Federal judge weighs severe limits on Trump’s immigration enforcement in California
A judge in Los Angeles presided over a hearing Thursday where she considered granting a request that could have major implications for immigration enforcement in California, a state that has become a focal point in President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation plans. Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, a Biden appointee, heard arguments about whether to grant an emergency restraining order against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over allegations the agency is violating constitutional rights during its immigration arrests. Frimpong said during the hearing that she was leaning toward granting a temporary restraining by Friday that could change how arrests are made, but she cautioned that she wanted to be careful not to overstep. “I think it’s important for the court not to burden otherwise lawful law enforcement activities,” the judge said. The case was initially brought in June as a routine petition from three detainees, but it has ballooned into a weighty lawsuit challenging the way ICE operates. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUES LOS ANGELES OVER SANCTUARY POLICIES THAT ‘IMPEDE’ ICE OPERATIONS Immigration rights groups and local governments, including the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver, and West Hollywood, have all intervened in the case and Democrat-led states have filed an amicus brief in support of them. The plaintiffs alleged in court papers that ICE is “indiscriminately” arresting people with “brown skin” at Home Depots, car washes, farms and more. Authorities made the arrests with no “reasonable suspicion” and sometimes mistakenly apprehended U.S. citizens in the process, all in violation of the Fourth Amendment, attorneys wrote. The plaintiffs argued the Trump administration gave ICE an unrealistic quota of 3,000 arrests per day, causing officers to feel pressured to blow past legal requirements to achieve those numbers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is disputing the allegations and denies wrongdoing. Department of Justice attorneys wrote that immigration arrests, of which there have been nearly 3,000 across California since early June, have been carried out legally. “Their request that immigration authorities be enjoined from relying on certain factors like occupation and location flies in the face of established law requiring immigration officials to consider the totality of the circumstances, including things like occupation and location,” the attorneys wrote. The plaintiffs have also asked the judge to expand visitor access to a short-term detention facility in downtown Los Angeles. The facility became the site of protests and unrest in early June, leading to authorities temporarily abandoning the building. The plaintiffs allege that detainees’ access to lawyers has been hindered while in the facility, in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
Pro-Trump ‘troll’ who spread Hillary text-to-vote memes in 2016 has conviction tossed by appeals court
An appeals court has reversed the conviction of a pro-Trump influencer charged with spreading false information on social media to suppress Democratic voter turnout during the 2016 election, voiding conspiracy charges and a monthslong federal prison sentence handed down by a jury in Brooklyn, New York. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on Wednesday unanimously voided the conviction of Douglass Mackey on federal conspiracy charges and remanded the case back to the U.S. Court in the Eastern District of New York to enter a new judgment of acquittal. The unanimous three-judge panel said in their ruling that “no rational jury” could have found that Mackey, 36, “knowingly” joined others in an illegal conspiracy aimed at influencing the outcome of the 2016 election or depriving people of their right to vote. “The jury’s verdict and the resulting judgment of conviction must be set aside,” Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston wrote. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SWARMS SCOTUS WITH EMERGENCY REQUESTS AND SEES SURPRISING SUCCESS The verdict is a win for Mackey, a self-styled right-wing influencer and self-described “troll,” who amassed roughly 58,000 followers on Twitter in the run-up to the 2016 election. Mackey, who used the handle “Ricky Vaughn,” used his account to post false information designed to support then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, including memes designed to look like Hillary Clinton ads that told voters they could submit their ballots via text message. Mackey was convicted in 2023 on conspiracy charges and sentenced to seven months in federal prison. The three-judge panel ruled Wednesday that Mackey’s posts, including the false memes he posted, were not sufficient evidence to prove that he had violated U.S. conspiracy laws, “even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote,” they said. SCOTUS DENIES FLORIDA AG REQUEST TO ENFORCE CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION LAW “The government was obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other people to pursue that objective,” Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston and Judges Reena Raggi and Beth Robinson wrote. “This the government failed to do.” The decision was praised by Mackey, who immediately posted on social media about the verdict. “HALLELUJAH!” Mackey said on X after the appellate court ruling on Wednesday. Mackey proceeded to thank God, his family, wife, lawyers and others who supported him during the trial in subsequent posts. He then threatened to pursue legal action over his conviction. “Now we sue,” he said.
Federal judge blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship ban for all infants, testing lower court powers
A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship and granted nationwide class certification status to all infants impacted by the order on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante said that he will issue a written ruling by the end of the day further explaining his decision. The injunction also narrows down the scope of the class to infants, removing parents from the case. In his order, LaPlante ruled that deprivation of citizenship, as held by the 14th Amendment, and changes in longstanding policy would create “irreparable harm.” TRUMP TO BEGIN ENFORCING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH, DOJ SAYS Still, it is almost sure to be quickly appealed by the Trump administration. It comes after the Supreme Court reviewed the case earlier this year, and ruled 6-3 in late June that plaintiffs seeking nationwide relief must file their cases as a class action lawsuit — narrowing the instances in which lower district courts can issue so-called universal injunctions. That high court ruling narrowly focused on the authority of lower courts, and justices did not wade into the legality of Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, which served as the legal pretext for the case. Still, Justice Department officials told a federal judge last week they plan to begin enforcing Trump’s birthright citizenship order as early as July 27, in recognition of a 30-day stay included in the Supreme Court’s ruling, showing they plan to act quickly. Trump’s order, signed on the first day of his second White House term, directs all U.S. government agencies to refuse to issue citizenship documents to children born to illegal immigrants, or who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen of lawful permanent resident. NINTH CIRCUIT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO REINSTATE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER The order, signed by Trump on his first day in office, was immediately challenged in January by more than 22 U.S. states and immigrants’ rights groups, which argued the effort to end birthright citizenship was both unconstitutional and “unprecedented,” and threatened more than 100 years of legal precedent. It was almost immediately blocked by lower courts, before eventually making its way to the Supreme Court for review in May. The high court’s decision also touched off a flurry of new lawsuits from the ACLU and other immigration advocacy groups, who re-filed class action lawsuits in federal courts in Maryland and in New Hampshire, where LaPlante reviewed the request Thursday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lawyers for the Trump administration stressed last week that the Supreme Court’s ruling did not preclude it from taking other actions before that date, and told U.S. it plans to “immediately” begin developing and issuing public guidance on the order. Advocates have warned possible fallout from the order could prove “catastrophic.”
Mamdani lands endorsement of a top Cuomo backer in NYC mayoral primary
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in the race for mayor of America’s most populous city, on Thursday landed the endorsement of one of New York City’s most influential politicians. Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, arguably the city’s most powerful Latino leader, is backing Mamdani, who, if elected in November, would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor. “Thank you @EspaillatNY for joining this campaign for an affordable NYC and for fighting Trump’s authoritarianism in DC,” Mamdani wrote in a social media post. “Adriano and I know that the only way we can protect this city is by standing firm in our values and standing up for working class and immigrant New Yorkers.” MAMDANI’S FAR-LEFT ALLIES MULL PRIMARY CHALLENGES AGAINST TOP NYC HOUSE DEMOCRATS Mamdani and Espaillat are scheduled to team up at a campaign event on Thursday afternoon to formally announce the five-term congressman’s endorsement of the 33-year-old Ugandan-born state assemblyman from Queens. MAMDANI POLITICAL TSUNAMI SWAMPS DEMOCRATS AS PARTY SEARCHES FOR PATH FORWARD Espaillat’s endorsement of Mamdani, who two weeks ago convincingly defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to win the Democratic Party mayoral nomination, is seen as a setback for Cuomo. Cuomo, who resigned from office in 2021 during his third term as governor amid multiple scandals and who was aiming for a political comeback, was endorsed in the Democratic primary by Espaillat. And the two politicians teamed up at a rally on the eve of the kickoff of early voting in the primary election. While Cuomo lost the Democratic mayoral nomination to Mamdani, he’s running, as of now, on the November ballot as an independent, which state rules allow. Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his primary bid earlier this year amid sinking poll numbers in the wake of numerous controversies, is seeking re-election as an independent. THE PLOT TO STOP MAMDANI: DEMOCRATS SCRAMBLE TO PREVENT FAR-LEFT TAKEOVER IN NYC Also on the ballot in the general election are Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent, and Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who, for a second straight election, is the Republican mayoral nominee. Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s sweeping and controversial second-term immigration crackdown. And Espaillat, who backed Adams in the mayor’s 2021 election, was thought to have grown frustrated with the mayor’s working relationship with Trump on immigration enforcement. Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials. The mayor made repeated overtures to Trump and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown. RESURFACED MAMDANI PHOTO SPARKS SOCIAL MEDIA FIRESTORM News of Espaillat’s endorsement of Mamdani was first reported by The New York Times. Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores. And thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, he rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult into first place. Since his primary victory, Republicans have relentlessly painted Mamdani as an extremist and anchored him to Democrats across the country ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The attacks stretched from down ballot on the campaign trail all the way up to the White House, with Trump claiming that Mamdani was “a 100% Communist Lunatic.”
Sweeping bipartisan bill would nationalize standards for student athlete pay
FIRST ON FOX: The House of Representatives is rolling out bipartisan legislation later on Thursday that will mark a major shift in the world of college sports, particularly the compensation of student athletes, Fox News Digital has learned. The bill would codify the right for student athletes to get paid for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL), while mandating that colleges and universities also provide them with “comprehensive” academic, career counseling, and medical support, according to text obtained by Fox News Digital. NIL regulations would be standardized across the country, overriding the current patchwork of state laws. More than 30 states allow colleges to pay student athletes for NIL, while no such regulations exist in others. Student athletes would be able to hire agents and would have to disclose their NIL deals to their schools and to nonprofit Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Associations (IIAA), like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and similar groups. TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE TRUMP’S BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL For non-athlete students at colleges and universities that bring in high revenue from sports media, it would shield them from footing the bill for their college’s athletics programs by prohibiting student fees at those schools from being used for them. The bill also expressly prohibits student athletes from being considered employees of a college over their sporting participation. It’s a bipartisan bill that’s the product of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, House Education & Workforce Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee. Its lead co-sponsors are Reps. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., is also a co-sponsor. Committee Chairmen Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in a joint statement, “NIL offers an endless array of opportunities for student-athletes to make the most of their college experience, but the lack of clear guardrails has left athletes and universities on unstable ground.” “The SCORE Act creates a national framework that supports student-athletes and recenters the educational mission of college athletics,” they said. Jordan, notably, was a two-time NCAA Division I college wrestling champion. He later became a coach with Ohio State University’s wrestling program before being elected to Congress. SIMONE BILES SPARS WITH RILEY GAINES OVER TRANS ATHLETE DEBATE, LAUNCHES PERSONAL ATTACK: ‘TRULY SICK’ Whether student athletes should receive a portion of their school’s sports media revenue and how much has been a years-long debate. There have been several attempts in Congress to push for legislation giving student athletes the ability to profit off of their college sporting careers. The NCAA, college sports’ main governing body, changed its rules in 2021 to allow student athletes to profit from NIL. It comes after reports that such legislation could be introduced this week after a June antitrust settlement in House v. NCAA between the NCAA and lawyers for Division I college athletes. A judge approved over $2.7 billion in back pay for college athletes shut out of NIL deals between 2016 and 2024, paving the way for colleges to pay players directly. Under the bill’s parameters, IIAAs would ensure NIL deals aligned with fair market value, while being able to limit student athletes’ eligibility based on the length of their college sports career and create new requirements for agents not registered with the IIAA. The text also includes a liability shield for universities and IIAA that “the adoption of, agreement to, compliance with, or enforcement of any rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision established pursuant to, or in compliance with, this Act shall be treated as lawful under the antitrust laws” and any state or local laws. 148 DEMOCRATS BACK NONCITIZEN VOTING IN DC AS GOP RAISES ALARM ABOUT FOREIGN AGENTS The bill was lauded by Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., all who played key roles in putting the legislation together. It was also praised by the NCAA’s Autonomy Conferences – the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC. “This legislation comes at a time of historic transition for college athletics. In the absence of federal standards, student-athletes and schools have been forced to navigate a fractured regulatory framework for too long,” a statement to Fox News Digital said. “Following the historic House settlement, this bill represents a very encouraging step toward delivering the national clarity and accountability that college athletics desperately needs. We urge lawmakers to build on this momentum and deliver the national solution that athletes, coaches, and schools deserve.”
Hawley moves to block China’s buy-up of US farmland as Trump admin sounds alarm
FOX NEWS FIRST: Sen. Josh Hawely, R-Mo., is reigniting a congressional push to ban the Chinese Communist Party from buying up farmland and residential land in the U.S. on Thursday. Hawley is introducing the Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act, which bans Chinese corporations and individuals associated with the Chinese Communist Party from making such purchases. President Donald Trump’s administration has sounded the alarm about Chinese ownership of U.S. land in recent days, particularly around American military bases. “China’s ownership of U.S. farmland poses a direct threat to American interests,” Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We should never let our nation’s greatest adversary have access to our vital resources, including our housing supply. That’s why I’m introducing legislation to protect American assets from the CCP once and for all.” While the bill would impose a flat ban on relevant purchases of farmland, the ban on residential purchases would only apply for two years, leaving an option for the president to re-up the prohibition every two years beyond that. TEXAS THE LATEST STATE WITH A LAW BANNING FOREIGN ADVERSARIES FROM BUYING REAL ESTATE The legislation also requires Chinese corporations and CCP-affiliated individuals who own affected land to divest that ownership within one year. It also establishes penalties for failing to comply with the law, ranging from fines to outright forfeiture. Hawley’s move comes in tandem with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcing its National Farm Security Action Plan earlier this week. CHINESE NATIONALS WHO INFILTRATED US UNIVERSITIES The plan is specifically meant to address threats from foreign governments, like China, and how those threats impact American farmers. The plan laid out executive reforms and called for Congress to pursue legislation like Hawley’s. “The farm’s produce is not just a commodity, it is a way of life that underpins America itself. And that’s exactly why it is under threat from criminals, from political adversaries, and from hostile regimes that understand our way of life as a profound and existential threat to themselves,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a press event in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S ALLEGED TIES TO CHINESE PARAMILITARY GROUP, IRAN-BACKED RESEARCH SPARK GOP PROBE “For them, agricultural lands and our farms, because they are a previous inheritance, are weapons to be turned against us,” she continued. “We see it again and again, from Chinese communist acquisition of American farmland to criminal exploits of our system of agriculture, to the theft of operational information required to work the land and beyond. All of this takes what is profoundly good and turns it toward evil purposes.” Joining Rollins at the event were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Numerous states have laws on the books restricting land purchases by those with ties to China and other foreign adversaries. Nevertheless, in 2021, over 383,000 acres had ties to China. While the number has dipped in recent years, it remains a significant issue, according to Agriculture Dive. Fox News’ Cameron Arcand contributed to this report
10 reasons the DOJ and FBI face backlash over Epstein files flop
Department of Justice leaders are facing sharp criticism and resignation calls from a faction of their supporters after they ended their inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case without releasing new files. The outrage, emanating largely from the right, can be tied to several past instances when those same leaders and other Republicans with large platforms once promoted the existence of incriminating, nonpublic Epstein case files, including a supposed list of sexual predators who were his clients. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino now say they have nothing further to share with the public about Epstein’s case. In a joint, unsigned memo, the DOJ and FBI said Monday that after an exhaustive inquiry uncovering 300 gigabytes’ worth of material related to Epstein’s case, they found no signs of illegal activity by any new third parties. BONDI UNDER SIEGE AFTER DOJ REVEALS NO EPSTEIN CLIENT LIST “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” the memo read. The memo stated that “much of the material” related to the Epstein case was subject to court-ordered seals, prohibiting the DOJ from releasing it. The client list, a point of significant discourse, does not exist, the memo said. Some of President Donald Trump‘s supporters and Patel’s and Bongino’s massive fan bases are now making it clear that they expected more. Below are 10 possible reasons for that. Right-wing commentator Benny Johnson asked Patel why the government had not released information about Epstein’s purported clients, according to a clip Johnson shared in December 2023, before Patel became FBI director. “Simple, because of who’s on that list,” Patel replied. “You don’t think that Bill Gates is lobbying Congress night and day to prevent the disclosure of that list?” Patel criticized the Republican-led House for failing to obtain “Epstein’s list.” “What the hell are the House Republicans doing? They have the majority. You can’t get the list?” Patel asked, later adding, “We can’t even get basic documents out. This is why America hates Congress.” “Put on your big boy pants, and let us know who the pedophiles are,” Patel said. In an interview in December 2023, Patel addressed questions from BlazeTV host Glenn Beck about Epstein’s “black book.” Patel said the FBI had the book. “That’s under direct control of the director of the FBI,” the now-FBI director said. Patel added, “That’s a thing I think President Trump should run on. On day one, roll out the black book.” Epstein’s address books have long been a point of scrutiny. His house manager tried to sell one, according to a 2009 FBI affidavit. Gawker published one of the address books in 2015 with phone numbers redacted. That version contains hundreds of both well-known and obscure names. A judge allowed one of the address books to be entered under seal into the court record during his associate Ghislain Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in 2021. When asked on “Fox & Friends Weekend” last year if Trump would “declassify the Epstein files” if he were elected president, Trump replied that he would. “Yeah, yeah I would. I guess I would,” Trump said. “I think less so because you don’t know, you don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because there’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world, but I think I would.” On Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting, Trump brushed off the topic of Epstein when asked by a reporter about him. “Are people still talking about this guy, this creep?” Trump said. “That is unbelievable.” “What about her little black book? The 97-page book, contains the names and contact details of almost 2,000 people including world leaders, celebrities and businessmen,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote this week on X. “No one believes there is not a client list.” The Miami Herald’s Julie Brown, who followed and reported on Epstein’s case for years, has said claims about the list are dubious. “There is no client list that I am aware of. My theory is it was something conspiracy theorists cooked up to monetize their podcasts online,” Brown wrote in response to social media users in 2024. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has made the release of the Epstein files one of her top priorities over the past couple of years. From promoting anticipated disclosures on the Senate floor to posting dozens of times about the matter on social media, Blackburn has vowed that “accountability for these predators is coming.” “Epstein’s client list and the information I requested to reveal his associates & business dealings are key to helping us crack this trafficking ring wide open,” Blackburn wrote on social media in February. Ahead of the DOJ releasing a small tranche of files in February, Blackburn said “this will be a ‘phase 1’ release. There will be more to come.” TRUMP SLAMS REPORTER FOR ASKING ABOUT ‘CREEP’ JEFFREY EPSTEIN DURING CABINET MEETING The Trump administration first released that batch of information, which contained no new revelations, in February to right-wing social media influencers. They appeared in photos at the White House with binders the Trump administration gave them that were labeled “classified” and “Epstein files: Phase 1.” Blackburn also secured a promise from Patel during his confirmation hearing this year that he would publish Epstein files. Bondi was asked by host John Roberts during a Fox News interview in February if she planned to release a “list of Epstein’s clients.” “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” Bondi said. “That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that.” Bondi clarified her remarks during the Cabinet meeting with Trump on Tuesday, saying she was referencing Epstein’s entire case file. “In February, I did an interview on Fox, and it’s been getting a lot of attention because I said, I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, ‘It’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed,’ meaning the [Epstein] file along with the JFK and MLK files,
Massachusetts bill would force ICE agents to unmask
A new bill in Massachusetts aims to require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal immigration enforcement officers to unmask. The legislative proposal was introduced Wednesday by Democratic state Rep. James Hawkins. It calls for a new section to the Massachusetts Penal Code that states, “A law enforcement officer shall not wear any mask or personal disguise while interacting with the public in the performance of their duties, except for medical grade masks that are surgical or N95 respirators designed to prevent the transmission of airborne diseases and masks designed to protect against exposure to smoke or toxins during a state of emergency.” “A violation of this section shall be punishable as a misdemeanor,” the bill, which was co-sponsored by another 10 Democratic state representatives, said. 4 ARRESTED IN ALLEGED BORDER PATROL OPERATION SABOTAGE ATTEMPT NEAR LA AS ATTACKS ON IMMIGRATION AGENTS SURGE It says the intent of the legislature is to enact legislation “to require law enforcement officers to include their name or badge number on their uniforms,” as well as to enact legislation to “ensure that Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team officers can utilize gear necessary to protect their faces from physical harm while they perform their SWAT responsibilities.” ICE acting director Todd Lyons defended mask-wearing by his agents during a May press conference announcing an operation had resulted in nearly 1,500 arrests across Massachusetts. “I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line, because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” Lyons during a press conference in Boston. “Is that the issue here that we’re upset about, the masks? Or is anyone upset about the fact that ICE officers’ families were labeled terrorists?” During an operation in Los Angeles weeks prior, Lyons said, ICE agents were “doxed” – having their personal information publicized – and people took photos of agents’ names and faces and posted them online “with death threats to their families and to themselves.” Most of those arrested in the Massachusetts operation had “significant criminality in the U.S. or abroad” and agents targeted “the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods of Massachusetts,” officials said. “If sanctuary cities would change their policies and turn these violent criminal aliens over to us, into our custody, instead of releasing them to the public, we would not have to go out to the communities and do this,” Lyons added. “Boston’s my hometown, and it really shocks me that officials all over Massachusetts would rather release sex offenders, fentanyl dealers, drug dealers, human traffickers and child rapists back into the neighborhoods.” TRUMP SEETHES THAT DEMS FLOATING BILL REQUIRING THE UNMASKING OF ICE, CBP AGENTS MUST ‘HATE’ AMERICA Hawkins cited the March arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk by masked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents outside of her home in Somerville, Mass. ICE accused the 30-year-old Turkish national of supporting Hamas, and DHS later confirmed her student visa had been revoked. She was subsequently transported to ICE detention centers in New Hampshire, Vermont and Louisiana, until a judge approved her release and return to Massachusetts in May. The bill is only the latest of a series of legislative proposals brought by Democrats seeking to unmask ICE agents. U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced the “Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement” or VISIBLE Act this week. They argue the bill would “strengthen oversight, transparency, and accountability for the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate and alarming immigration enforcement tactics that have terrorized communities across California and the nation.” Reacting to the Senate bill, President Donald Trump noted how demonstrators protesting ICE and other Trump administration policies don masks and other face coverings regularly to hide their identities. “It’s sort of funny when people picket in front of Columbia, in front of Harvard, and they have masks on – more than masks. I mean, you can’t see anything. Nobody complains about that. But when a patriot who works for ICE or Border Patrol puts a mask on so that they won’t recognize him and his family, so they can lead a little bit of a normal life after having worked so hard and so dangerously, there’s a problem with that,” Trump said Wednesday during a White House meeting with African leaders. “This is the problem with the Democrats. They have a lot of bad things going on in their heads,” Trump added. “They’ve lost their confidence, number one. And they’re really – they’ve become somewhat deranged. I want to do whatever is necessary to protect our great law enforcement people. And they are right at the top of the list.” The Justice Department told Fox News Digital on Wednesday it is actively tracking the recent uptick in “targeted assaults” against federal immigration enforcement agents and ICE facilities.
‘Gut check time’: Dissent among Senate GOP ranks threatens to reduce Trump’s spending cut demand
Senate Republicans are gearing up to claw back billions of dollars in foreign aid and public broadcasting funding, but dissent is brewing among some who could eat into President Donald Trump’s cut request. A cohort of Senate Republicans are publicly and privately growing squeamish over the White House’s $9.4 billion rescissions package, which would slash $8.3 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS. ‘BAIT AND SWITCH’: SCHUMER WARNS OF BITTER FUNDING FIGHT OVER GOP CUTS PLAN The cuts stem from Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was lauded by most Republicans for its mission to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Still, concerns and calls for changes are being made, in particular to proposed slashes to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the public broadcasting fund. Publicly, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have all aired their concerns about the House-passed bill and are eyeing changes that could see the cuts reduced. TRUMP’S PLAN TO SLASH ‘WOKE’ FOREIGN AID, NPR FUNDS CLEARS HOUSE AS SENATE BATTLE LOOMS “I don’t like it as it is currently drafted,” Murkowski said. “I’m a strong supporter of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and our health programs are important.” Collins has raised issues with slashes to PEPFAR, an issue brought forth during a hearing with White House officials last month, while Rounds is worried about funding being slashed to rural radio stations, particularly for Native American populations in his state and others “and their ability to get good information during times of stress.” Senate Republican leadership already has plans for an amendment process on the bill, which will likely culminate in another marathon vote-a-rama amendment session — roughly two weeks after the grueling amendment process for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that he intended to put the package on the Senate floor next week, likely ahead of the Friday deadline for lawmakers to advance the clawbacks. If the bill is amended, it would have to be sent back to the House before heading to Trump’s desk. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital that he expected the vote-a-rama to begin Wednesday, and said the hope was that leadership would be able to address as many concerns among Republicans as possible before bringing the bill to the floor. “Whatever it takes, we’re having those conversations,” he said. “The point is, once we get to the vote-a-rama, we want to have as much issues resolved so we know where we’re at on the floor without any surprises. And I think we can do that, maybe not, but I think we can. I think we got a good picture of where we’re at right now.” Other lawmakers see the package in its current form as a no-brainer to pass. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that if amendments were offered to keep spending that he agreed with, he could find himself supporting tweaks to the package. But he challenged his colleagues to reject a spending cut package that ultimately amounted to less than half a percent of the nation’s entire budget. “This is gut check time for our Republican colleagues,” he said. “They either believe in reducing spending or they don’t. They either believe in spending porn or they don’t, and I’ve listened to my colleagues, especially in the last 100 plus days, talk about how great DOGE was. Well, now is the chance to show it.”
Trump had very unexpected convo with Obama at Carter’s funeral: Book
President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama chatted about golf during a viral moment of bipartisanship during former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in January, just days before Trump’s return to the Oval Office, a new book detailing the unprecedented 2024 election cycle reported. Trump and Obama were seen smiling and quietly chatting with one another in the pews of the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9, 2025, in a moment that spread like wildfire on social media as Americans sounded off with speculation over what the pair of presidents who had long traded political barbs were talking about. “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” which was released Tuesday, said that Trump arrived in Washington for Carter’s funeral as a “conqueror” following the November 2024 election and sat next to Obama for the funeral service. “He’d attended Jimmy Carter’s funeral, walking into Washington not as a scourge but as a conqueror,” the book reported of Trump. “He could ignore the speech on character by the outgoing president, and the cold shoulder from the vice president he’d defeated.” “Instead he sat next to Barack Obama and invited him to play golf, enticing him with descriptions of Trump’s courses around the world,” the book continued of the pair’s conversation. “He was no longer an anomaly. He was being treated like an American president. He wanted to be remembered as a great one.” BIDEN AIDES PUSHED FOR EARLY DEBATE TO SHOW OFF BIDEN’S ‘STRENGTH,’ EXPOSE TRUMP’S ‘WEAKNESS,’ BOOK SAYS ART OF THE SURGE: BEHIND THE SCENES ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ROAD BACK TO WHITE HOUSE Trump and Obama were seated near other high-profile former U.S. leaders, including former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Mike Pence, former President Bill Clinton, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Social media commenters at the time remarked that footage and video clips of the pair were unexpected, and others joked that Obama may have voted for Trump despite years of the pair trading political barbs. “Trump and Obama sitting next to each other was not on the 2025 bingo card,” one social media user posted to X in January. TRUMP: JIMMY CARTER DIED A HAPPY MAN BECAUSE BIDEN HOLDS TITLE FOR ‘WORST’ PRESIDENT IN HISTORY “Did Obama vote for Trump too?!” Clay Travis, founder of sports and politics commentary platform OutKick, joked at the time. “We need lip readers to see what Trump said to make Obama laugh,” another person posted to X in January. Trump was asked about the viral moment ahead of his inauguration, remarking that he “didn’t realize how friendly it looked.” “I said, ‘Boy, they look like two people that like each other.’ And we probably do,” Trump added at the time. “We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.” Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed to this report.