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DeSantis Opens โ€˜Deportation Depotโ€™ in Florida a Day After Alligator Alcatraz Court Victory

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Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Florida Gov.ย Ron DeSantisย has opened โ€œDeportation Depotโ€ migrant detention center in Florida, a follow-up to the embattled โ€œAlligator Alcatraz.โ€

โ€œDeportation Depotโ€ is located about 45 miles away from Jacksonville in the community of Sanderson, at the site of the Baker Correctional Institution.

The facility has the capacity for 1,500 detainees,ย Fox News reported. As of Friday, a little over 100 migrants had been moved there.

DeSantis said last month that he moved to begin work on a new facility to fulfill an urgent need for more shelter for illegal migrants as theyโ€™re rounded up by ICE agents throughout the state.

โ€œThere is a demand for this,โ€ DeSantis told reporters at the time. โ€œIโ€™m confident that it will be filled.โ€

The opening of the new facility came a day after the $250 million โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ was granted a rare win by an appeals court.

The detention center was ordered to ship out all detainees and close within 60 days.ย The rulingย by Judgeย Kathleen M. Williamsย stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe that accused the Sunshine State of violating the National Environmental Policy Act.

A stay on Williamsโ€™ ruling was granted by a three-judge panel in Atlanta on Thursday, pending an appeal. โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ can continue holding detainees for now.

In a video posted on his X account Thursday, DeSantis declared: โ€œThe mission continues on immigration enforcement.โ€

Until yesterday, โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ faced a series of legal and PR losses, with some detainees alleging mistreatment.

Florida Attorney General Held In Contempt After Defending Trump Immigration Agenda

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A federal judge has found thatย Florida Attorney Generalย James Uthmeier was in civil contempt of court over her ruling to pause a new state law making it a crime for people living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered on April 29 that Uthmeier show cause on “why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned” for violating a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the court, though Williams ultimately decided he was unable to convince her otherwise.

“If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump’s agenda on illegal immigration, so be it,” Uthmeier said Tuesday in a post on X.

Florida Gov.ย Ron DeSantisย signed legislation into law in February that made it a misdemeanor for illegal immigrants to enter the state as part of President Donald Trumpโ€™s push to crack down on illegal immigration.

But on April 4, Williams issued a 14-day TRO in response to the law, following a lawsuit filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and other groups. She then extended the TRO another 11 days after learning the Florida Highway Patrol had arrested over a dozen people, including a U.S. citizen.

The court said on April 18 that Floridaย law enforcement officersย were bound by the TRO, preventing them from enforcing the criminal immigration law.

The court also ordered the attorney general to provide notice to all law enforcement officers, which Uthmeier initially complied with.

On April 23, he sent a follow-up letter telling the law enforcement community that “no judicial orderโ€ฆproperly restrains you from” enforcing the immigration law, adding that “no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce” the statute.

As a result, the court required Uthmeier to show cause as to why he should not be held in contempt for violating the TRO.

Following his response, the court opined that litigants cannot change the meaning of words as it suits them, ruling that Uthmeier was in contempt of the courtโ€™s April 18 order to provide the TRO to law enforcement officers regarding the enforcement of the immigration law.

As such, the court ordered Uthmeier to file bi-weekly reports detailing arrests, detentions or law enforcement actions when it comes to the immigration law prohibiting undocumented immigrants from entering the state of Florida, with the first being filed by July 1.

Trump Border Czar Warns California Officials Can Be Arrested If They Disrupt ICE Raids

By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America - Thomas Homan, CC BY-SA 2.0,

Things are escalating…

On Sunday, Border czar Tom Homan warned California officials could face arrest and prosecution if they โ€œcross the lineโ€ following President Trumpโ€™s deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles to quell ongoing immigration protests.

Trump ordered at least 2,000 National Guard members to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after two days of clashes with demonstrators, despite state and city leaders saying they had not asked for assistance.

Homan said Trumpโ€™s order was not only to protect law enforcement officers but also to โ€œprotect this community.โ€

โ€œThe rhetoric is so high against ICE officers in this city that itโ€™s a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt,โ€ Homan told NBC Newsโ€™s Jacob Soboroff in an interview slated for broadcast Sunday night. โ€œWeโ€™ve got help coming, and weโ€™re going to do our job, and weโ€™re going to continue doing that job.โ€

On Sunday morning, Newsom, in a post on the social platform X, claimed the federal government is โ€œtaking over the California National Guardโ€ because โ€œthey want a spectacle.โ€

โ€œDonโ€™t give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully,โ€ he added.

In the NBC News interview, Homan bashed Newsomโ€™s comments and called him โ€œan embarrassment for the state.โ€

โ€œI have absolutely no respect for this governor,โ€ Homan said. โ€œCriminal aliens are walking in this state every day because of his government policy. I donโ€™t care what the governor thinks of me. Iโ€™m not running a popularity contest.โ€

Supreme Court Rules Trump May Rescind Biden-era Immigration Policy

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a significant immigration win on Friday…

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting roughly 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.ย 

Fox News reports:

The Supreme Court decision stays, for now, a lower court ruling that halted Trump’s plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for some migrants living in the U.S., which allows individuals to live and work in the U.S. legally if they cannot work safely in their home country due to a disaster, armed conflict or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.” 

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer asked justices earlier this month to allow the administration to proceed with its decision to revoke the status for the migrants, accusing U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of improperly intruding on the executive branchโ€™s authority over immigration policy.

“The district courtโ€™s reasoning is untenable,” Sauer told the high court, adding that the program “implicates particularly discretionary, sensitive, and foreign-policy-laden judgments of the Executive Branch regarding immigration policy.”

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

Latino District Flips To Trump As Democrats Confess ‘Massive Shift’ On Border Policy

Some Democrats are finally acknowledging they need to course correct on their immigration stance.

A new report from The New York Times revealed some leading Democrat lawmakers have admitted that open borders and immigration are costing the party and

“When you have the most Latino district in the country outside of Puerto Rico vote for Trump, that should be a wake-up call for the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas).

The report highlighted that Gonzalez witnessed President Donald Trump “win every county in his district along the border with Mexico.” Gonzalez’s 34th district in Texas has swung dramatically from voting heavily Democratic in recent presidential elections to going in favor of Trump in 2024.

“This is a Democratic district thatโ€™s been blue for over a century,” Gonzalez told the Times.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said the Democrat Party “got led astray by the 2016 and the 2020 elections, and we just never moved back.” 

“We looked feckless, we werenโ€™t decisive, we werenโ€™t listening to voters, and the voters decided that we werenโ€™t in the right when it comes to what was happening with the border,” Gallego told the Times. 

In May, Gallego released a border security plan that would speed up asylum seekers’ claims and make other countries do their “fair share” in receiving asylum seekers, as well as take action against cartel violence.

The New York Times reported that various Democrats “are pushing for a course correction they see as overdue,” noting a new proposal from the Democratic policy shop and left-wing think tank Center for American Progress. The organization is calling for expanding legal immigration but also for ramping up border security and clamping down on abuse of the nation’s asylum system, the latter two of which are longtime Republican priorities.

Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, admitted to the Times that Democrats will have to adopt some level of border security policy.

“Iโ€™m happy to argue with Stephen Miller or anyone else about why they are wrong,” Tanden told the New York Times. “But the way weโ€™re going to be able to do that is to also honestly assess that the border has been too insecure, that it allowed too many people to come through and that we need to fix that.”

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport illegal immigrants as well as increase security at the U.S. border. The administration’s efforts have been criticized by progressives and violent anti-ICE protests recently prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard to California.

Florida In Talks With Trump Admin To Shutter Alligator Alcatraz

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Florida officials are reportedly in talks with the Trump administration about shutting down the controversial migrant detention center nicknamed โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ after the Department of Homeland Security concluded the massive facility may be too costly to keep running.

According to a Thursday report from The New York Times, the detention center โ€” which opened in July 2025 with strong backing from President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis โ€” has already cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars to operate.

The facility became a national flashpoint almost immediately after opening.

Just days before detainees arrived, Trump toured the site alongside then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and DeSantis, praising Floridaโ€™s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration and taking a swipe at former President Joe Biden.

During the visit, Trump joked that Biden โ€œprobably wanted to put me in there,โ€ while admiring the heavy-duty detention setup designed to house illegal migrants deep in the Florida Everglades.

But the project quickly ran into legal and political trouble.

A federal judge ordered the facility shut down in August after environmental groups and a local Native American tribe sued over concerns about the impact on nearby land and wildlife. An appeals court later blocked the shutdown order, allowing operations to continue while the legal fight played out.

The center has also faced criticism from immigrant advocacy groups and detainees, who alleged poor conditions inside the facility, including claims of maggot-infested food, withheld medication, and overcrowded living quarters.

Despite the backlash, supporters argued the facility symbolized the tougher immigration enforcement policies championed by Trump and embraced by Republican leaders frustrated with years of border chaos under Biden-era policies.

Now, with costs reportedly spiraling, Florida and federal officials appear to be reconsidering whether โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ is sustainable long term.

Haitian Gang Member Shouts โ€˜F*ck Trump,โ€™ Thanks Obama’ During Deportation: Watch

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Illegal Immigration in the United State via Wikimedia Commons

*This article contains graphic language*

Shocking footage…

A Haitian gang member was recorded by Fox News praising former Presidentsย Joe Bidenย andย Barack Obama as he was arrested by ICE for deportation this week.

Fox News filmed several illegal aliens being arrested by ICE in Boston this week as the agency carried out Trumpโ€™s illegal immigration crackdown just days after his inauguration.

โ€œIโ€™m not going back to Haiti!โ€ one man could be heard screaming as he was arrested by ICE agents. โ€œFuck Trump! You feel me? Yo, Biden forever, bro! Thank Obama for everything that he did for me, bro!โ€

ICE told Fox News that the man in question was a gang member from Haiti with โ€œseventeen criminal convictions in recent years.โ€

Fox News also recorded the arrest of a Salvadorian illegal alien who had previously been โ€œcharged locally with rape,โ€ but was quickly โ€œreleased by sanctuary jurisdiction,โ€ as well as an illegal alien from Brazil wanted for armed robbery and a Dominican illegal alien who had been charged with drug trafficking and assault with a deadly weapon.

In another moment captured by Fox News, ICE agents arrested an MS-13 gang member for gun charges, as well as his roommate, who was also found to be living in the United States illegally.

โ€œICE says he was released from local custody just the day before,โ€ reported Fox News on the MS-13 gang member. โ€œTheir detainer request was ignored because of sanctuary policies.โ€

The Trump administration has started flying immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally out of the country using military aircraft, a White House spokesperson said Friday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared photos on the social media site X of individuals in handcuffs boarding a military plane.

โ€œDeportation flights have begun,โ€ Leavitt said. โ€œPresident Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.โ€

This week, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced ICE had made over 1,000 arrests while carrying out deportation orders.

Appeals Court Allows Trump Administration to Continue Third-Country Deportations

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Trump administration may continue swiftly deporting migrants while a legal challenge to the policy proceeds.

In a 2โ€“1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit allowed the deportations to continue and moved to speed up the timeline for the next stage of the case. The panel issued its order without an accompanying explanation.

The Trump administration has expanded the use of โ€œthird-country removalsโ€ as part of its broader immigration crackdown, deporting migrants to nations other than their countries of origin. The administration has reached agreements with several countries โ€” including Cameroon, South Sudan and Eswatini โ€” to accept deportees.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defended the policy as a way to remove individuals it describes as particularly dangerous.

In court filings, the administration has also argued that federal judges lack the authority to intervene in how immigration enforcement policies are carried out.

The majority on the three-judge panel included Judge Jeffrey Howard, nominated by former President George W. Bush, and Judge Seth Aframe, a nominee of former President Joe Biden. Judge Lara Montecalvo, also nominated by Biden, dissented.

The ruling lifts limits imposed by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, another Biden nominee, who is overseeing a class-action lawsuit filed last year by four noncitizens challenging the deportation policy.

Murphy ruled last month that the administration could not deport migrants to third countries without first attempting to send them to their country of citizenship or another country with which they have ties.

โ€œIt is not fine, nor is it legal,โ€ Murphy wrote in his decision.

His order required immigration authorities to first attempt deportation to a migrantโ€™s country of citizenship or the country normally designated for removal. If that effort failed, Murphy said migrants must be given a โ€œmeaningful opportunityโ€ to challenge their deportation once a third country is selected.

Murphy delayed the implementation of his ruling to allow the appeals court time to weigh in. The 1st Circuitโ€™s order keeps his decision on hold while the appeal moves forward.

Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, which represents the migrants, said the group welcomed the expedited timeline.

โ€œWhile the order unfortunately delays implementation of the decision, we appreciate that the First Circuit ordered a swift resolution of the merits of the governmentโ€™s appeal,โ€ Realmuto said.

The dispute has already reached the Supreme Court once. Last year, the Trump administration successfully appealed to the high court after Murphy imposed earlier limits on the policy.

In a statement following Mondayโ€™s ruling, a DHS spokesperson said the courtโ€™s decision supports the administrationโ€™s position.

โ€œThe Biden Administration allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood our country, and the Trump Administration has the authority to remove these criminal illegal aliens and clean up this national security nightmare,โ€ the spokesperson said. โ€œIf these activist judges had their way, aliens who are so uniquely barbaric that their own countries wonโ€™t take them back, including convicted murderers, child rapists and drug traffickers, would walk free on American streets.โ€

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 Presidentโ€™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 โ€“ a sanctuary city โ€“ 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 โ€“ a sanctuary state โ€“ 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 CNNโ€™s “State of the Union,” Noemโ€™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 FEMAโ€™s sensitive disaster relief data to review its programs. 

“Can and should Donald Trump shut it down?” CNNโ€™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. 

โ€œFEMA 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,โ€ 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!!!

Trump Administration Delivers Historic Border Security Win โ€” Lowest Apprehensions Since 1970

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration has closed fiscal year 2025 with a historic milestone on border security โ€” the lowest U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in more than five decades, according to preliminary enforcement data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Border agents recorded 237,565 apprehensions in fiscal year 2025 โ€” slightly above the 201,780 apprehensions in 1970 but dramatically below recent levels. The numbers represent an 87% drop compared to the average of the past four fiscal years (1.86 million apprehensions) and showcase what can happen when the federal government finally enforces immigration laws.

This achievement came even though 72% of this yearโ€™s total apprehensions happened during the final 111 days of the Biden administration โ€” before President Trump returned to office and immediately began reversing his predecessorโ€™s โ€œopen-borderโ€ policies.

โ€œFiscal year 2025 shows what happens when we enforce the law without compromise,โ€ said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott. โ€œFor too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs โ€” and the result is the most secure border in modern history.โ€


Reversing Bidenโ€™s Border Chaos

When President Trump took office in January 2025, he inherited what many described as a border crisis fueled by Bidenโ€™s mass-release policies. In just the first 111 days of the fiscal year, under Bidenโ€™s watch, 172,026 apprehensions occurred โ€” nearly three-quarters of the yearโ€™s total.

But once Trumpโ€™s immigration directives took effect, the situation changed dramatically. Over the next 254 days, apprehensions plummeted to 65,539 โ€” just 27% of the fiscal yearโ€™s total.

September 2025 alone saw only about 279 apprehensions per day along the Southwest border โ€” a staggering 95% decline compared to the Biden-era daily average of 5,110. It also marked the fifth consecutive month of zero illegal immigrant releases by Border Patrol โ€” a stark contrast to 9,144 releases in September 2024.

Across all entry points, CBP recorded roughly 26,000 total encounters in September, down 89% from Bidenโ€™s monthly averages.


Strong Action From Day One

President Trump wasted no time taking decisive action to reestablish border control:

  • Deployed additional personnel to the southern border.
  • Ended โ€œcatch-and-releaseโ€, ensuring illegal migrants are no longer released while awaiting hearings.
  • Shut down Bidenโ€™s CBP One app parole loophole, later repurposing the app to help migrants self-deport.
  • Paused parole programs and authorized ICE to cancel parole statuses.
  • Ordered strict enforcement of existing immigration laws, restoring morale and authority to frontline border agents.

These policies stand in sharp contrast to Bidenโ€™s approach, which relied on controversial โ€œparoleโ€ programs and insisted on new legislation instead of acting on existing laws.