Trump Watch

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EXCERPT:

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” Border Czar Tom Homan said that “about 60% of everybody we’re arresting is a criminal. The other 40% are not. I think that’s a good percentage.”

Homan said, [relevant remarks begin around 4:20] “[L]ook, we’re going to arrest non-criminals, even though President Trump is prioritizing public safety threats, national security threats. If you look at the numbers right now, about 60% of everybody we’re arresting is a criminal. The other 40% are not. I think that’s a good percentage. I think that’s a better percentage than 40% criminal and 60% non-criminal. But everybody’s on the table.”

He continued, “And here is what Kathy Hochul (D) is going to get in New York: When you force us into the community to find the bad guy — and we will find them — many times they’re with others, others that may be in the country illegally, but not a target — not a criminal threat, not a national security threat. They may have been here for 20 years. But guess what? They’re coming too, because they’re in the country illegally. We’re not going to tell ICE to turn a blind eye to the oath they took or ignore the laws passed by Congress that we get appropriated to enforce.”

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PHOENIX — The Justice Department is aiming to weed out immigration judges who it feels are ruling too slowly or aren’t following the law, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday, as the Trump administration seeks to remake the courts and cut down on the backlog of 3.7 million cases to ease its mass deportation push.

Blanche was in Phoenix to address the Border Security Expo, a yearly gathering that draws top immigration officials, local and state law enforcement officers and representatives from companies doing business with the federal government. Blanche’s appearance at the gathering reflects the way immigration enforcement and border security have become priorities throughout the Trump administration.

Blanche, who has led the Justice Department since Pam Bondi was ousted last month, spoke to The Associated Press after his appearance at the conference. His comments were some of the most detailed on the changes to immigration courts since he took over the role.

“You take an oath and you’re not allowed to make decisions based upon what appear to be just sympathy or your whim,” Blanche said.

“If there’s judges that are just not applying the law in the way that it needs to be applied, delaying inappropriately, have backlogs that are just unacceptable, they’re the folks that we’re going to try to find somebody different to fill that spot.”

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During a White House small business summit, President Donald Trump said the economy is strong and his policies are satisfying Americans.

“Consumer confidence is way up,” Trump said at the May 4 event.

Three standard measurements of consumer satisfaction — from the University of Michigan; a business group called the Conference Board; and an aggregation of public polling data — show the opposite. They reveal that people are less satisfied with the economy now than at the end of President Joe Biden’s tenure, and at least one of the metrics puts consumer confidence near an all-time low.

The White House pointed to retail spending data to support his statement, but that isn’t a clear-cut measure of consumer confidence when other economic factors are at play.

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A coalition of civil rights groups has filed suit to stop a new law allowing Texas law enforcement to return illegal aliens to a port of entry and arrest them for unlawful entry.

According to Just the News, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the law.

Senate Bill 4, which makes illegal entry into Texas a state crime, is set to take effect next week after a federal appeals court vacated a lower court ruling last week that had prevented its enforcement since 2024.

The new law also authorized state magistrates to order certain individuals to leave the country if they are convicted.

Just the News reports that after the bill was signed into law in 2023, multiple groups sued, arguing the law is unconstitutional and a district court and panel of Fifth Circuit judges agreed.

The class-action lawsuit names the Texas Department of Public Safety and its director as defendants and calls for a restraining order and to block four key provisions of  SB 4.

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Gunshots rang out not far from the White House Monday as a gunman fired on Secret Service agents.

The shooting took place around 3 p.m. at 15th Street and Independence Avenue, near the Washington Monument and about a half-mile from the White House.

The shooting involved agents with the Uniformed Division, Fox News reported.

Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn said that a bystander he called a juvenile was hit by the suspect’s gunfire.

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A suspect is in custody and one bystander is recovering from gunshot wounds after a a security incident outside the White House on Monday afternoon. The incident caused a brief lockdown inside the White House as President Trump was meeting with small business leaders and taking questions from the press.

A U.S. Secret Service spokesman told reporters that the incident took place at approximately 3:30 p.m. near the outer perimeter of the White House complex.

Plainclothes officers and agents who patrol the area identified a suspicious individual who appeared to be armed. They then called for support from marked uniformed Secret Service police officers to make contact.

Upon contact, the individual fled briefly on foot, withdrew a firearm, and fired in the direction of the agents and officers. At that point, law enforcement engaged the suspect. “That individual was hit, he’s since been transported to the hospital. I have no comments on his condition,” the spokesman said.

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The Trump administration has made it clear since its pullout from Minneapolis that the era of mass deportation is over and the administration will instead focus on criminal aliens. But sanctuary cities, which defend the worst of the criminal aliens, remain fully funded and undeterred well into Trump’s second term, with zero strategy to harness the news of endless heinous crimes committed in these fugitive jurisdictions.

How can it be that Republicans are planning one last party-line bill to fund ICE and aren’t even broaching the issue of sanctuary cities?

Just 15 months into this administration, the central campaign promise is dead.

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, there were over 300 sanctuary jurisdictions in 2016. In response to Trump’s rise to power and his threat to enforce our sovereignty, this number rose to 564 by 2018 — an increase of roughly 88% in the first two years of the Trump administration. As of last year, FAIR identified at least 1,003 by May 2025.

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Data released by Pew Research shows that 9 percent of all US births in 2023 were to those that were here in the US illegally, or in the country temporarily.

Children born to illegal immigrant parents in the US were nearly 10 percent of all new births in the US in 2023, according to new data. The figures were published about data that came during the Biden administration, which had lax border policies.

New data released by Pew Research shows that 9 percent of all US births in 2023 were to those who were here in the US illegally, or in the country temporarily. The Supreme Court is currently considering the legality of an order from President Donald Trump that would restrict birthright citizenship from some of those born to foreign nationals in the US.

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President Trump had criticized the pope on April 12 following remarks Leo made about ongoing global conflicts.

Vice President JD Vance responded to Pope Leo XIV’s comments downplaying the divide between him and President Donald Trump, after the pontiff called the reporting of the situation inaccurate.

Leo addressed the issue Saturday while speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane during a trip from Cameroon to Angola as part of an 11-day tour of Africa.

“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” Leo said. “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”

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The White House recalibrated its approach to immigration in the wake of the backlash against the death of two Americans at the hands of federal officials in Minneapolis, shifting leadership and softening its rhetoric. Yet three months later, Americans’ views of President Donald Trump’s deportations campaign remain broadly negative.

New results from The POLITICO Poll show that even as the spotlight has moved away from Trump’s mass deportations campaign and onto issues such as the economy and the war in Iran, public opinion has hardly changed, underscoring how difficult it will be for the administration to reset the immigration narrative.

In the poll conducted April 11 to April 14, half of Americans — including one quarter of his 2024 voters — said Trump’s mass deportations campaign, including his widespread deployment of ICE agents, is too aggressive. Roughly a quarter said his immigration posture is about right, while 11 percent say it is not aggressive enough.

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A billionaire running for governor of California just released a plan so radical it makes Gavin Newsom look like a moderate.

Tom Steyer, the hedge fund billionaire and failed 2020 presidential candidate who now leads the Democrat primary field for California governor, published a five-point immigration platform this week that calls for abolishing ICE, jailing federal immigration agents, and using state funds to bring deported illegal aliens back to California.

You read that right. He wants to arrest the people enforcing federal law and roll out the red carpet for those who broke it.

Fox News reporter Bill Melugin laid out the details:

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The US president has lashed out at the pontiff over his criticism of the war in the Middle East

Pope Leo has sought to downplay his public spat with US President Donald Trump, rejecting claims that he was trying to challenge the president with his criticism of the war in Iran and calls for peace.

Speaking to reporters on a flight to Angola on Saturday, the US-born pontiff insisted that his remarks were not meant to be confrontational, while criticizing the media for inflating the row through excessive commentary and speculation.

“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects… much of what has been written… has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said,” the Pope said. He stressed that his remarks in Cameroon earlier this week, blasting leaders who spend billions on wars and describing the world as “ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” were not directed at Trump.

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Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano, an active-duty US Army sergeant who served the military for 27 years, including several in Afghanistan, said the ICE is out of control after his wife Deisy Rivera Ortega, an El Salvadorian by birth, was detained by the ICE on April 14 in Texas. Ortega had an appointment at the immigration office in El Paso when she was arrested.Ortega came to the US in 2016 and was granted legal protection in 2019, CBS News reported.

Because of her legal protection, Ortega can’t be deported to El Salvador but the administration told 51-year-old Serrano that his wife could be deported to Mexico. “I don’t really understand why, because she followed the rules of immigration by the T since day one,” Serrano said, adding that his wife had an active work permit at the time of her arrest.”I love the Army.

(The) Army helped me out for almost 28 years. It’s not the Army, sir. It’s ICE,” Serrano said in his interview to the CBS. “ICE is out of control right now, taking away rights, as soldiers, that we have.”Serrano was born in Puerto Rico and the duo got married in 2022 He also submitted a Parole in Place application on behalf of his wife last year, a special program designed to offer deportation protections to military spouses or parents who are in the U.S. without legal status, but the case remained pending. The wife had a military ID labeling her as a spouse of an active-duty Army soldier.

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After visiting Cameroon, Pope Leo XIV landed in Luanda, Angola on Saturday, where he was welcomed by faithful. The Holy Father is about to become the third pontiff to visit Angola, after John Paul II (1992) and Benedict XVI (2009).

Meanwhile, during Pope Leo XIV’s plane journey on Saturday he said that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate President Donald Trump about the US-Israeli war in Iran.

But the American pope also took the opportunity to set the record straight, insisting that not everything he says was directed at Trump, but reflects the broader Gospel message of peace.

As soon as Pope Leo XIV landed in Luanda he was scheduled to meet with Angola’s president, João Lourenço, and deliver a speech, the latest on a trip during which he has been stepping up his rhetoric, after becoming the target of criticism from Donald Trump.

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While the left would like it if you believed millions of Americans are suffering as a result of losing their health insurance, that is not reality, according to RFK Jr.

Democrat Rep. Greg Casar asked if RFK has sat down and spoken with any of the people who have lost health coverage this year. According to RFK, however, “they are almost all illegal immigrants.” And if you are surprised by this, you are not paying attention.

It is also comical how Casar had no response to this claim, as the best excuse he got was that one person in his district lost health coverage.

According to the Budget Committee:

1.4 million of those estimated to be without health insurance in 2034 are illegal immigrants.

1.3 million of those estimated to be without health insurance in 2034 are already ineligible for the Medicaid program. The OBBBA ends Biden-era regulations that kept ineligible individuals enrolled—restoring integrity to the program.

CBO projects Medicaid enrollment in 2034 to be 79.5 million people under the OBBBA—higher than the total number of people enrolled in Medicaid as of January 2025.

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Ever since Pope Leo assumed the papacy, PBS News Hour Friday contributors MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart and The Atlantic staff writer David Brooks have tried to claim him as one of their own in their fight against the Trump administration. That continued this Friday as the duo essentially told Vice President JD Vance to shut up when it comes to criticizing Leo’s remarks about the Iran War, with Capehart claiming they are among “the most insulting things” a VP could say and Brooks arguing the Iran War is permissible under just war theory, but also isn’t because Trump.

Host Amna Nawaz began with Capehart and wondered, “Pope Leo issued a pretty strong statement rebuking the war in Iran. Trump then unloaded on him online. Vice President Vance jumped in to criticize him as well, telling him to be careful on matters of theology. Is it smart for the president to be getting into it with the pope? What does he stand to gain from that?”

Using logic he would never apply to abortion, Capehart replied:

No, it’s not smart at all to be getting into it with the pope, to be fighting with the pope, even though the president says, ‘I’m not fighting with the pope.’ Yes, you are, and over something where it’s like the president is taking the words from the pope very, very seriously, when any pope, Pope Leo, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul, would have been saying the same thing, because this is about life and death. This is about right and wrong. And it’s something big that’s happening in the world that has commanded the pope’s attention.

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The Department of Homeland Security just rolled out a new website for its city-occupying task forces that looks, more than anything, like a vibe-coded pitch deck. Launched on Friday, HSTF.gov was first announced on the FBI’s X account.

We don’t negotiate. We dismantle. The site’s slogan is displayed in the same sans-serif font stylings as direct-to-consumer deodorant companies and AI-powered lease abstraction platforms. The main page is largely consumed by a macho image, presumably AI-generated, of gas-masked officers with AR-15 style weapons advancing in formation through a cloud of tear gas.

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The left’s key trick to import new citizens to replace current citizens is to have migrants claim “asylum.” See, if you just enter a country illegally, it’s illegal. However, if you claim “asylum” because you’re afraid for your life in your own country, then it’s considered compassion and equity. There are Marxist open-border NGOs set up to coach illegals on how to claim asylum in order to be migrants. In the UK, that means claiming you are on the rainbow spectrum and might get thrown off a roof if you can’t move in.

I don’t know if you’re aware, but there are people on the internet who believe that the UK has a migrant problem. More so, a UK citizen having an issue with migrants problem, but…know what I mean?

What’s interesting is that this video is from an undercover operation conducted by…the BBC. You have to wonder how bad the migrant crisis has gotten that even the BBC is calling it out. You also have to wonder if the BBC calling it out could have them arrested for hate crimes.

A shadow industry of law firms and advisers is charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay in order to stay in the UK, the BBC has found.

They then apply for asylum claiming to be gay and in fear for their lives if they return to Pakistan or Bangladesh.

This group now makes up 35% of all asylum claims, which topped 100,000 in 2025.

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed Tuesday to take a harder line against the U.S. over the deaths of Mexican migrants in its immigration detention centres.

Sheinbaum had previously responded to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s anti-immigration provocations by defending Mexico’s sovereignty while meeting his requests to crack down on drug cartel activity. At the same time, the threat of tariffs and other economic or military-style sanctions loomed.