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Obama Appointee Blocks Trump Immigration Order

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This is far from over…

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from revoking the legal status and work permits of the more than 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who flew into the United States during former President Joe Biden’s time in office. 

The migrants came to the U.S. under Biden’s controversial CHNV mass humanitarian parole program.

In her order, Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote that each migrant needs to have an individualized, case-by-case review.

“The Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, 90 Fed. Reg. 13611 (Mar. 25, 2025), is hereby STAYED pending further court order insofar as it revokes, without case-by-case review, the previously granted parole and work authorization issued to noncitizens paroled into the UnitedStates pursuant to parole programs for noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (the “CHNV parole programs”) prior to the noncitizen’s originally stated parole end date,” she wrote. 

Biden created the CHNV program in 2023 via his executive parole authority. The program was launched in 2022 and initially first applied to Venezuelans before it was expanded to additional countries.

The Biden administration argued that CHNV would help reduce illegal crossings at the southern border and allow better vetting of people entering the country amid an influx of migrants. 

The program was temporarily paused due to widespread fraud.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration told Fox News that Talwani essentially ruled that Trump can’t use his own executive authority, the same authority Biden used, to revoke the parole that Biden granted. 

“It is pure lawless tyranny,” a Trump administration official told Fox News. 

In March, the roughly 532,000 migrants under the CHNV program were told to leave the U.S. 

Report: Appeals Court Blocks Trump Admin’s Deportation Flights

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Image via Pixabay

A federal appellate court declined to issue a stay on a lower court’s orders in a suit challenging the Trump administration‘s authority to deport Venezuelan nationals via a 1798 wartime law. 

In a 2-1 decision Wednesday, a three-judge panel sided with the plaintiffs in the suit, further blocking the Trump administration’s ability to move forward with its deportation agenda. 

Judges Karen Henderson, Patricia Millett, and Justin Walker of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals presided over Monday’s oral arguments, which they agreed to hear last week on an expedited basis. 

In a concurring opinion of the ruling, Henderson, a Bush appointee, said: “At this early stage, the government has yet to show a likelihood of success on the merits. The equities favor the plaintiffs. And the district court entered the TROs for a quintessentially valid purpose: to protect its remedial authority long enough to consider the parties’ arguments.

“Accordingly, and for the foregoing reasons, the request to stay the district court’s TROs should be denied.”

Their decision could ultimately be kicked to the Supreme Court for further review.  

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Trump Taps New ICE Director

President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after delivering remarks at the House GOP Member Retreat, Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at the Donald J. Trump- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he is nominating longtime Oklahoma law enforcement officer and Marine veteran Lance Schroyer to serve as the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), placing another ally with deep state and local law enforcement experience at the center of his administration’s immigration agenda.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised Schroyer’s nearly three decades in law enforcement and described him as a leader prepared to carry out the administration’s aggressive deportation strategy.

“Lance has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma,” Trump wrote. “He is a PATRIOT with real operational experience, and proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.”

The president also highlighted Schroyer’s background as a former Oklahoma state trooper and U.S. Marine, adding that he has “firsthand experience getting Illegal Aliens OFF our streets.”

Trump urged the Senate to act quickly on the nomination.

“The Senate must confirm Lance Schroyer IMMEDIATELY. Do not delay,” the president wrote. “Together, we will MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN.”

If confirmed, Schroyer would become the first Senate-confirmed ICE director in nearly a decade. The agency has operated under a series of acting leaders since 2017, reflecting years of political battles over immigration enforcement and the role of the agency.

Schroyer most recently worked with the Department of Homeland Security on expanding ICE’s 287(g) program, which allows state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with the federal government on immigration enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Schroyer comes “straight from the operational field,” where he led large-scale enforcement operations alongside state and federal agencies.

Mullin quickly endorsed Trump’s selection.

“President Trump made a great pick, and I’m confident Lance’s strong leadership and firsthand experience will empower the men and women of ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens, secure the homeland, and protect the American people,” Mullin wrote on X.

“It has been 11 years since @DHSgov has had a Senate confirmed @ICEgov Director. The Senate must quickly confirm Lance Schroyer.”

Schroyer would replace acting leadership that has overseen ICE during one of the agency’s busiest periods in recent history. David Venturella has served as acting director since Todd Lyons stepped down earlier this year.

The nomination comes as immigration remains one of Trump’s signature issues. The administration has made mass deportations, expanded ICE partnerships with local law enforcement and increased daily immigration arrests central pillars of its second-term agenda. Trump claimed Saturday that his administration has achieved the highest daily arrest rates by ICE and Customs and Border Protection of any presidency.

4 FEMA Employees Fired After Approving ‘Egregious’ Payments For Illegal Migrants

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Image via Pixabay free images

The buck stops here…

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that “four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City.”

The firings come after Elon Musk wrote on X Monday that “The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.” 

“Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” Musk added. “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!”  

“A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds,” he added. 

A New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were allocated by the Biden administration for the purpose of housing and supporting illegal immigrants. 

Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant. 

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that the firings were ‘long overdue.”

“These funds have been misappropriated going back to the Biden administration and New York City – a sanctuary city – has been wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money to provide free housing, clothing, food, education and healthcare to illegal immigrants, including criminal aliens that are here illegally,” he added.

“And so I applaud DHS for taking action to stop these payments under President Trump’s leadership because we have incentivized cities like New York and states like New York – a sanctuary state – to allow this to continue and it has to stop,” Lawler also said.

The Department of Homeland Security previously told Fox News Digital that those who made the payment will be “held accountable.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that she supported getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “the way it exists today.” 

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Noem’s stance appeared in line with that of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who have both suggested shutting down FEMA could be an option, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reportedly gained access to FEMA’s sensitive disaster relief data to review its programs. 

“Can and should Donald Trump shut it down?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Noem. 

“He can. And I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team,” Noem said. “And he’s talking about it, which I’m grateful for. He’ll work with Congress, though, to make sure that it’s done correctly and that we’re still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or a crisis in their life. He’s been very clear that he still believes there’s a role for the federal government to come in and help people get back up on their feet. But there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we’ve seen incredible change.” 

Noem, who visited Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday to meet with Hurricane Helene victims and survey the damage, told CNN that she oversaw 12 different natural disasters that prompted a FEMA response when she was governor of South Dakota.

During former President Biden’s term, FEMA faced backlash after it was reported that while they lacked the necessary funds needed to help Hurricane Helene victims, they were dishing out money that ended up being used to aid illegal immigrants.  

Speaker Mike Johnson clarified that emergency relief funding is separate from FEMA funds allocated to immigration, but said that the agency should not have any part in funding the border crisis. 

FEMA partners with Customs and Border Control (CBP) and administers money to the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a government-funded program that provides assistance and housing for illegal immigrants released into the U.S. 

“FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry. It is now under review and investigation,” Trump posted, adding:

THE BIDEN RUN FEMA HAS BEEN A DISASTER. FEMA SHOULD BE TERMINATED! IT HAS BEEN SLOW AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. INDIVIDUAL STATES SHOULD HANDLE STORMS, ETC., AS THEY COME. BIG SAVINGS, FAR MORE EFFICIENT!!!

Judge Rebuked Twice By Supreme Court Deals New Blow To Trump Immigration Agenda

A federal judge already twice rebuked by the Supreme Court is back at it—this time blocking the Trump administration from ending legal protections for thousands of Ethiopian migrants.

Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee in Massachusetts, temporarily halted the administration’s plan to strip temporary protected status (TPS) from more than 5,000 Ethiopians—a move that would have made them deportable within 60 days.

Murphy said the Department of Homeland Security didn’t follow the law when it pulled the plug on the program.

That ruling lands right in the middle of the administration’s broader push to shrink TPS and tighten immigration enforcement.

But it also lands on a judge with a track record.

Murphy has repeatedly tried to block Trump-era deportation policies—especially efforts to send migrants to third countries. The Supreme Court has stepped in twice to reverse him, even issuing a rare 7–2 clarification saying he ignored its orders. An appeals court also shut down one of his more recent rulings just last month.

Critics say this is more of the same.

“This rogue judge lacks the subject matter jurisdiction to issue this order,” Sen. Eric Schmitt said. “The assault on the rule of law continues.”

Legal analyst Jonathan Turley piled on, warning that “this system cannot function with such rogue operators at the trial level.”

Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan pointed to what he sees as a fundamental problem: the law itself.

“One big problem for Murphy is the statute: It explains TPS determinations aren’t reviewable. Another is the Supreme Court, which has stopped similar orders twice,” Wessan said. “He finds neither statute nor SCOTUS stops him. I’m unconvinced.”

Murphy, for his part, insists he’s not defying the high court. He noted that the Supreme Court hasn’t fully explained its recent TPS-related rulings—and hasn’t stepped in on every similar case.

“There is no reason to assume” the justices have settled the issue, he wrote.

The lawsuit behind the ruling claims the administration’s TPS rollback isn’t just procedural—it’s discriminatory. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue the policy is aimed at reducing non-white immigration, writing that the effort targets “the nationals of majority Black countries” in particular.

The Justice Department is expected to appeal, setting up yet another round in a growing legal fight between the Trump administration and a judge who keeps standing in its way.

Trump Signals Support For Legal Protections For Longtime Migrant Workers

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

DES MOINES, Iowa — Speaking at the Iowa State Fairgrounds hours before Independence Day, President Donald Trump said he is drafting legislation to shield long-serving farm and hospitality workers from immigration enforcement actions.

“We’re working on legislation right now,” Trump told the crowd. “Farmers, look, they know better. They work with them for years.”

He referenced cases where immigrant workers had been employed for over a decade before being removed through federal action.

“You had cases… where people have worked for a farm for 14, 15 years, and they get thrown out pretty viciously. And we can’t do it,” Trump said.

The remarks appear to address the impact of immigration raids, such as those reported at California farms, where labor shortages have followed large-scale enforcement. A significant portion of that workforce is made up of illegal immigrants.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who was present on stage, had initially raised the issue.

After weeks of back-and-forth, Trump ultimately echoed her stance on Thursday night — arguing that those in agriculture and hospitality deserve more authority over who they employ. “We’re going to work with them, and we’re going to work very strong and smart,” he said. “We’re going to put you in charge. We’re going to make you responsible. And I think that’s going to make a lot of people happy.”

Acknowledging that the proposal may not sit well with his party’s immigration hardliners, Trump added: “radical right people, who I also happen to like a lot, they may not be quite as happy. But they’ll understand, won’t they?”

He then turned to Rollins and said, “Do you think they’ll understand that you’re the one that brought this whole situation up?”

The comments signal a more pragmatic tone on immigration from the president, who has long emphasized enforcement but now appears open to reforms aimed at stabilizing the labor force in key sectors.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Taken Into Custody By ICE

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Arrest image via Pixabay

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the immigrant deported to El Salvador who became a political flashpoint for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, was detained again on Monday

Speaking to reporters outside the ICE Field Office in Baltimore after Abrego Garcia was detained, his lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said ICE officials had declined to tell them where they were detaining Abrego Garcia prior to his removal, or tell them why they were arresting him. 

“As of the last five minutes, Mr. Abrego Garcia has filed a new lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Maryland challenging his confinement and challenging his deportation to Uganda, or to any other country unless and until he’s had a fair trial— as in, an immigration court, as well as his full appeal rights,,” Sandoval-Moshenberg sad.

The habeas petition, filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, was assigned to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who has presided since March over his civil case.

Abrego Garcia, who fled El Salvador as a teenager and lived in Maryland, addressed supporters before entering his appointment.

“My name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I want you to remember this, remember that I am free and I was able to be reunited with my family,” he said. “This was a miracle. Thank you to God and thank you to the community. I want to thank each and every one of you who marched, lift your voices, never stop praying, and continue to fight in my name.”

Abrego Garcia’s legal fight for months has dominated U.S. headlines, after he was deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order. He faces a possible second deportation, this time to Uganda.

Shortly before his arrival Monday morning, immigration advocates, faith leaders, and other community members massed outside the field office at sunrise for a vigil, organized by two immigration advocacy groups.

The Trump administration returned him to the U.S. months after sending him to El Salvador, under orders from a federal judge and from the Supreme Court.

He was arrested upon return to the U.S. on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennesee. He remained in federal detention until Friday, when he was released from U.S. custody and ordered to return to Maryland, where a judge said he could remain under electronic surveillance and under ICE supervision while awaiting trial.

ICE officials notified Abrego Garcia’s attorneys shortly after his release on Friday that they planned to deport him to Uganda.

The notice, sent by ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Adviser, said it was intended to “serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends).”

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told Fox News in an interview Sunday night that Abrego Garcia was “absolutely” going to be deported from the U.S, and said Uganda is “on the table” as the third country of removal. 

“We have an agreement with them. It’s on a table, absolutely,” Homan said in an interview on “The Big Weekend Show” Sunday evening.

“He is absolutely going to be deported,” Homan reiterated. 

For now, he said, Abrego Garcia “can enjoy the little time he has with his family. And for the person who says we’re not going to separate family, his family can go with him, because he’s leaving.”

Trump Puts Sanctuary Cities On Notice With New Executive Order

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this week to crack down on sanctuary jurisdictions impeding federal immigration enforcement.

The directive requires the Justice Department to compile a list of all sanctuary city jurisdictions and then take action to cut off or suspend federal funding to those places. Under Trump, cities across the country, like Boston, have already made it difficult for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to apprehend illegal immigrants.

“This invasion at the southern border requires the Federal Government to take measures to fulfill its obligation to the States,” Trump wrote in the executive order. “Yet some State and local officials nevertheless continue to use their authority to violate, obstruct, and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws. This is a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law and the Federal Government’s obligation to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States.”

After the list of sanctuary jurisdictions is published, those entities would be given the chance to comply with federal law. If they don’t comply, they could lose federal funding.

The executive order also directs the Justice Department and Homeland Security to ensure that federal benefits are not provided to illegals in sanctuary jurisdictions and to “take appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State and local laws, regulations, policies, and practices favoring aliens over any groups of American citizens that are unlawful, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable.”

Earlier this month, Trump called sanctuary jurisdictions “death traps” and promised to cut off federal funding.

“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country and are being mocked all over the World,” he posted on Truth Social. “Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!”

While contrasting the Biden and Trump administrations, border czar Homan said that between 11,000-15,000 people were crossing the border illegally per day this time of the year under Biden, while under Trump, just 178 had crossed in the last 24 hours. During the same time, he said there were 1,800 known “gotaways” under Biden, compared to just 38 under Trump. Homan added that from January 20 to April 1, 2024, Biden released 184,000 illegals out of federal custody into the country. The Trump administration has only released nine total, including four so they could testify in criminal cases and four with extreme medical conditions.

In total, Homan said that there have been 139,000 deportations under Trump. He added that the administration was prioritizing the estimated 700,000 illegals who have been charged with crimes.

Trump Administration Moves To Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia – To Uganda

Gage Skidmore Flickr

New court filings reveal that the Trump administration is threatening to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda — a move his attorneys describe as coercive. Abrego, a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, declined a plea deal tied to human smuggling charges. In response, prosecutors withdrew an offer that would have allowed him to enter Costa Rica — a safe, Spanish-speaking country where he’d face no detention after serving time — and instead pursued deportation to Uganda.

His attorneys argue immigration authorities are essentially offering a forced choice: accept guilt and a path to Costa Rica, or refuse and risk being sent to Uganda, where his safety — and legal protections — are uncertain at best.

As The Hill reports:

Federal prosecutors on Thursday offered Abrego Garcia the option to “live freely” with refugee or residency status in Costa Rica after serving prison time for federal human smuggling charges in exchange for a guilty plea, per his lawyers in the Saturday filings.

Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in his native El Salvador, declined the offer on Friday to instead return to his family in Maryland. He had been imprisoned in a Tennessee jail.

After his return to Maryland, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys were notified later in the day that he must report to an Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore on Monday — and that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to deport him to Uganda.

“The only thing that happened between Thursday—Costa Rica—and Friday—Uganda— was Mr. Abrego’s exercise of his legal entitlement to release under the Bail Reform Act and the Fifth Amendment…,” Abrego Garcia’s defense team wrote.

Saturday’s revelations mark a significant escalation, as Uganda recently entered into a U.S. agreement to accept third-country deportees— but explicitly excluding individuals with criminal records or unaccompanied minors. Abrego’s legal team contends that his criminal charges make such deportation both inappropriate and potentially dangerous.

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VP Vance Says Trump Aims To Complete Border Wall By 2029

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump Administration is working hard to secure the border.

During a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, a reporter asked Vice President Vance how he and the President would define “success” when it comes to the initiative and how much of the border needs to be “walled off” before the end of Trump’s administration.

“I think the president’s hope is that by the end of the term we build the entire border wall,” the vice president replied.

“And of course that’s the physical structure — the border wall itself — but we even heard today, there are so many good technological tools, so many great artificial intelligence-enabled technologies that allow us” to guard the southern border, he added.

The Hill reported that Vance also suggested the administration would employ artificial intelligence (AI) tools to aid with efforts to combat illegal immigration — a top priority for Trump, who promised while on the campaign trail to conduct the largest deportation operation in history. The vice president pointed to AI-enabled cameras that can spot migrants up to 2 miles away from the border, before they cross over.

“We’re using artificial intelligence to make us better at the job of border enforcement, but we’ve got to make sure that technology is deployed across the entire American southern border,” Vance said.

“We’re going to do it as much as we can, as broadly as we can, because that’s how we’re going to protect the American people’s security,” he added.

Building the wall was a centerpiece of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. During his first term, his administration reinforced more than 400 miles of the already existing wall and added about 80 miles of barrier to the border.

Trump administration officials recently told GOP senators that they’re running out of money to secure the border and need Congress to immediately pass $175 billion to complete the U.S.-Mexico border wall and hire more law-enforcement agents.