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Category: News
January 21, 2025
Immigration
News

Trump DHS Reverses Mayorkas Memo, Tightens ICE and Parole Policies.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday announced the reversal of restrictions placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The changes involve rescinding a 2021 policy that designated certain areas as off-limits to ICE enforcement. The initial directive aimed to protect access to vital services by preventing ICE actions in locations such as educational institutions, healthcare facilities, religious sites, and social service establishments.

The newly issued memo suggests enforcement personnel use discretion and common sense when determining operational locations. The memo posits that broad guidelines are unnecessary for determining where immigration laws should be enforced. Some ICE agents expressed the view that this change will enable more effective action against illegal immigration, as they will no longer be restricted from operating near schools and other formerly protected areas.

Additionally, a second memo targets the use of humanitarian parole, which had been broadly applied by the previous administration to admit migrants en masse. This parole previously allowed several hundred thousand migrants, including nationals from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, to enter the U.S. The memo emphasizes that humanitarian parole should be applied on a “case by case basis,” aligning with the statute that critics claim has been misused.

The DHS memos instruct ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) leaders to review existing parole policies and identify any that may not comply with legal statutes. This includes developing strategies to modify, pause, or end any non-compliant programs.

These policy changes follow a series of executive orders signed by President Donald J. Trump just after his inauguration, which included deploying military forces to the southern border, terminating certain parole programs, and voiding birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. The orders also announced a national emergency and the renewal of border wall construction efforts, with the goal of drastically reducing illegal entry.

Official White House Photo by Oliver Contreras.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday announced the reversal of restrictions placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The changes involve rescinding a 2021 policy that designated certain areas as off-limits to ICE enforcement. The initial directive aimed to protect access to vital services by preventing ICE actions in locations such as educational institutions, healthcare facilities, religious sites, and social service establishments. show more
January 21, 2025
Immigration

Migrant Caravan Heads to U.S.-Mexico Border Post-Trump Inauguration.

A caravan of roughly 2,000 illegal immigrants is moving through Mexico, heading towards the United States border. The group, comprising individuals from various countries, set off on January 20 from Tapachula, Mexico, coinciding with the date of President Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House. The illegal immigrants are continuing their journey despite President Trump’s moves to close the U.S. southern border and execute mass deportations of illegal immigrants already in the United States.

Moments after he was inaugurated on Monday, President Trump suspended the Department of Homeland Security’s CBP One app, which saw hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants paroled into the interior of the country under the Biden government. Additionally, military forces have been deployed at the southern border, reinforcing Trump’s commitment to enhancing border security measures.

The caravan from Tapachula is the latest in a series of similar mass migrations. Although this caravan is notable in size, it represents only a fraction of the overall illegal immigrant flow toward the U.S. border from Mexico. Historically, Mexican authorities often intervene to disperse these groups into smaller contingents. As a result, some illegal immigrants continue their journeys in smaller groups or make temporary arrangements within Mexico.

President Trump, who commenced his second term as the 47th U.S. President on January 20, has rapidly begun executing his immigration policy agenda. This includes an executive order to terminate birthright citizenship, a move likely to provoke legal challenges.

The President has also labeled certain Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and declared a national emergency at the southern border to secure funding for border wall construction without waiting for congressional approval.

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A caravan of roughly 2,000 illegal immigrants is moving through Mexico, heading towards the United States border. The group, comprising individuals from various countries, set off on January 20 from Tapachula, Mexico, coinciding with the date of President Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House. The illegal immigrants are continuing their journey despite President Trump’s moves to close the U.S. southern border and execute mass deportations of illegal immigrants already in the United States. show more
January 21, 2025
Jack Montgomery
Media

BBC: Trump’s Inaugural Comments on Mars and Manifest Destiny a ‘Nod and a Wink’ to ‘White Supremacist Movement.’

BBC veteran journalist Gabriel Gatehouse branded a reference to Americans “pursu[ing] our manifest destiny… to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars” in President Donald J. Trump’s inaugural address a “nod and a wink” to the “white supremacist movement” on the de facto state broadcaster’s flagship politics show.

The BBC, which all Britons who watch live programming—even if none of it is BBC content—are required to fund through a television license fee, is using social media to promote a clip of Gatehouse discussing his idea of “manifest destiny” on its Newsnight program, where he was formerly international editor.

“Manifest destiny was an ideology in the 19th century that talked about moving westwards, the kind of manifest destiny of American colonists to colonize the land, to expand the United States and, you know, wiping out indigenous people as they went,” Gatehouse said.

“I don’t know whether Donald Trump knows what the resonance of that is, but I know that quite a few of his audience do; people on the kind of fringes of the white supremacist movement,” he alleged, adding: “That was a nod and a wink”—which would only make sense if President Trump did, in fact, believe “manifest destiny” was a coded allusion to white supremacy.

Contrary to the claims on the BBC, manifest destiny—properly understood—is actually rooted in the belief that America is an exceptional nation with a providential place among the nations in the world.

The BBC is required by law to be politically impartial. Still, it has been widely regarded even by its own employees as biased and institutionally liberal for years. Reform Party leader Nigel Farage accused it of feeding a hysterical anti-Trump narrative leading up to the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.

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BBC veteran journalist Gabriel Gatehouse branded a reference to Americans "pursu[ing] our manifest destiny... to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars" in President Donald J. Trump's inaugural address a "nod and a wink" to the "white supremacist movement" on the de facto state broadcaster's flagship politics show. show more
January 21, 2025
War
World

Trump Criticizes Putin, Claims He Is ‘Destroying Russia.’

President Donald J. Trump delivered a forceful warning to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office. Trump, who was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States earlier in the day, said Putin is “destroying Russia” by continuing to wage war on Ukraine.

“He can’t be thrilled, he’s not doing so well,” President Trump said of Putin’s military campaign against Russia’s western neighbor. He continued: “Russia is bigger, they have more soldiers to lose, but that’s no way to run a country.”

While Trump’s Democratic Party opponents have tried to portray him as a Putin ally, the Republican President has a history of being blunt and firm-handed with the Russian leader. Additionally, following Trump’s landslide 2024 election victory, some Russian officials expressed reservations due to what they view as Trump’s unpredictability.

Despite U.S.-Russian tensions, Trump did indicate the possibility of a forthcoming conversation with Putin. On Tuesday, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s adviser on foreign affairs, acknowledged the potential for dialogue. Ushakov noted that Russia was aware of Trump’s comments and expressed a willingness to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine if the U.S. administration extended an invitation for talks.

“We are ready and open for dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukraine conflict,” Ushakov remarked. He added that any overtures from Washington in this regard would be welcomed by Russia, signaling Moscow’s openness to negotiations.

Meanwhile, several hours before Trump’s inauguration, Putin strongly commended the new U.S. leader. Putin lauded Trump’s campaign efforts and election win as “courageous” and “convincing.”

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President Donald J. Trump delivered a forceful warning to Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Monday while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office. Trump, who was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States earlier in the day, said Putin is "destroying Russia" by continuing to wage war on Ukraine. show more
January 21, 2025
Lawfare
TRUMP TRANSITION 2024/5

President Trump Issues Blanket Clemency for January 6 Defendants.

President Donald J. Trump is granting comprehensive clemency to individuals involved in the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. The clemency affects nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the event, offering pardons to most and commuting sentences for 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, organizations whose members were largely convicted of seditious conspiracy.

The decision reverses the sentences for both nonviolent offenders and those who engaged in assault against law enforcement officers during the riot. The move effectively nullifies years of lawfare by the Biden government, which saw prosecutorial overreach and enhanced sentences predicated on dubious legal statutes.

In the directive, President Trump instructs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss remaining indictments against individuals facing charges related to the January 6 incident. “They’ve already been in jail for a long time,” Trump said, announcing the clemency from the Oval Office. He added: “These people have been destroyed.”

The clemency extends to approximately 1,000 defendants facing misdemeanor charges such as disorderly conduct, unauthorized entry to restricted Capitol areas, and trespassing. Several of these individuals have served limited or no jail time. Additionally, the pardons also cover those charged with assaulting law enforcement—some of whom are serving sentences exceeding ten years.

Additionally, the decision allows for the immediate release and expungement of records for the defendants.

Image by Tyler Merbler.

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President Donald J. Trump is granting comprehensive clemency to individuals involved in the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. The clemency affects nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the event, offering pardons to most and commuting sentences for 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, organizations whose members were largely convicted of seditious conspiracy. show more
January 21, 2025
Jack Montgomery
News

Trump Suspends Foreign Aid — But Ukraine Claims It Is Unaffected.

President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order halting all U.S. foreign assistance for 90 days. This suspension is intended to give his administration time to scrutinize whether these programs align with its policy objectives, although Ukraine claims its military aid is unaffected.

Trump believes the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values” and “serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”

He insists no foreign aid “shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”

However, Ukrainian media claims Ukraine is not covered by the suspension, and some foreign aid already appropriated by Congress or required by treaty may be unaffected.

As of mid-December 2023, the Biden-Harris government was discussing around $68 billion to 204 countries.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order halting all U.S. foreign assistance for 90 days. This suspension is intended to give his administration time to scrutinize whether these programs align with its policy objectives, although Ukraine claims its military aid is unaffected. show more
January 21, 2025
Jack Montgomery
News

Trump Warns of Possible Military Action Against Cartels in Mexico.

In an Oval Office discussion on Monday night, former President Donald J. Trump entertained the notion of potential U.S. military operations in Mexico. Reporter Peter Doocy asked the 45th and now 47th President, “If the [Mexican drug] cartels are now going to be seen as foreign terror organizations, would you think about ordering U.S. Special Forces into Mexico to take them out?” President Trump replied, “Could happen. Stranger things have happened.”

Shortly thereafter, Trump did sign an executive order “designating the cartels and other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations,” explaining, “People have wanted to do this for years. So they are now designated as terrorist organizations, foreign, and Mexico probably doesn’t want that, but we have to do what’s right.”

He added: “They’re killing our people. They’re killing 250, 300,000 American people a year, not 100, like has been reported for 15 years. It’s probably 300,000.”

WATCH:

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In an Oval Office discussion on Monday night, former President Donald J. Trump entertained the notion of potential U.S. military operations in Mexico. Reporter Peter Doocy asked the 45th and now 47th President, “If the [Mexican drug] cartels are now going to be seen as foreign terror organizations, would you think about ordering U.S. Special Forces into Mexico to take them out?” President Trump replied, “Could happen. Stranger things have happened.” show more
January 20, 2025
William Upton
News

Longtime Planned Parenthood President Dies the Day of Trump’s Inauguration.

Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood—and daughter of Texas’s last Democrat governor, Ann Richards—who became the face of the modern abortion rights movement has died at 67. A powerful political fundraiser who exerted tremendous power in national and state Democratic Party politics, Richards was diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma—an especially aggressive form of brain cancer. She succumbed to the disease on January 20, 2025—the day of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States.

During her twelve-year tenure as the leader of Planned Parenthood, the organization executed nearly four million abortions, ending the lives of unborn children. Richards stepped down as president of the abortion rights organization in 2018 after taking over its reins in 2006, moving on to found the Supermajority PAC, which aimed to radicalize women voters in the U.S. against the Republican Party and President Trump.

While the group saw some early success with suburban women in the 2018 and 2020 elections, Richard’s deteriorating health largely sidelined the group in 2024. Post-election data suggests President Trump saw a significant recovery in support among women in his landslide election victory last November despite attempts by Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party to make abortion a key election issue.

In the wake of Richards’s tenure at Planned Parenthood, the radical abortion rights group saw several significant setbacks, including President Trump’s historic Supreme Court appointments. The political defeats for Planned Parenthood culminated on June 24, 2022—under President Joe Biden—when the Supreme Court’s ruling in  Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey—the two prior decisions which had enabled nationwide abortions.

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Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood—and daughter of Texas's last Democrat governor, Ann Richards—who became the face of the modern abortion rights movement has died at 67. A powerful political fundraiser who exerted tremendous power in national and state Democratic Party politics, Richards was diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma—an especially aggressive form of brain cancer. She succumbed to the disease on January 20, 2025—the day of President-elect Donald J. Trump's inauguration as the 47th President of the United States. show more
January 20, 2025
Lawfare
News
Politics

Elon Musk’s ‘DOGE’ Faces Lawsuit as Trump Takes Oath.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is facing a lawsuit right as President Donald J. Trump takes office. The 30-page lawsuit questions the legality of Trump’s proposed government advisory committee and alleges that the committee would violate federal transparency standards regarding public disclosure, hiring, and related practices.

National Security Counselors, who filed the claim, argue that Musk‘s efficiency panel qualifies as a “federal advisory committee” but does not meet the required criteria. These criteria include maintaining a balanced representation, documenting meetings, and being open to public scrutiny.

Reports indicate that DOGE has already engaged dozens of employees. These individuals operate from Musk’s SpaceX offices in Washington, D.C., and communicate using the encrypted messaging platform Signal. The legal challenge will not surprise Musk, who believes governmental opponents use “lawfare” to impede his ventures.

While details of DOGE’s efficiency initiative remain undisclosed, some cite secrecy as crucial to preventing legal obstruction. Trump claims the project will drive sweeping changes, though the advisory committee lacks direct authority to execute government cuts.

According to reports, DOGE’s executive roles are unpaid, with individuals expected to serve six-month terms. These executives will be classified as “special government employees.” Prospective employees for DOGE include Silicon Valley figures such as Marc Andreessen and Shaun Maguire.

Vivek Ramaswamy was initially set to co-lead with Musk but has withdrawn to focus on a gubernatorial run in Ohio. Last month, Ramaswamy angered many conservatives after praising H-1B visas, heavily used in the tech sector, which undercut American workers.

Ramaswamy claimed that American culture venerates “mediocrity over excellence” but went near silent following the backlash for his comments until announcing his intention to seek the governorship in Ohio.

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is facing a lawsuit right as President Donald J. Trump takes office. The 30-page lawsuit questions the legality of Trump's proposed government advisory committee and alleges that the committee would violate federal transparency standards regarding public disclosure, hiring, and related practices. show more
January 20, 2025
Jack Montgomery
News

WATCH: Trump Signs Executive Orders at Arena Rally for Supporters.

President Donald J. Trump has signed a number of executive orders at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. The America First leader also pledged to free many January 6 protestors immediately, describing them as “hostages.”

President Trump first signed an order reversing close to 80 of predecessor Joe Biden‘s executive actions. The second froze new regulations until the incoming administration has full control of the government, and the third did the same for federal hiring, excepting the military and “a number of other excluded categories.”

Trump also signed orders requiring federal workers to return to in-person work “immediately,” directing federal agencies to focus on resolving the cost-of-living crisis, and withdrawing from the Paris climate treaty. He previously withdrew from the treaty during his first term, but Biden quickly reversed this.

Trump also signed an order for the government to end censorship and promote free speech, and, finally, signed an order ending the weaponization of federal government against political opponents.

WATCH:

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President Donald J. Trump has signed a number of executive orders at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. The America First leader also pledged to free many January 6 protestors immediately, describing them as "hostages." show more