President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
President Trump said he is open to considering investigating and possibly arresting Biden-era Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
During a Tuesday press conference in Florida after a tour of a migrant detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” Trump held a press conference alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The President was asked about people calling for the arrest of Mayorkas due to his handling of the southern border under former President Joe Biden.
NEW YORK CITY (September 11, 2022) Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lays flowers for USSS Master Special Officer Craig Miller and participates in the September 11th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City, NY. (DHS photo by Sydney Phoenix)
“I ran into former DHS Secretary Mayorkas and I asked him a couple of questions about his disastrous handling of the border. He didn’t like my questions, but the number one question that I heard from people responding to my video was, ‘Why hasn’t he been arrested yet?’” The Blaze’s Julio Rosas asked the president at Tuesday’s presser.
Trump blasted Biden for the last-minute pardons he handed out before leaving office. However, the President was unaware of whether Mayorkas received a Biden pardon. He did not.
“Was he given a pardon, Mayokas? Was he not?” Trump asked.
“I don’t believe so,” Rosas said.
“Well, I’d take a look at that one because what he did is it’s beyond incompetence. Something had to be done. Now, with that being said, he took orders from other people, and he was really doing the orders. And you could say he was very loyal to them because it must have been very hard for him to stand up and sit up and, you know, talk about what he allowed to happen to this country and be serious about it. So he was given orders. If he wasn’t given a pardon, I could see looking at that,” Trump said.
The president was then reminded that the House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas, though the effort never made it anywhere in the Senate. The vote in the House to impeach Mayorkas was over “willful and systemic refusal to comply with” immigration laws.
“He was impeached, but yeah, it was just a fake impeachment. It was a fake impeachment. But why don’t you take a look at it? I think he was so bad. They were all so bad, look, it was the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump said.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just asked the DOJ to look into ARRESTING Alejandro Mayorkas for aiding and abetting an invasion of our country
Trump’s remarks against Mayorkas come hours after the President floated potentially deporting billionaire Elon Musk back to South Africa.
“We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said. “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon! Wouldn’t that be terrible?”
Watch:
Reporter: Are you going to deport Elon Musk?
Trump: We'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies. pic.twitter.com/6I0OAIv7Js
After a brief ceasefire between the president and his former DOGE lieutenant, the war of words has ratcheted up again over the past 24 hours — with Musk revving up his criticism of the Trump-backed “Big, Beautiful” budget bill. Musk, in a Monday post on X, denounced the legislation and floated the idea of forming a new political party.
It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!
Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.
Illegal Immigration in the United State via Wikimedia Commons
According to new reports, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller delivered a blunt ultimatum to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leadership in mid-May: ramp up arrests to 3,000 per day or face personnel changes.
During a tense meeting at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C., Miller reportedly warned that regional offices failing to meet the target would see their leadership replaced. Sources familiar with the meeting said Miller left no room for interpretation — improved numbers weren’t encouraged, they were mandatory. (RELATED: Legal Battle May Reveal Big Payouts Tied To Biden’s Border Policies)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, also in attendance, struck a more measured tone. Still, the message was clear, according to NBC News: immigration enforcement efforts must intensify and take precedence:
Misdemeanor cases for border crossings are regularly appearing in federal court, a rarity in recent years. Justice Department teams focused on other issues are being disbanded, with members being dispersed to teams focused on immigration and other administration priorities.
And prosecutors say cases without immigration components have stalled or are moving more slowly, according to documents seen by NBC News and conversations with six current and former prosecutors and a senior FBI official, who described how immigration is now a central part of discussions around whether to pursue cases.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“Immigration status is now question No. 1 in terms of charging decisions,” an assistant U.S. attorney said. “Is this person a documented immigrant? Is this person an undocumented immigrant? Is this person a citizen? Are they somehow deportable? What is their immigration status? And the answer to that question is now largely driving our charging decisions.”
At least one U.S. attorney’s office abandoned a potential federal prosecution of someone who prosecutors felt was dangerous because the case against the person lacked an immigration component, an email obtained by NBC News showed. The office instead left the case to state prosecutors.
Mobilizing National Resources
Following the confrontation, ICE launched “Operation At Large,” a coast-to-coast initiative designed to supercharge apprehensions. The scale is unprecedented. Over 21,000 National Guard troops and 250 IRS agents have been folded into the effort, alongside thousands of ICE and federal law enforcement personnel. (RELATED: Police Case That Fueled 2020 Protests Returns To Supreme Court)
The operation’s reach has required coordination across agencies, pulling FBI and DOJ resources away from their usual focus areas and toward immigration-related priorities.
The Daily Mailhas more on Miller’s dramatic call to action:
He then reportedly gave them an open challenge and asked: ‘Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?’
Miller further pushed, getting into what an official called a ‘p***ing contest,’ saying: ‘What do you mean you’re going after criminals?’
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
In a statement to the Examiner, ICE deputy assistant director of media affairs Laszlo Baksay said the descriptions were ‘inaccurate.’
However, the conservative-leaning outlet cited sources within ICE and DHS who claimed Miller’s remarks further eroded morale among rank-and-file agents, which was already low.
“He had nothing positive to say about anybody,” one official told the paper, describing the mood following Miller’s visit.
Another source painted a darker picture of the internal climate confronting ICE agents:
“They’ve been threatened, told they’re watching their emails and texts and Signals. That’s what is horrible about things right now. It’s a fearful environment. Everybody in leadership is afraid. There’s no morale. Everybody is demoralized.”
Despite the backlash, Miller defended the administration’s approach during an appearance with Sean Hannity, insisting the 3,000-arrest-per-day quota is only a temporary benchmark — and warning that agents should be prepared for that figure to rise.
Localized operations have revealed just how expansive the crackdown has become since Miller and Noem appeared at Potomac Center Plaza in Southwest D.C. Across the nation, agents have ramped up early-morning sweeps and workplace raids, often coordinated with minimal local notification. In Florida, a weeklong action labeled “Operation Tidal Wave” resulted in 1,120 arrests — the largest ICE enforcement action ever recorded in a single state.
Tennessee saw similar efforts, with 196 arrests in the Nashville area. The local response was sharply critical. Nashville’s mayor denounced the operation as out of step with the city’s values and implemented policies limiting cooperation with ICE. Republicans in Congress are now investigating whether the mayor’s office leaked information about ICE agents — a serious charge with national implications.
Focus on Career Criminals — But Collateral Arrests Are Rising
Officially, the crackdown targets individuals with criminal records or prior deportation orders. But internal ICE guidance reportedly encourages officers to make “collateral arrests” — detaining illegal immigrants encountered in the field, even if they weren’t the original target and have no criminal history.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/us_icegov/54295293536/in/photostream/, Creative Commons Attribution-Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal (CC BY-NC-SA 1.0)
The broader approach has raised legal and logistical concerns, as well as fears of potential overreach, according to immigrant advocacy groups.
Leadership Purge Signals Internal Pressure
It also hasn’t come without fallout inside ICE. Two senior officials — Kenneth Genalo and Robert Hammer — have been removed from their posts in recent weeks. Sources say the firings reflect internal friction over how aggressively to pursue the administration’s ambitious targets. They also serve as a warning to others who might be perceived as resistant to the push.
White House: Fulfilling the Mandate, Critics Question the Cost
The administration stands by the operation. Officials say it delivers on President Trump’s second-term promise: to secure the border and remove criminal illegal aliens.
Still, questions remain. Legal scholars are raising red flags over the breadth of federal involvement, and local-federal cooperation is growing more strained. As the operation continues, so does the debate — over strategy, law, and the real-world impact on communities nationwide.
President Trump has ensured an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who garnered a massive online following by posting videos of him flashing stacks of cash and urging migrants to “invade” American homes and take them over under squatters’ rights laws has been deported.
Leonel Moreno, 26, told his audience he planned to make a business out of his scams.
“He has been deported,” the Trump administration announced Friday on its @RapidResponse47 X account.
In his videos, he mocked U.S. taxpayers and even other immigrants who work for a living, alternately waving stacks of hundred-dollar bills, crying, singing or posing with an infant with mucus running out of his nose.
“I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave,” Moreno said in Spanish, according to a translation of his videos. “I came to the U.S. to mark my territory.”
He bragged about raking in cash via TikTok as well as entitlement payments from U.S. taxpayers. He claimed that his family had received $350 a week in government handouts since entering the U.S. illegally and that at one point he was raking in as much as $1,000 a week with his viral videos.
“You’re hurt because I make more than you without much work while you work like slaves, understand?” he said in one of his videos. “That’s the difference between you and me. I’m always going to make lots of money without much work, and you’re always going to be exploited and miserable and insignificant.”
TikTok eventually shut down his account, which had amassed about 500,000 followers.
ICE picked him up after his online profile exploded, but he spent months in custody under the Biden administration.
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.
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.
Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber make a subway safety announcement at the NYCT Rail Control Center (RCC) on Wednesday, Mar 6, 2024.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
Attorney General Pam Bondi Trump filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state of New York and its governor, Kathy Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James, alleging a failure to comply with federal law by shielding illegal immigrants.
Bondi said Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and state DMV head Mark Schroeder treated their state’s residents like second-class citizens.
“We’re here today because we have filed charges against the state of New York,” Bondi said at a 5 p.m. ET news conference. “We have filed charges against Kathy Hochul. We have filed charges against Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, who is with DMV. This is a new DOJ, and we are taking steps to protect Americans – American citizens.”
Bondi invoked a similar suit the DOJ filed against the state of Illinois a week ago and added, “New York didn’t listen. So now, you’re next.”
“If you are a state not complying with federal law, you’re next,” she said. “Get ready. And the great men and women of law enforcement are standing behind me today. We have FBI, DEF, DEA, ATF agents. They put their lives on the line every single day to protect us.”
Bondi alleged New York had given a “green light to any illegal alien in New York where law enforcement officers cannot check their identity if they pull them over.” She concluded:
Law enforcement officers do not have access to their background, and if these great men and women pull over someone and don’t have access to their background, they have no idea who they’re dealing with, and it puts their lives on the line every single day. Violent criminals, gang members, drug traffickers, human smugglers will no longer terrorize the American people, and that is why we are here today. You will be held accountable if you do not follow federal law. It’s over, it ends, and we’re coming after you.
A federal appellate court declinedto 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.
Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted an injunction against the Trump administration, allowing it to move ahead with its plans to end protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the U.S.
The decision is a victory for the Trump administration, allowing it to move forward with its plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. through parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
The TPS program provides legal status and work permits for these individuals.
🚨BREAKING: The Supreme Court has cleared the Trump administration to revoke legal status from 500,000+ criminal aliens flown in under the Biden regime.
President Donald Trump signs Executive Orders, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
President Donald J. Trump announced Thursday that he will “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” after two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” he wrote on his social-media platform.
Earlier on Thursday, the administration revealed plans to re-examine green cards issued to immigrants from 19 countries. The June memo lists these countries — including Afghanistan, Burma, Cuba, Somalia, Venezuela and others — as of concern.
The sharper policy response comes after the suspect in this week’s attack was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. He entered the U.S. in 2021 under the humanitarian resettlement program launched following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Washington, D.C. Shooting: What Happened
On Wednesday afternoon near the White House, Lakanwal allegedly ambushed two West Virginia National Guard members. The victims, 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, were shot during what prosecutors are calling a “brazen, targeted attack.”
Beckstrom died from her injuries late Thanksgiving Day, President Trump said. Wolfe remains in critical condition.
According to prosecutors, Lakanwal drove cross-country from Washington state for the sole purpose of carrying out the ambush. He allegedly fired 10–15 rounds from a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, striking one Guardsman, then leaning over to shoot a second time, and then firing on the other. Authorities said the remaining National Guard member then returned fire, and Lakanwal was apprehended.
This horrific attack unfolded while hundreds of National Guard troops remain deployed across D.C., under Mr. Trump’s 2025 strategy to restore public safety in the capital.
Administration Response: Immigration Crackdown
In response to the ambush, President Trump not only called for a complete halt to migration from unspecified “Third World Countries,” but late Thursday the administration also announced an indefinite pause on Afghan immigration. Officials said they would conduct a sweeping review of green card approvals tied to the 19 countries flagged in June.
In his statement, Trump did not list which additional countries would be subject to the pause — though the 19-country list already includes several nations the administration deemed high risk.
Why This Matters — and What It Signals for National Security
Supporters of the president’s crackdown argue that the D.C. ambush underscores the danger of lax vetting under previous administrations. The suspect in this case reportedly worked in a CIA-backed unit during the U.S. war in Afghanistan, then obtained resettlement under a program from the prior administration.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump called for the impeachment of a judge in a Truth Social post, referring to U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg who recently sought to block deportation flights to El Salvador.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President – He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY,” Trump declared in the post.
“I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” the president added.
Over the weekend, Republican Rep. Brandon Gill (Texas) said he would be pushing to impeach the federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to halt deportations of Venezuelan gang members.
“I’ll be filing Articles of Impeachment against activist judge James Boasberg this week,” Gill wrote in a post on X.
I’ll be filing Articles of Impeachment against activist judge James Boasberg this week. pic.twitter.com/kh4vfooS2A
— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) March 16, 2025
On Saturday, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The order was intended to target members of the Tren de Aragua gang, who Trump said could be arrested, restrained and removed from the country. The moment marked only the third time the wartime act has been used and the first time since World War II.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg had earlier ordered a temporary block on the deportation of five of the group’s members, which prompted Trump to issue the proclamation.
The editorial board of The New York Post also hammered billionaire Elon Musk for calling to impeach Judge Boasberg, calling the move “way out of line.”
“Elon Musk is way out of his lane in cheering a bid to impeach federal Judge James Boasberg, who’s put a temporary hold on deportation flights of illegal migrant gangbangers,” the editorial board wrote in their Sunday piece, which was highlighted by Mediaite.
“We like the idea of the flights: The brutes of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 have had it too easy for far too long, and current efforts to get tough are a necessary correction to Biden-era denial,” they added
“The case seems destined to go all the way to the Supreme Court. Can the feds simply declare anyone a TdA member before putting them on a plane off to an El Salvadoran prison?” the Post editorial board questioned in their piece.
“Which makes it just plain silly for Musk to tweet ‘necessary’ of a Texas rep’s plan to file to impeach the judge: It’s nothing of the kind, and cheering it only makes Musk look reckless — a reputation he doesn’t need when many DOGE actions also face court challenge,” they added.
A federal judge has found that Florida Attorney General 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. Ron DeSantis signed legislation into law in February that made it a misdemeanor for illegal immigrants to enter the state as part of President Donald Trump’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 Florida law enforcement officers were bound by the TRO, preventing them from enforcing the criminal immigration law.
U.S. judge Kathleen Williams finds AG James Uthmeier in contempt of court after he disobeyed her court order blocking a new state immigration law. She quotes Humpty Dumpty. pic.twitter.com/QZWXki0uiV
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 order…properly 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.
It’s time to push back against these corrupt judges! They have no legitimate authority to enforce unconstitutional orders!
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told a corrupt Obama judge that he will not order state authorities to halt enforcement of immigration law.
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 court’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.
