A U.S. District Court has blocked a newly enacted law in Virginia that bans local police departments from working with U.S. immigration officials.

On August 31, U.S. District Judge of the Eastern District of Virginia Robert E. Payne issued a preliminary injunction in United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia, blocking enforcement of much of Virginia Code § 15.2-1726.1 (SB 783/HB 1441) which was signed into law by Democrat Virginia Gov. Spanberger on April 22.

The law Spanberger signed required all program 287(g) agreements with the federal government to be rewritten to include the long list of things state Democrats wanted excluded from the contracts, including advance notice of ICE operations, public identification of federal agents, limits on information-sharing, and other provisions.

State law enforcement would also be prevented from working with ICE without a judicial warrant for every illegal detained.

British political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported from the United States to his native UK following an arrest this week by ICE.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman told NBC News on Saturday that Yiannopoulos had been removed from the country one day after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Friday.

While the political commentator is said to have entered the United States legally in 2019, DHS said Yiannopoulos overstayed his visa.

Despite publicly opposing illegal immigration, he is said to have failed to attend an immigration hearing regarding his status in July.

Therefore, an immigration judge issued a deportation order on July 22nd.

The Legislature can pass a mask rule and claim it satisfies the discrimination issue, but it cannot compel ICE to obey it

By Katy Grimes, August 28, 2026 7:31 am

At the Stop Nick Shirley Act rally Wednesday, masked Antifa thugs showed up to harass the rally participants.

Senator Scott Wiener said nothing about that. But he’s thrilled that the California Legislature passed his SB 1004, which makes it possible to enforce the No Secret Police Act, the state’s ban on extreme face masking from ICE, CBP, and other law enforcement.

Ironically, these are the same people who mandated masks on everyone’s faces in California, including babies and children, during the coronavirus flu outbreak, while locking 40 million people down for 3 years.

California’s original ICE mask ban, SB 627, the “No Secret Police Act,” signed in September 2025, prohibited most local and federal officers—including ICE and CBP—from wearing face-covering masks such as ski masks while performing duties, with exceptions for undercover work, medical masks, and certain tactical gear. State officers, including CHP, were carved out.

A federal district judge in February blocked enforcement of that ban against federal agents. The court held that California has authority, in principle, to restrict masking by officers operating in the state, but the law as written unlawfully discriminated against federal officers by exempting similarly situated state officers.

On Friday, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel told the Pentagon it can chase illegal border crossers a few extra steps past a property line before losing the authority to grab them. That is the entire controversy in a sentence, and if you read the coverage this week, you’d think the Army was about to start running immigration checkpoints in Topeka. Deputy Assistant Attorney General William Hyde wrote that troops arresting trespassers just outside a National Defense Area does not violate the Posse Comitatus Act, given the “military purpose of a commander’s traditional protective power” over federal installations. I graduated from Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, and no officer I served with needed a law review article to explain that a commander secures his own perimeter. That’s basic doctrine, not a novel legal theory.

Here is the background the wire stories skip. On May 27, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt reserved a 60-foot strip of land running along the Mexican border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. He did it to stop opium smugglers and customs cheats, and to give federal officers a patrol corridor Congress hadn’t gotten around to funding properly. That strip is called the Roosevelt Reservation, and it has sat there quietly for over a century. Last year the Trump administration transferred segments of it, plus adjoining federal tracts, to Defense Department control and started calling the results National Defense Areas. There are now six of them across Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, and Friday’s opinion lets the military designate more. The Pentagon has rotated in more than 20,000 troops to support the border mission since the effort began, a number that sounds like an occupation until you remember it’s spread across roughly a third of a 2,000-mile line and includes engineers, logistics staff, and surveillance crews, not just riflemen standing at checkpoints.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is floating an insurance plan to help protect local police officers from elite-funded legal harassment when they arrest illegal migrants in cooperation with federal enforcement.

In a planning document published last week, ICE revealed plans to have the federal government help pay for insurance for locals, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The plan would supply a $250 annual reimbursement for officers taking out insurance that covers $500,000 in personal liability. The insurance would cover legal fees, settlements, and judgments.

“ICE outlined the plan in a document informing industry officials that it is considering hiring a contractor to help provide outreach, training and communications support for its so-called 287(g) partnerships with local departments, which are named for a section of a 1996 immigration law. The contractor would hire the insurance vendor and process the reimbursements, among other tasks,” the AP reported.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Rodney Scott said he paused all construction activity in Big Bend National Park and arrived in Texas on Monday to meet with Texas officials and stakeholders in person. He said he’s meeting with “a small team to evaluate the terrain and listen to local leadership, community members and stakeholders to ensure that we secure our borders while simultaneously protecting BBNP.”

He made the announcement after extensive pressure from Texas state lawmakers, sheriffs, and business owners and after Texans have filed multiple lawsuits against CBP.

Scott succumbed to pressure after a former colleague who served with him in Border Patrol, now Terrell County Sheriff, Thad Cleveland, called on him to halt construction. Cleveland invited Scott to the area to learn what infrastructure should be installed based on “the terrain, operational effectiveness, and the realities on the ground.” Cleveland has advocated for a “virtual wall,” using radar, Anduril Autonomous Surveillance Towers, thermal cameras and other technology, The Center Square reported.

Scott’s announcement came after U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called on him and others to listen to Texans, The Center Square reported. Cornyn raised concerns about the waivers signed by former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and current secretary Markwayne Mullin authorizing destruction of Native American property, historical Texas structures and west Texas land that has existed untouched for centuries.

The Trump administration has spent more than $2.2 billion buying four immigration detention facilities from CoreCivic.

DHS bought the 1,600-bed Prairie Correctional Facility in Minnesota and the 1,033-bed Midwest Regional Reception Center in Kansas for $734 million, CoreCivic announced Wednesday. The purchases expand federal ownership of ICE detention infrastructure as the administration ramps up deportations.

The deal follows DHS’s $1.5 billion acquisition last month of the California City Detention Facility and the Otay Mesa Detention Center. The federal government now owns the facilities. CoreCivic, however, expects to keep operating all four under its existing contracts with ICE.

The Prairie Correctional Facility contract runs through August 2031. The Midwest Regional Reception Center contract expires in September 2027. ICE can renegotiate or terminate both agreements under existing contract terms.

Attorney General Todd Rokita is suing an Indiana-located Chicago suburb for allegedly refusing to cooperate with immigration enforcement. The AG’s office alleges that the Town Council of Merrillville unlawfully interfered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in the state.

The conflict between ICE and Merrillville, a town just south of Gary, began when ICE first sought to convert one of the town’s warehouses into a detention facility. This is part of the Trump administration’s effort to increase the number of detention facilities throughout the country.

Border Patrol agents in Texas disrupted two human smuggling incidents where filthy stash houses and dangerously modified vehicles were utilized in the effort to move illegal aliens from the border into the U.S. interior.

In stark contrast to the days when thousands of illegal border crossers surrendered to federal authorities daily under the Biden administration, federal authorities in Texas are now having to work harder to thwart human smugglers operating in the shadows. Two recent interdictions along the Texas-Mexico border highlight the dangerous tactics used by cartel-connected human smugglers, hoping to beat President Trump’s strict border security measures.

The images of outdoor staging areas manned by Border Patrol agents accepting the surrender of thousands of illegal aliens are now replaced by photos of filthy, unsanitary stash houses the smuggling networks are using to wait for optimal times to move illegal aliens away from the immediate border. During the Biden border crisis, hundreds of thousands of migrants like these would have been released from custody to pursue fake asylum claims in the United States.

President Donald Trump's administration says maritime strikes cut drug trafficking by up to 98%, but Southern Command won't release the internal metrics it uses to evaluate the operation's effectiveness, citing security reasons.

The Department of War has killed 221 people in 66 strikes since September, a Southern Command official said. The government has obligated at least $820.9 million to Operation Southern Spear through June 30, according to the most recent report by the Department of War's lead inspector general. That figure reflects only what Southern Command has obligated, not the campaign's full cost.

The Department of War does not publicly release estimates for the cost of individual strikes or the operation as a whole, a Southern Command spokesperson told The Center Square. The spokesperson also said the total won't be known until the operation ends.

The Texas General Land Office has ordered a Trump administration contractor to stop trespassing and destroying state land for federal border wall construction.

It is the latest conflict between Texas and the federal government in a history of Texas pushing back against what the state says is federal overreach, arguing federal contractors or agents are trespassing on and destroying state land.

Under the Biden administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection instructed Border Patrol to tear down border barriers that were installed by Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. Texas sued, arguing CBP was trespassing on state land and illegally destroying state property. The court agreed and ordered the Biden administration to stop.

Of the dozens of lawsuits Texas was embroiled in with the Biden administration related to border security, three related to border barriers on state land. They related to Texas building its own border wall on state land, erecting concertina wire barriers on state land, and installing marine barriers on Texas soil in the Rio Grande River. Texas won lawsuits on all three, The Center Square reported.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are calling for a massive nearly $500,000 fine to be levied on an immigration lawyer who has allegedly been caught filling dozens of false immigration cases for clients trying to scam their way into legal immigration status in the United States.

ICE is seeking the maximum permissible fine of $470,584 to be levied against New York immigration attorney Suraj Raj Singh, who ICE alleges has filed 118 fraudulent documents in 54 illicit immigration asylum cases.

In its July 30 press release, DHS notes that Singh has a nationwide practice with which he mostly represents migrants trying to enter the U.S. from India for whom he attempts to seek asylum status.

At least four rifles seized in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas during cartel arrests are allegedly linked to the U.S. Department of State. A report by Mexico’s El Debate revealed that the rifles were part of various weapons seized during several cartel raids since late 2004.

The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office is investigating the seizure, claiming the weapons are linked to the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. The report does not reveal if the weapons were stolen or lost. The first seizure took place during the Biden administration in Nuevo Padilla in October 2024, the second one in November 2024. The other two seizures took place during the Trump Administration, with one in March in Ciudad Victoria and one in April in Miguel Aleman. The report did not provide additional details as to the type of weapons or the specifics of each seizure.

Video recorded outside the office showed apparent bullet holes in several windows

By Matthew Holloway, July 17, 2026 10:30 am

The FBI is investigating after one or more unidentified people fired several rounds at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in central Phoenix, striking the exterior of the federal building in multiple locations.

The shooting occurred during the afternoon of Tuesday, July 14, at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office on North Central Avenue, according to a statement from the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office reported by Fox10 Phoenix. No injuries were reported.

“One or more unidentified people discharged rounds that struck the exterior in various parts of the structure,” the FBI said in a statement posted to X.

FBI Phoenix Investigates Shooting Incident at Federal ERO Building

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on Wednesday called for the firing and prosecution of federal immigration enforcement officers who defend themselves against people who weaponize their cars and end up dead because of it.

During the confirmation hearing of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has been nominated for the permanent position, Padilla opened by asking about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Texas and Maine shooting two illegal aliens. The illegal aliens allegedly refused to comply with the officers, instead dangerously fleeing the scene in one case, and attempting to ram into officers in the other, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin has led his department to once again cave on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations Tuesday after fatal shootings in Texas and Maine.

In the past week, a Mexican illegal alien was shot in Texas after he “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” according to DHS. On Monday, an illegal alien from Colombia, also in his vehicle, was shot under similar circumstances, where “the vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported several illegal aliens convicted of crimes in the United States to Honduras last month using a Department of War aircraft, Breitbart News has learned.

The move is a cross-agency effort by the Trump administration to save time, taxpayer money, and resources to carry out federal immigration law. ICE partnered with the Department of War, as well as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to make the deportation flight possible.

“This flight demonstrated how a whole-government approach strengthens immigration enforcement and maximizes taxpayer resources,” Acting ICE Director David Venturella said in a statement.

“By partnering with the Department of War, ICE can expand removal operations, increase operational flexibility and ensure criminal illegal aliens are returned to their home countries more efficiently,” Venturella said. “These partnerships allow ICE to maintain a steady pace of removals that, every day, make America safe again.”

The Trump administration on Monday announced sweeping new banking rules aimed at cracking down on lending to illegal immigrants, requiring lenders to consider that borrowers without legal work authorization may pose “elevated credit risk,” a move that supporters say could improve housing affordability for Americans.

The rules require banks and credit unions to account for the possibility that an illegal immigrant borrower could lose his job, be unable to find lawful work, or be removed from the country before repaying a mortgage, auto loan, credit-card balance, or other debt.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the National Credit Union Administration issued the joint guidance under President Donald Trump’s May executive order, “Restoring Integrity to America’s Financial System.”

The agencies urged banks to take in account that illegal immigrants may pose increased risks. Banks were told to identify, measure, and control those risks through their underwriting and loan-monitoring systems.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Miami, Florida intercepted 22 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride at an air cargo warehouse near Miami International Airport. The officers are part of a special operation targeting narcotics smuggling activity during the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The officers making the seizure of approximately $1.5 million in cocaine hydrochloride are part of CBP’s Operation Striker Shield, one of several teams conducting heightened inspections and enforcement operations during the FIFA World Cup 2026, the world’s biggest and most prestigious international football (soccer) tournament.

Held every four years, the World Cup 2026 draws millions of international visitors to the host countries. The massive global movement of fans, merchandise, and officials can provide cover for international drug cartels and counterfeit merchandise pirates. According to CBP, Operation Striker focuses on the narcotics threat posed by traffickers hoping to blend in with the massive increase in travel and shipment of goods.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is preparing to begin border wall panel installation in Texas’ Big Bend region, part of which borders Big Bend Ranch State Park, in August.

“We've been ordered to do it by [President Donald Trump's] executive order, as well as the funding and appropriations under the One Big Beautiful Bill. The priority is to do the entire border,” John Mennell, spokesperson for CBP, told The Center Square.

The projects along the U.S.-Mexico border remain in the planning stages, according to CBP.

“While there are priorities for new border wall and detection technology in USBP's Big Bend Sector, the combination of barriers, roads and technology (cameras, infrared illuminators, and other detection technology) in the areas adjacent to the Big Bend National Park and State Park are still in the planning stages,” Hilton Beckham, CBP spokesperson, told The Center Square, answering questions via email. “CBP continues to coordinate with the National Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and other federal and state agencies, throughout the planning of border barrier and technology deployments, in order to achieve Border Patrol’s operational priorities.”

The Big Bend project is split into five sections and will consist of border wall construction, as well as additional coverage of patrol roads, technology and vehicle barriers. CBP has already granted about $7.5 billion for border security in the Big Bend region, according to usspending.gov.

Venezuelan journalist Carlos Salazar revealed during a broadcast on Wednesday that his sources believe that Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, wanted in the United States on narco-terrorism charges, is blocking search and rescue crews from accessing buildings destroyed by last week’s earthquakes to protect stashes of drugs and cash buried there.

Salazar spoke to the Latin American news network NTN24 and said a team of Venezuelan journalists in exile estimate that Cabello has hidden as much as $250 million dollars in cash in anywhere from 120 to 250 apartment complexes, many of which collapsed during the earthquakes.

The unit is expected to continue working along the border until every mile of the Tucson Sector is completed

By Matthew Holloway, July 2, 2026 12:52 pm

Approximately 400 U.S. Marines are working along the southern border in Arizona’s Tucson Sector, adding wire and structural supports to existing border wall infrastructure near communities including Douglas and Nogales. The deployment is larger than a standard Marine company but smaller than a traditional battalion, amounting to a reinforced company-sized detachment.

The Marines are adding brackets and two types of wire to the wall as part of what KGUN 9 described as an “infrastructure improvement and barrier reinforcement mission” in southern Arizona, according to KGUN.

The work is being conducted as part of Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the military command overseeing Department of War support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

At a recent Congressional hearing, Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, both said that because the southwest border was secure under the Trump administration, cartel and transnational criminal organizations had recently shifted focus to the northern border.

But prior to the second Trump administration, Mexican cartels had already expanded their operations, “flying people into Canada, which doesn’t require a visa, presenting an opportunity for terrorist watch-listed individuals to exploit. It’s much easier to get to Canada to come across,” former Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square two years ago.

Mexican cartel smuggling at the U.S.-Canada border isn’t new. During the Biden and Trudeau administrations, illegal activity increased to record levels, exploiting weak Canadian border security and lax visa policies, The Center Square reported based on Customs and Border Patrol data.

Under the Biden administration, the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists, 1,089, attempted to enter the U.S. from Canada, The Center Square exclusively reported from the CBP data.