Happy New Year 2025

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Homan warns daily migrant arrests will ‘steadily increase’ as Trump admin targets non-violent illegal aliens

Border Czar Tom Homan warned that daily deportation numbers are set to rise in the coming weeks as President Trump’s administration begins to expand its operations.

Homan made the comment during a Sunday appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” with host Martha Raddatz. The border chief says the administration is currently only targeting violent illegal aliens, but that will soon change.

“You’re going to see the numbers steadily increase, the number of arrests nationwide as we open up the aperture,” Homan said. “Right now, it’s concentrating on public safety threats, national security threats. That’s a smaller population. So we’re going to do this on a priority basis. That’s President Trump’s promise. But as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.”

“When you talk about the aperture opening, the estimates of those who have been convicted or arrested in the past are 700,000 to over a million. So after you do that, then you go after everybody who is there illegally?” Raddatz asked.

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Incoming Trump ‘border czar’ Tom Homan speaks with Fox News. (Fox News)

“If you’re in the country illegally, you’re on the table because it’s not okay to, you know, violate the laws of this country. You got to remember, every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under Title Eight, the United States Code 1325, it’s a crime,” Homan responded.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW

“So if you’re in a country illegally, you got a problem. And that’s why I’m hoping those who are in the country illegally, who have not been ordered removed by the federal judge, should leave,” he added.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released this image Friday, writing on X that “deportation flights have begun.” A Mississippi lawmaker is proposing paying bounty hunters to help deport illegal immigrants. (White House)

The statement comes after Homan warned sanctuary cities across the U.S. that their policies will not prevent deportations, and will instead endanger communities, federal agents and illegal aliens.

‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’: TRUMP DECLARES AMBITIOUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Sanctuary cities are defined by a policy of not turning over illegal aliens to federal authorities when they are arrested. The aliens are then often released back into the community.

Homan urged officials in sanctuary cities to help with the effort on “Fox & Friends” last week. “Work with us, because you’ve forced us into the community.”

He continued, “Here’s what’s going to happen. We’ll find the bad guy, but when we find him, he’s going to be with others, others that may not be a criminal priority. But guess what? If they’re in the United States illegally, they’re going to be arrested, too.”

President Donald Trump vowed mass deportations of illegal aliens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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“I want to save lives. A secure border saves lives,” Homan said. “When President Trump locks this border down, less women and children will be sex trafficked in this country, less aliens would die making that journey. Under President Biden, we’ve had a record number of people die crossing that border [and a] 600% increase in sex trafficking.”

Fox News confirmed Sunday that Tom Holman is in Chicago with Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to observe and support the immigration process here in the city.

Fox News’ Matthew Finn contributed to this report.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

January 26, 2025
Why Trump’s holding weekend rally in Las Vegas less than a week into new admin

President Trump is back in Nevada on Saturday to thank his supporters for helping him win the state, which has traditionally supported Democrats for president over the last couple of decades.

Trump will wrap up his first trip of his second administration with a rally Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.

“I’m going to Nevada, and I’m really going to thank Nevada for the vote because we won Nevada,” Trump said at the White House earlier this week. “That’s normally a Democratic vote and I just want to go there to thank Nevada for the vote.”

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President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump carried Nevada by three points in November’s presidential election after narrowly losing the Silver State in 2016 and 2020. He became the first Republican presidential nominee to win the state in 20 years, since then-President George W. Bush carried the state in his 2004 re-election.

TRUMP UNPLUGGED: WHAT THE NEW PRESIDENT IS DOING THAT BIDEN RARELY DID

The president is expected to offer details on his campaign trail promise – which he first made during a rally in Las Vegas last June – to exclude tips from federal taxes.

President Donald Trump spoke during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 9, 2024. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

“Can you remember that little statement about tips?” the president said during one of his inauguration day speeches. “Anybody remember that little statement? I think we won Nevada because of that statement.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, aboard Air Force One on Friday, told reporters the rally in Las Vegas would have “an economy focused message.”

“President Trump will be talking about promises that he intends to keep, that he made to the American people on the campaign trail,” she added.

TRUMP’S FIRST 100 HOURS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE: ‘SHOCK AND AWE’

The economy in Nevada’s two largest cities – Las Vegas and Reno – is dominated by the hospitality and service industry. And many workers – from restaurant waiters to hotel clerks and maids to car park valets – rely on tips for much of their income.

The “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” greets visitors to Sin City as they drive northward on Las Vegas Boulevard on Feb. 4, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

But exempting tips from federal taxes will require Congress to pass legislation, which won’t be easy to accomplish.

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But a bill to do just that – which was first introduced last summer – was re-introduced into the new 119th Congress earlier this month by Democratic Sen. Jackie Rosen of Nevada and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The Las Vegas trip follows Trump’s trip to California on Friday where he toured the devastation of the Los Angeles fires with residents who were personally impacted and participated in a roundtable with disgraced Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other state officials.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

January 25, 2025
Marco Rubio tells Chinese foreign minister Trump admin will put ‘American people first’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Chinese Foreign Minister and Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi that the Trump administration will put the “American people first” and advance U.S. interests in its relationship with China, according to a readout of the call from spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

The meeting was the first between Rubio and Wang since the former Florida senator was unanimously approved by the Senate this week to become President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet official following Monday’s inauguration.

“The Secretary also stressed the United States’ commitment to our allies in the region and serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea,” Bruce said. “The Secretary also discussed other issues of bilateral, regional, and global importance with his Chinese counterpart.”

MARCO RUBIO HEADING TO PANAMA ON FIRST TRIP AS SECRETARY OF STATE: ‘WE WON’T CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE REGION’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Chinese Foreign Minister and Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi that the Trump administration will put the “American people first” and advance U.S. interests in its relationship with China, according to a readout of the call from spokesperson Tammy Bruce. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz/File)

Wang told Rubio during the call that he hoped he would “conduct” himself well and “play a constructive role in the future of the Chinese and American people and in world peace and stability.”

He added that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had already set the tone for U.S.-Chinese relations.

TRUMP, CHINA’S XI SPEAK ON PHONE AHEAD OF INAUGURATION

President Donald Trump on Thursday told the World Economic Forum virtually that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have “always had a great relationship,” and all his administration wants is “fairness. We just want a level playing field.” (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

“The teams of both sides should implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, maintain communication, manage differences, expand cooperation, promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era,” Wang said.

MARCO RUBIO CLASHES WITH NBC ‘TODAY’ HOST WHEN PRESSED ON TRUMP’S JAN. 6 PARDONS

Trump has threatened China with 10% tariffs on imports over its role in fentanyl trafficking, starting as early as Feb. 1, and Rubio called the country the gravest threat to the U.S. during his confirmation hearing.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, flanked by his wife, Jeanette, and Vice President JD Vance, is sworn in on Tuesday in the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, D.C. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Trump n Thursday told the World Economic Forum virtually that he and Xi have “always had a great relationship,” and all his administration wants is “fairness. We just want a level playing field.”

January 25, 2025
Trump applauded for ‘significant’ immigration action after Biden admin ‘ruined’ US border

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, says President Donald Trump is starting from ‘square one’ on the border on ‘Kudlow.’

During his first week in office, President Donald Trump launched an immigration crackdown with a number of border security measures. The efforts are one of many campaign promises Trump has worked to keep since assuming office Monday.

One Republican lawmaker applauded Trump for his immigration efforts, calling out former President Joe Biden for leaving the border “wide open” for years.

“Donald Trump has shown that he’s willing to deliver on campaign promises. Promises the American people have been relying on him to deliver and promises that really are long overdue,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said on “Kudlow” Thursday.

TRUMP BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN REVEALS ICE TEAMS ARE ALREADY ARRESTING ‘PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS’

“This also shows just how inexcusable the Biden administration’s inaction was. They claimed over and over again, we can’t do it for this reason, that reason or any other reason. This was a willful subversion of America’s border security, an intentional weakening of our national security.”

Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., joins ‘The Evening Edit’ to discuss the House passing the Laken Riley Act and how it may affect illegal immigration.

Upon taking office, Trump signed orders declaring a national emergency at the border, deploying the military and ending the use of the CBP One app to process migrants at ports of entry via humanitarian parole.

His administration has also launched a mass deportation operation, with ICE agents active in multiple cities and states across the nation.

The Department of Homeland Security has also issued memos rescinding limits placed on ICE by the Biden administration, ordering a review of parole and expanding the use of expedited removal for recently-arrived illegal immigrants.

BORDER ENCOUNTERS DROP SHARPLY AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

“Biden created so many problems with his open borders, problems that have resulted in death, destruction, suffering and theft, among other problems for the American people. So President Trump’s right to start where he started,” Lee said when asked about the deportation operations.

“Our hope and expectation is that in some cases, some of these folks will have enough presence of mind to realize it might make sense for them to leave on their own. For those that don’t, they will find out the hard way.”

Texas Public Safety Department Lt. Chris Olivarez discusses the border crisis under the Trump administration.

Trump’s administration has also moved to restore border wall construction and reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which requires migrants to stay in Mexico for the duration of their asylum cases.

Trump also signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants — a move which quickly sparked a lawsuit from nearly two dozen Democratic-led states. A federal judge in Seattle Thursday temporarily blocked the president’s birthright citizenship order, describing the action as “blatantly unconstitutional.”

“Now that Donald Trump is having to go back almost to the drawing board, as it were. Start from square one and he’s already making significant progress. I applaud him for that,” Lee said.

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Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

January 24, 2025
Trump warns FEMA faces a reckoning after Biden admin: ‘Not done their job’

President Donald Trump warned late Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is set to face a reckoning following four years under the Biden administration, arguing the emergency agency has “not done their job.”

“FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA working really well. We had hurricanes in Florida. We had Alabama tornadoes. But unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” Trump said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, his first White House interview since his inauguration.

Trump then turned his attention to the state of Oklahoma, touting that he won all 77 of the state’s counties in the 2024 election, and arguing that if the Sooner State is hit by a tornado, state leaders should take the lead on emergency response before the federal government steps in for additional assistance.

“I love Oklahoma, but you know what? If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it. … And then the federal government can help them out with the money. FEMA is getting in the way of everything, and the Democrats actually use FEMA not to help North Carolina,” Trump continued.

TRUMP, GOP LEADERS MEET AT WHITE HOUSE AS PRESIDENT PLANS VISIT TO NC, DEFENDS EXECUTIVE ORDERS

President Donald Trump sits for an interview with Fox News. (Fox News / Hannity)

FEMA came under the nation’s microscope last year when Hurricane Helene ripped through North Carolina, devastating residents as it wiped out homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. FEMA and the Biden administration faced fierce backlash for its handling of the emergency, while Trump accused the agency of obstructing relief efforts in Republican areas.

“The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they’ve done with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole ‘nother discussion, because all it does is complicate everything,” he said.

TRUMP SAYS NEWSOM IS TO ‘BLAME’ FOR ‘APOCALYPTIC’ WILDFIRES

“So I’m stopping on Friday. I’m stopping in North Carolina, first stop, because those people were treated very badly by Democrats. And I’m stopping there. We’re going to get that thing straightened out because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago,” Trump said.

Floodwaters from Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Trump will visit North Carolina on Friday, his first trip as president, where he is expected to tour and meet with residents who were left devastated by the hurricane in September. He will also visit California that same day, where wildfires have ripped through the Los Angeles area this month.

The trip is set to highlight what Trump has described as emergency response failures at the hands of Democratic leaders.

FAST-MOVING HUGHES FIRE ERUPTS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY AS CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS ORDER EVACUATIONS

A house burns as the Palisades Fire rages on at the Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 11, 2025. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton )

“And then I’m going to then I’m going to go to California,” he said, before criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of wildfire prevention and response. Trump has long criticized the Democratic governor for prioritizing environmental policies, such as protecting the dwindling smelt and Chinook salmon populations, and not tapping water sources in the northern part of the state that he argued would allow better fire response.

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“There is massive amounts of water, rain water and mountain water, that comes to with the snow, comes down, as it melts, there’s so much water they’re releasing it into the Pacific Ocean,” he said.

January 23, 2025
Nearly 2 dozen states sue Trump admin over birthright citizenship order: ‘Unprecedented’

Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants – claiming that it is unconstitutional and “unprecedented.”

“The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth,” the lawsuit by 18 Democratic-led states said.

“If this unprecedented executive action is allowed to stand, both Plaintiffs and their residents will suffer immediate and irreparable harm,” it argues.

TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Trump signed the order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which ends birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants. The order seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

It clarifies that those born to illegal immigrant parents, or those who were here legally but on temporary nonimmigrant visas, are not citizens by birthright.

The Trump order argues: “Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”

The states argued that thousands of children are born to parents on temporary or illegal status.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW

“Under the Order, such children born after February 19, 2025 – who would have been unquestionably deemed citizens had they been born two days ago – will lack any legal status in the eyes of the federal government,” the states argue. “They will all be deportable, and many will be stateless. They will lose the ability to access myriad federal services that are available to their fellow Americans. And despite the Constitution’s guarantee of their citizenship, they will lose their rights to participate in the economic and civic life of their own country – to work, vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices.”

President Donald Trump presents the second executive order during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

Signed onto the lawsuit are attorneys general of New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. The city and county of San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., are also signed on.

The lawsuit comes shortly after another one filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order…” and claimed the order is unconstitutional and against congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent.

Four other states, Illinois, Arizona, Washington and Oregon, later filed a separate lawsuit.

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The Trump administration pushed back, saying it was ready to tackle the lawsuit in court.

“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda,” Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News Digital.

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“These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance – and the Trump administration is ready to face them in court,” he said.

Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

January 23, 2025
Mother of missing Marine veteran calls Trump admin a ‘breath of fresh air’ as she continues 12-year search

Debra Tice has spent more than 12 years searching for her son, Austin Tice, a Marine veteran and journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012.

Through four presidential administrations, she has not lost hope that her son will come home alive. In fact, she calls the new Trump administration a “breath of fresh air.”

“They are thinking about what they need to do, making suggestions, standing ready, having ideas. The burden isn’t on me the way it has been in the past,” Tice told Fox News Digital, referring to the Trump administration.

The Marine veteran’s mother’s first trip back to Damascus, Syria, in over 10 years comes on the heels of a revolution within the war-torn country. Debra Tice has been in Syria for only a few days, but she has already managed to meet with the country’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad.

“It was really quite a surprise that we were able to get a meeting with al-Sharaa. It was a very good meeting,” Tice said.

SYRIA RESCUE-MISSION OPERATOR BELIEVES AUSTIN TICE IS ALIVE AND WILL BE FOUND SOON

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Debra Tice, the mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, and Nizar Zakka, head of non-profit Hostage Aid Worldwide, center, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (SANA via AP)

Hostage Aid Worldwide, a non-profit organization coordinating Tice’s visit to Syria, was able to take her inside some of the prisons that have been abandoned since the fall of Assad. She said that seeing the conditions in these prisons was “really challenging,” but that she appreciated getting a sense of “what Austin was up against.”

Tice also issued a challenge to those in the U.S. government who “feel like Austin can wait” to go see the prisons for themselves.

“I think if they had to come over here – and I wouldn’t even ask them to spend the night in one of those prisons – but I think if they had gone to see what he may have gone through, maybe they would’ve been more motivated to get Austin out of there.”

TREY YINGST ENTERS ABANDONED SYRIAN DETENTION SITE IN SEARCH FOR MISSING AMERICAN JOURNALIST AUSTIN TICE

Debra Tice, mother of missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in August 2012, attends a press conference as she urged President Donald Trump to help reveal her son’s fate in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 20, 2025. (Bekir Kasim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

During a press conference on Monday, Tice offered praise for the incoming Trump administration and confirmed that they have “already reached out” regarding Austin’s case.

“I haven’t experienced that in the past four years, but I am optimistic about their help and involvement. I believe they will act quickly,” Tice said.

Tice also used the press conference to send an emotional message to her missing son. “Austin, if you can hear this somehow, I love you. I know you won’t give up, and I won’t give up either,” Tice said.

Tice added she has “never had any doubt about the fact that Austin is going to walk free. It’s a matter of time, and in my faith it’s God’s timing.”

When speaking about her hope and optimism about finding her son, Tice credited her faith as “100 percent.” She added that, “if I didn’t have my faith, I just think I would crumble into a bunch of really small pieces.”

COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US PUSH TO FIND AUSTIN TICE

The State Department’s Reward for Justice program is offering $10 million for information relating to locating Austin Tice. (The State Department’s Reward for Justice)

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “intensive efforts are still underway to find Austin Tice.” Additionally, the spokesperson said that the department is “working to get U.S. officials into Damascus” to aid in the search but is waiting for confirmation that the”conditions are safe and local authorities can accommodate the visit.”

“We have used relevant information, as well as declassified intelligence, to inform the search efforts of Syrian and international partners on the ground in Damascus who are searching for Austin every day,” the spokesperson added.

“They have visited and searched numerous now-uncovered secret prisons, but to date they have not found Austin or any additional information that would help us locate him.”

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Last month, after receiving a letter from Debra Tice, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to ask Assad for help finding Austin. However, as of now, there are no signs that this has happened.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 22, 2025