at the State Department. But Hook was relieved from the transition team shortly after in December, sources familiar with the move confirmed to Fox News Digital. UN URGES DIPLOMACY AS IRAN HITS NUCLEAR ‘GAS PEDAL,’ CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR TELLS TRUMP ‘DO NOT APPEASE’ This week, Trump knocked Hook back a step further by posting on social media that he’d be removed from his position at a U.S. government-owned think tank. “Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars… YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. And after taking office, Trump removed the government-sponsored security details of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton told CNN his detail was also pulled, as was Hook’s. “You can’t have [protection] for the rest of your life. Do you want to have a large deal of people guarding people for the rest of their lives? I mean, there’s risks to everything,” Trump said. Trump recently put his Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, in charge of addressing U.S. concerns about Iran, according to a Financial Times report. Witkoff most recently helped seal negotiations on a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, suggesting he may test Iran’s willingness to engage at the negotiating table on nuclear issues before ramping up pressure, sources told the Financial Times. Experts warn that Iran is enriching hundreds of pounds of uranium to the 60% purity threshold, shy of the 90% purity levels needed to develop a nuclear bomb. At the same time, the president hired Michael Dimino as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, a foreign policy expert who has said the Middle East doesn’t “really matter” to U.S. interests any longer. IRAN’S WEAKENED POSITION COULD LEAD IT TO PURSUE NUCLEAR WEAPON, BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER WARNS Dimino is cut from the same cloth as undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby, who has argued for the U.S. to focus military resources on countering China and devote fewer resources to other regions. Dimino, a former expert at the Koch-funded restraint advocacy think tank Defense Priorities, has strongly advocated for pulling U.S. resources out of the Middle East. “The core question is: Does the Middle East still matter?” Dimino said during a panel last February. “The answer is: not really, not really for U.S. interests. What I would say is that vital or existential U.S. interests in the Middle East are best characterized as minimal to non-existent.” “We are really there to counter Iran and that is really at the behest of the Israelis and Saudis,” he added. “Iranian power remains both exaggerated and misunderstood. Its economy continues to underperform, and its conventional military is antiquated and untested. Tehran simply doesn’t have the financial capital or hard power capabilities to dominate the Middle East or directly threaten core U.S. interests,” he wrote in a 2023 article. Dimino has also argued the U.S. does not need to focus resources on an offensive campaign against the Houthis amid attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea. “Put simply, there are no existential or vital U.S. national interests at stake in Yemen and very little is at stake for the U.S. economically in the Red Sea.” Instead, he argued in a 2023 op-ed that working to increase aid into Gaza would rid the Houthis of their stated reason for their attacks in the Red Sea, which they’ve said are a means of fighting on behalf of Gaza. “Working to increase aid shipments to Gaza would not just help to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there but would deprive the Houthis of their claimed justification for attacks in the Red Sea and provide the group with an off-ramp for de-escalation that would also serve to prevent indefinite U.S. participation in a broader regional war.” Others in Trump’s foreign policy orbit historically have struck a more hawkish tone toward Iran, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Israel Ambassador Mike Huckabee. Rubio has already said he will work to bring back the snapback sanctions that were suspended in the 2015 Iran deal, as indicated by written responses he provided to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “A policy of maximum pressure must be reinstated, and it must be reinstated with the help of the rest of the globe, and that includes standing with the Iranian people and their aspirations for democracy,” Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine, recently said. The Dimino hiring – along with other recent personnel moves – has caused rumblings from prominent Iran hawks. Mark Levin, a radio host who has the ear of Trump, has posted on X multiple times in opposition to Dimino: “How’d this creep get a top DoD position?” he asked in one post. “While Dimino and Witkoff are very different issues, Witkoff is Trump’s best friend, [it] seems difficult to detangle, very concerning,” said one Iran expert. “Dimino is a mystery and does not align with Hegseth or Trump values on Iran