Tag Archives: United States Department of Homeland Security

Feds warn about threats to Israeli and Jewish institutions and supporters in U.S.

Washington — Federal law enforcement agencies have issued a new intelligence bulletin, obtained by CBS News, warning that recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and at the Pennsylvania governor’s residence “could motivate others to conduct violence against Israeli and Jewish institutions, or their supporters.”

The memo was issued by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center to law enforcement nationwide Wednesday, voicing concern that “some individuals online are sharing the manifesto of the alleged Capital Jewish Museum attacker, praising their actions, and calling for additional violence.”

“We advise security partners to remain vigilant for threats of targeted violence against Jewish and Israeli communities, and their supporters,” the memo says. 

On Sunday, a suspect allegedly used Molotov cocktails to attack a march for Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, injuring more than a dozen people. He has since been charged with 118 state criminal charges, including 28 counts of attempted murder. 

On May 21, two Israeli Embassy employees, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were shot and killed as they left the Capital Jewish Museum. The suspect, who shouted “Free Palestine” as he was taken into custody, faces first-degree murder charges.

And in April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, was allegedly targeted by a man who officials say intentionally set fire to the governor’s residence while Shapiro and his family were home asleep. The suspect has been charged with attempted murder, terrorism and other crimes. 

The law enforcement bulletin said intelligence analysts assess that “online messaging promoting violence by foreign terrorist organizations, their supporters, and other threat actors particularly messaging that highlights successful attacks –- could compel threat actors motivated by various ideologies to engage in violence.”

The law enforcement agencies also warned that foreign terrorist organizations have pushed content encouraging violence regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, “and the online messaging is one of many factors that has influenced the radicalization of violent extremists.”

contributed to this report.

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Undocumented immigrant faces $1.82 million fine for failing to leave U.S. after 2005 removal order, documents show

An undocumented immigrant who resides in Florida is facing a more than $1.82 million fine for failing to leave the country after receiving a removal order 20 years ago, CBS News has learned. 

According to the notice sent May 9 by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s civil fines department and provided to CBS News, the 41-year-old Florida woman and mother of three, who CBS News has chosen not to name, was charged $500 for every day she has remained in the U.S. since the removal order was issued in April 2005, running up a total of $1,821,350.  

CBS News has reached out to ICE for comment. 

This case represents an enforcement of the civil fines listed under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, which also requires undocumented immigrants to register with the U.S. government. 

In February, the Trump administration announced its plans to penalize those living in the U.S. illegally under that immigration act. It encompasses a range of regulations but has historically rarely been enforced since its implementation. 

According to Michelle Sanchez, the Florida-based immigration attorney representing the Honduran immigrant, the removal order was issued after the woman failed to show up to a court hearing in 2005. 

In 2024, Sanchez filed a motion to reopen her client’s case and have the removal order lifted, arguing the Honduran woman was eligible to apply for U.S. residency because she had resided in the U.S. for more than 10 years with no criminal record.

Sanchez said her client is also a mother of three U.S. citizen children who would be qualifying relatives as they would suffer extreme and exceptionally unusual hardships if she were deported. 

Under the Biden administration, ICE attorneys were given discretion to reopen cases to lift removal orders. Hundreds of thousands of these requests were left pending, however, according to Sanchez. In March, ICE notified the Florida immigration lawyer they could not reopen her client’s case because the Trump administration did not offer guidance on such prosecutorial discretion. 

Sanchez told CBS News she has seen an uptick in ICE issuing fines to her clients who remain in the country illegally, but the million dollar civil fine marks a first. 

“ICE is terrorizing individuals without even having to go pick them up,” Sanchez said. “They are terrorizing them by sending these notices where they are fining individuals an exorbitant amount of money that a person sometimes doesn’t even make that amount in their lifetime.” 

The notice sent to the Florida mother of three indicates that the fine can be contested, and that requesting a personal interview to do so is an option. 

“They’re going into the lion’s den,” Sanchez said, adding that anyone who receives such a notice should first reach out to their immigration lawyer before showing up in person to contest fines. 

Sanchez indicates she will be appealing her client’s fine as the Hounduran mother was never advised of the consequences of failing to depart the U.S. once the removal order was issued. 

“I welcome the orderly application of immigration law and I welcome CBP protecting us,” Sanchez said, “but the laws have to be respected and if rights are trampled, there has to be consequences.”

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DHS requests 20,000 National Guard troops to help with mass deportation

The Department of Homeland Security has requested roughly 20,000 National Guard troops to assist with the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, two U.S. officials told CBS News Thursday.

The Defense Department is still reviewing the request, and National Guard troops could be pulled from different states to help DHS. 

The officials said the troops are being requested to assist law enforcement authorities with logistics and operations related to immigration actions in the interior of the U.S., which would represent the latest expansion of the Trump administration’s unprecedented use of the military to support its large-scale immigration enforcement campaign.

There are already about 8,600 federal troops at the border. The U.S. military has recently created two National Defense Areas, narrow ribbons of land stretching around 230 miles along the border in New Mexico and Texas, which are being treated as extensions of military bases. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited in April and said “any illegal attempting to enter this zone is entering a military base, a federally protected area.” He added that migrants crossing this zone would be detained by both Customs and Border Protection and the Defense Department. 

The Navy has also been ramping up support at the border. On Wednesday, the acting chief of naval operations, Adm. James Kilby, told Congress the Navy is providing intelligence flights using P-8 aircraft, two Navy destroyers, and a littoral combat ship as part of the crackdown. 

Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, confirmed the department’s request for 20,000 National Guard members. 

“The Department of Homeland Security will use every tool and resource available to get criminal illegal aliens including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and other violent criminals out of our country,” McLaughlin said in a statement. 

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Arrests by masked federal agents are



Arrests by masked federal agents are “slippery slope,” former DHS attorney warns – CBS News










































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The practice of federal agents wearing masks to shield their identity during arrests is becoming more common. But some critics say it undermines legal protections. Scott MacFarlane has more.

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Streamer, left-wing commentator Hasan Piker says he was detained, questioned inappropriately at O’Hare

Popular Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker, who has more than 2 million followers on the live-streaming platform, said he was detained and questioned by federal authorities at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for more than two hours after arriving in the U.S. on an international flight.

This happened as Piker, 33, was headed to speak at the University of Chicago on Sunday after he returned from a family vacation in Paris. Piker, a prominent Turkish American live streamer who has openly spoken out against the war in Gaza, told the Institute of Politics crowd at UChicago that he believes he was targeted at O’Hare for his criticism of the Trump administration.

No video of the interaction has surfaced — but Piker had some specific claims about his interaction with U.S. Custom Border Protection agents.

“They took me to the back room, into a detention center. An agent came out and took me into the interrogation room … and they started asking me about crazy [expletive], like, ‘Do you like Donald Trump?'” he said.

The American-born Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator recounted at length to his millions of followers his two-hour encounter with federal agents after he arrived in Chicago from Paris. He claims he was asked not only about the president, but he was questioned about his opinions on Israel, Hamas and the Houthis rebels in Yemen.

“Everything I’ve done is fully protected under the First Amendment, OK?” Piker said. “And none of these questions are actually valid questions to ask.”

Piker said this applies no matter what one’s political beliefs are.

“It’s illegal for them to even ask me those questions, like, they can’t deny me entry into my own country,” Piker said. “It’s like, even if I was like, ‘I love Hamas,’ they can’t do that. Like, what do you mean?”

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin acknowledged that Piker was detained, but took issue with his account of what happened.

McLaughlin said: “This is nothing but lying for likes. Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas.”

Piker, who said he has Global Entry, the CBP program for pre-approved and low-risk travelers, addressed McLaughlin’s comments on a Tuesday live stream.

“They openly admit to it taking place, right?” he said. “Saying that I’m lying for likes is very funny, because they don’t even deny that it took place, deny that it was a political targeting.”



Streamer Hasan Piker takes issue with questioning at O’Hare International Airport

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CBS News Chicago took the issue to legal analyst Irv Miller, who said the location is important here. 

“I suspect because this happened in an airport — an entry point into the country — that there were cameras everywhere,” Miller said.

Miller said international travelers do give up certain Fourth Amendment rights to search and seizure — but there is a line.

“Immigration has an absolute right to ask you who you are, and to see your identification — but they don’t have a right to ask you questions and demand answers of things other than your identity and your citizenship,” Miller said.

Miller said travelers always have a Fifth Amendment right to stay silent, but acknowledged that doing so has practical problems. Anyone who stays silent may be held longer, particularly at a time when border enforcement is an administration priority.

“The government is trying to be tougher. It is trying to be more invasive, and it’s getting close to that line whether or not something is constitutional or not constitutional,” said Miller, “and it always ends up in the courts.”

Miller said he tells clients to go with the flow until they feel uncomfortable, at which point they can ask for a supervisor.

Piker said Tuesday that he was answering some of the questions while he was detained, instead of choosing to stay silent, because he wanted to see the line of questioning. He was released and has since returned to Los Angeles.

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