The State of Texas has claimed ownership of nine more “no man’s land” islands on the Rio Grande border with Mexico to prevent their use as staging areas by cartel smugglers. This action mirrors a similar claim Texas made three years ago to “Fronton Island” off Starr County, which was such a hotbed of illegal activity that some referred to it as “Cartel Island.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) documented the cartel activity on the island ten months before the state seized it through hidden cameras that recorded images of armed cartel smugglers moving through the cover of thick carizzo cane there.

A year later, the Border Patrol photographed rifles that cartel gunmen threw into the Rio Grande off Fronton Island as they fled into Mexico from U.S. agents pursuing them on the Texas side of the river.

After Texas laid claim to that island, the state stripped it of the vegetation that had provided cover to cartel members and ringed it with razor wire to deny them easy access to their former sanctuary.

The nine islands near Laredo that the state is claiming ownership of this month are much smaller than the 170-acre Fronton Island (the largest is just under 22 acres). Together, they cover about 66 acres.

Texas Land Commissioner Dr. Dawn Buckingham says the nine islands were among 28 “previously considered unclaimed” Rio Grande Islands that U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) asked Texas to determine if any were state land. To establish ownership, officials had to examine historical records and surveys carefully.

The aerial image of the 12.5-acre Zachary Island (see above photo), which Texas now claims as state land, shows the challenges the Texas General Land Office faced (and offers clues about why the state is claiming only 9 of the 28 islands CBP inquired about).

Although Texas documented that the International Boundary between the U.S. and Mexico was offshore of Zachary Island, the photo also shows the boundary line running through a smaller, unnamed island. The western side of that island is in Mexico; the eastern side is in the U.S.

There were likely other instances like that involving the 19 other islands that Texas was asked to examine.

On October 26, 2026, Commissioner Buckingham sent letters to both the Texas Military Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety informing them that the state was claiming the islands and authorized them to access them “for the purpose of maintaining operational security of our southern border.”

She also noted that “while we have not been alerted to criminal activity on these additional nine islands, previous experience has demonstrated the exploitation of border islands by cartels and smugglers.”

What are your thoughts about Texas claiming more islands along the Rio Grande border with Mexico?

Share your opinion in the comments to this article.

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

About 120 South Dakota National Guard soldiers are deploying to the U.S.-Mexico border for a year at the request of the federal government, the state’s seventh border deployment since 2021.

The state Guard’s Adjutant Gen. Mark Morrell spoke to a full gymnasium of family and community members at a ceremony Thursday in the southeast South Dakota city of Wagner.

“For our soldiers, today represents a commitment to serve,” Morrell said. “For their families, it represents a sacrifice, a little bit of uncertainty, and the beginning of a long separation.” - Adjutant Gen. Mark Morrell, South Dakota National Guard

The soldiers are members of the Wagner-based 155th Engineer Company and come from 49 communities across South Dakota, according to the National Guard.

The unit will provide logistical and personnel support to the U.S. Border Patrol. According to the Guard, soldiers do not perform law enforcement roles.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, and Gov. Larry Rhoden, all Republicans, also spoke during the event. Johnson lives in Mitchell, about 60 miles from Wagner.

“This community, this state, and this nation understand what raising your right hand, and what being willing to answer that call, what kind of an impact that has on our country and on your family. So on behalf of a grateful nation, let me say thank you for serving.” -Congressman Dusty Johnson

The National Guard said family and employer support programs will assist soldiers and their families throughout the year-long deployment.

The deployment continues a series of southern border missions involving South Dakota National Guard members dating to 2021. Then-Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, ordered three of the deployments to assist the state of Texas and funded them with over $1 million from the state’s emergency and disaster fund, plus a $1 million donation from billionaire Tennessee businessman Willis Johnson. The federal government requested and paid for the other four.

The 155th Engineer Company previously deployed to Kuwait from 2003 to 2005 and again from 2015 to 2016.

Rhoden, who served in the National Guard, told the audience in Wagner that the U.S. now has “the most secure border in American history. But there is still more work to do, and we cannot give up the fight.”

Searchlight asked Rhoden after the ceremony whether he foresees the rate of South Dakota National Guard deployments to the southern border slowing down, or whether border deployments are a new normal.

“It’s hard for me to know, you know, it’s not my job,” he said. “Most of these deployments have been federal deployments. And so, it’ll depend on what happens at the federal level.”

Rhoden invited Morrell to chime in.

“As far as the administration, Department of War is concerned, our objective has been to secure the border, and whatever force it takes to continue to do that, I’m sure is what they’ll ask for. Our job in South Dakota is to be ready and say yes.” - Adjutant Gen. Mark Morrell, South Dakota National Guard

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US Border Security & Immigration News during the week of October 17 - October 24, 2026, included crackdowns on legal immigration and concerns about illegal immigration enforcement actions.

Legal Immigration Crackdown

The White House issued a news release on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, bringing the Trump Administration’s crackdown on legal immigration into sharp focus by claiming credit for:

• A plunge in US net migration: The United States recorded negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years. The Brookings Institute says this number is due to a significant drop in both legal and illegal immigration into the U.S.

• Discouraging international student enrollment: 110,000 fewer international students are projected to enroll in US universities compared to last year, primarily due to visa restrictions and strict scrutiny of student social media accounts.

• Restricting Muslims immigration: Migration from majority-Muslim countries has been cut by 96% since 2024 and overall migration roughly in half, with visa issuances down 89% for Africa and 81% for the Middle East.

• Slashing refugee resettlement: The Trump administration has drastically cut the number of refugees admitted into the U.S., capping it at 7,500 for the current fiscal year. That's the lowest since the U.S. refugee program was established in 1980.

Additionally, the George W. Bush Presidential Center this week reports the following restrictions on legal immigration:

• According to the most recent published government data, the U.S. State Department cut legal immigration in half, issuing only 26,000 immigrant visas in February, compared to an average of 52,000 per month in past years.

• Fiscal Year 2026, which ended in September, was the first year on record that the United States failed to resettle any Christian refugees fleeing persecution, according to U.S. State Department data analyzed by World Relief.

• Of the refugees resettled in 2026, 16,287 were Afrikaners (white South Africans); the other five were Afghans but not from religious minority groups.

Illegal Immigration Enforcement

• Long Beach Clash: On October 17, a targeted ICE arrest operation in Long Beach, California, turned violent. ICE officials released a statement saying that anti-ICE protesters blocked vehicles and threatened officers. Authorities arrested one individual for smashing a government vehicle’s mirror. ICE denied reports that officers had struck a cyclist during the incident. The Long Beach Police Department issued a news release describing the chaotic scene they encountered responding to requests for local police during the ICE operation.

• San Diego Scrutiny: San Diego lawmakers are asking questions about a sharp spike in ICE activity. A regional nonprofit reported at least 44 confirmed instances of enforcement activity (raids or arrests) so far in October, up from 29 in September, leading to widespread anxiety in local immigrant communities.

• Polling Site Concerns: Civil rights organizations, including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), questioned sightings of marked Customs & Border Protection (CBP) vehicles near early voting polling locations in two Florida counties. An investigation determined the vehicles were driven by officers in plain clothes who were attempting to vote before they left the state for an assignment in Texas.

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FINALLY, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

(Stories covered by US Border News during the past week)

• Coast Guard Stops 66 Migrants From Reaching US

63 returned to Dominican Republic

• Human Smuggler With Bombs Busted

In South Texas

• Migrant found dead at Laredo ICE facility

7th to die in ICE custody in Texas in 2026

• Dead man in Texas ICE facility was Lawful Permanent Resident

ICE claims status obtained by fraud

• ICE agents arrested U.S. citizen at gunpoint in Charlotte

He became a citizen 13 years ago

I am committed to delivering a weekly newsletter that is not only educational and insightful but also engaging and easy to digest in five minutes or less.

(What is your reaction to this week’s newsletter? Let me know in the comments!)

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

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Immigration advocates are demanding answers after a U.S. citizen said he was arrested at gunpoint by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on his way to work in Charlotte earlier this week.

Atilio Portillo, a resident of East Charlotte who owns a small construction business, told reporters during a press conference Friday that ICE agents stopped him as he was on his way to work early Wednesday morning with his brother and nephew.

The agents blocked his work truck with unmarked vehicles, broke its windows, and pointed guns at the passengers, according to Portillo. He said his requests for a warrant or explanation of the stop were denied.

Bystander video compiled by the advocacy group Siembra NC shows a man in an ICE uniform holding a handgun while breaking Portillo’s driver’s side window. It also shows Portillo yelling, “I am a U.S. citizen,” while agents put him in handcuffs.

“They never told me who they were looking for, and after a long period of argument back and forth, they broke both windows,” Portillo told reporters in Spanish. “They pointed a gun at me, and they threw my phone away. They violently removed me from my vehicle, and they arrested me for 30 minutes while they checked my status.”

Originally from El Salvador, Portillo said he has been living in the U.S. since 1988 and became a naturalized citizen in 2013. His whole family is in the U.S.

Portillo said the agents kept him in handcuffs near the vehicle, despite him repeatedly telling them he was a U.S. citizen. He said he always keeps his passport with him, but at the moment, he didn’t remember it was there.

“They took my wallet out of my pants, and then they saw I had my license there, so I’m assuming that’s the document that they used for verifying my identity and my citizenship,” Portillo said in Spanish.

Agents also handcuffed Portillo’s nephew, he said, who is a U.S. citizen as well. Both men were released after about 30 minutes, but ICE agents took Portillo’s brother into custody, where he is currently detained in Georgia.

Portillo declined to offer further information about his brother, but told reporters he’s exploring legal action against ICE.

“They abused my rights. They treated me with violence,” Portillo said in Spanish. “I have not slept for two nights because I am so worried… I have this fear that they might come to my house in the middle of the night with made-up charges after this experience.”

North Carolina state Rep. Jordan Lopez, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, said it’s “ridiculous” that ICE agents are operating in this manner.

“We’ve got to do what we can to make it stop,” Lopez said. “It’s a good reminder that there are elections going on right now. There is an extraordinarily powerful check that we as people can put on this administration that has seemed hell-bent on targeting folks and violating rights of citizens.”

Siembra NC legal defense manager Andreina Malki said this isn’t an isolated event. Four U.S. citizens and a visa holder filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in February, claiming Department of Homeland Security agents detained people without warrants, NC Newsline previously reported.

And Malki said it could become a more frequent problem. Earlier this year, state lawmakers overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of Senate Bill 153, the “North Carolina Border Protection Act.” The measure requires local and state law enforcement agencies to work with ICE.

“How many more cases like Atilio’s are we going to have?” she asked.

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The US Border Patrol busted a suspected human smuggler found with bombs and migrants aboard a speedboat in South Texas on October 6, 2026. This unfolded at a boat ramp off the Intracoastal Waterway in Flour Bluff, Texas, just South of the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station (which ironically hosts a large squadron of US Customs & Border Protection patrol aircraft and surveillance drones).

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Border Patrol, the circumstances leading to the arrest began about 70 miles south, when the Port Mansfield Police Department informed the Border Patrol that three people had been spotted leaving a vehicle for a waiting speedboat, which was last seen heading north up the Intracoastal Waterway.

Surveillance aircraft located the northbound speedboat 20 miles south of Corpus Christi and tracked it to the Flour Bluff boat ramp, where Border Patrol Agents - who had spotted a truck and boat trailer belonging to the suspected smuggler - were awaiting his arrival.

After the smuggling suspect was placed under arrest, Border Patrol Agents found three men inside the boat’s cabin. They found two hidden in seat compartments. All of the men (two from Ecuador, one from Guatemala) were found to have entered the country illegally.

A further search of the boat resulted in the seizure of an AR-15-style rifle, a drum magazine loaded with 100 rounds of ammunition, and four pipe bombs.

The discovery of the pipe bombs led to ATF Agents searching the suspect’s home, where five more guns and 3,500 rounds of ammunition were found.

According to the Border Patrol’s Criminal Complaint, the smuggling suspect told agents that he agreed to transport the men to Houston, where he was to be paid $3,000 per person for completing the smuggling run.

The US Attorney’s Detention Memorandum also noted that the “defendant’s history with alien smuggling is not a recent occurrence. In 2023, Defendant was arrested in Zapata County while attempting to conceal three illegal aliens in his rental vehicle. During the smuggling investigation, law enforcement also found a firearm inside the vehicle.”

Law enforcement released the suspected smuggler after that arrest. This time he’s being held without bond.

Are you surprised a suspected human smuggler was found to possess an arsenal of pipe bombs?

Share your thoughts in the comments to this article.

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

The US Coast Guard intercepted 66 migrants aboard a human smuggling boat attempting to illegally reach Puerto Rico on Friday, October 16, 2026. A Coast Guard airplane patrolling the treacherous waters of the Mona Passage first spotted the dangerously overloaded vessel 70 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla and reported the sighting to Coast Guard Sector San Juan, which dispatched the Cutter Winslow Griesser and a rescue helicopter to the scene.

A small boat crew from the Winslow Griesser reached the overcrowded vessel and safely transferred all 66 aboard to the cutter, preventing a likely tragedy. Those aboard the smuggling boat included 55 men and four women who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals, and six men and a woman who claimed to be Haitian nationals.

“I’m proud of my crew and the Coast Guard aircrews for stopping what could have been a treacherous journey for all onboard an overloaded migrant vessel. They saved 66 people from a dangerously overloaded vessel attempting to transit across a vast ocean with little to no safety equipment and no regard to safety of human life at sea.” - Lt. Alex Kearney, Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser

Dominican Republic Navy vessels responded to the scene shortly afterward and took custody of 63 of those aboard the smuggling boat.

The Coast Guard, along with its Operation Vigilant Sentry and Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos partners, maintains a continual presence with air, land, and sea assets in the Florida Straits, Windward Passage, Mona Passage, and the Caribbean.

This multiagency approach is part of a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) designed to protect life at sea while preventing unlawful maritime entry into the United States and its territories.

HSTF San Juan comprises agents and officers from the following federal partners: FBI, ICE-HSI, CBP (OFO, AMO and Border Patrol), the U.S. Marshals Service for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, DEA, ATF, IRS, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of State, and the U.S. Secret Service, the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA, TSA, FAA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Are you surprised by the large numbers of migrants attempting to illegally enter the US by sea?

Share your opinions in the comments to this article.

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The 56-year-old Mexican man who died Saturday while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody was a lawful permanent resident in the country, the agency said in a statement a day after The Texas Tribune reported about his death.

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, was found unconscious in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center on Saturday morning. ICE said staff performed chest compressions and called emergency services, but he was declared dead about 20 minutes after being found unresponsive. He had been in immigration detention since June.

ICE on Monday said Andrade-Covarrubias’ cause of death is still unknown, as the autopsy was still pending with the Webb County Medical Examiner. The agency also said he received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals.

In the statement, ICE said Andrade-Covarrubias was returning to Texas from Mexico at a port of entry in Laredo when immigration officers detained him on June 26. ICE added that he was detained because officers believed he obtained his legal status in the U.S. fraudulently because he failed to disclose a 2004 arrest for theft during the review process.

The agency was also seeking to deport him, saying that he was in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. Andrade-Covarrubias was supposed to appear at an immigration court hearing on Nov. 2, according to online records.

Andrade-Covarrubias’ daughter, Estefani Andrade, told the Tribune that her father did bring up his criminal record during the application process — and that immigration officials approved his green card application.

Andrade-Covarrubias had lived for decades in Dallas, where he raised three children who were all born in the U.S. He painted apartments and townhomes for a living, and his daughter said he was planning to return to Mexico. He traveled to Mexico often because he was building a house there, she added.

Her dad had a heart condition, she said, along with diabetes and high blood pressure. He had medicine with him when he was detained, but she said staff at the center wouldn’t “give him his medications.”

When he said he felt sick and had a cough, she said her family was especially worried because he was hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2021 and the illness took a lasting toll on his health. He sought help from the facility’s medical staff, but he told her that “they would just ignore him.”

She said her dad told her that the medical staff at the center brushed off his concerns, even when he told them he was having trouble breathing and felt tightness in his chest.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, told the Tribune that he inspected the detention facility on Sunday and asked staff about the facility’s medical procedures, but they could not provide specific details about Andrade-Covarrubias’ case because his death was still under investigation. The Democrat said he has sent ICE written questions to get more information on the case.

“Any death in federal custody is a serious matter, and we need to know what happened,” Cuellar said in a Monday statement.

Andrade-Covarrubias is the seventh person to die while detained by ICE in Texas this year — the first being Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose death was ruled a homicide by the El Paso Medical Examiner’s office in January.

Andrade-Covarrubias is also the second to die in an ICE facility in Laredo this year. Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez, a 63-year-old Mexican who was being held at Webb County Detention Center, died on June 19 after being found unresponsive, according to the agency.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry were allowed to prevent people with legal permanent residency — commonly known as green card holders — from reentering the U.S. if they had any history of criminal arrests or convictions.

In an opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that immigration officials at ports of entry don’t need “clear and convincing evidence that a lawful permanent resident has committed a crime involving moral turpitude.” Immigration officers would be allowed to detain the person from reentering the country, but an immigration judge would have the final say on whether that person would be stripped of their green card and ordered deported.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that the court’s opinion undermines “the benefits and security that come with having a green card.” She also wrote that she is worried the court “handed the Government a massive blank check” to put lawful permanent residents in “immigration limbo.”

A 56-year-old Mexican man held at a federal immigration facility in Laredo was found dead in his cell Saturday morning, his daughter and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, confirmed to The Texas Tribune.

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias was found unresponsive by staff at the Rio Grande Processing Center during a security check at around 10 a.m. Saturday, Cuellar said. Staff performed CPR and called emergency services.

Andrade-Covarrubias is the seventh person to die while detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas this year — the first being Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose death was ruled a homicide by the El Paso Medical Examiner’s office in January.

He’s also the second to die in an ICE facility in Laredo this year. Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez, a 63-year-old Mexican who was being held at Webb County Detention Center, died on June 19 after being found unresponsive, according to the agency.

GEO Group and officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent Sunday.

Andrade-Covarrubias’ daughter, Estefani Andrade, told the Tribune that her family has not yet been contacted by federal agencies. Instead, she said, they heard about his death on Saturday through the Webb County Medical Examiner, who is performing his autopsy.

Estefani Andrade, 29 and a U.S. citizen, said the family is going to visit the detention facility on Monday to get his belongings.

Andrade-Covarrubias lived in Dallas for decades, had three adult children who were all born in the country and worked as a contractor painting apartments and townhomes, his daughter said. He wanted to eventually return to Mexico and had been traveling back and forth to build a house there, his daughter added.

She said her dad was detained in June at the border after coming back from Mexico by bus. She added that during his months in detention, “he lost weight because he didn’t look the same as when we were doing, like, the video calls with him.”

Cuellar said he planned to visit the facility Sunday afternoon.

“I’ll ask the basic questions: What happened?” he said. “What were the conditions? [Was] there medical? Is there anybody ill? I’m gonna talk to the medical folks there.”

Estefani Andrade said her dad had a heart condition, along with diabetes and high blood pressure. He had medicine with him when he was detained, but she said staff at the center wouldn’t “give him his medications.”

She also said her dad was sick at the detention facility. He had a cough — which she said was concerning since he was hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2021 and that took a lasting toll on his health — and told her that he wasn’t feeling good. He sought help from the facility’s medical staff, but he told her that “they would just ignore him.”

She said her dad told her that he felt like the medical staff at the center was brushing off his concerns, even when he told the staff that he was having trouble breathing and feeling tightness in his chest.

Estefani Andrade said she is now trying to be strong for her mom, who is devastated.

“When she got the news, she wasn’t all there,” she said. ”It’s hitting her really hard.”

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US Border Security & Immigration News during the week of October 10 - October 17, 2026, included crackdowns on drones and communications along the US borders, as well as disputes involving DHS use of “body cameras” and expansions of DHS detention centers.

Enforcement & National Security:

• Drone Flight Restrictions: A coordinated initiative by the Departments of Transportation, Defense, and Homeland Security established temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) along the southern border. Effective October 16, unauthorized drone operations are banned up to 400 feet above ground level within one nautical mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border to bolster airspace security.

• Cross-Border Telecom Rules: FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announced upcoming regulatory votes to tighten security on communications infrastructure along U.S. borders. The proposed measures enforce cybersecurity baselines for telecom carriers, mandate foreign ownership reporting, and aim to prevent untrusted foreign entities from accessing network data.

Legal Battles & Immigration Enforcement Disputes:

• ICE Document Seizure Lawsuit: Seven former detainees filed a federal class-action lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The plaintiffs allege that the agency routinely and illegally withholds vital personal documents—such as passports and work permits—for months after individuals are released, violating Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizures.

• Rejection of Body Cam Recommendation: Federal immigration officials formally rejected a proposal that would require ICE agents’ body-worn cameras to activate automatically. The decision comes amid continued public scrutiny over the transparency of field operations and recent detention center crackdowns.

• Border Wall Protests: Transparency issues were raised in Arizona, where the Forest Service closed a stretch of the border to the public following escalating confrontations. Earlier in October, Border Patrol agents utilized pepper spray

• Detention Center Expansions: Reports from Border Report Live highlighted ongoing efforts by ICE to expand its detention facility network, drawing varied resistance and pushback from certain state and municipal governments.

FINALLY, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

(Stories covered by US Border News during the past week)

• Pacific Tragedy Likely Linked to Human Smuggling

16 rescued; at least 11 missing

• Coast Guard seizes $226 million worth of cartel drugs

In Eastern Pacific Ocean

• Ukraine, Sudan migrants could soon lose protected status

As early as Monday

• ICE Had No Valid Warrant Ahead of NYC Shooting, Attorneys Say

Bullet still lodged in man’s neck

• ICE arrests alarm California’s community colleges

How much can campus officials do?

• Homeland Security Raid of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Home Blasted

By Democratic House Leaders

• President Trump tells Minnesota to ‘fight back’ against Somali immigrants

Governor cites “unhinged social media tirade”

• All’s (mostly) quiet on the Southern Front

Border arrests down 95%

I am committed to delivering a weekly newsletter that is not only educational and insightful but also engaging and easy to digest in five minutes or less.

(How am I doing? Let me know in the comments!)

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

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UPDATE: On Monday, October 19, 2026, when Ukrainian & Sudanese immigrants could potentially lose their protected status to remain in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security announced that announcements on Ukrainian and Sudanese TPS holders would "be made at the ​appropriate time" and that their immigration protections would remain in place.”

(Original article follows)

More than 100,000 Ukrainians and roughly 2,000 Sudanese immigrants are bracing for the possibility they’ll lose their humanitarian protections by Monday.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not indicated if he will renew protections for Ukrainians, who first received Temporary Protected Status after Russia invaded their country in 2022, and for Sudanese nationals, who were granted the designation several times, most recently in 2022, because of an ongoing civil war.

The Trump administration has moved to eliminate legal protections for more than 1 million immigrants who have TPS. Of the 17 countries with the designation at the start of the second Trump administration, the only remaining protections are for Ukraine and Sudan, which are set to end on Monday, and Lebanon, which is set to expire Nov. 27.

Mullin is supposed to declare his decision at least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, but he’s made no announcement.

The lack of an announcement would put Ukrainian and Sudanese TPS holders in the same situation as 200,000 Salvadorans, who are still in limbo after DHS did not renew protections set to expire on Sept. 9.

If no decision is made, an automatic six-month extension kicks in. DHS has not confirmed whether the extension is in place, only that Salvadorans have deportation protections and work authorization, for now.

DHS did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment about TPS extension for Ukraine or Sudan.

Situation unchanged

TPS is granted when a person hails from a country deemed too dangerous to return to because of conflict, natural disaster or another destabilizing event. The Trump administration has sought to wind the program down, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court this summer determined that decisions by the executive branch regarding TPS designations could not be challenged in court.

Immigration advocates say the rationale for providing TPS to Ukrainians has not changed.

“With the war in Ukraine still ongoing and conditions remaining unsafe, the administration should extend TPS for Ukrainians,” Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum, said in a statement. “Forcing people to return to Ukraine in these circumstances is dangerous and a departure from longstanding U.S. policy.”

If Mullin ends TPS for Ukraine, it wouldn’t be the first time Ukrainians have lost humanitarian protections under the second Trump administration.

Last year, the Trump administration moved to end new applicants for a humanitarian program created by the Biden administration that allowed more than 220,000 Ukrainians to enter the U.S.

The State Department has a do-not-travel advisory, its highest advisory level, for Ukraine and Sudan.

Trump-Zelenskyy tensions

Fraught relations between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy further complicate the issue as Monday’s deadline approaches.

Trump has grown frustrated with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and has blamed Ukraine for a spike in oil prices, ignoring the effect of his war in Iran.

On Oct. 9, Trump moved to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports. Zelenskyy called the decision “a weak decision by strong partners,” according to The Associated Press.

On Oct. 10, Trump told reporters that Ukraine should “get a new leader.”

In an interview with NPR, Zelenskyy said the Trump administration said that unless Ukraine stops long-range drone strikes on oil refineries in Russia, it could cut off U.S. intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.

The two leaders have clashed in the past.

In February 2025, during a visit to the White House, the president got into a heated exchange with Zelenskyy, appearing to break with Ukraine and its resistance to Russia’s invasion.

Trump’s relationship with Ukraine was also the center of his first impeachment, after a U.S. House inquiry found the president threatened to withhold military aid unless Ukraine investigated his political opponent at the time, Joe Biden.

The U.S. Senate acquitted Trump in an impeachment trial.

Lawmakers push for extensions

There is a bipartisan congressional push to extend protections for Ukrainians at least until the end of 2029.

In a letter to Mullin and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 31 senators urged that Ukrainians be granted an 18-month extension, the longest renewal for TPS holders.

“The ongoing war has caused a humanitarian crisis and damage to critical civilian infrastructure that has left many with limited or no access to heat, electricity or medical services,” the senators wrote. “Ukrainian nationals cannot safely return at this time, and allowing TPS to terminate on October 19, 2026, would risk sending more than one hundred thousand individuals back to an active war zone.”

The Republicans who signed the letter were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

The Democratic senators who signed the letter were Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Coons of Delaware, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Patty Murray of Washington, Gary Peters of Michigan, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Adam Schiff of California, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Mark Warner of Virginia, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Peter Welch of Vermont, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.

Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, also signed the letter.

A handful of Democratic senators also urged Mullin to extend TPS protections for Sudanese in an Aug. 17 letter.

“The ongoing armed conflict, catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and widespread human rights abuses make the safe return of Sudanese nationals impossible at this time,” they wrote. “TPS for Sudanese nationals in the United States remains both a humanitarian necessity and a prudent policy to ensure that individuals are not forced to return to conditions that continue to threaten their safety and well-being.”

Those senators were Warner, Kaine, Schiff, Van Hollen, Warnock, Booker, Bennet, and Duckworth.

(Ariana Figueroa can be contacted by email @ afigueroa@statesnewsroom.com)

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The US Coast Guard has rescued 26 people from the Pacific Ocean 140 miles off Ensenada, Baja California, with at least 11 people missing, after the boat they were on sank during the early morning hours on Friday, October 16, 2026.

Around 1 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Diego received a radio distress call reporting a vessel taking on water.

Coast Guard and US Navy helicopters and ships from San Diego scrambled to respond, along with aircraft from US Coast Guard Station Sacramento.

When the rescue parties arrived on scene, the boat had sunk, prompting an urgent search to find survivors in dark, late-night ocean waters.

Several survivors were flown to Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego for medical treatment. One was reported to have suffered a shark bite.

The incident occurred in an area of the Pacific that is a known hotbed of Mexican Cartel human smuggling operations.

“The vessel had a large number of people onboard and was following a route normally used in illegal maritime smuggling operations. Offshore conditions are unforgiving and can quickly result in death.” - Capt. Robert Tucker, Commander, Coast Guard Sector San Diego

The Mexican Navy (SEMAR) also responded and participated in the search for survivors.

Are you surprised by the large numbers of migrants attempting to illegally enter the US by sea?

Share your opinions in the comments to this article.

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The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) report a 95% drop in southwest border apprehensions compared to the Biden Administration, along with the lowest annual encounters in American history and the first fiscal year with zero Border Patrol releases.

The agencies also report that yearly apprehensions (98,708) were 60% lower than the Biden Administration’s single-highest month (249,740).

Additionally, total nationwide encounters were the lowest in agency history at 379,243, compared with 2.7 million per year under Biden (seven times higher). Encounters were 88% lower than in 2023 under Biden, which was the highest yearly total ever.

During the Biden administration, scenes like the one shown in the photo above were common as authorities encountered hundreds of migrants at a time, mostly along the Texas border with Mexico.

And while encounters with large groups illegally crossing the border have mostly ended, the Texas Border is anything but quiet.

Earlier this month, the US sent hundreds of troops to the Texas Rio Grande Valley after a Coast Guard patrol boat crew exchanged gunfire with members of a Mexican cartel. No further reports of violence have been reported, but the river and the area around the riverbank on the U.S. side are now swarming with heavily armed soldiers and law enforcement personnel - and Mexican soldiers are also jointly patrolling their side of the river.

Besides reducing illegal crossings, all of this law enforcement activity is producing other positive results. The CBP says migrant deaths due to drowning or heat exposure have fallen nearly 80% compared to the Biden Administration.

And, with human smuggling activity down, Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers are freed up to concentrate on apprehending cartel drug smugglers. As a result, CBP drug seizures are running 63% higher than the average of the last four years.

Do you feel safer because of today’s reports about border security by the Department of Homeland Security?

Share your thoughts in the comments to this article.

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa unloaded 29,600 pounds of cocaine and 3,355 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $226.7 million, this week in Port Everglades, Florida - the result of a successful patrol of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The seized cartel contraband was the result of six interdictions in international waters as part of “Operation Pacific Viper,” preventing smugglers’ drugs from reaching the United States.

“The Coast Guard continues to leverage its authorities and partnerships across the Western Hemisphere to degrade Transnational Criminal Organizations’ ability to harm American communities. Success stories like these highlight our commitment to continuing to control, secure, and defend the nation’s maritime borders and approaches.” - US Coast Guard Vice Admiral Jo-Ann Burdian

The Coast Guard Cutter Tampa is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia.

How much damage do you think “Operation Pacific Viper” has inflicted on cartel cocaine smuggling operations?

Share your thoughts in the comments to this article.

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

The Dominican man shot by an immigration agent in Marble Hill was arrested without a valid warrant and is being held in solitary confinement without proper medical care, according to a new court filing submitted by his attorneys Wednesday afternoon.

Oscar Belgal had just picked up his son from school, then taken him to McDonald’s, when plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rushed his car and fired at least seven shots, striking him in the neck.

Belgal identified an “anonymous, masked man,” who first approached his driver’s-side window with a gun drawn, The Legal Aid Society wrote in court papers. The agent then “struck and shattered Oscar’s window and began firing a pistol into Oscar’s car while his son cowered in the back seat.”

Video of the incident released by the New York Police Department shows a man in a grey sweatshirt and a red hat as the first to approach Belgal’s SUV and bang on the window. The identity of the shooter has still not been confirmed by federal authorities.

“After ICE shot him, Oscar exited his vehicle and pleaded for medical assistance, fearing that he was dying. And believing the same, his son began yelling that the masked individuals had killed his dad,” the petition reads.

Belgal lost consciousness, his attorneys said, and it wasn’t until Belgal awoke at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital a few blocks away that the men told him they were ICE agents.

Attorneys Perry Hall McAninch and Elyssa Nicole Williams with Legal Aid submitted the new details about the shooting in an amended habeas corpus petition filed in New York’s Eastern District on Wednesday afternoon.

They described Belgal as a 28-year-old father of two who works in construction and has lived in New York City for five years. His 5-year-old son was in the back seat at the time of the shooting. His other child is 1 year old, Legal Aid said.

“ICE’s egregious actions violate fundamental principles of every legal structure that constrains its conduct and authority — the Constitution, the statutory and regulatory framework, and even its own internal policies,” the petition reads, describing ICE’s “flagrant abuses of authority and categorically lawless conduct” during Belgal’s arrest.

The petition charged ICE with violating federal laws and Belgal’s constitutional rights by continuing to deny him medical care, and because they didn’t have a valid administrative arrest warrant when they attempted to arrest him and shot him in the neck.

“ICE now holds Oscar in a segregated unit at MDC [Metropolitan Detention Center]. With the bullet still lodged in his neck, the entire left side of Oscar’s face remains numb,” the filing reads. “He struggles to hear anything out of his left ear, describing what he does hear as sounding as if it were far off in the distance. Meanwhile, jail staff offers him only ibuprofen for his pain.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the assertions.

‘No Evidence of Those Allegations’

The new details come six days after the daylight shooting that rattled the immigrant community of Marble Hill on a busy afternoon, as schools let out and people were returning from work.

In the minutes after the shooting, eyewitness photos and videos show Belgal sitting on the pavement of 225th Street until he was lifted by NYPD officers into a squad car and driven to the nearby Allen Hospital.

The shooting drew swift rebuke from New York’s elected officials and massive protests in the city. Mayor Zohran Mamdani tried to negotiate Belgal’s release from ICE custody during a two-hour phone call the night of the shooting with President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

Late Thursday evening, ICE agents moved Belgal from the hospital to New Jersey, and then to MDC in Brooklyn the next day. He is still being held in solitary confinement, according to his attorneys.

In an agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, ICE has held around 200 of its detainees at any given time at MDC since early on in Trump’s second term on units separate from prisoners facing federal charges.

Belgal’s shooting is the second such instance in a month in which a person shot by ICE was discharged from a hospital within hours of injury with a bullet still in his body. In late September, delivery driver Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez waited 11 days for surgery after he was shot by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas.

Belgal’s doctors said he was supposed to return to the hospital for a surgery to remove the bullet from his neck on Oct. 12, but that trip never happened, according to the court filing.

A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which oversees MDC, said the agency doesn’t comment on individual cases but denied any medical malfeasance.

“The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) does not deny any inmate necessary medical treatment or basic necessities, such as access to three meals per day, drinking water, clothing, or daily access to medical and psychological care,” the agency said in an unsigned statement.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said they deliberately targeted Belgal for arrest, citing his prior criminal history and alleging he had ties to the Dominican Trinitarios gang. Criminal court records show he was previously convicted for grand larceny and has an open case for allegedly selling drugs.

But in their new filing Wednesday, Belgal’s attorneys argued ICE has provided no evidence of gang ties.

“Oscar vehemently denies involvement with any gang or organized criminal organization,” his attorneys wrote.

Furthermore, they dispute that Belgal’s arrest was targeted, arguing there was no administrative arrest warrant at the time of the shooting.

Belgal was not in immigration proceedings before his arrest, and DHS only issued paperwork requesting he appear in immigration court on the day after his arrest, his attorneys said. The issuing of a “Notice to Appear” is supposed to occur before an administrative arrest warrant is issued in order for the arrest to be valid, according to the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.

Since the shooting last week, hundreds of protesters have marched for his release. Another crowd rallied outside MDC where Belgal was being held Tuesday night.

“I can’t imagine having a bullet in your neck, after being shot in front of your child, picking them up from school, in solitary confinement,” New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said outside MDC. “That’s what’s happening right now, and everyone of good conscience should be disgusted that that’s happening to Oscar.”

(This article was republished by US Border News with permission from The City Reporter under Creative Commons “BY-NC-ND” license.)

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Immigration enforcement agents are inciting panic at California’s community colleges.

Santa Monica College said that one of its students was arrested and deported last May. Then in December, Santa Barbara City College said that federal immigration officers used their campus parking lot as a staging ground, prompting an uproar from community activists.

Last month, the San Diego Community College District said ICE agents arrested a student on a public street that cuts through the urban campus and proceeded to chase another student up the steps of the school’s Arts and Humanities building.

Last Monday, federal agents arrested the father of a student in a campus parking lot at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, south of San Luis Obispo.

College presidents say they’re doing everything in their power to keep students safe and prevent federal immigration enforcement officers from coming on campus. But they admit that they have limited power in these situations.

“If ICE agents want to come and walk in the middle of campus, they can do that,” said Kevin Walthers, the president of Allan Hancock College.

State laws require colleges to notify students if immigration enforcement agents are on campus and agents must present a warrant before entering a “nonpublic” area in a school, such as a classroom or office building. But parking lots, quads and many other outdoor spaces are considered public.

By the time Walthers learned ICE agents had arrived at the campus parking lot, they were gone — the arrest happened in a matter of minutes. He said he never received a warrant and was only able to issue a notification to students and faculty after the arrest. The same was true in San Diego, said district Chancellor Gregory Smith.

President Donald Trump rescinded a longstanding policy that prevented immigration enforcement in “sensitive” locations, such as schools. The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, which oversees the state’s 116 colleges, has been outspoken about protecting students without legal status and offered guidance to schools on dealing with immigration agents. Attorney General Rob Bonta released his own, more detailed guide last month.

Chandler Rebel, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, said “ICE does not target schools” and denied arresting anyone on the Allan Hancock campus, despite witness testimony and photographs. Rebel did not respond to questions about the officer who chased a San Diego City College student on campus.

After their interactions with immigration agents, Santa Barbara and San Diego city colleges put up or are in the process of installing signs in parking lots, sidewalks or at the entrances to classrooms and buildings, telling agents they need approval to enter.

In practice, these messages may not prevent immigration agents from coming onto their campuses, college presidents say. “It’s kind of our district putting every effort that we can think of, and hopefully it is a deterrent,” Smith said.

A regular Monday

Last Monday morning, Mayrin, 18, said she was sitting in the passenger seat while her father drove her to Allan Hancock College, where she had statistics class that day. As they drove by the Olive Garden just outside of campus, she said she saw a large black car follow them down the road.

Mayrin and her father parked in the campus lot, she said, where a masked man approached the window and asked for their identification. CalMatters agreed to withhold her full name because she fears drawing attention to her family’s legal status.

“I was calling people. I was crying. It was a mix of emotions, mostly just worried about my dad,” she said. Maryrin gave the officer her state ID and told him that she’s a U.S. citizen. Her father, who immigrated from Mexico and has lived in the U.S. for about two decades, did not have identification on him and the officer pulled him into his car, she said.

Mayrin spent the next 20 minutes alone in her father’s car, crying and calling family, before college staff, including campus police officers and the dean of counseling, brought her into a conference room to ask what happened and provide support.

Mayrin’s father was one of at least 17 people who were arrested last Monday by immigration enforcement agents in the Santa Maria area, said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, a Santa Barbara Democrat, in an emailed statement. “Mass enforcement sweeps like this are designed to send a message of fear and intimidation – one straight from President Trump.”

After their interactions with immigration agents, Santa Barbara and San Diego city colleges put up or are in the process of installing signs in parking lots, sidewalks or at the entrances to classrooms and buildings, telling agents they need approval to enter.

In practice, these messages may not prevent immigration agents from coming onto their campuses, college presidents say. “It’s kind of our district putting every effort that we can think of, and hopefully it is a deterrent,” Smith said.

A regular Monday

Last Monday morning, Mayrin, 18, said she was sitting in the passenger seat while her father drove her to Allan Hancock College, where she had statistics class that day. As they drove by the Olive Garden just outside of campus, she said she saw a large black car follow them down the road.

Mayrin and her father parked in the campus lot, she said, where a masked man approached the window and asked for their identification. CalMatters agreed to withhold her full name because she fears drawing attention to her family’s legal status.

“I was calling people. I was crying. It was a mix of emotions, mostly just worried about my dad,” she said. Maryrin gave the officer her state ID and told him that she’s a U.S. citizen. Her father, who immigrated from Mexico and has lived in the U.S. for about two decades, did not have identification on him and the officer pulled him into his car, she said.

Mayrin spent the next 20 minutes alone in her father’s car, crying and calling family, before college staff, including campus police officers and the dean of counseling, brought her into a conference room to ask what happened and provide support.

Mayrin’s father was one of at least 17 people who were arrested last Monday by immigration enforcement agents in the Santa Maria area, said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, a Santa Barbara Democrat, in an emailed statement. “Mass enforcement sweeps like this are designed to send a message of fear and intimidation – one straight from President Trump.”

The largely Latino towns in California’s Central Coast region, which include Santa Maria, have experienced waves of immigration enforcement since Trump took office.

In April, Walthers said the college’s police chief had a meeting with other local police chiefs, the FBI and ICE officers who oversee the Central Coast. The college’s police chief asked immigration officials to provide advance notice before coming on campus. “The response was that ICE would not be coming to campus,” Walthers said. In retrospect, he said he wished the agreement was more formal.

After the arrest last week, Walthers said he got in touch with a federal immigration officer in Los Angeles and said he felt “optimistic” after the conversation that it wouldn’t happen again.

‘Without us knowing or without any previous approval’

In December, a local organization that advocates for immigrants, 805 UndocuFund, alerted Santa Barbara City College officials that ICE agents were at a campus parking lot and appeared to be using it as a staging area, according to Jordan Killebrew, the executive director of public affairs for the college.

Killebrew said agents were “occupying our parking lots without us knowing or without any previous approval.”

The college has since signed an agreement with 805 UndocuFund to help alert the college of the presence of federal law enforcement agents. The group will also provide college students and staff with resources and referrals including legal, financial, mental health, and emergency support services for immigration-related matters.

Killebrew said the college spent about $1,200 on 12 signs, which say its campuses “may not be used for civil immigration enforcement staging areas, processing locations, or operations bases.”

The San Diego college district was already in the process of putting up similar signs when ICE appeared on campus last month. District spokesperson Jack Beresford said the four-college district spent $71,000 on 68 signs, including the cost of the labor to install them. The district also created a new policy requiring any entity, including law enforcement, to get prior approval before conducting “official business” on campus.

“We don’t let a bank just come and set up a booth,” said Smith, the chancellor of the San Diego district. He said immigration enforcement agents would need approval before conducting their business, including arrests.

Whether the policy will actually work is less clear. “By the time I know that they’re here and get down there to tell them they’re not allowed to be here, they’re going to be gone,” Smith said. “What I’m hoping that we have set up with this is a legal argument that it’s an illegal seizure, the same as if they just broke into somebody’s home.”

The policy has never been tested in court. He said he hopes it never gets there.

(The author of this article, Adam Echelman, may be reached by email @ aechelman@calmatters.org )

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Democratic leaders in the U.S. House condemned a “deeply disturbing” raid early Monday at the District of Columbia home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who has long been a target of verbal attacks by President Donald Trump and Republicans.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., called the morning raid by Department of Homeland Security officials “egregious.”

The House minority leaders said the search of Omar’s home “raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.”

“For years Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations,” Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar said in a statement posted on social media Monday. “Now, less than 30 days before the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family.”

Omar, a Somali-born American and one of four Muslims in Congress, represents a deep-blue district.

Fox News first published a report on the raid just after 7:30 a.m. Eastern, and cited two sources who told the network the operation was related to an investigation of Omar’s immigration paperwork. Omar was resettled as a refugee in the United States with her family at the age of 12 in 1995 and was later naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

A Department of Justice official, asked for comment on the raid, told States Newsroom: “Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”

Omar said in a post on social media Monday that she “will not be silenced.”

“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she wrote on X.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., wrote in a statement on X that the president is “grossly abusing his power.”

“He has repeatedly attacked her, Somali Americans, and Minnesotans. @Ilhan has done nothing to justify a pre-dawn raid ahead of the election. I stand with my sister always,” Tlaib wrote.

Trump, without evidence, has accused Omar of being connected to a $242 million fraud scheme involving pandemic-era funds meant for hunger programs, as well as other fraud investigations in the state, and has called for her to be deported.

“There is 19 Billion Dollars in Minnesota Somalia Fraud. Fake ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, a constant complainer who hates the USA, knows everything there is to know. She should be in jail, or even a worse punishment, sent back to Somalia, considered one of the absolutely worst countries in the World. She could help to MAKE SOMALIA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on January 18, 2026/

(News from the States reporter Ashley Murray can be reached at amurray@statesnewsroom.com . This article was republished by US Border News with permission under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

RELATED STORY:

President Trump tells Minnesota to ‘fight back’ against Somali immigrants

Governor cites “unhinged social media tirade”

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President Donald Trump posted a new fulmination against Somali immigrants on his social media platform Thursday, using violent rhetoric.

“The once Great State of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali Immigrants. There is Violence, Murder, and Mayhem all over the State. The people of Minnesota must fight back,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on October 8, 2026.

He told Minnesotans the federal government was prepared to “come to your rescue,” calling on Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to “immediately ask for Federal help — and leave the rest to us!”

Walz addressed the post in a fundraising email from Small Town PAC, calling it an “unhinged social media tirade” meant to distract from high prices and the war with Iran.

“To our Somali neighbors: You are valued. You belong here. And we’re going to stand with you,” Walz wrote.

Trump called Walz, without evidence, “an incompetent thief.” Walz released his tax returns during his two runs for governor and run for vice president, and they showed he has few assets outside public employee pensions. Trump’s personal wealth, by contrast, has ballooned since becoming president.

Trump’s post echoes his speech to supporters on Jan. 6 before they violently stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. He told them: “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Trump’s missive comes amid a spate of criminal cases involving Somali American residents: the ongoing fraud crisis in safety-net programs that has led to scores of convictions of Somali Americans, a string of shootings in the Twin Cities suburbs connected to gangs of Somali American youth, and, on Wednesday, the announcement of federal charges against a Somali American teenager, who is alleged to have plotted a terrorist attack on the Mall of America.

Somali Americans have faced hostility from the president since his first-term ban on immigrants from majority-Muslim countries, but it has intensified over the past year. At a cabinet meeting in December, Trump called Somalis “garbage” and said he wants them to “go back to where they came from.” More than 80% of Somali Minnesotans are American citizens and roughly 40% were born here.

Trump, citing fraud, launched the incursion of some 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota that led to the killing of two Americans.

(Minnesota Reformer reporter Max Nesterak can be reached at max@minnesotareformer.com

This article was republished by US Border News with permission under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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News involving U.S. border security and immigration for the week of September 26 to October 10, 2026, includes a multi-billion-dollar payment to Texas from the Federal Government for “Operation Lone Star” expenses, large-scale ICE arrest operations, and concerns about a large “migrant caravan” heading north from Central America.

Border Security Costs & Migrant Caravan Concerns:

• Texas Border Reimbursement: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) delivered a $7.5 billion reimbursement check to the state of Texas for state-incurred border security costs during the Biden Administration. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the funds a “great first start” but said the state will continue seeking $2.5 billion in additional federal funds to fully cover its expenses.

• Visa System Overhaul: Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials publicly accused several tech firms and universities of abusing the visa system. This follows the Department of State’s rollout of its “Expanded Screening and Vetting for Visa Applicants” protocol, which officially took effect this month.

• Mass Deportations & Targeted Arrests: ICE released statements detailing targeted operations, including the deportation of high-profile “illegal alien gangsters” and violent offenders in Syracuse, New York.

• Tohono O’odham Tribal Pushback: On the southwest border, the DHS is facing intense scrutiny for using sweeping federal waivers to circumvent environmental and cultural laws to expedite border wall construction on Native American land. Lawmakers are crafting legislation to rein in these authorities amid reports of heavy surveillance, masked federal agents, and drone monitoring intimidating members of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

• Caravan Warnings: The administration’s Border Czar issued a stern public warning to a growing caravan of over 600 migrants moving north from Honduras through Central America, stating that anyone attempting an unauthorized crossing into the United States will face immediate arrest, return, or deportation to a third country.

Judicial Rulings & Legal Actions:

• Biometrics Policy Blocked: A federal court temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that prevented detained immigrants from completing the biometric requirements needed to seek immigration protections. The ruling forces U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume collecting fingerprints and photographs while litigation continues, with a compliance report due by October 21.

• ICE Condemned by Federal Judge: Federal District Judge Gary R. Brown condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for lying and fabricating records following the mistaken arrest of two men in the Bronx.

• Lawsuit Against Border Patrol: A Chicago woman filed a lawsuit against the federal government after being shot by a Border Patrol agent, marking an escalating legal pushback against aggressive immigration enforcement.

Recommended Reading:

I just finished reading a Substack article by fellow Texan & retired Marine Corps infantry officer Tim Lynch; I strongly recommend you read it (and consider subscribing to his Substack).

Tim spent seven years living and working outside the wire in Afghanistan, and uses his considerable military experience to offer a unique perspective on the current US military build-up along the Rio Grande as well as the weapons systems available to deal with the cartel drone overflights there.

It’s an interesting and informative read:

Shots Fired!

The Army deploys infantry into the Rio Grande Valley.

FINALLY, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

(Stories covered by US Border News during the past week)

Mexico Sends Troops to Border With US

After cross-border shooting

Coast Guard Rescues 61 Migrants From Sinking Boat

Tragedy in Atlantic Averted

ICE Shooting in New York City

DHS says victim had a criminal history

DHS Casts Wide Net Looking for Non-Citizen Voters

Millions of records obtained

Immigration crackdown depletes skilled workers

50% of US skilled workforce is foreign-born

Trump campaign against migrant in-state tuition blasted

Justice Dept. has sued 24 states

I am committed to delivering a weekly newsletter that is not only educational and insightful but also engaging and easy to digest in five minutes or less.

(How am I doing? Let me know in the comments!)

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

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The Department of Homeland Security obtained tens of millions of unspecified records as part of a sweeping nationwide effort to find voter fraud, according to internal DHS reports, and weighed using undercover agents to investigate voter registration efforts by nonprofit groups.

The reports from May and June by Homeland Security Investigations, a sub-agency of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide updates on its “election integrity” investigations. They are included in a trove of documents obtained by the pro-democracy group Democracy Forward through a records request and released Wednesday.

The HSI reports detail an expansive review of nonprofit organizations involved in voter registration. A June 1 report says 82 “NGOs” — nongovernmental organizations — had been reviewed in Pennsylvania alone. Groups in Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Ohio also came under scrutiny.

The June 1 report describes the potential for undercover operations, and refers to efforts across Homeland Security to identify organizations that “may be predatory in nature, particularly those suspected of illegal alien registration and voter encouragement.” Organizations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania remained areas of focus, the report says.

“The objective is to determine potential opportunities to leverage UC (undercover) resources, including the possible deployment of undercover agents (UCAs), to support investigative efforts in the field,” the report says.

Overall, the records offer a window into the Trump administration’s push to root out voter fraud, and especially noncitizen voting, ahead of the midterm elections. While a few months old, they suggest that finding noncitizen voters was an active focus within Homeland Security Investigations, along with identifying any organizations suspected of registering noncitizens to vote.

Noncitizen voting

Noncitizen voting is a rare occurrence, studies have consistently found.

The Justice Department has brought a few dozen cases this year, and U.S Attorney General Todd Blanche in late September announced indictments against 10 noncitizens over allegations of unlawfully voting. But the census reports 154 million people voted in the 2024 election.

With early voting beginning across many states, Trump’s bid to assert authority over voting has largely failed. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked his plans to use the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail ballots and the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship, stalled in Congress.

But Democrats, voting rights groups and some election officials are concerned Trump may take more extreme action in the coming weeks. They have braced for possible federal interference, including the prospect of ICE or other federal agents deploying to the polls (Homeland Security denies any plans to target polling places).

“This trove of ICE documents provides chilling new insights into the breadth and depth of the Trump-Vance administration’s efforts to pursue baseless claims of widespread election fraud and assert greater federal control over elections ahead of the 2026 midterms,” Hart Wood, senior oversight counsel at Democracy Forward, said in a statement.

Asked for comment, Homeland Security didn’t address specific questions from States Newsroom. In an unsigned statement, DHS said the agency is “laser focused” on identifying and removing noncitizens who vote.

“HSI investigates allegations of criminal activity, including unlawful voter registration or voting by noncitizens in federal elections,” the DHS statement says. “While we do not comment on active investigations, investigative methods, or internal deliberations, HSI is actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.

“We have repeatedly demonstrated that aliens can and do vote in our elections,” the statement says. “Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that only American citizens are electing American leaders.”

At a news conference last week to announce indictments against alleged noncitizen voters in Minnesota, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the Trump administration would never allow the votes of noncitizens to cancel out the votes of American citizens. He said that only citizens should be electing the country’s leaders.

“Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: We will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences, including criminal charges and deportation,” Mullin said.

Nonprofits reviewed, researched

The reports in the records obtained by Democracy Forward describe efforts by HSI to research and review an array of nonprofit groups. In some instances, HSI appeared satisfied after its examination.

The June 1 report notes that research was completed on approximately 41 non-governmental organizations in New Jersey, with “no derogatory information” found. Research on 20 nonprofit funds linked to a Washington, D.C.-based charitable foundation also turned up nothing, the report notes.

But the report also says the Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was “flagged for further investigation.” CAIR is one of the country’s leading Muslim civil rights groups.

Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, CAIR Pennsylvania executive director, in a statement said the organization’s civic engagement programs have expanded over the years and include voter registration efforts that seek to ensure Muslim Americans are empowered to vote and fully engaged in the civic process.

“Our voter registration program follows all applicable voter registration rules and requirements,” Tekelioglu said.

Education Minnesota, an educators union, is named in the June 1 report as one of 22 organizations that HSI was beginning to research at the time. Monica Byron, Education Minnesota’s president, said the organization learned of the investigation on Tuesday because of Democracy Forward.

Byron said the group shares Democracy Forward’s concerns about potential government surveillance of lawful voter registration activities.

“We do not know the details of any investigation into our union, but we will not be deterred in encouraging all eligible members to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election,” Byron said in a statement.

Tens of millions of records

The HSI reports show that Heather Honey, a DHS official who came to prominence denying President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, obtained 48.4 million records through “independent sources of information.” Additionally, HSI drew upon some 50.6 million records from the Department of Justice.

The exact nature of the records isn’t described, but the DOJ has sued dozens of states for voter records, including sensitive personal information such as driver’s license and Social Security numbers. The department hasn’t won any of the lawsuits, but at least 16 states have voluntarily provided the data.

The Supreme Court ruled in September that states can use a powerful Homeland Security program called SAVE to help identify possible noncitizen voters after voting rights groups sued to block its use, alleging that it often relies on inaccurate data and has a track record of wrongly flagging U.S. citizens. The decision’s impact on the midterms is expected to be minimal because most states are already too close to a federal election to conduct mass purges of voters.

But the HSI reports suggest that while the legal fight over SAVE was playing out in the courts, Homeland Security was nevertheless analyzing a vast collection of records for signs of voter fraud.

HSI’s June 1 report says 26,563 records derived from ICE had been prioritized for “downstream vetting,” with a focus on Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Priority states for HSI’s review of Justice Department records included those states, as well as Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas.

The report notes that records were sent to iLab — an apparent reference to HSI’s Innovation Lab — for “secondary enrichment and identification of high-value targets.”

(States Newsroom reporter Jonathan Shorman can be reached at jshorman@stateline.org . Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.

This article was republished by US Border News with permission under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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Federal immigration officers in The Bronx shot a man Thursday afternoon, according to police, eyewitnesses and the Department of Homeland Security.

The man is recovering in a nearby hospital, officials said Thursday night.

Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene unfurling on a busy street around 4 p.m., as a slew of New Yorkers were getting home from work and school. As shots rang out, bystanders sheltered in neighboring businesses, the eyewitnesses said.

Iris Rosa, a school therapist, said after she emerged from a nearby shop, she saw a man bleeding on the ground in front of a car, while agents milled around, one holding a small child.

“He was all full of blood,” she said, while the child an agent held was quiet. “How could you do this? What is going on? And then I’m looking at the baby.”

In a statement posted to X Thursday night, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the shooting, saying ICE was “conducting a targeted enforcement operation” to arrest a person from the Dominican Republic who they said had a conviction for grand larceny and “multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs, and weapons possession.”

“During the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured,” the statement read. “ICE officers immediately rendered aid. The individual is alive and at a local hospital. The FBI and HSI are on the scene. The incident remains under investigation.”

Stephani Ferrer, 30, who lives on Marble Hill, said she heard multiple shots and called 911, watching the scene from one of her bedroom windows until they carried the man away by his arms and legs.

“He was disoriented, I think because one of the guys that was holding him next to him was trying to keep him aware, trying to keep him awake by just doing some taps on the cheek,” she told Documented and The City Reporter. “You know, like, ‘hey buddy,’ like ‘stay awake, don’t fall asleep.’”

In a statement posted to X, the NYPD confirmed federal agents were behind the shooting and took the victim to the hospital. “The NYPD was not involved in the incident and was not on scene at the time of the shooting,” they said.

“The individual who was shot is at a nearby hospital and is currently conscious and receiving medical attention,” the post continued. It was unclear which hospital was treating the shooting victim.

By Thursday evening, a crowd of protesters had gathered at the scene, while NYPD officers and caution tape blocked off the street. The man’s dented car could still be seen blocking West 225th Street at Marble Hill Avenue. Two agents from the Department of Homeland Security were canvassing the area for video footage.

At an impromptu protest at the scene Thursday night, elected officials and immigrant advocates gathered to denounce the shooting.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat told the crowd the child was safe with other family members and that he had tried to visit the wounded man in a nearby hospital and been barred from talking with him by ICE agents.

“The family is shaken…by this terrible, horrible shooting,” he said.

Another crowd of protesters gathered outside the nearby New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital where the man was said to have been taken, as police and officials from Mayor Mamdani’s office stood at the perimeter.

Protesters tried to block a car of federal agents leaving the hospital, and police officers pushed demonstrators aside to clear the way, making several arrests.

The shooting occurred not far from the rooftop parking deck of a Target store where federal immigration agents sometimes muster before heading into The Bronx to make arrests, according to immigration activists.

A video posted to social media appeared to show the chaotic aftermath, with a crowd gathered as NYPD officers rushed to a car and carried a man, seemingly unconscious, out of it and into the back of a law enforcement vehicle.

“Put pressure,” one officer is heard to say as they load the man into the back seat.

Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate, told Documented and The City Reporter that he spoke with the family of the shooting victim.

“Thankfully, the father is alert, from what I understand. Shot in the neck, but alive, which I’m thankful for, and his child is with the family, said Williams. “But I don’t trust the investigation that the federal government is going to try to do.”

“This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement on X. “I have called the President; when we speak, I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had talked with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the shooting.

“I expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York,” she said in a statement. “I also asked that any body camera footage of the shooting be released to the public so we can establish the facts and get to the truth.”

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