Tag Archive for: Department of Homeland Security

Active Shooter Reportedly Ambushes Border Patrol Agents

An active shooter with a rifle and tactical gear reportedly shot at Border Patrol agents arriving at an annex facility in Texas on Monday, injuring one local police officer, according to multiple reports.

Police and border agents shot and killed the gunman, who has not been identified, at a McAllen Texas Border Patrol building, Fox News and CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources. Authorities believe the shooting was an intentional attack on border officials.

No border agents were harmed in the shooting, but a McAllen police officer was reportedly wounded and is in stable condition.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

This is a breaking story and will be updated. 

AUTHOR

Hudson Crozier

DCNF Crime and Extremism Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Karoline Leavitt Says Trump Admin’s Naming And Shaming Of Sanctuary Cities Coming Back

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Caller on Tuesday that the Trump administration will soon be releasing a new list of sanctuary cities that are not in compliance with federal statutes.

The Department of Homeland and Security removed its previous list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” Sunday, which was previously ordered under a Trump executive order. After the list was first posted, several city leaders voiced concerns that their areas were included in the list.

Leavitt told the Caller at Tuesday’s White House briefing that the list would be reinstated soon.

“The Department of Homeland Security will be releasing a new list of sanctuary cities – an accurate list of sanctuary cities,” she said.

The Caller also asked Leavitt how the administration would be cracking down on sanctuary jurisdictions following the terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. A month before the attack, the state passed sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants.

“As for what we’re doing to crack down, the president has signed executive orders and has directed the attorney general to prosecute federal – state and local officials were not complying with federal immigration force – authorities, and most importantly, federal immigration law,” Leavitt told the Caller.

Trump’s April executive order on sanctuary cities warned that jurisdictions that do not comply with federal law would be at risk of losing federal funding. The order also directs the U.S. attorney general and secretary of Homeland Security to “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to bring non-compliant jurisdictions into compliance.”

“The Order ensures illegal aliens are not being favored over American citizens by directing the Attorney General to address state or local laws that unlawfully prioritize aliens,” a fact sheet on the order writes.

It was under the same order that Trump directed DHS to publish a list of states and local jurisdictions that are “obstructing federal immigration law enforcement.” Each sanctuary jurisdiction will be notified of its non-compliance so they can be given an “opportunity to correct it.”

“DHS demands that these jurisdictions immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous illegal aliens,” the previous list reads.

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House Correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

In Ironic Twist, Man Who Allegedly Stole Kristi Noem’s Bag Is Illegal Migrant, DHS Sec Says

The suspect who allegedly stole U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s bag while she dined with family at a hamburger restaurant late Easter Sunday is a criminal illegal migrant, authorities said Sunday.

Matt McCool, Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service Washington Field Office, announced Sunday that Secret Service agents, working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., had arrested a suspect believed to have robbed Noem of her bag. “The defendant was taken into custody without incident in the District of Columbia,” McCool said.

The suspect was a “serial offender” but he appeared not to have targeted Noem because of her person or position as DHS Secretary, McCool added. The suspect will face charges in a federal court, according to McCool.

“This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years,” Noem said in a post on X, while thanking the Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other law enforcement agencies investigating the theft that occurred April 20 at The Capital Burger. The restaurant is located a mile from the White House.

Neither Noem nor McCool named the suspect, but the New York Post — citing law enforcement sources — identified the suspect as Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49, of Santiago, Chile.

“A law enforcement source in D.C. has confirmed to me the man accused of stealing DHS Sec. Noem’s purse is Mario Bustamante Leiva [sic],” Julio Rosas, national correspondent at The Blaze posted.

Ed Martin, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told NBC News over the phone that Bustamante-Leiva was in the country illegally.

Bustamante-Leiva is suspected of being the masked man who walked into the restaurant, past two plainclothes Secret Service officers and upstairs to a spot next to Noem’s table. There, he dragged Noem‘s purse toward himself — while Noem and her family dined — and left the restaurant with the purse tucked away under his jacket, according to NBC News. He passed by the Secret Service agents on his way out, according to the outlet.

“This was not an amateur. This was a person, a thief, that knew how to do this. You could see how he scouted the room out,” Martin told the outlet.

The stolen item was a $4,400 Gucci bag lying on the ground next to Noem and containing a $600 Louis Vuitton Clemence Purse and $3,000 in cash, according to the Post.

It also contained Noem‘s DHS access badge, her passport, various credit cards, blank checks, a set of keys and her driver’s license, NBC News reported.

Noem told podcaster, and Daily Caller Editorial Director, Vince Coglianese Wednesday that she felt the purse being moved from her feet, according to the Post.

“I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs, but it was very professionally done,” Noem reportedly added on the “Vince” podcast.

Law enforcement agents were still seeking a second suspect in the theft of Noem’s possessions, Martin told NBC News.

Bustamante-Leiva was one of the most prolific thieves in London, U.K. — until he was jailed there in 2015 for conducting a five-month theft spree that included stealing phones, wallets, and computers collectively worth £21,000 (nearly $28,000), the Daily Mail reported.

Once, he stole a bag containing a whole family’s passports and airplane boarding passes, and in another instance, he brazenly stole a woman’s handbag as she chatted with a friend, the central London court reportedly learned during Bustamante-Leiva’s trial.

“You are dishonest to your fingertips,” the judge said to Bustamante-Leiva at his sentencing in London.

“Unfortunately, so many families in this country have been made victims by crime, and that’s why President Trump is working every single day to make America safe and get these criminal aliens off of our streets,” Noem said.

“What I can tell you is he won’t be back on the streets in America,” Martin told NBC News regarding the suspect.

AUTHOR

John Oyewale

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is repubished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Looked Like a Fool’: GOP Roasts Van Hollen Over Meeting with Illegal Alien

GOP lawmakers expressed outrage on social media after Maryland Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with a deported illegal alien in El Salvador on Thursday.

“Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the fake news media, or anyone,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to demand the release from prison of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who the senator claims was “illegally abducted” from Maryland. Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2012, has ties to MS-13, and the Department of Homeland Security claims he has been involved in human trafficking activity.

“Find someone who looks at you the way Democrat senators look at illegal alien MS-13 gang members,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote sarcastically on X with a photo of the two men talking.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., called Van Hollen’s actions “traitorous,” and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., bashed his fellow Maryland lawmaker for showing more support to an illegal alien than the family of slain Maryland mother Rachel Morin, who was raped and murdered by an illegal alien in 2023.

“Imagine if Sen. Van Hollen cared as much about the families of Rachel Morin and Kayla Hamilton,” Harris wrote on X. An illegal alien MS-13 gang member killed Hamilton, a 20-year-old Maryland woman, in 2023.

“Leftist politicians only want to talk about bringing illegal immigrants back to Maryland,” Harris added.

After more Democrats expressed an interest in visiting Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, issued a statement saying his colleagues on the Left “can use their own personal credit cards—not taxpayers’ money—to virtue-signal to their radical base.”

GOP politicians were not the only ones criticizing Van Hollen after his meeting with Abrego Garcia. The Libs of TikTok X account, which has over 4 million followers, shared a blank photo on social media with the caption, “Here’s an image of Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen meeting with Rachel Morin’s family who was murdered by an illegal in his state.”

Ahead of Van Vollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia, The Daily Wire political commentator Michael Knowles made a meme of Van Hollen looking into the eyes of a man intended to represent an illegal alien gang member.

After the meeting in El Salvador, Knowles shared the image of Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia seated at a table together talking with the tongue-in-cheek caption, “He … he did. He actually did it. [Van Hollen] did my meme.”

Despite Van Hollen’s calls for Abrego Garcia to be returned to America, and U.S. courts ordering the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele says the deported illegal alien has the “honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.”

AUTHOR

Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.” Send an email to Virginia. Virginia on X: .

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


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DHS Just Added Itself To Harvard’s List Of Trump Admin Adversaries

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday revoked its own grants from Harvard University over its alleged failure to address antisemitism.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the department is canceling two grants totaling $2.7 million to the school as part of a continued crack down against antisemitism on campus, according to a press release. Noem said the school is “unfit to be entrusted with taxpayer dollars.”

“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” said Secretary Noem. “With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory. America demands more from universities entrusted with taxpayer dollars.”

The Secretary wrote Harvard a letter demanding details on any violent and illegal activities committed by foreign student visa holders. The letter warned that, if the records were not turned over by April 30, Harvard would lose its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification and be unable to admit foreign students altogether.

Noem claims the $800,303 Implementation Science for Targeted Violence Prevention grant “branded conservatives as far-right dissidents in a shockingly skewed study,” while the $1,934,902 Blue Campaign Program Evaluation and Violence Advisement grant “funded Harvard’s public health propaganda.”

“Both undermine America’s values and security,” the press release stated. “With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos—DHS won’t.”

The Trump administration on April 11 demanded Harvard agree to a list of reforms to the way it handles antisemitism after a September congressional investigation found “Harvard failed” to enforce meaningful punishment on nearly 70 students who were involved in a multi-day pro-Hamas encampment during the previous spring semester. The changes asked of the school included reforming and better enforcing disciplinary processes for students who participate in antisemitic protests, improving screening of international students for “hostile” views towards America and auditing “programs with egregious records of antisemitism.”

In a public statement Monday afternoon, Harvard declared it “will not surrender” and refused the proposal. The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, made up of the Department of Education (ED), Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) swiftly revoked over $2 billion in grants to the university hours later.

“Harvard is aware of the Department of Homeland Security’s letter regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas, which—like the Administration’s announcement of the freeze of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts, and reports of the revocation of Harvard’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status—follows on the heels of our statement that Harvard will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” a Harvard spokesman told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We continue to stand by that statement. We will continue to comply with the law and expect the Administration to do the same.”

“Harvard values the rule of law and expects all members of our community to comply with University policies and applicable legal standards. If federal action is taken against a member of our community, we expect it will be based on clear evidence, follow established legal procedures, and respect the constitutional rights afforded to all individuals,” the spokesman continued.

AUTHOR

Jaryn Crouson

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

EXCLUSIVE: Department Of Homeland Security Confirms Abrego García Stopped On Suspicion Of Human Trafficking

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to the Daily Caller that Kilmar Abrego García, a recently deported alleged member of MS-13, was stopped in December 2022 on suspicion of human trafficking.

During a Dec. 1, 2022 traffic stop by a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer, Abrego García was found to be transporting eight passengers across the country, sources told the Tennessee Star. He allegedly did not have a valid driver’s license and was suspected of trafficking the passengers but was let go at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Documents from Homeland Investigations provided to the Daily Caller reveal more details about the encounter.

Abrego García was pulled over because the vehicle was observed “speeding and unable to maintain its lane,” according to the documents. Abrego García had an expired Maryland “limited term temporary driver’s license,” which is provided to individuals who are not U.S. citizens, authorities said.

The officer identified eight other individuals in the vehicle and Abrego García advised that he was driving them from Texas to Maryland, according to the documents. None of the passengers had any luggage and all provided the same home address, which was Abrego Garcia’s address, authorities said.

Abrego García allegedly pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to confuse the officer by responding to the officer’s questions with his own.

Abrego García also said the owner of the vehicle was his “boss,” who works in construction, authorities said.

The officer attempted to gather details about the other passengers but was not able to read their handwriting, according to the documents, and Abrego García was given a warning for driving on an expired license.

DHS also advised the Caller that Abrego García is on the Threat Screening Center’s Transnational Organized Crime Watchlist.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a gang field interview sheet Wednesday that contained evidence that Abrego García is a member of MS-13. Two immigration judges denied Abrego García bond during 2019 hearings, affirming the government’s claim that he is MS-13 and citing him as a potential danger to the community.

Abrego García was given a withholding of removal by a separate immigration judge, meaning he could not be deported to El Salvador due to concerns of persecution by Barrio 18, a rival gang to MS-13. The Trump administration said they made an “administrative error” when Abrego García was removed to El Salvador. He is currently being held in the country’s CECOT prison.

AUTHOR

Amber Duke

Senior Editor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Wanted Foreign Student Protesters Cook Up Preemptive Lawsuits To Ward Off ICE Deportation

As the Trump administration continues to crackdown on alleged pro-Hamas agitators on college campuses across the country, foreign students hiding from immigration authorities are adopting another legal strategy —  suing before they are even arrested.

The Trump administration is cracking down on the many anti-Israel foreign student protesters who clashed with police, overtook campus property and allegedly harassed Jewish students at universities across the U.S.. The White House, which has made immigration enforcement a top policy priority, has already overseen the detention and deportation of several high-profile foreign nationals allegedly sympathetic to Hamas, a terrorist-designated organization.

Two foreign students — Yunseo Chung of Columbia University and Momodou Taal of Cornell University — are both wanted by federal immigration authorities. While neither have surrendered or been caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, both individuals have sued the Trump administration to put a halt to enforcement actions against them. In Chung’s case, she successfully requested a court to block her arrest — at least temporarily.

“This action challenges the government’s shocking overreach in seeking to deport a college student, Plaintiff-Petitioner Yunseo Chung, who is a lawful permanent resident of this country, because of her protected speech,” Chung’s lawyers stated in a lawsuit filed Monday against the Trump administration. “The government’s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny.”

Virtually every foreign student targeted by the Trump administration so far has claimed the actions violate their freedom of speech, but immigration experts that previously spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation pointed out that the issue has nothing to do with the First Amendment. The State Department has the authority to remove any non-citizen deemed a potential threat to U.S. foreign policy, which would include individuals appearing sympathetic to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

“This is definitely not a free speech issue,” Matt O’Brien, investigations director for the Immigration Reform Law Institute. O’Brien, who previously served as an immigration judge, pointed to a section in U.S. code that states, “An alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.”

“Temporary visa holders can have their visa revoked if they are found inadmissible and permanent visa holders (green cards) can lose their green cards and be removed if they violate a ground of removability,” said Lora Ries, the border security and immigration director at the Heritage Foundation. “The U.S. Government hasn’t charged terrorism-related grounds of deportability or sought to have a green card revoked for too long. And it shows.”

Chung, a 21-year-old permanent resident of the U.S. and native of South Korea, has been involved in the anti-Israel protests that have swept college campuses, her lawyers acknowledged in court documents. She was among the individuals arrested on March 5 amid a sit-in at Barnard College’s main library — a protest that turned violent.

As has become typical with pro-Palestine student activism, the protest at Barnard’s library disrupted classes and led to law enforcement arriving on scene. A bomb threat was called in, prompting police to evacuate the building, but some protesters allegedly chose to resist, leading to some being arrested. Following her arrest by the New York Police Department, Chung was given a desk appearance ticket for “obstruction of governmental administration,” which her lawyers framed as a “a common citation issued by the police at protests” in their court filing.

However, it didn’t take long for more serious consequences to materialize for Chung. Her lawyers accuse ICE officials of signing an administrative warrant for her arrest on March 8 and allege that ICE agents visited her residence looking for her on March 9. The following day, a federal law enforcement official informed her counsel that her lawful permanent status was revoked.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Chung is wanted by immigration authorities, and accused her of participating in pro-Hamas activities.

“Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” a DHS spokesperson said to the DCNF. “She is being sought for removal proceedings under the immigration laws. Chung will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge.”

In an interview with the New York Times, her lawyers would not comment on her whereabouts, but she likely is in no need to hide out for the time being. On Tuesday, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York temporarily blocked the Trump administration from arresting her.

“Defendants-Respondents are enjoined from detaining the Plaintiff-Petitioner pending further order of this Court,” Reice, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, wrote in her order. The judge also instructed the Trump administration to give advance notice to the court if it wishes to detain Chung for reasons beyond her removal from the country.

Taal, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student in Africana Studies at Cornell University, sued the Trump administration shortly before the State Department decided to pull his student visa. In his lawsuit, Taal challenges two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump — Executive Order 14161 and Executive Order 14188 — that aim to clamp down on anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas activity by foreign student protesters.

The Gambian national claims the orders have forced him to withdraw from public engagement, depriving others of their “rights to listen” to his rhetoric sympathizing with Hamas and espousing anti-Israel sentiment, according to his lawsuit.

“As a result of the executive orders, Mr. Taal has been forced to profoundly alter his prior speech and association patterns,” his attorneys stated. “He has refrained from attending protests and public political meetings, has substantially reduced his activity on social media, and no longer discusses politics with associates from Cornell, fearing his words will be misinterpreted or reported to government authorities.”

“He lives in constant fear that he may be arrested by immigration officials or police as a result of his speech,” the lawsuit continues.

Taal has repeatedly declared his hatred for America over the years on social media and he celebrated the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists.

“The end of the US empire in our lifetime in sha Allah,” Taal posted online in February 2022. Just several months later, he — seemingly contradictorily — celebrated his acceptance into a U.S. university, writing “Student Visa issued. We going to America baby! Alhamdulillah! Let’s get this PhD.” He later reiterated his contempt for America, posting “My hatred of the US empire knows no bound. Wallahi,” in November 2022.

Taal rejoiced online the day Hamas militants stormed into Israeli territory and killed roughly 1,200 people. “The dialect demands: That wherever you have oppression, you will find those who fighting against it. Glory to the resistance!” he posted in the early morning hours of Oct. 7, 2023.

Taal was facing consequences for his campus actions before Trump returned to office and signed any executive orders targeting pro-Hamas protesters, according to Inside Higher Ed. Cornell University officials suspended him for a second time by October 2024, with a university email telling him he “demonstrated a pattern of escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the university policies.”

Earlier in March, DHS asked Taal to surrender to immigration authorities. The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed that his student visa was pulled, arguing that the move is in line with Trump’s directives.

“This Department has already been fighting in court to vigorously defend President Trump’s agenda and will continue to do so, especially when it comes to protecting Jewish Americans,” a DOJ spokesperson stated.

Trump has taken unprecedented steps in attempting to remove allegedly pro-Hamas students from U.S. soil.

In the most high-profile case to date, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, earlier in March and have kept him detained at a facility in Louisiana while his deportation challenge plays out in court. ICE agents have also detained Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and researcher at Georgetown University, and arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, after her student visa expired and was previously arrested for her alleged participation in pro-Hamas activity at Columbia University.

The White House successfully deported Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese national working as an assistant professor at Brown University, after immigration officials allegedly discovered adoring pictures of deceased Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah and other pro-terrorist images. Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national who allegedly participated in anti-Israel protests, self-deported to Canada after her visa was revoked.

The Trump administration appears to have only just begun cracking down on anti-American foreign students. DHS says it will continue to investigate students allegedly engaged in pro-Hamas activity.

“ICE [Homeland Security Investigations] will investigate individuals engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization,” a DHS spokesperson said to the DCNF. “Based on investigative findings, the Department of State may make a determination which may result in visa revocation or other action impacting the immigration status of an alien in the U.S.”

AUTHOR

Jason Hopkins

Immigration reporter.

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Mahmoud Khalil Hid His Work with UNRWA

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘Meteoric Rise’: How A Fishing Trip And A Phone Call Made Tom Homan ‘Border Czar’

Tom Homan was shaking hands with colleagues around President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security in Jan. 2017, just days before President Donald Trump was set to take office for the first time. It was Homan’s retirement party, celebrating his more than 30 years of working in immigration enforcement.

But in the middle of saying goodbye to his colleagues, his chief of staff called. It was an emergency, she said. Amid packed-up boxes in his office, Homan took one more call.

On the line was Trump’s incoming Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly.

“I remember him saying, I know it was bad timing, but the president-elect wanted me to stay and run [ICE],” Homan told the Daily Caller.

Homan took the weekend to think about it. He had already accepted a retirement job in the private sector. He needed to talk to his family.

“Monday morning, I called [Kelly] and said I want to come back,” Homan said.

It didn’t end up being the only time Homan would come out of retirement for President Trump. Eight years later, he would end his retirement again to become the infamous border czar. He didn’t even have to think about it the second time.

“Tom’s answered the call every time in the past,” Bob Wallis, a former ICE special agent in charge and Homan’s long time mentor, told the Caller. “It didn’t surprise me when I saw that he was asked to take this very challenging, very challenging position.”

Just days after defeating Kamala Harris, Trump quickly started staffing up his White House. His first pick was Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Tom Homan was the next name on the list. Trump announced that Homan would serve as his “border czar,” a title Republicans mockingly called Vice President Kamala Harris under the Biden administration.

“I think I was the first person he called outside of Susie. He called me on a Friday night and asked me if I felt ready to come back. And I told him I was,” Homan told the Caller.

Coming out of government retirement to take the job was a no-brainer, Homan said, because of the immense border crisis left behind by the Biden administration.

Homan’s role as border czar is a White House job and thus did not require Congressional approval; Homan was clear when Trump offered him a job that he no longer wanted to oversee an agency.

“He asked me what I wanted to do, I said ‘run the border.’ So he gave me the border czar job. Told me to secure the border and run the deportation operation,” Homan told the Caller.

Homan hit the ground running. The 2024 U.S. fiscal year was the second worst in history for illegal immigration, so Homan spent the time between the election and inauguration making plans on how the federal government would execute Trump’s agenda.

By February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the administration had marked the lowest single-day apprehension of illegal crossings in over 15 years, with 200 migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border on Feb. 22. 

Homan’s work is a part of what his long-time mentor Bob Wallis calls a “meteoric rise.” Homan has become a hero to the GOP, as social media users and pundits alike create memes and photos celebrating him and the work he is doing on the border crisis.

The border czar’s climb has been years in the making. Homan has worked for six presidents. He started his government career as a border patrol agent under President Ronald Reagan and served in both Bush administrations, and under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Obama honored Homan’s career with the highest civil service award, the Presidential Rank Award, in 2015 for his work deporting illegal immigrants. He was known as the “deporter-in-chief” under the Democratic president.

“I tell people all the time that my job is to work within the framework provided to me by the administration,” Homan told the Caller.

Homan’s journey to becoming the border czar begins in Upstate New York in the mid-1980s. Living in West Carthage, New York, Homan was working as a police officer, just as his grandfather and father once did. All six of his siblings went into public service, becoming either a police officer, firefighter or a nurse.

One day, he and his colleagues went fishing on the St. Lawrence river — a place he went to often as a kid — which in some areas makes up a significant chunk of the New York-Canadian border.

“We ran into a border patrol agent that was docking on Dallas Bay. And I’ve always seen border patrol on that route but didn’t know what they did … when we sat there to talk, he told me what he did,” Homan told the Caller.

A few months later in 1984, Homan took the Border Patrol test and was hired on as an agent.

Homan later transitioned to become an investigator with what was then Immigration and Naturalization Services (its functions have since been split between USCIS, CBP, and ICE). That is where he met Wallis, who he worked under in the Office of Investigations.

In 2003, Wallis and Homan got called to an assignment in Victoria, Texas. More than a dozen migrants had died from suffocation in the back of a truck as they attempted to sneak across the border. The duo found a deceased father and his young son, still wrapped in an embrace, in the truck trailer.

“I was standing next to Tom Homan when he saw that child,” Wallis told the Caller. “I have two daughters, young daughters. At the time, he had a son, and I saw how he reacted to that.”

“You could tell he was just thinking about how it must have been towards the end of that little boy’s life,” Wallis recalled.

“At that moment, I said, this guy’s all in. He’s all in. He’s going to find out why this happened, who was involved, and he’s going to bring him to justice. Now, that’s a cop’s cop,” Wallis added.

Under Obama, Homan rose to be the executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE. That was the job that was the most impactful in Homan’s eventual appointment to border czar, Wallis explained. It wasn’t easy, and Homan weighed the pros and cons of taking the position with his mentor. Wallis told the Caller that working in immigration enforcement requires one to be fully committed in a way that often impacts family life, especially due to the high volume of travel. But it can also be a fulfilling role and a great career opportunity.

“This is something that’s going to stay with you and allow you to flourish after your career is long over,” Wallis remembers telling Homan.

Homan took the job. He was tasked with carrying out the president’s “prosecutorial discretion” policy, which called on ICE to focus on its efforts on illegal immigrants who were criminals or national security threats. He was also asked to manage the 2014 unaccompanied minor crisis, when a surge of tens of thousands of children crossed the southern border without any parents or guardians.

“We’re sons and daughters. We are family people too. It’s not like we go to work, we take our heart out of our chest and hang it out on our wall … I’ve seen a lot of terrible things in my career,” Homan reflected.

Obama was sharply criticized for placing the children in detention facilities, a decision that was brought up again in response to Trump allegedly putting “kids in cages” during his first term in office. Homan maintains the approach was the best way to keep the nearly 70,000 unaccompanied minors safe and healthy.

“Under [DHS Secretary] Jeh Johnson, when we had a family crisis, we built family residential centers — the so-called ‘cages,’” Homan remembered. “But they weren’t cages at all.”

“We had chain link fence dividers to keep adults away from unrelated children … we had these fences we put up to keep adults away from children who were raped,” he explained. “We built family residential centers. We helped families long enough for those residents to see a judge.”

Homan retired for the second time in 2018 after serving as Trump’s ICE director. He joined the Heritage Foundation as a fellow and was a contributor on Fox News.

Homan also started a nonprofit, Border 911, focused on informing the public of the benefits of a secure border. According to Dale Wilcox, the chief executive officer of the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) and a longtime colleague of Homan’s, he wouldn’t accept anything greater than a $1 annual salary at his nonprofit. Homan would never himself tell anyone about that act of altruism, Wilcox said, because of his humble nature.

Homan and Wilcox worked together at the IRLI starting in 2020. While there, Homan helped the organization prepare Freedom of Information Act Requests and was their immigration law enforcement expert and spokesperson. Wilcox told the Caller that Homan turned down multiple six figure contracts for his work with the organization.

Traveling together for years, Wilcox had the opportunity to see Homan behind closed doors. He recalled a trip to Israel where they inspected the country’s border policies. The group’s tour guide outfitted their entire party with hats reading “HOMAN” — much to Homan’s embarrassment.

“Everywhere we would go, we couldn’t have a meal without people coming up and asking for a photo, saying something to him, asking for an autograph. He was always very gracious. I never saw him once turn someone away,” Wilcox told the Caller.

Both Wallis and Wilcox raved about Homan’s passion for his work. Today, Homan is often doing emotional TV hits, speaking with great intensity about the border crisis and the cases he is working on. Wallis encouraged people to read Homan’s book to help understand what Homan has seen during his career and how that motivates him to keep going.

“This man is a machine. He is tireless. He lives on energy drinks. Everywhere he would go, we’d have to find him an energy drink … it was mostly Red Bull,” Wilcox said.

Once, while traveling to Florida for an event, Homan began struggling with some back issues.

“His back went out as he was getting out of the car, and they literally had to cut the clothes off the man and take him to the hospital. He refused. I mean, he was already having issues and needed surgery, and he refused. He just kept going. This man’s a machine,” Wilcox asserted.

The administration is already celebrating the early success of Homan’s work as the border czar. Vice President JD Vance took his first trip to the southern border since taking office in early March, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Senior agency officials told the New York Post that, in less than two months, ICE has already yielded a quarter of the 114,000 arrests made in the entire final year of the Biden administration.

But Vance reminded reporters during the trip that there is still work to do. Homan is aware of the monumental task ahead of him and his years of experience will fuel him to finish what he’s started.

“People are asking me, ‘Why are you yelling at members of Congress? Why are you so emotional?’” Homan told the Caller. “Because if they saw what I saw in my career, they would understand that a secure border saves lives.”

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Border Patrol Apprehensions Reach Lowest Average In History

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Kristi Noem Confirmed As Secretary Of Homeland Security

The Senate confirmed Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Saturday.

“The yeas are 59, the nays are 34. The nomination is confirmed,” Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who presided over the confirmation, said on the floor of the Senate after the livestreamed roll call vote.

Noem, 53, becomes the eighth DHS Secretary. Her confirmation hearing was held Jan. 17. She will take over from Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman, who was serving as a placeholder pending Noem’s confirmation.

She is expected to execute President Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding border security and immigration while overseeing the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies.

Noem resigned Saturday as South Dakota’s governor, with Lt. Governor Larry Rhoden to replace her. “As you assume the role of Governor, please remember our state motto: ‘Under God, the People Rule.’ I chose you because I knew that you would approach the role the same way that I did,” she wrote to Rhoden in her resignation letter.

The voting margin for Noem’s confirmation was not similar to that for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whose confirmation went down to the wire Friday and required Vice President J.D. Vance to break the tie with his vote and ensure Hegseth’s confirmation.

Border security reinforcement and the deportation of illegal immigrants are already underway, as the Department of Defense announced the deployment of 1,500 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and military planes for the deportation of 5,000 illegal immigrants detained by the CBP. Two military airplanes flew 160 illegal immigrants to Guatemala Friday, Reuters reported.

Trump picked Noem to be DHS Secretary in November 2024. “Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said. “I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects — She will be a great part of our mission to Make America Safe Again.”

AUTHOR

John Oyewale

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is repbulished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Trump DHS Chucks Two Biden-Era Immigration Policies Into Dustbin

The Trump administration rescinded two major Biden-era immigration initiatives Tuesday, further cementing the White House’s dedication to tougher enforcement policies.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a directive that rescinds the Biden administration’s guidelines on so-called “sensitive locations” where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are prohibited from conducting enforcement activities. The administration also announced it would be rolling back the “broad use” of humanitarian parole and returning it to a case-by-case basis.

The Trump administration lauded the moves as a step away from the soft-on-enforcement approach taken by the previous White House.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in [Customs and Border Protection] and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders and rapists — who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesperson said of the revocation of sensitive locations. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”

“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the spokesperson continued.

An ICE memo establishing “sensitive locations” was introduced in October 2011, which mostly prohibited ICE agents from entering schools, hospitals or churches. However, this list was expanded incredibly under the Biden administration to include broad areas of social services and public spaces, limiting the scope where ICE agents could work.

The second directive announced Tuesday includes a phaseout of parole programs that allowed migrants to enter and work in the U.S. en masse under the Biden administration. Republicans have long criticized parole initiatives such as the CHNV program for being rife with fraud and allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela into the U.S.

“The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country,” the DHS spokesperson said. “This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration.”

“This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis,” the spokesperson continued.

The two directives were issued by acting DHS Director Benjamine Huffman. If confirmed, South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem will be taking the reins at the department.

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump issued a slate of executive orders that declared a national emergency at the border, designated cartels as terrorist organizations and sought to reinterpret the 14th Amendment as denying birthright citizenship for individuals born on U.S. soil by illegal migrant parents.

AUTHOR

Jason Hopkins

Immigration reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Introduces Legislation To Deport Sexual Abusers, Tighten Border Security

RELATED VIDEO: Tom Homan: “ICE teams are out there as of today…Mass deportations are happening.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Congress: The FBI Withholding Information About the Assassin Who Tried to Kill Trump

They tried to kill President Trump.

“I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished & appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former President.”

“I think they also ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security.”

Rep. Mike Waltz: The FBI is telling us LITTLE of substance about what motivated Thomas Crooks to try to kill President Trump. Do you think they’d be slow-rolling so much if it was Kamala that had been attacked (X)?

WATCH: Democrat Senator Blumenthal on the Trump attempted assassination

Congress: The FBI Is Slow Rolling Information About the Guy Who Tried to Kill Trump

By Katie Pavlich | September 12, 2024 11:15 AM

It’s been two months since Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In his attempt to kill Trump, who was shot through the ear, Crooks murdered 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and severely wounded two others in the crowd.

Members of Congress have been demanding answers from the Secret Service and the FBI about what happened. Given a lack of information, lawmakers have launched an independent investigation into the situation and have visited the site where it happened.

According to Republican Congressman Michael Waltz, the FBI is slow walking information about Crooks and his motivation to murder Trump. Crooks had a number of encrypted overseas accounts.

“Clearly he was training, he was preparing. What we can’t get a straight answer from the FBI on is, you know he built three IEDs with remote detonators, but what we can’t get a straight answer is, what radicalized him? What drove the motives?” Waltz said during an interview with Fox News.

WATCH: Rep. Mike Waltz, “The FBI is telling us LITTLE of substance about what motivated Thomas Crooks.”

In a rare video published earlier this week, First Lady Melania Trump questioned the judgement of law enforcement on July 13 and asked a number of questions about why Crooks was able to get his shots off in the first place.

WATCH: Melania Trump has broken her silence on the assassination attempt on her husband!

Read more.

AUTHOR

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Secret Service DENIED Requests From Local Law Enforcement To Use Drones To Secure Rally

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More in the Trump Assassination Attempt here.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Kamala-Backed Border Bill Would Allow Illegals Deported By Trump Back Into Country

Kamala Harris touted the U.S. Citizenship Act, a House bill which would open a pathway for illegal immigrants deported by former President Trump to apply for legal status.

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would establish “an earned roadmap to citizenship for undocumented individuals,” according to a White House press release.

Illegal immigrants applying for temporary legal status would have to be physically present in the United States on or before January 1, 2021. However, there is one exception to the rule.

Illegal immigrants the Trump administration deported would be eligible for temporary status even if they were not physically present in the United States, according to the bill.

“With respect to a noncitizen who was removed from or who departed the United States on or after January 20, 2017, and who was continuously physically present in the United States for not fewer than 3 years immediately preceding the date on which the noncitizen was removed or departed, the Secretary may waive, for humanitarian purposes, to ensure family unity, or if such a waiver is otherwise in the public interest,” the bill reads.

Kamala Harris touted the bill during her tenure as Vice President. It’s even mentioned in the Democratic Party’s 2024 platform.

In June 2021 Harris thanked Democratic New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez for “leading the way on the U.S. Citizenship Act.”

She also stated during her Democratic National Convention acceptance speech that she would create a pathway for citizenship for immigrants.

“The U.S. Citizenship Act would permanently increase family-sponsored and employment-based immigration,” the party platform reads.

Besides allowing any of the approximately 1.5 million illegal immigrants the Trump administration deported back into the country, the bill would also provide a pathway to permanent legal status and citizenship to illegal immigrants living in the United States.

It would change the word “aliens” to “noncitizens” in U.S. immigration law.

AUTHOR

Robert McGreevy

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLES: Democrats Release Platform For Biden’s Second Term As Harris Desperately Tries To Escape Boss’ Shadow

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Beyond a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Homeland Security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a critical role in ensuring the nation’s preparedness for a wide range of threats, including terrorism.

However, a one-size-fits-all approach to homeland security must account for the vastly different vulnerabilities faced by various regions across the country.

Understanding Threats and Prioritizing Preparedness

All along, the focus of DHS preparedness guidelines heavily emphasized terrorist attacks, while rural areas were more likely to experience catastrophic weather events. This mismatch between priorities and local needs rendered the DHS guidelines irrelevant for many jurisdictions. Disasters do come in all shapes and sizes. A hurricane slamming into Florida is a vastly different threat than a wildfire raging through California. Recognizing this, shouldn’t our approach to preparedness be just as diverse?
Imagine a farmer worrying about a potential terrorist attack when their biggest concern is the next big storm. DHS needs to acknowledge this disconnect. A tailored approach that recognizes these regional disparities is essential. DHS should prioritize flexibility in its preparedness guidelines, allowing localities to adapt them to their specific vulnerabilities. This would ensure that resources and efforts are targeted towards the most pressing threats faced by each region.

Furthermore, adopting an all-hazards approach to emergency preparedness is crucial. This would involve developing adaptable plans that effectively address various threats, from natural disasters to cyberattacks. By comprehensively understanding the risks different regions face, DHS can support the creation of plans that are more likely to succeed in real-world scenarios.

Addressing the Challenges of Rural America

Rural communities often face unique challenges in emergency preparedness. These challenges include:

  • Limited Resources: Rural areas frequently need more funding, staffing shortages, and outdated infrastructure. Increased financial and staffing support from DHS would bolster their preparedness efforts.
  • Geographical and Demographic Factors: Rural areas’ vast geographical expanse, coupled with demographic characteristics such as a high proportion of elderly residents, necessitates specialized planning and resource allocation.
  • Collaboration and Training: Encouraging collaboration among local, state, and federal agencies, healthcare providers, and community organizations would improve rural communities’ ability to respond to emergencies. Programs such as those offered by the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) can provide valuable training and resources in this area.

Strategies for Improvement

By implementing several key strategies, DHS can significantly enhance the preparedness of the nation as a whole, with a particular focus on rural communities:
Community Engagement: It is vital to actively engage community members in preparedness efforts. Assigning tasks and responsibilities based on individual skills and abilities can foster a collective approach that strengthens a community’s resilience.

Planning and Drills

Comprehensive emergency plans that include procedures for handling various emergencies are essential. Regular drills to test these plans and identify areas for improvement are crucial. Additionally, plans should account for potential disruptions to healthcare and other basic services.

Addressing Urban-Rural Impact

Urban disasters can significantly impact rural areas, leading to surges in population and increased demand for resources. Planning for these scenarios can help mitigate negative consequences.

Support for Healthcare Facilities

Ensuring that rural hospitals and healthcare organizations are equipped to handle emergencies is essential. This can be achieved through emergency preparedness training, reviewing and updating response plans, and cross-training staff.

The National Preparedness Guidelines

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) measures preparedness across different jurisdictions through a capabilities-based approach, as outlined in the National Preparedness Guidelines. This approach focuses on identifying, achieving, and sustaining target capability levels that enhance national preparedness. The process involves updating plans and strategies, allocating funds, executing program plans, and assessing and reporting progress. It emphasizes collaboration to prioritize and allocate resources to the most urgently needed capabilities based on risk.

Critical aspects of the measurement process include:

Capabilities-Based Preparedness Process: This process combines processes and tools to identify and prioritize measurable preparedness targets. It assesses current capabilities, allocates available resources, and emphasizes the most needed capabilities based on risk. DHS refines this description over time with user feedback and supplements it with specific instructions in annual program guidance.

Preparedness Defined

Preparedness is defined as a continuous process involving efforts at all levels of government and coordination among government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations. It includes identifying threats, determining vulnerabilities, and identifying required resources. Within the National Incident Management System (NIMS), preparedness is operationally focused on establishing guidelines, protocols, and standards for planning, training, exercises, personnel qualification and certification, equipment certification, and publication management.

Prevention, Protection, Response, and Recovery

The Guidelines address preparedness for all homeland security mission areas: prevention, protection, response, and recovery. Each of these areas involves specific actions and considerations to enhance preparedness. Prevention involves actions to avoid an incident or intervene to stop an incident from occurring. Protection reduces the vulnerability of critical infrastructure or essential resources. Response consists of the development, coordination, and execution of service and site restoration plans. Recovery includes long-term care and treatment of affected persons, additional social, political, environmental, and economic restoration measures, and post-incident reporting.

Integration of Community Organizations

The Guidelines emphasize integrating community, faith-based, and other nongovernmental organizations into preparedness and response plans. This includes engaging such organizations in the planning process, providing necessary training and credentialing of their personnel, and developing mechanisms for coordinating volunteers, goods, and services.

Measurable Objectives and Requirements: The Guidelines provide a national framework for a capabilities-based preparedness system designed to be measurable. Specific metrics and standards are under development for jurisdictions to use when conducting preparedness assessments. Additionally, a process is being established to measure the Nation’s overall preparedness.

Thus, a more practical approach to homeland security preparedness requires DHS to acknowledge different regions’ unique challenges. By prioritizing tailored approaches, ensuring all-hazard preparedness, and addressing the specific needs of rural communities, DHS can help build a more resilient nation better prepared to face the full spectrum of threats.

This approach emphasizes the importance of tailoring preparedness efforts to address the specific needs of each region. By recognizing the unique challenges rural communities face, DHS can develop more effective strategies that ensure a more prepared nation as a whole.

©2024. Amil Imani. All rights reserved.

Biden Admin Used Border Wall Funds On ‘Environmental Planning’ And Cleanup, Government Watchdog Says

The Biden administration spent taxpayer dollars meant to fund a border wall to pay for “environmental planning,” according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

At the request of Republican Reps. Jack Bergman of Michigan and Jodey Arrington of Texas, the GAO investigated whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) broke the law when it effectively blocked the use of taxpayer dollars to build a wall along the southern border. While GAO’s final report clears the DHS of breaking the law, it confirmed that DHS used congressionally-appropriated funds meant for the wall to pay for “environmental planning” and efforts “to remediate or mitigate environmental damage from past border wall construction.”

Republicans on the House Budget Committee, including Bergman and Arrington, characterized the GAO’s finding as confirmation that the Biden administration has spent taxpayer funds meant to enhance border security to further its environmental agenda.

Congress previously approved funds for DHS to build a border barrier between fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2021, but President Joe Biden and his appointees quickly instituted a new policy whereby “no more American taxpayer dollars (would) be diverted to construct a border wall” upon entering office in 2021. Cabinet secretaries, including DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, were ordered to work together to produce plans for how to shift funds away from border wall construction.

In 2021, DHS released a report detailing how it would look to redirect funds meant for the wall to instead pay for things like “environmental planning,” reviewing upcoming eminent domain actions and considering environmental remediation efforts in areas that had been the site of previous construction, according to GAO’s report. The agency then changed its plans in July 2022, applying an amendment that made environmental remediation a top priority for the agency’s expenditure of the funds appropriated for fiscal years 2018-2021.

The Biden administration has made great efforts to roll back or replace many of the immigration and border policies of former President Donald Trump, but the situation at the border has deteriorated massively since 2021. There have been nearly 8 million land encounters at the southwest border since October 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Congressional Budget Office reported in January that more than 3.3 million people came to the U.S. illegally, were released into the country via parole or overstayed their permission to remain in the country in fiscal year 2023 alone.

The situation at the border set the stage for congressional Republicans to attempt to impeach Mayorkas earlier this spring. The House voted to impeach Mayorkas in February, but the Senate quickly dismissed an impeachment trial along partisan lines earlier in April.

Neither the White House nor the DHS responded immediately to requests for comment.

AUTHOR

NICK POPE

Contributor.

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RELATED VIDEO: What “Allahu Akbar” Really Means

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Biden Admin Mulling Plan To Give Legal Status To Illegal Alien Spouses: REPORT

The Biden administration is reportedly mulling over a plan that would give legal status to hundreds of thousands of migrants living in the country unlawfully and married to American citizens.

Officials within the White House and Department of Homeland Security(DHS) have been discussing how to give new deportation relief or work permits to illegal aliens who have been living for a long time in the United States, and they have honed in on one particular demographic: mixed status families, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

These mixed status families typically consist of one illegal alien parent with a spouse and children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

The strategy most favored by the administration on how to make this happen is to use an immigration tool known as “parole in place,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Parole in place is a program that already exists and used on a smaller scale to allow the spouses of military veterans to remain in the country. The program, granted on a case-by-case basis by an immigration officer, generally allows a foreign national who entered the U.S. illegally to stay for a limited period of time.

Granting these illegal alien spouses parole in place would make many of them eligible for work permits and could erase much government red tape in their green card applications, which would clear a pathway to citizenship.

There are well over 10 million illegal aliens estimated to be living in the U.S. currently. Roughly 1 million illegal aliens are married to a U.S. citizen, according to an estimation by FWD.us, an immigration advocacy group. However, not all illegal aliens married to a U.S. citizen would necessarily be eligible. Advocates told The Wall Street Journal that fewer than 700,000 of them would qualify.

Much like young undocumented aliens known as “Dreamers,” Biden administration officials reportedly believe this demographic makes for a sympathetic audience, even during a time when many Americans are growing more hawkish about the southern border.

The Biden White House has been forced to address an uptick in illegal border crossings during its tenure, with over 2 million migrant encounters at the southern and northern borders in fiscal year 2023 and another 1 million in the first five months of fiscal year 2024, according to the latest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. The crisis has pushed the issue to the forefront of concerns for voters in 2024.

News of the White House plan has already generated pushback from immigration hardliners.

“Proposals like this show just how lawless the Biden administration really is. The Immigration and Nationality Act very clearly states that people who enter the country illegally are not eligible for employment authorization or permanent resident status,” Matt O’Brien, director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Neither marriage to a US citizen, nor being a parent to a US citizen child, entitles anyone to an exemption from the INA. And any changes to that legal reality would require Congress to pass new statutes,” O’Brien continued, adding that this is “mass amnesty without Congressional authorization.”

The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

AUTHOR

JASON HOPKINS

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: Man Arrested In Car Crash That Killed Democratic Staffer Entered US Illegally, ICE Confirms

POST ON X:

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.