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War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that some cartel drug traffickers operating in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility have halted narcotics activity following recent U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean.

“WINNING: Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the @SOUTHCOM AOR have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean,” Hegsth wrote in a post on X.

Hegseth credited President Donald Trump with directing the military actions, calling the effort a lifesaving deterrent.

HEGSETH SAYS DEPARTMENT OF WAR ‘WILL BE PREPARED TO DELIVER’ WHATEVER TRUMP WANTS FOLLOWING IRAN WARNING

“This is deterrence through strength. @POTUS is SAVING American lives,” he wrote.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised the military action, writing on X, “Well done @SecWar and to all under your command. We must continue to verify and monitor. We can’t trust drug cartels.”

PENTAGON WATCHDOG WARNS DRONE INCURSIONS REQUIRE ‘IMMEDIATE ATTENTION’ AT US MILITARY BASES

The Trump administration has been pursuing a policy of conducting deadly attacks against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”

SOUTHCOM announced a strike that killed two on Thursday.

US FORCES KILL TWO SUSPECTED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE OPERATION

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“On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” Southern Command noted in a post on X.

Editor’s note: This story includes graphic images of the remains of an animal that some readers may find disturbing.

EXCLUSIVE: The University of Minnesota is facing a proposed penalty of over $14,000 after it was discovered that a green energy initiative funded by a grant from the Obama administration was responsible for the gruesome death of an American bald eagle.

The incident occurred at the University of Minnesota’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Field Station in Dakota County, Minnesota.

Photos obtained by Fox News Digital show the moment a University of Minnesota wind turbine struck the bald eagle, dismembering it into three pieces and leaving a bloodied carcass on the floor below.

A violation notice says the university violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by killing the eagles without what is called an “incidental take permit.” As such, the university is facing a proposed civil penalty of $14,536 for illegally killing what one Department of the Interior official called a “national treasure.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER CCP-LINKED FAKE RESEARCH THREATENING US TAXPAYER-FUNDED SCIENCE

According to a Department of the Interior violation notice reviewed by Fox News Digital, the university was aware that bird collisions were a danger and was in the process of testing its collision detection sensors when the incident occurred.

The eagle’s remains were discovered in pieces. The lower torso and tail were found by technicians first, while the head and wings were not found until over a month later.  

Following the incident, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent the university a letter, urging the institution to reassess the turbine’s danger to eagles and to consider applying for a long-term permit for incidental take of eagles. However, the January notice of violation issued by the DOI does not indicate that the university has since obtained any such permit.

SNOWSTORM COULD’VE SPARKED GRID CATASTROPHE IF BIDEN CLIMATE POLICIES WEREN’T REVERSED: ENERGY DEPT

The Minnesota turbine is a part of the university’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium, a wind-energy research collaboration. The construction of the turbine was funded by a $7.9 million grant from the Obama Department of Energy awarded in 2010, according to local outlet the Minnesota Daily.

One of former President Barack Obama’s first major legislative achievements was the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which according to a report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, appropriated an “unprecedented $90 billion to ‘lay the foundation for a clean energy economy of the future,’ of which the U.S. Department of Energy received $35.2 billion.”

The Minnesota incident is not the only such killing to have occurred in recent years.

In November, Fox News Digital reported on FWS proposing hefty fines on renewable energy company Ørsted Onshore North America for two bald eagle kills by wind turbines in Nebraska and Illinois. In January, FWS issued notice of finalized fines of a total of $32,340 for the two eagles killed by Ørsted turbines.

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSING ALL OFF SHORE WIND PROJECT CONSTRUCTION DUE TO NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

U.S. Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum has previously criticized solar and wind projects, saying they are “destabilizing our grid and driving up prices.” 

“When you think about the green new scam, it was pro-China, and it’s anti-American, and it’s also unaffordable and unreliable,” Burgum said on Jesse Watters Primetime in June.

Matthew Middleton, a spokesperson for DOI, commented on the killings, telling Fox News Digital that under President Donald Trump and Secretary Doug Burgum, the department “is enforcing the law to protect these iconic birds and demand accountability from an industry that has jeopardized these protected species.”

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“America’s bald eagles are a national treasure, not collateral damage for costly wind experiments,” said Middleton, adding, “Wind companies will no longer get a free pass as this administration safeguards bald eagles and advances energy policies that prioritize affordability and strengthen America’s economy.”

A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota confirmed to Fox News Digital that the university had received DOI’s notice and said it is “currently under review.”

Ørsted did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

House GOP leaders are forging ahead on legislation aimed at imposing new federal guardrails to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in national elections.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed to Fox News Digital that the chamber would vote on the SAVE America Act introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, next week.

It comes after conservatives threatened to extend the partial government shutdown earlier this week if the legislation was not included in Congress’ bipartisan funding bills. But those lawmakers backed off their demands after getting assurances from the White House that the Senate would give the bill serious consideration.

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH TO DEPORT, DENATURALIZE FRAUDSTERS AMID MINNESOTA SCANDAL

The House’s vote next week hikes the growing pressure on the Senate to take up the bill, where it will face long odds of passing. Its backers are hoping a little-known maneuver called a “standing filibuster” will be key to breaking through Democratic opposition, however. 

“These are common-sense measures that protect American voters,” Scalise explained to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“Only Democrats in Congress could oppose these basic requirements that prevent voter fraud, and that’s because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections. Why else would they support open borders, oppose deporting illegal aliens, and oppose election security like picture ID?”

The SAVE America Act is an updated version of Roy’s Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

“It’s all the same concept, right? I mean, you want citizenship, and then you want to guarantee that the person voting is the person voting. Photo ID is, I think, a critically important element to that, and we want to require that for federal elections,” Roy told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

The bill is expected to easily pass the House — the original SAVE Act got support from all Republicans and four Democrats — but its survival in the Senate is more complicated.

Most legislation needs 60 votes to break through a filibuster, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to vote with Republicans to advance the bill. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., led a small coalition of conservatives threatening to extend the most recent government shutdown if the SAVE America Act was not attached to the funding bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday.

Luna told reporters she spoke with the White House on Monday night where she got assurances that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is looking at using a maneuver called a “standing filibuster” to ensure a vote on the bill.

It would restore antiquated filibuster rules in the Senate that require opponents of a bill to be physically present in the chamber and speaking continuously to delay its consideration. 

The move would also eliminate the need for 60 votes to break a filibuster, which currently does not require lawmakers to be present in the chamber until a vote — rather, it would end when opponents were done speaking. Each senator can give a maximum of two speeches, though without any time constraints.

The downside of such a move is that it would grind Senate proceedings to a halt until the filibuster was over. But Roy argued that any such delay in the upper chamber’s duties would fall squarely on Democrats’ shoulders.

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“What we’re trying to say is that for something as important as sovereignty in our elections, we should force that question,” Roy said. “If Democrats want … a long, drawn-out, talking filibuster, then let them explain that to the American people.”

Scalise told Fox News Digital, “Once House Republicans pass this bill — and we will — I urge the Senate to quickly put it on the floor so we can send it to President Trump’s desk. The American people are demanding action — Congress must answer their call and pass this critical legislation.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Arctic blast that snowed in much of the East exposed not only the need for road salt but the possibility that untold taxpayer dollars were wasted on risky electric bus subsidy programs under the Biden administration, according to critics of those initiatives.

That’s the claim from Power the Future, a top energy advocacy and watchdog group that also compared the disbursement of more than $8 billion over at least two related federal subsidy programs to oversight failures by the Minnesota government involving its Medicaid and childcare entitlement crises recently exposed.

E-buses have been purchased by transit agencies in part through a “Low-No” emissions grant program mainly through the Federal Transit Administration that received a $1.6 billion infusion during the Biden years.

DEM-APPOINTED EDUCATION OFFICIALS FACE NEW SCRUTINY AS FEEDING OUR FUTURE SCANDAL WIDENS, TRUMP TARGETS FRAUD

“Given the scale of this investment, there must be an examination into whether taxpayers are receiving the reliable, deployable transit assets capable of serving the communities for which they were funded,” Power the Future (PTF) President Daniel Turner said.

Similarly, PTF highlighted a 2024 EPA Inspector General audit that found the agency failed to meaningfully track the deployment of electric school buses under a 2022 rebate program through which $836 million was handed out by federal officials.

Only about 7% of participating school districts had completed the processes needed to put the buses into service, such as installing charging infrastructure.

“When hundreds of millions of dollars are awarded without confirmation that buses are delivered, operable or in service, the absence of oversight echoes the failures that are being highlighted in Minnesota,” PTF wrote.

PTF said the Biden administration’s “broader record” on “green infrastructure” spending is further exposed by these and other disbursements and requires Zeldin’s immediate attention.I

It cited an additional $7.5 billion spent on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, under which fewer than 400 charging ports were built as of late.

“When this failure is viewed alongside electric buses that cannot operate in cold weather, school buses that sit idle and grants producing little to no functional infrastructure, a troubling pattern emerges,” PTF said.

“Taken together, these outcomes raise the same red flags now familiar from the Minnesota daycare fraud scandal: large federal payouts with minimal verification, poor oversight and taxpayers left holding the bill.”

An EPA Inspector General statement from October regarding the school bus program said “three material weaknesses so significant that they could lead to material misstatements in the Agency’s financial statements” were found.

“The EPA did not monitor bus deployment status and recipient use of over $836 million of 2022 Clean School Bus, or CSB, Program rebates, despite the Agency stating it would do so,” another OIG report from 2024 said.

“At a minimum, these programs warrant immediate scrutiny to determine whether incompetence alone explains the results or whether fraud and misrepresentation are also at play,” PTF wrote.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES $20B GREEN GRANTS ENRICHED BIDEN ALLIES

As a test case, Turner pointed to buses purchased by Vermont’s Green Mountain Transit, which had previously procured five electric buses with the help of federal funds.

During the recent storm, Turner said, e-buses have a tougher time charging and operating in below-freezing temperatures, as evidenced by cases in New York and New England. This is a known limitation of battery performance in cold weather.

School districts in Western New York have had issues piloting the buses in the cold, and Turner told Fox News Digital the grants do not take into account the needs of schoolchildren over prioritizing green politics.

PTF also cited a case in Maine, where a school superintendent said her district received four “bad buses” from a now-bankrupt Canadian EV firm. One e-bus’s brakes failed recently and crashed into a snowbank, according to WGME.

“Costing nearly $8 million, more than 95 percent of the funding for these five buses came from American taxpayers [and] requires serious questions be asked,” PTF wrote to Zeldin.

“These buses were purchased to operate in Vermont’s climate, yet reports indicate they cannot be reliably charged in temperatures below 41 degrees. With the average winter temperature in Burlington hovering in the mid 20s, the vehicles, which cost more than $1.5 million apiece, are unusable under predictable winter conditions.”

Green Mountain Transit General Manager Clayton Clark told Fox News Digital that his five e-buses “being inoperable have nothing to do with the storm. The batteries were recalled by the manufacturer,” adding local media erroneously reported the snow had been the main factor.

He also said that media reports had incorrectly stated the 41-degree issue always existed, quipping, “We never would have purchased buses with that [requirement] in Vermont” and that the threshold originated from new recall information from the manufacturer.

“We know that the manufacturer will be 18–24 months [until we get] new batteries. We look at this as the buses were working A-OK before this situation. Considering the 12-year life cycle to be out for a few months is not indicative of the program being a failure. This is no different than a safety recall that we would get for a diesel bus.

“Folks across the political spectrum (are) looking to make hay, [but we] don’t look at it as a failure of the program.”

Asked about Clark’s comments, Turner said that cold-weather agencies should have known they were using experimental technology not as proven as internal-combustion buses.

“At no point does anyone who has a gas-powered bus have to play these games, introducing new sets of variables. We are still sacrificing the children for a pretend cause.”

Turner told Fox News Digital that while “these [green] games are ongoing, there are schoolchildren who cannot get to class because they are fixing problems that they themselves created.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment.

EPA spokesman Michael Bastasch told Fox News Digital the EPA is actively “revamping the Clean School Bus Program in accordance with President Trump’s executive order: Unleashing American Energy to ensure hard-earned American tax dollars are being put to the best use possible and not frivolously wasted as was often the case under the previous administration.”

“Under Administrator Zeldin’s leadership, EPA is committed to being exceptional stewards of taxpayer dollars and delivering measured results for American families, while still fulfilling Congressional intent,” Bastasch said, adding that Zeldin has already canceled $30 billion in wasteful grants and contracts.

President Donald Trump addressed a recent controversy over Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard’s presence at an FBI search of the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia.

“She took a lot of heat two days ag,o because she went in at Pam’s insistence. She went in, and she looked at votes … because Pam wanted her to do it,” Trump said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi, while speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

The president went on to slam critics who said that Gabbard’s presence during the FBI search was inappropriate and outside of her job description.

GEORGIA’S FULTON COUNTY FILES MOTION SEEKING RETURN OF 2020 ELECTION MATERIALS SEIZED BY FBI

Trump had previously spoken about the controversy at the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s movie “MELANIA” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He defended Gabbard and said she was “working very hard on trying to keep the election safe.”

In a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn, which was obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, Gabbard said that Trump had “specifically directed” her to be present at the raid. The letter was written in response to one that Warner and Himes sent in late January, in which they requested Gabbard brief them on why she was present at the FBI search.

KASH PATEL CONFIRMS FBI HAD ‘PROBABLE CAUSE’ FOR FULTON COUNTY ELECTION HUB RAID

In the letter, Gabbard said that her “presence was requested by the President and executed under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence (CI), foreign and other malign influence, and cybersecurity.”

“The FBI’s Intelligence/Counterintelligence divisions are one of the 18 elements that I oversee,” she said.

Additionally, Gabbard said in the letter that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) Office of General Counsel found that her actions had been “well within my statutory authority.”

Gabbard announced in April 2025 that the ODNI was investigating electronic voting systems.

On Jan. 28, the FBI searched Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City, near Atlanta, for records connected to the 2020 election. The county’s officials have since filed a motion seeking the return of the 2020 ballots and other documents seized during the search.

The motion, which remains under seal, asks a federal court to compel the return of approximately 656 boxes of original 2020 election materials. 

A warrant cover sheet provided to the county includes a list of items that the agents were seeking related to the 2020 general election: all ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners that tally the votes, electronic ballot images created when the ballots were counted and then recounted, and all voter rolls.

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Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, was not conducted fairly.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Thursday called for U.S. nuclear experts to begin work on what he described as a “new, improved, and modernized Treaty,” arguing that the United States should move away from extending the existing New START nuclear arms agreement.

Trump made the remarks in a post on Truth Social as the administration weighs the future of U.S. nuclear arms control policy and whether it will seek to extend or replace New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow.

“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump wrote.

“The president wants to have our nuclear experts work on a new, improved and modernized treaty that can last long into the future,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.  “And that’s what the United States will continue to discuss with the Russians.”

TRUMP VOWS TO ‘KNOCK THE HELL OUT OF’ IRAN IF NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS REBUILT AGAIN AFTER HIGH-STAKES MEETING

Trump also made broader claims in his post about his role in preventing nuclear conflict, writing that he stopped “Nuclear Wars from breaking out across the World between Pakistan and India, Iran and Israel, and Russia and Ukraine.”

A White House official told Fox News that the Trump administration is still weighing next steps on nuclear arms control and that no final decision has been announced.

“The President will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline,” the official said.

TRUMP STUNS WITH CALL TO RESUME NUCLEAR TESTS — WHY NOW, AND WHAT IT COULD MEAN

The official added that Trump “has spoken repeatedly of addressing the threat nuclear weapons pose to the world and indicated that he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in arms control talks.”

Axios reported Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials have been discussing whether both sides could continue to observe the terms of New START after its expiration, citing multiple sources familiar with the talks. The outlet reported that no formal extension has been approved and that any arrangement would not be legally binding.

In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote that the U.S. should pursue a new agreement rather than extend New START.

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According to the Associated Press, New START’s expiration leaves no caps on the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Trump has made clear that future arms control efforts must include China, telling reporters that “in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it’s impossible to do something that doesn’t include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile.”

The Trump administration is shifting its approach to cracking down on illegal immigration in Minneapolis after federal agents’ actions drew scrutiny and sparked protests, sources told Fox News.

Minneapolis has become a flash point for clashes between federal immigration enforcement agents and agitators, particularly after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Local leaders slammed the Trump administration’s actions in Minneapolis, with Mayor Jacob Frey calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “get the f— out” of his city after Good was fatally shot.

Amid the unrest, President Donald Trump moved to change his administration’s approach and sent border czar Tom Homan to manage the situation. 

A White House official appeared to dismiss rumors of tension between Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Homan, saying that the two were working together to carry out the president’s agenda.

HOMAN ANNOUNCES DRAWDOWN OF FEDERAL PRESENCE IN MINNESOTA, HAILS ‘UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION’ FROM LOCAL POLICE

“Thanks to Tom Homan’s tireless work, an unprecedented number of counties in Minnesota have agreed to coordinate with ICE to transfer custody of criminal aliens upon their release. This is one of the conditions President Trump set for a drawdown,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

“These commitments have been made by local officials and will continue to be monitored for compliance,” 

Not all of Homan’s changes have been kept behind closed doors. The border czar announced the immediate drawdown of 700 personnel from Minnesota, effective Wednesday, though 2,000 officers will remain. He cited improved cooperation with jails and said a complete drawdown was the goal, but it was “contingent upon the end of illegal and threatening activities against ICE.”

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR TO VISIT DC TO PUSH FOR END OF ‘UNLAWFUL ICE OPERATIONS’ AFTER TRUMP’S BLUNT WARNING

Homan has reportedly changed how Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) operates and interacts with suspected illegal immigrants. The border czar has reportedly increased the threshold for making arrests and shifted entirely to targeted operations as opposed to rover patrols, which were done under Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, according to sources. 

Under Homan’s leadership, CBP agents have been instructed not to approach anyone they suspect to be in the country illegally unless they are a target, according to sources. CBP agents will instead be partnered with ICE officers to make targeted arrests, sources said. Additionally, sources told Fox News that Homan gave agents a warning that there would be consequences for stepping out of line.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that while officers on the ground in Minnesota will be making targeted arrests, they will also “enforce federal immigration law” if, during an operation, they “come across additional illegal aliens.”

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Fox News has been told there are thousands of targets in Minnesota and that targets are being identified through public records, which are run through a DHS database that provides criminal history, immigration history, invalid immigration documents and information on whether they have failed to appear for any immigration court hearings. 

Sources say that fingerprints have been used to identify targets because anyone who entered the country illegally under the Biden administration and encountered CBP was fingerprinted. If an illegal immigrant is arrested by a local police department, DHS gets an alert on where they were fingerprinted and what the arrest was for.

DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is detailing cases in which anti-ICE agitators actively helped criminal illegal immigrants evade federal arrest, including suspects accused of child rape, domestic abuse and gang-related violence.

The cases point to a growing pattern of organized interference with federal immigration enforcement during recent ICE operations. 

“These are the monsters that agitators and sanctuary politicians are protecting,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “We remind the public that obstructing law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime.”

FROM PROTEST TO FELONY: THE LINES MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS MAY BE CROSSING 

According to DHS, members of the anti-ICE Colorado Rapid Response Network alerted Jose Reyes Leon-Deras, a convicted child rapist, of ICE’s presence on June 20, 2025. A Facebook post by the anti-ICE group accused by DHS of helping with Leon-Deras’ evasion on June 20, indicates members affiliated with the anti-ICE group used a bullhorn that day to alert potential targets of ICE. 

The post suggested that police left without serving any warrants, while noting that agents returned in the days that followed. 

According to DHS, federal agents finally arrested Leon-Deras June 27, and he was issued a final order of removal Oct. 30 during the Trump administration’s ongoing operations in Colorado.

In a separate situation in Minneapolis, an apartment manager allegedly prevented federal immigration agents from entering a building where a criminal foreign national from Somalia, convicted of violent sex crimes and previously arrested for a high-level assault, was located. 

DHS accused the apartment manager of actively protecting a sex offender, Mahad Abdulkadir Yusuf, who had a conviction for criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. He allegedly forcibly compelled his victim to perform sex acts on him on multiple occasions. 

According to DHS, Yusuf was also arrested in 2016 for first-degree assault and had an active warrant out for obstructing police.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: CONVICTED MURDERERS, CHILD SEX ABUSERS AMONG ILLEGAL ALIENS NABBED BY ICE ACROSS US 

Yusuf originally entered the United States in 1996 and was a lawful permanent resident, but his crimes made him eligible for removal, and ICE arrested him Dec. 31. 

Another child sex offender, Jozias Natanael Carmona-Pena, was allegedly assisted by not only agitators but sanctuary city leaders in Minneapolis, according to DHS. 

Carmona-Pena had pending charges for lewd and lascivious acts with a child, but he was released onto the streets of Minneapolis after local law enforcement allegedly denied ICE’s detainer request that Carmona-Pena be held until they could pick him up for immigration violations, according to the Trump administration. 

Carmona-Pena was issued a final order of removal in 2023 but remained in the country.

When federal officials sought to arrest Carmona-Pena Dec. 10, agitators allegedly swarmed immigration officials and obstructed their attempts to arrest the illegal alien accused of child sex crimes, including by ramming one of their cars into an ICE vehicle. 

Local police subsequently responded and provided assistance, but, according to DHS, the actions allowed Carmona-Pena to avoid arrest. He was eventually caught later that same month on Dec. 27 and is now in custody pending his removal.    

In another case from Milwaukee, a federal judge, Hannah Dugan, was convicted of felony obstruction for directing a criminal illegal alien, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, charged with domestic abuse, out a backdoor inside her courthouse to avoid ICE agents. 

According to DHS, Flores-Ruiz had other violent criminal charges on his record, from strangulation, suffocation and battery to domestic abuse, when he was eventually arrested following the April evasion incident with Dugan. 

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Federal immigration officials in Illinois who were chasing down an alleged Venezuelan gang member in Illinois were obstructed by agitators as well, according to DHS.

DHS said when the suspect tried to barricade himself inside an apartment — after ramming his car into police — bystanders gathered around the officers and began throwing rocks and bottles at them.

According to DHS, local police would not assist. After several hours of negotiation, ICE officials took Acosta into custody. 

“As our law enforcement are putting their lives on the line to arrest heinous criminals, including child rapists, sex offenders, gang members and other violent offenders, our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them,” McLaughlin said Thursday. 

“President Trump and Secretary Noem have been very clear. We will  not let agitators slow us down from removing criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods. If you obstruct or assault law enforcement, you will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Thursday it will relax federal regulations regulating when companies may label products as free of artificial coloring.

The FDA said businesses can now label products as having “no artificial colors” if the coloring is natural or plant-based.

“Companies will now have flexibility to claim products contain ‘no artificial colors’ when the products do not contain petroleum-based colors,” the FDA said. “In the past, companies were generally only able to make such claims when their products had no added color whatsoever — whether derived from natural sources or otherwise.” 

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the policy shift, saying it will ease the transition for companies while advancing efforts to make food safer.

FDA BANS RED FOOD DYE DUE TO POTENTIAL CANCER RISK

“This is real progress,” RFK Jr. said in a statement. “We are making it easier for companies to move away from petroleum-based synthetic colors and adopt safer, naturally derived alternatives. This momentum advances our broader effort to help Americans eat real food and Make America Healthy Again.”

The agency also expanded its list of approved naturally-sourced food colorings, adding beetroot red and broadening the approved use of spirulina extract.

The new additions bring the total number of food color options approved under the current administration to six, the FDA said. 

FDA BANS ARTIFICIAL RED DYE: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONSUMERS

Health officials said the changes were made in recognition that coloring derived from natural sources should not be classified as artificial.

“We acknowledge that calling colors derived from natural sources ‘artificial’ might be confusing for consumers and a hindrance for companies to explore alternative food coloring options,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement. 

“We’re taking away that hindrance and making it easier for companies to use these colors in the foods our families eat every day.”

As part of the Trump administration’s initiative to Make America Healthy Again, the HHS and the FDA in April 2025 began a series of actions to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic colors from the nation’s food supply.

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In January 2025, health officials banned red food dye known as Red 3, or erythrosine, citing potential cancer risks.

Food manufacturers were given until January 2027 to remove it from their products, while drug manufacturers will have until January 2028 to do the same.  

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu accused federal immigration agents of conducting “unconstitutional” operations in the city and ordered the public release of surveillance and body camera footage tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions. She said the move is aimed at holding federal agents accountable for alleged acts of violence.

Wu and other Massachusetts officials held a joint news conference Thursday in the blue city, slamming the Trump administration’s federal immigration enforcement and pointing specifically to ICE activity in various communities.

“They are trying to do with federal agents what they have failed to do with canceled grants, sham investigations and the National Guard,” Wu said. “If we experience the kind of unlawful and unconstitutional invasion we’ve all seen in other parts of the country, then Boston will see the [Trump] administration in court again.” 

The Democrat mayor said she signed an executive order Thursday morning aimed at holding federal officials accountable, directing city departments to protect residents and respond to any violence, property damage or criminal conduct related to immigration enforcement.

BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE

Wu said the order makes clear that city first responders will prioritize de-escalation and public safety during federal immigration operations.

“While the federal government hides behind masks, we will be transparent,” she said. “This order directs city departments to release surveillance and body-worn camera footage of violence or property damage by federal agents, in accordance with state law. 

“This order also doubles down on our dedication to use city resources to keep our residents safe.”

Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey introduced legislation aimed at limiting ICE activity in sensitive locations, including courthouses, schools, child care programs, hospitals and churches.

PORTLAND MAYOR DEMANDS ICE LEAVE CITY AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS USE TEAR GAS ON PROTESTERS ‘SICKENING DECISIONS’

The proposal would also bar other states from deploying National Guard troops in Massachusetts without the governor’s approval and allow parents to arrange guardianship in advance for their children if they are detained or deported.

Like a recent executive order issued by Healey, Wu’s proposal would bar federal immigration agents from using city buildings, parking lots and parks for enforcement operations and makes clear that schools, libraries, community centers and senior centers are intended for learning, gathering and public services.

CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON PUTS ICE ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER SEEKING PROSECUTION OF AGENTS

Wu also said the order directs the city to investigate any crimes committed in Boston, including those involving federal agents, and to make referrals to prosecutors when appropriate.

She said it also instructs city officials to pursue every available legal option to challenge what she described as coercive federal actions.

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“In Boston, as it should across America, the rule of law applies to everyone,” she said.

The order adds Boston to a growing list of blue cities openly challenging the Trump administration’s immigration policies, escalating a national fight over enforcement tactics, transparency and the reach of federal power.

President Donald Trump joked about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s religious devotion during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, recounting how Johnson asks to pray before meals, even during lunch, as Trump described it.

The 74th annual bipartisan event was held in Washington and attended by lawmakers, faith leaders and dignitaries.

“Did you know that, Mr. Speaker, you know, Mike Johnson’s a very religious person, that he does not hide it?” Trump said. “He’ll say to me sometimes at lunch, ‘Sir, may we pray?’ I say, ‘Excuse me, we’re having lunch in the Oval.’ It’s okay with me. But, he’s a very religious person and he is popular, and he’s doing an unbelievable job.”

Trump followed the joke with praise for Johnson, saying, “I think God is watching over you. God is watching over him.”

EL SALVADOR’S BUKELE SAYS VIOLENT GANG BANGERS ARE LITERAL SATAN WORSHIPPERS IN SHARP IMMIGRATION WARNING

“I don’t know about me,” Trump added, before continuing: “So I hang around with him because I feel I’m protected a little bit.”

The comments came as Trump used the annual gathering, according to his remarks, to emphasize what he described as a renewed embrace of religion in public life.

“In 2025, more copies of the Holy Bible were sold in the United States than at any time in the last 100 years,” Trump said. He also claimed that, in the last year, “young Americans attended church at nearly twice the rate as they did four years ago.”

TRUMP GETS IT: PRAYER ISN’T THE PROBLEM. SILENCING IT IS

Trump also announced plans for a national prayer gathering on the National Mall later this year.

“I’m pleased to announce that on May 17th, 2026, that we’re inviting Americans from all across the country to come together on our National Mall, to pray, to give thanks, and to return,” Trump said. “We’re going to rededicate America as one nation under God.”

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and evangelical Christian, has frequently spoken publicly about the role of faith in his personal life and leadership since becoming speaker.

“Today, President Trump will unite our country through the power of prayer at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital leading up to the event.

“President Trump has made unprecedented strides to protect our God-given rights and has delivered on his promise to reverse Joe Biden’s divisive policies that weaponized the federal government against men and women of faith. President Trump has secured major victories for religious freedom – from defending innocent life to restoring biological truth and protecting parents’ fundamental rights.”

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The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is urging U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to launch an investigation into Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson over her attendance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday amid anti-ICE rhetoric from celebrities and artists at the event. 

Jackson was in attendance at this year’s politically-charged event because of her nomination for narrating the audiobook version of her memoir, “Lovely One.” 

However, critics said Jackson clapped as various speakers criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

CRUZ DEMANDS IMPEACHMENT OF BOASBERG AND JUDGE WHO SENTENCED KAVANAUGH’S ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN

“While it is by no means unheard of or unusual for a Supreme Court justice to attend a public function, very rarely—if ever—have justices of our nation’s highest Court been present at an event at which attendees have amplified such far-left rhetoric,” Blackburn wrote in a letter to Roberts. 

Blackburn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into whether Jackson’s actions violate the high court’s Code of Conduct and would require her to recuse herself from certain cases. 

“To that end, in the interest of a fair-minded, impartial, and independent federal judiciary, I urge you to initiate an investigation into Justice Jackson’s attendance at this event and if her participation in any way would require recusal from matters that will come before the Court,” her letter states. 

BARRETT SAYS JUSTICES ‘WEAR BLACK, NOT RED OR BLUE’ IN RESPONSE TO PARTISAN CRITICS IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

Attendees at the awards were seen wearing “ICE Out” lapel pins, and some winners spewed anti-ICE rhetoric such as “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “F— ICE.”

Jackson’s appearance at the event raises questions considering the court is slated to take on cases revolving around the Trump administration, including birthright citizenship and immigration. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Blackburn’s office and the Supreme Court. 

In her letter, Blackburn noted that Democrats and the news media have smeared Republican-appointed justices to the court as “corrupt” and “partisan.”

She recalled how Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI., wrote a letter to Roberts urging him to ensure that conservative Justice Samuel Alito would recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot because his wife put up a Revolutionary War-era flag at their home.

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“Unlike these meritless claims against Justice Alito and Justice Thomas, there are serious questions regarding Justice Jackson’s participation in such a brazenly political, anti-law enforcement event and her ability to remain an impartial member of the Supreme Court,” Blackburn wrote. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said murders in major U.S. cities plunged to their lowest level since at least 1900 as federal arrests, gang takedowns and deportations surged under President Donald Trump’s promise to “restore law and order.”

Speaking to reporters at Thursday’s briefing, Leavitt said newly released data shows Trump is “delivering overwhelmingly on his promise.”

“A study from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) shows that the murder rate across America’s largest cities plummeted in 2025 to its lowest level since at least 1900,” she said. “Let me repeat to put this in perspective, this marks the largest single-year drop in murders in recorded history.”

“This dramatic decline is what happens when a president secures the border, fully mobilizes federal law enforcement to arrest violent criminals and aggressively deport the worst of the worst illegal aliens from our country,” she added.

LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

According to the CCJ’s report, nationwide homicide data released later this year could show killings in 2025 falling to roughly 4.0 per 100,000 residents – the lowest rate ever recorded in law enforcement or public health data dating back to 1900 and the largest single-year percentage drop on record.

The report found homicides fell 21% from 2024 to 2025 in the 35 cities that reported data, amounting to 922 fewer killings. Thirty-one of those cities saw declines, with Denver, Washington, D.C., and Omaha, Nebraska, each posting drops of around 40%.

Other major crimes also fell sharply in the cities studied. 

TRUMP SAYS CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS ‘MAKE HELLS ANGELS LOOK LIKE THE SWEETEST PEOPLE ON EARTH’

Robbery declined 23%, carjackings dropped 43% in cities that reported that data, aggravated assaults fell 9%, and motor vehicle theft decreased 27%.

CCJ cautioned that its findings are based on a limited group of cities and preliminary police data that could change, and said the report documents crime trends rather than proving that any single policy caused the declines.

“The numbers don’t lie,” Leavitt said. “Under President Trump in 2025, the FBI increased violent crime arrests by 100% compared to the prior year. The FBI also conducted more than 67,000 arrests from Inauguration Day 2025 to Jan. 20, 2026, which is 197% more arrests than the same period previously.”

TRUMP SAYS IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN NEEDS ‘SOFTER TOUCH’ WITH ‘TOUGH’ STANCE AFTER DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTINGS

She also highlighted a drop in crime in Washington, D.C., saying as of last week, homicides were down 62% and motor vehicle theft down 53%.

Leavitt argued that the drop in crime is the direct result of Trump’s leadership and willingness to empower law enforcement, rejecting media skepticism and saying rising violence under Democratic leadership was the product of deliberate policy choices.

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“It’s a choice to put violent criminals ahead of innocent Americans, a choice to force us all to live in fear because of soft on crime, liberal politicians, prosecutors and judges who lack the basic willingness to do their jobs and put dangerous people behind bars,” Leavitt said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt hit back at media outlets questioning the FBI’s seizure of ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, after years of the media claiming that Russia influenced the 2016 election.  

The FBI executed a search warrant in the Georgia county home to Atlanta in January, which included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard deploying on the ground to carry out an election security assessment. Gabbard’s presence has sparked outrage and questions from Democrats and the media over what they characterize as an unusual, politicized show of force.

“As the director of national intelligence, it is a part of Miss Gabbard’s role to make sure that American elections are free of foreign interference and that American elections are safe and secure,” Leavitt said of Gabbard’s presence in Fulton County. “And so the ODNI director is working with the FBI on this effort, and the president wholeheartedly supports both Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard in ensuring that American elections are safe, secure, and free of foreign intervention.”

GEORGIA’S FULTON COUNTY FILES MOTION SEEKING RETURN OF 2020 ELECTION MATERIALS SEIZED BY FBI

The reporter pushed back, “Is there any indication that there’s foreign influence?”

Leavitt began taking another question before circling back to remind the reporter of the media’s focus on claims Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election, when President Donald Trump ran against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

PATEL DOUBLES DOWN ON FBI ELECTION HUB RAID, SAYS TRUMP CALLED AGENTS DIRECTLY TO THANK THEM FOR OPERATION

“Excuse me one second. It’s the media who has said that there’s Russian interference in American elections. You guys have been saying that for many, many years,” Leavitt shot back. 

FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA TO SUE AFTER FBI SEIZES 2020 ELECTION RECORDS

“The people in this room, considering that you all, you all said for many years that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump, you should all be very happy that we finally have an administration that is looking into that, and we’ll be happy to keep you posted,” she continued. 

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into claims Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to secure the election wrapped up in March 2019, determining there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Irondale Mayor James Stewart, Jr. cited Martin Luther King Jr. as justification for protecting illegal immigrants and pledged funds to train activists to track ICE agents. However, his actions may prompt federal blowback, as Alabama’s senior senator warned the mayor he “won’t like me very much” if he follows through.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. — who is also running to succeed term-limited Gov. Kay Ivey this year — warned Stewart that the Democrat will have no such luck circumventing the feds.

“When I’m governor, Alabama will have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to rogue mayors trying to go around federal law,” Tuberville, the ex-Auburn football coach, told Fox News Digital.

“Like it or not, federal law says that illegal immigrants must be deported. If mayors don’t like that, they should run for Congress.”

ANTI-ICE LEGISLATION HEADS TO DESK OF RISING STAR DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR, TESTING HIS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS

Fox News Digital reached out to Stewart’s office after he said in his February mayoral newsletter that “watching ICE operations tear families apart in Irondale highlights the urgent need to address immigration policies affecting our community, which brings me back to King’s final speech, the one where he said he’d seen the Promised Land but might not get there.”

“I understand that now. This may be my last term. But I still have to do God’s will. Every single day. When Dr. King said, ‘I just want to do God’s will’ the night before they killed him, it brings me to tears. Because I know what that means now,” Stewart said.

Stewart said ICE operations are “following the same pattern” King described in his letter from jail in Birmingham, adjacent to Irondale.

Tuberville further took issue with reporting from Alabama news outlet 1819 News – so named for the state’s founding year – that Irondale has contracted with the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) to aid programs such as a “warning system to track [ICE] agents at the behest of the city’s mayor.”

In that regard, Stewart said in his newsletter his King-inspired work is not done while “families who built this community are being hunted.”

Days after Stewart’s newsletter publication, knife-wielding Mexican illegal immigrant Jose Ba-Ruiz was arrested and charged Monday by the Justice Department for assaulting an ICE agent in the Birmingham area.

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR AVOIDS QUESTION ON OPPOSING OBAMA-ERA IMMIGRATION POLICY NOW PUSHED BY TRUMP

In comments to Fox News Digital, Ivey backed up Tuberville, saying Montgomery will always work with DHS:

“Unlike Minnesota, in Alabama, we enforce the law,” Ivey said.

“We are proud to work with ICE to do just that: Enforce the laws and protect our citizens from criminals and lawbreakers.”

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While Stewart did not respond to Fox News Digital by publication time, he told Fox’s Birmingham affiliate that Irondale is not a sanctuary city and will not hide criminals from the law, and then claimed he won’t actually interfere with ICE operations.

“A lot of the things that we see now are the things that were going on 300 to 400 years ago,” he told the outlet. “We want to be a law-abiding city, but we also know our role.”

Businessman Rick Caruso, who last month announced that he would not seek elected office after an unsuccessful run against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, indicated this week that he is reconsidering in light of new allegations that Bass pushed for a report on the Palisades Fire to be watered down.

Caruso, who lost the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral contest to Bass, slammed the mayor in a Wednesday post on X.

“Today’s @latimes report is an absolute outrage. Karen Bass actively covered up a report meant to examine the most significant disaster in Los Angeles history. When it comes to life safety matters, this is no longer a matter of making poor judgement, apologizing and moving forward,” Caruso asserted in the post. 

PALISADES FIRE DISASTER PUSHES RING TO CLOSE CRITICAL GAPS IN EMERGENCY VISIBILITY

“This is a complete loss of public trust and an intentional act of covering up the actions that led to people dying. Everyone should read this article and consider what action is warranted. She has completely failed us,” he added.

In a statement issued last month, Caruso had said that he “decided not to pursue elected office at this time.”

But he indicated to KTTV on Wednesday that he was reconsidering based on the Los Angeles Times report.

Asked if he was reconsidering his decision, Caruso told the outlet that he was “certainly thinking about it.”

Asked if it was the article on Wednesday that made him reconsider, he said, “Yeah, yeah. Because incompetence is one thing. But it’s very different to mix incompetence, and now you’ve got somebody who is actively lying to the people that she has sworn to serve,” Caruso said.

TRUMP VOWS TO BLOCK LOW-INCOME HOUSING IN PACIFIC PALISADES: ‘I’M NOT GOING TO ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN’

Sources reportedly told the Times that two individuals close to the mayor informed them about Bass’ part in watering down the fire report. The newspaper noted that one source claimed to have spoken with both individuals, while the other source claimed to have spoken with one of the individuals. The Times reported that one person asserted to one of the sources that “the mayor didn’t tell the truth when she said she had nothing to do with changing the report.”

The mayor’s office blasted the Times’ report in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Mayor Bass has been unequivocal for months — she reviewed an early draft of the report and only asked the LAFD to make sure it was accurate on issues like weather and budget. She and her staff made no changes to the drafts,” the statement provided to Fox News Digital asserted.

TRUMP BYPASSES CALIFORNIA’S ‘NIGHTMARE’ BUREAUCRACY TO UNLOCK $3.2B FOR WILDFIRE SURVIVORS

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“The Mayor has been clear about her concerns regarding pre-deployment and the LAFD’s response to the fire, which is why there is new leadership at LAFD and why she called for an independent review of the Lachman Fire mop-up. There is absolutely no reason why she would request those details be altered or erased when she herself has been critical of the response to the fire – full stop,” Bass’ office added. “She has said this for months.”

“This is muckraking journalism at its lowest form. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Los Angeles Times reporters to rely on third hand unsourced information to make unsubstantiated character attacks to advance a narrative that is false,” the statement added.

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to kneecap sanctuary cities and provide more stringent protections for federal agents in a sweeping package designed to push back against disruptions to the Trump administration’s immigration operations. 

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., plans to introduce his Protect America Act, a colossal legislative package that would punish sanctuary cities, enhance penalties for illegal entry and reentry, boost protections for federal agents, and defund “corrupt” nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or nonprofits. 

The goal of the package is to cut into the unrest simmering in cities across the country where the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are operating. 

SENATOR CALLS OUT ‘GRASSROOTS’ ANTI-ICE GROUPS, URGES DOJ INVESTIGATION INTO ‘COORDINATED NATIONAL OPERATION’

Schmitt’s legislation comes as anti-ICE protests continue around the country, most notably in Minneapolis, where agitators have clashed with federal agents, resulting in the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good.

“This environment demands action,” Schmitt said in a statement. “The Protect America Act is a comprehensive, four-part legislative response designed to address the root causes of disorder, restore lawful enforcement authority, protect federal officers from coordinated interference and violence, and prevent the abuse of nonprofit status to shield or support criminal activity.”

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS

The package would condition federal funding to sanctuary cities based on cooperation with ICE and federal law enforcement. Cities that don’t comply would lose their funding completely. 

It would also require that jails and detention centers coordinate with ICE to share the identity, immigration status and release timing for detainees, allow people to sue for civil liabilities if a “removable alien” is knowingly released within a sanctuary city and commits a serious crime, and halt new foreign student visas until jurisdictions comply with federal immigration law.

In a bid to bolster protections for federal agents, the package would close loopholes that allow people to use whistles or other devices to interfere with officers’ communications, impose penalties of up to five years in prison for people who obstruct federal agents’ duties, ensure that the First Amendment protections explicitly state that the “act does not prohibit expressive content or lawful expressive conduct,” and make assaulting a federal agent a federal criminal offense. 

GOP SENATOR JABS JEFFRIES AS ‘BUTT HURT’ OVER TRUMP-SCHUMER DEAL

Schmitt’s legislation would also strengthen penalties for illegal entry and reentry into the country by ending catch-and-release and mandating detention, make illegal entry a felony, and boost penalties for illegal reentry to include fines and up to two years in prison. 

The fourth prong seeks to de-fang NGOs by revoking the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit that promotes, incites, or provides material support for criminal violence.

His legislative package comes as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and congressional Democrats offered their own, competing list of demands meant to rein in DHS and ICE, which they are demanding be considered and codified in exchange for their support of the now-sidelined Homeland Security funding bill.

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Schmitt and Senate Republicans haven’t taken well to many of the proposals from their counterparts, notably requiring ICE agents to get judicial warrants, de-masking federal agents and requiring full identification when in the field. 

“My view is we’re not doing any of this stuff until, unless, we end sanctuary city status, because that’s what’s causing all of this, is the lack of cooperation,” Schmitt said. “It’s the confrontations that are being created, and why you don’t see this in blue or red jurisdictions that aren’t sanctuary status. So this solution is very obvious. I think there’s a political grandstanding on their part.”

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem deployed to the northern and southern borders in a single day this week as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement across the country. Despite increased criticism following the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota, Noem told Fox News Digital that the department would not be deterred by sanctuary politicians from doing the work of getting dangerous illegal aliens off the streets.

“I think people would want less conflict,” Noem told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview in Nogales, Ariz., this week. “They also want to know that we’re enforcing our laws and that we are going after dangerous criminals. And they don’t want them to be released on the streets to perpetuate more crimes. So we’re going to continue to do our work and follow through on what President Trump promised.”

“We won’t be deterred by local elected officials that just want to create conflict,” the secretary added. “We’re going to continue to protect the American people and make sure that we have the opportunity to go after those dangerous illegal aliens and remove them.” 

The secretary’s remarks come as border czar Tom Homan announced an immediate drawdown of 700 personnel from Minnesota, effective Wednesday. Homan cited improved cooperation with the jails, though 2,000 officers will still remain in the state. Homan stressed that a complete drawdown was the goal but said that was “contingent upon the end of illegal and threatening activities against ICE.” 

LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

Anti-ICE agitators in Minnesota have been targeting street enforcement operations and demonstrations have escalated in the wake of the shootings of Good and Pretti. Good was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during a confrontation on Jan. 7, and Pretti was shot by Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24 during an enforcement operation. 

As Minnesota leadership has demanded federal immigration authorities leave the state, Noem painted the crackdown on illegal immigration as one aimed at protecting Americans, not creating political conflicts.

President Donald Trump rejected calls to fire Noem while addressing the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He cited the “strongest border in the history of our country” in defending the secretary.

While speaking with Fox News Digital in Nogales, a city that is located just over the U.S.-Mexico border, Noem pointed at the rhetoric coming from state leadership as a catalyst behind the intensifying resistance from the public in Minnesota. Noem also said that the operations in cities with cooperative officials have gone over smoother, offering Memphis, Tenn., as an example.

“Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Twin Cities, have an opportunity to do the same thing that Memphis did. There we had a Democrat mayor who worked with us. It was about the same size a city, about the same amount of federal law enforcement officers were there, and we dramatically cut crime and murder rates and partnered well together,” Noem said.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. And the way that it has been in Minneapolis is largely due to the rhetoric and the actions of the leadership there because they won’t partner with the federal government to enforce the law,” she added.

NOEM SLAMS DEMS, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR LACKING ‘COMPASSION’ AMID ANTI-ICE TENSIONS

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are among the most vocal critics of the Trump administration’s tactics.

Noem told Fox News Digital that she believes Homan is “working” to get local officials “to come to the table and work with us,” particularly on investigations of alleged fraud schemes tied to the Somali community. The secretary alleged that Walz and Frey “have perpetuated and allowed fraud to an unprecedented amount in Minneapolis.” 

“Tens of billions of dollars [were] stolen from the American people and from vulnerable people who needed those services and allowed to go into criminals’ pockets. So, of course, they don’t want any law enforcement there,” Noem said, adding that Walz and Frey were allegedly aiming to block Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigators from “getting to the bottom of how widespread that fraud was.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz and Frey for comment.

Noem said the Trump administration’s approach reflects what she says Americans want: less crime and more law enforcement.

“Every day we’re finding terrorists and removing them from our country, protecting our our cybersecurity systems, our critical infrastructure,” she said.

DHS SECRETARY NOEM STANDS BY BODY CAMERA REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL AGENTS FOLLOWING TRUMP COMMENTS

Noem said the people in Nogales were “thrilled” with the results of the administration’s immigration crackdown, saying locals got “their way of life back.” She added that former President Joe Biden’s policies were “devastating” for the area.

Noem also spoke about DHS’s efforts to block drugs from flowing through the country, something she said was a “crisis” under Biden.

“Well, we’re here in Nogales, which under Joe Biden’s policies, was a humanitarian crisis. In fact, through here was well known as a large drug trafficking area. They have a highway near here that is named ‘Cocaine Highway’ because the cartels moved so much drugs through here that was killing off the next generation of Americans,” the secretary said.

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Despite mounting criticism, Noem touted the department’s accomplishments, including the large numbers of deportations, both ones carried out by law enforcement and ones that occurred through “self-deportation.” She noted that the administration was incentivizing more self deportations by offering free flights and $2,600 payments.

Noem also touched on the subject of DHS funding, which has been a source of tension between Democrats and Republicans. The debate over funding the department has the potential to spark another government shutdown. The secretary told Fox News Digital that just 11% of the DHS budget is allocated to ICE, while the rest goes to FEMA, TSA and other agencies under the department. 

Despite the ongoing fighting over the funding, Noem said she is “hopeful” that Congress will recognize that DHS funding goes to more than immigration enforcement and that the bill would be passed “quickly.”

Fox News Digital’s Tessa Hoyos contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Progressive rising star Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, spent over $120,000 on luxury hotels, transportation and private security services over the course of 2025.

Federal Election Commission filings for Crockett, who has referred to President Donald Trump as a “slick con man” only concerned about pleasing the rich, show she sank just over $124,000 from her House and Senate campaign funds on luxury lodging, high-end transportation and private security in 2025.

Crockett spent $32,685.58 on luxury hotels alone. In the final quarter of 2025, as Crockett launched her Senate campaign, which she framed as a fight for the people against a “system of greed,” she spent $11,841.27 on top-name hotels across the country. Hotels Crockett’s campaigns paid for in the last quarter of 2025 included the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Hotel Zaza, Kimpton and the five-star Los Angeles West Hollywood Edition.

Meanwhile, she spent a total of $11,738.60 on limousine and luxury car services in 2025. Her Senate and House filings show she spent $5,446.30 on Bay Area Lux Limos, based in California, and Detailed Drivers, a “white-glove” transportation service, in the last three months of the year.

SWALWELL IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER SPENDING OVER $200K IN CAMPAIGN CASH ON PERSONAL CHILDCARE: ‘SLIPPERY SLOPE’

By far the largest expense was private security, despite Crockett repeatedly calling to defund the police. Crockett paid close to $80,000 for security in 2025. A significant portion, $30,079.34, of those security costs came in the final quarter of 2025.

In 2021, while Crockett was serving in the Texas House of Representatives, she said, “The Defund movement seeks to actually bring about healing and finally invest in our communities to make them safer, addressing the root causes of crime and by allowing the professionals to do their respective jobs. Defund is about finally being smart on crime. Defund is about lightening the load for our offices of all things they didn’t sign up for. Defund is about finally being fiscally responsible when it comes to policing in this state.”

Since entering Congress in 2023, Crockett has emerged as one of the foremost Democratic voices, especially when it comes to criticism of the Trump administration and other Republicans.

She took heat in early 2025 for several inflammatory comments, including calling for then-Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk to be “taken down” and mocking Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is wheelchair bound, as “governor hot wheels.” In both instances, Crockett said that her comments were misinterpreted or taken out of context.

WHITE PROGRESSIVES CRITICIZING JASMINE CROCKETT’S SENATE BID NEED TO ‘SIT THEIR A– DOWN,’ SAYS LIBERAL HOST

During her Senate campaign, she has cast herself as the only candidate who has “gone toe-to-toe with Trump.”

During a recent debate with Democratic primary opponent state Rep. James Talarico, Crockett called for impeachment proceedings against Trump, saying, “I think that there is more than enough to impeach.”

She also recently likened Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign to Nazi Germany and accused the Supreme Court of sanctioning “modern-day slave patrols.”

Crockett joined more than 70 House Democrats in co-sponsoring articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for “systemic abuses of power, violations of civil and constitutional rights, and deliberate obstruction of congressional oversight.”

TEXAS DEM SENATE CANDIDATE’S ‘MEDIOCRE’ COMMENT ROCKS RACE

“Secretary Noem has violated her oath and weaponized ICE against American communities,” said Crockett. “What we are witnessing is not public safety — it is state-sanctioned violence. It is unconstitutional, it is dangerous, and it demands accountability.”

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The Texas U.S. Senate primary election is on March 3. Whichever candidate emerges victorious will face off against either incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or Rep. Wesley Hunt in the November general election.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Crockett campaign for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump quipped during his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, “I don’t sleep on planes. I don’t like sleeping on planes. You know. I like looking out the window, watching for missiles and enemies, actually,” Trump said on Thursday, drawing laughter from the crowd. 

Trump joined the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, which pulls together bipartisan lawmakers, business leaders and foreign dignitaries to reflect on faith and prayer for the nation. It was the sixth time Trump has attended the event since his first administration in 2017. 

The president has long been known to avoid sleeping while flying on Air Force One. His quip about looking for missiles came as he recounted first meeting Daniel “Raizin” Caine, who now serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about defeating ISIS during his first term.

TRUMP RETURNS TO NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST AS FAITH TAKES CENTER STAGE IN SECOND TERM

Caine told Trump that an area had been prepared for him to nap during the 20-hour journey, which Trump refused so the pair could discuss strategies to wipe out ISIS.

“I said, ‘What’s your first name?’ ‘Raizin, sir. They call me Raizin.’ And I say, ‘what the hell kind of a name is that? Right?’” Trump joked.  

HEGSETH SAYS DEPARTMENT OF WAR ‘WILL BE PREPARED TO DELIVER’ WHATEVER TRUMP WANTS FOLLOWING IRAN WARNING

“He’s brutal. Just ask Venezuela. Ask Iran. They’re negotiating now. They don’t want to. They don’t want us to hit them. You know, we have a big fleet going over to Iran. But so Razin was there at the bottom of the plane,” he said. 

Trump continued his speech by taking a victory lap for the strength of the U.S. military under his second term, including capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Two years ago, you couldn’t get anybody to go into the military. They laughed at you and they said they didn’t respect our country. They didn’t respect our president. They thought he was a joke. They thought our country was a joke,” Trump said. 

“Other countries laughed at us and took advantage of us with tariffs. And we weren’t allowed to charge, and they were allowed to charge. But we are allowed to charge, and I hope we get that Supreme Court decision, because we have taken in hundreds of billions of dollars of money.”

AIR FORCE ONE GLITCH REVIVES REPLACEMENT PUSH AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT ‘PROVES TRUMP WAS RIGHT AGAIN’

Trump also reflected on his faith and administration’s mission to protect religious liberty. 

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“They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our Creator,” Trump said of the Founding Fathers in 1776. “A lot of presidents refuse to say that. They refuse to say that. . . . Some refuse. Some major politicians refuse to say the word ‘God.’ They don’t want to say it. I say it, that we are endowed with our sacred rights to life, liberty, and not by government, but by God Almighty himself.”