This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareIn the weeks before they were ousted last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and top immigration enforcement official Ronald Vitiello challenged a secret White House plan to arrest thousands of parents and children in a blitz operation against migrants in 10 major U.S. cities.According to seven current and former Department of Homeland Security officials, the administration wanted to target the crush of families that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after the president’s failed “zero tolerance”...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareIn the weeks before they were ousted last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and top immigration enforcement official Ronald Vitiello challenged a secret White House plan to arrest thousands of parents and children in a blitz operation against migrants in 10 major U.S. cities.According to seven current and former Department of Homeland Security officials, the administration wanted to target the crush of families that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after the president’s failed “zero tolerance”...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoGift SharePresident Trump issued a proclamation Monday barring many categories of foreign workers and curbing immigration visas through the end of the year, moves the White House said will protect U.S. workers reeling from job losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.The ban expands earlier restrictions, adding work visas that many companies use, especially in the technology sector, landscaping services and the forestry industry. It excludes agricultural laborers, health-care professionals supporting the pandemic response and food-service...…This article was published more than 2 years agoGift SharePresident Trump issued a proclamation Monday barring many categories of foreign workers and curbing immigration visas through the end of the year, moves the White House said will protect U.S. workers reeling from job losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.The ban expands earlier restrictions, adding work visas that many companies use, especially in the technology sector, landscaping services and the forestry industry. It excludes agricultural laborers, health-care professionals supporting the pandemic response and food-service...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe White House has forced out two top Department of Homeland Security officials as part of a widening purge of anyone suspected of lacking complete loyalty to President Trump, three people familiar with the removals said Thursday.Valerie Boyd, the top official for international affairs at DHS, was asked for her resignation, as well as Bryan Ware, a senior policy aide at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The requests came from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, whose 30-year-old director,...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe White House has forced out two top Department of Homeland Security officials as part of a widening purge of anyone suspected of lacking complete loyalty to President Trump, three people familiar with the removals said Thursday.Valerie Boyd, the top official for international affairs at DHS, was asked for her resignation, as well as Bryan Ware, a senior policy aide at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The requests came from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, whose 30-year-old director,...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe pandemic map of the United States burned bright red Monday, with the number of new coronavirus infections during the first six days of July nearing 300,000 as more states and cities moved to reimpose shutdown orders.After an Independence Day weekend that attracted large crowds to fireworks displays and produced scenes of Americans drinking and partying without masks, health officials warned of hospitals running out of space and infection spreading rampantly. The United States is “still knee deep in the first wave” of...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe pandemic map of the United States burned bright red Monday, with the number of new coronavirus infections during the first six days of July nearing 300,000 as more states and cities moved to reimpose shutdown orders.After an Independence Day weekend that attracted large crowds to fireworks displays and produced scenes of Americans drinking and partying without masks, health officials warned of hospitals running out of space and infection spreading rampantly. The United States is “still knee deep in the first wave” of...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSmugglers sawed into new sections of President Trump’s border wall 18 times in the San Diego area during a single one-month span late last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records obtained by The Washington Post via a Freedom of Information Act request.The breaches and attempted breaches were made between Sept. 27 and Oct. 27, according to CBP records, with five of the incidents occurring on a single day, Oct. 10. The agency withheld information about the specific locations of the incidents, citing...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSmugglers sawed into new sections of President Trump’s border wall 18 times in the San Diego area during a single one-month span late last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records obtained by The Washington Post via a Freedom of Information Act request.The breaches and attempted breaches were made between Sept. 27 and Oct. 27, according to CBP records, with five of the incidents occurring on a single day, Oct. 10. The agency withheld information about the specific locations of the incidents, citing...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoGift ShareThe U.S. government would save about $2.6 billion if President-elect Joe Biden halts construction on the border wall project on his first day in office, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates reviewed by The Washington Post.Biden told reporters this summer he would not build “another foot” of the border barriers that became a symbol of the Trump presidency and one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in U.S. history. But the financial implications of — including the costs to the government it will...…This article was published more than 2 years agoGift ShareThe U.S. government would save about $2.6 billion if President-elect Joe Biden halts construction on the border wall project on his first day in office, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates reviewed by The Washington Post.Biden told reporters this summer he would not build “another foot” of the border barriers that became a symbol of the Trump presidency and one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in U.S. history. But the financial implications of — including the costs to the government it will...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMatthew Albence, the top U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, announced his retirement in a statement Friday, leaving an agency at the forefront of President Trump’s immigration agenda without a clear successor.Albence had directed ICE agents to back off some enforcement activity during the pandemic, frustrating some at the White House, but there was no indication that his decision to step down was intended as a statement of protest. His retirement from the job as deputy director and senior official...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMatthew Albence, the top U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, announced his retirement in a statement Friday, leaving an agency at the forefront of President Trump’s immigration agenda without a clear successor.Albence had directed ICE agents to back off some enforcement activity during the pandemic, frustrating some at the White House, but there was no indication that his decision to step down was intended as a statement of protest. His retirement from the job as deputy director and senior official...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Trump administration has been pressuring health experts at the to endorse the use of border hotels to hold migrant children before deporting them, a practice the government halted last month under court order, according to federal health officials.Career CDC officials have declined to sign off on a declaration requested by the Department of Health and Human Services affirming that the use of hotels to detain migrant children is the best way to protect them from the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to one HHS...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Trump administration has been pressuring health experts at the to endorse the use of border hotels to hold migrant children before deporting them, a practice the government halted last month under court order, according to federal health officials.Career CDC officials have declined to sign off on a declaration requested by the Department of Health and Human Services affirming that the use of hotels to detain migrant children is the best way to protect them from the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to one HHS...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN ANTONIO — The man accused of killing a longtime police officer Tuesday in Texas during a domestic violence call is a 51-year-old from El Salvador with a criminal record who is in the United States illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday.Elmer Manzano was arrested after allegedly opening fire on officers at a Houston apartment complex, killing Sgt. Harold Preston, 65, a police commander who was weeks away from retiring.In a statement, ICE said that Manzano is a “convicted criminal alien who...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN ANTONIO — The man accused of killing a longtime police officer Tuesday in Texas during a domestic violence call is a 51-year-old from El Salvador with a criminal record who is in the United States illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday.Elmer Manzano was arrested after allegedly opening fire on officers at a Houston apartment complex, killing Sgt. Harold Preston, 65, a police commander who was weeks away from retiring.In a statement, ICE said that Manzano is a “convicted criminal alien who...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn the days since protesters were driven out of Lafayette Square coughing and limping, their eyes burning amid clouds of smoke, the Trump administration has insisted federal authorities did not use tear gas on the crowd.“No tear gas was used, and no rubber bullets were used,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Wednesday, echoing similar claims from the U.S. Park Police and the president’s allies.McEnany was correct, but only to the extent that police did not use products labeled “tear gas” and...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn the days since protesters were driven out of Lafayette Square coughing and limping, their eyes burning amid clouds of smoke, the Trump administration has insisted federal authorities did not use tear gas on the crowd.“No tear gas was used, and no rubber bullets were used,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Wednesday, echoing similar claims from the U.S. Park Police and the president’s allies.McEnany was correct, but only to the extent that police did not use products labeled “tear gas” and...WW…