New Concentration Camp For 5,000 Immigrants To Be Built Near El Paso, Texas
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Monthly Archives: July 2025
Latin Times: Florida AG Encourages People To Report Their Ex Partners To Immigration Authorities: ‘We’d Be Happy To Assist’
“If your ex is in this country illegally, please feel free to reach out to our office,” said James Uthmeier
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier encouraged people to report their ex partners to immigration authorities so they can be deported.
In a social media post, Uthmeier said “we recently got a tip from someone whose abusive ex overstayed a tourism visa” and now he is “cued up for deportation.”
“If your ex is in the country illegally, please feel free to reach out to our office. We’d be happy to assist.”
Uthmeier has also made headlines recently for proposing the construction of the migrant detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” located at a remote airport site surrounded by Everglades wildlife. The facility has in fact been inaugurated and mired by allegations of mistreatment. Legal advocates are calling for the shutting down of the facility, decrying “unlivable” conditions that include mosquito-ridden units and lights being on all the time.
Uthmeier made the post as CBS News reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted some 150,000 deportations in the first six months.
The figure is still far from its self-imposed goal of recording 1 million deportations in the first year of the administration, but the agency has vowed to ramp up efforts, especially after getting tens of billions in funds following the passage of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Should deportations continue at this pace, they would reach about 300,000 by the end of the year, the highest figure since fiscal year 2014, when the Obama administration conducted 316,000 ICE removals. The highest amount ever recorded was in 2012, when the agency conducted some 410,000 deportations.
However, the administration is significantly ramping up efforts to that end, especially after getting an additional $45 billion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as $30 billion to fund every stage of the deportation process. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said last week that the agency plans to use some of that money to hire 10,000 agents to locate and arrest migrants suspected of being in the country unlawfully.
Asshole!
James Uthmeier is such a pathetic excuse for human detritus!
Law & Crime: ‘Flip-side of the same coin’: Trump-appointed judge dismisses White House lawsuit by using Supreme Court precedent that tossed nationwide injunctions
The Trump administration may not terminate its agencies’ collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), in large part because allowing it to do so would be similar to the “judicial overreach” that the Supreme Court sought to mitigate in a recent ruling in favor of President Donald Trump, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.
The White House’s attempt to toss out labor unions from key federal agencies, as U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas put it, boils down to the authority that the different branches of government possess.
And on this matter, because the Trump administration’s lawsuit was preemptive – that is, asking the court to approve of their future conduct in breaking the CBAs as part of an executive order – the judge found that his hands were tied.
To explain why he came to that decision, the judge pointed to the highest court in the land and its recent case in Trump v. CASA that severely limited the power of U.S. district judges to issue nationwide injunctions.
“This Court’s decision to dismiss this case for lack of jurisdiction is bolstered by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. CASA, wherein the Supreme Court held that universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts,” Albright, a Trump appointee from the president’s first term, wrote in a 27-page filing.
In making its decision in the landmark birthright citizenship case, the Supreme Court found that universal injunctions were not present for most of the country’s history. And in this case, the district judge opined, the White House asked a court to go a step further – by asking for relief to do something before having even begun.
Albright wrote, at length:
Here, pre-enforcement declaratory judgments pre-approving an Executive Order have been conspicuously nonexistent for all of this Nation’s history. CASA was not decided upon the issue of standing before us today. Nonetheless, the practical impact of the holding in CASA as well as the core legal principle espoused by the Supreme Court remains central to this Court’s decision today— “federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them.” Absent a justiciable case or controversy, this Court will not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch. Accordingly, this case is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Trump’s March 27 Executive Order 14251 – titled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs – declared to “enhance the national security of the United States” by having agencies “have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”
On the same day, the Office of Personnel Management issued a memo to the relevant agencies – which include the Department of Defense and Department of State – that they are “no longer required to collectively bargain with Federal unions.”
It is also on this fateful March day that the administration filed its lawsuit against the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest labor union representing federal workers, seeking pre-approval for the termination of the CBAs. The timing of that action is where the district judge takes issue, finding that no “controversy” requiring him to act existed at the time of the lawsuit because the executive order had not yet been publicly announced.
“It is difficult to imagine how the parties could have formed a concrete dispute over the Executive Order when that document had not yet been released to the public,” Albright wrote. And because a “controversy” could not be found, the White House did not have the legal authority to bring the case, and the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear it.
The Texas-based judge was not unsympathetic to the Trump administration’s position, however. Pointing to nearly 25 nationwide injunctions being filed in the first 100 days of the administration, Albright wrote: “The Court is sympathetic to the administration’s desire for legal certainty with respect to its ability to enforce its Executive Orders when faced with the unavoidable reality that a district court somewhere will likely issue a universal injunction.”
But, again pointing to the Supreme Court, he wrote that “it is appropriate to presume” district courts will follow the high court’s ruling in Trump v. CASA and “curtail the availability” of nationwide injunctions – thus helping ease their concerns.
Albright focused on the issue of precedent while underscoring how much the judiciary can step in on the executive branch’s behalf.
“Allowing the government to seek a declaratory judgment every time (as in this case) the Executive signs a new Executive Order appears to this Court to simply be an escalation in the battle to gain some advantage by being able to select the venue in which the litigation is filed,” he wrote. “The perception, whether correct or not, that one party or the other can gain advantage by selecting a favorable forum threatens the legitimacy of the federal courts.”
He then concluded by once again referencing the Supreme Court’s recent ruling.
“[T]he relief Plaintiffs now seek is roughly the flip-side of the same coin as the relief sought by litigants seeking nationwide injunctions against this Administration,” Albright wrote. “One litigant rushes off to select a forum it perceives to be favorable to enjoin an Executive Order; and the Administration now rushes to preempt that injunction with a declaratory judgment in its own forum of choice.”
“While the Court understands the reasoning behind the Administration’s response to what it perceives as improper judicial overreach, the solution to perceived judicial overreach is not more judicial overreach, but a return to the principles of judicial restraint and strict adherence to the constitutional limits imposed upon the federal judiciary,” he concluded.
Seeking a national injunction in support of executive order(s) not yet issued — that’s quite a stretch, and then some!
Federal judge dismisses White House lawsuit by using SCOTUS precedent that helped Trump
The Trump administration may not terminate its agencies’ collective bargaining agreements, a federal judge ruled as he cited recent Supreme Court precedent that handed the president a major win.
Daily Mail: Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi sidelined by sudden medical condition after bombshell report claims AG told Trump he was in Epstein files
Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi abruptly canceled her appearance at a high-profile anti-trafficking summit on Wednesday, citing a sudden medical emergency.
The attorney general – who has been under siege over the Epstein files – was scheduled to appear at CPAC’s Summit Against Human Trafficking when a speaker at the event made the stunning announcement.
‘I do have a note from the attorney general, from Attorney General Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi, that I wanted to share,’ Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti said.
He then read her statement aloud: ‘I’m sorry to miss all of my CPAC friends today…’
‘Unfortunately, I am recovering from a recently torn cornea, which is preventing me from being with you. I truly wish I was able to join you and support all of the work being done on this critical issue.’
At the conclusion of the statement, Galeotti laughed nervously as scattered applause came from the audience.
‘We appreciate the applause for her and not boos for me,’ he joked. ‘So I will do my best to fill those big shoes.’
Several people can be seen walking out of the conference after it was revealed the attorney general would not be speaking.
The Department of Justice did not provide any further information about [Bimbo #3] Bondi’s condition.
Her injury came just hours after a bombshell report claimed she personally informed President Trump that his name appeared ‘multiple times’ in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
[Bimbo #3] Bondi’s appearance at the CPAC summit was highly-anticipated given her central role in the administration’s long-promised disclosures about the billionaire pedophile.
Adding to the intrigue, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that [Bimbo #3] Bondi had informed President Trump in May that his name appeared more frequently than expected in the trove of sealed Epstein files.
[Bimbo #3] Bondi had warned Trump that while the documents included ‘unverified hearsay,’ they also contained child pornography and sensitive victim information. She also advised against further public releases, the WSJ said.
The Journal’s report directly contradicts Trump’s public statements about the drama surrounding the Epstein files.
On July 15, when asked whether his name came up in a briefing with [Bimbo #3] Bondi about the Epstein records, Trump replied bluntly: ‘No, no.’
He described the meeting as ‘just a very quick briefing,’ and accused former FBI Director James Comey of ‘making up’ the contents of the files.
Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, slammed the Journal’s reporting as ‘fake news,’ responding to the Daily Mail in a statement.
‘The fact is that the President kicked [Epstein] out of his club for being a creep,’ Cheung said. ‘This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.’
But the Journal’s reporting was backed by multiple senior officials, who said [Bimbo #3] Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche briefed Trump as part of a ‘routine meeting.’
The Journal also noted that [Bimbo #3] Bondi recommended withholding additional Epstein documents due to their inclusion of graphic material and potential privacy violations.
‘They turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,’ [Bimbo #3] Bondi said at a July 8 cabinet meeting. ‘Never going to be released, never going to see the light of day.’
[Bimbo #3] Bondi’s explanation has done little to quell outrage particularly from Trump’s MAGA base, which has grown increasingly hostile towards over what they see as stall tactics and contradictions.
Her promise earlier this year on Fox News that she had the Epstein ‘client list’ on her desk proved hollow, as the long-awaited ‘Phase I’ release offered no significant revelations.
A leaked DOJ-FBI memo later revealed that no such ‘client list’ had ever been located in agency files.
The backlash has ignited conspiracies of a cover-up and infighting within pro-Trump circles.
Calls to release everything have grown louder, and some prominent MAGA influencers have demanded [Bimbo #3] Bondi’s resignation.
The administration’s failure to deliver on the campaign promise of transparency in the Epstein case is becoming a political flashpoint.
Trump has had recent beef with the Wall Street Journal, threatening to sue the publication and its owner Rupert Murdoch for publishing last week a piece claiming he sent Epstein a 50th birthday card with a hand-drawn outline of a naked women.
The paper claims that Trump wrote in the card’s note: ‘May every day be another wonderful secret.’
‘I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,’ Trump fired back when asked if he transmitted such a card. ‘It’s not my language. It’s not my words.’
Legal experts say such a defamation lawsuit would be difficult to win, but the threat underscores the president’s rising frustration with how the Epstein story is dominating headlines – and damaging his team’s credibility.
How convenient, and from someone who’d scarcely know the truth if it bit her!
amNewYork: EXCLUSIVE | amNY’s ICE coverage prompts press organizations to air concerns over treatment of journalists covering detentions
An amNewYork article reporting on ICE intimidating the press sparked outrage from the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and prompted the organization to send letters to federal authorities and the Mayor’s office.
On June 26, amNewYork reported on federal agents using intimidation tactics inside 290 Broadway as photojournalists documented ICE detainments. The report detailed threats made against media members observing agents arresting immigrants. Agents also photographed reporters’ city-issued press credentials and sought to prohibit photographers from accessing public areas.
In one incident, not disclosed in the original coverage, two masked agents surrounded an amNewYork reporter and took a mocking selfie before laughing to themselves.
In response, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, an American non-profit organization founded in 2012 to fund and support free speech and freedom of the press, along with a slew of press rights organizations — such the National Press Photographers Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, and more — compiled several letters to the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and Federal Protective Services asking them to address the intimidation tactics.
“The undersigned press freedom organizations write to express our serious concern regarding recent reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents making arrests in New York City immigration courts are harassing journalists, according to part of the letter which was provided to amNewYork. “This conduct, reported in amNY on June 26, 2025, raises serious First Amendment and press freedom concerns. It is likely to chill constitutionally protected reporting on a matter of the utmost public interest.”
According to the FPF, both Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and Federal Protective Services did not respond to their concerns.
Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, condemned the lack of response to what they cite as extremely troubling conduct.
“It is unfortunate that the agencies we addressed in our letters failed to reply to our real concerns regarding reports that ICE agents are harassing journalists by photographing their press credentials, attempting to improperly restrict their access to public areas in federal facilities, and otherwise interfering with their ability to report on matters of great public concern,” Osterreicher said. “Given their disregard for the well-established rules outlined in our letters regarding press credentials and photography, we view the actions by these federal agents as a blatant attempt to chill press freedoms.”
On the FPF webpage, the non-profit criticized the federal government for touting its self-proclaimed accomplishments through its X account and ride alongs with Dr. Phil McGraw’s Merit Street Media film crews while looking to suppress other journalists taking an objective look at the activity.
Advocacy director at FPF Seth Stern pushed back on this selective reporting.
“ICE is doing everything it can to silence news coverage of its actions, from concealing agents’ identities to accusing reporters of committing crimes by informing the public to intimidating and surveilling journalists in immigration courts, as amNewYork reported. Authorities in New York — and any federal officials with integrity who haven’t been fired for it yet — need to step in and tell ICE that we don’t have secret police here,” Stern said. “Journalists must be allowed to cover Trump’s immigration crackdown without being harassed by agents who don’t want the public knowing what they’re up to.”
amNewYork reached out to the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and is awaiting a response.
EXCLUSIVE | amNY’s ICE coverage prompts press organizations to air concerns over treatment of journalists covering detentions | amNewYork
An amNewYork article reporting on ICE intimidating the press sparked outrage from the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and prompted the organization to
Ken Klippenstein: VIDEO: Troops Question Los Angeles Deployment
Thousands of troops, National Guard and active duty Marines are being withdrawn from Los Angeles, the ill-fated mission quietly ending, the objective so confused that even the Defense Department’s official news service is publishing stories about soldiers questioning the point.
I’ve also been talking to those soldiers, and they affirm that so much of the Trump-Hegseth show of force was little more than an unnecessary and politically-motivated publicity stunt. So much so that I’m told that the Pentagon has ordered the California Guard to preserve all records related to the deployment, just in case the military is sued.
“Turns out there could be reasonably foreseeable litigation regarding the mobilization in the future,” one Guard source tells me, adding wryly: “Shocked.” (Asked about any such order, spokespersons for the California National Guard did not respond to my request for comment.)
“I’d say a lot of the action, quote unquote, has died down quite a bit; so a lot of … [what we’re doing] is just us showing our presence,” says Nicolas Gallegos of the Guard’s 1st Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery Regiment.
Gallegos is referring to the anti-ICE protests and civil unrest in LA that precipitated the military deployments last month. Almost since the deployment began, troops on the ground saw that “unrest” had mostly dissipated.
“I think we all feel a little bit anxious about what, why, why we’re here,” says Private First Class Andrew Oliveira, an electronics repairman with the 578th Brigade Engineer Battalion told the defense news service.
Far from the North Korea-style “Everything’s great!” public relations exercise I expected, soldiers who deployed to LA are shockingly open about not just the nature of the mission but their own unease with it.
“At first it was a little scary, not knowing what I’m jumping into,” says Specialist Nadia Cano, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist with the 149th Chemical Company.
If the Defense Department sees fit to quote these soldiers in official media, imagine what they’re saying privately.
What’s striking is how young and inexperienced many of the soldiers are, a concern flagged early on by Army sources I was talking to. Many barely have a year of military service under their belts.
“ I’m still sort of new to the Army … It’s my second activation,” says Specialist Carlos Vasquez, a combat medic with the 143rd Field Artillery Regiment.
Vasquez is the only soldier mentioned by the Guard’s own public affairs apparatus I could find who seemed enthusiastic about the mission. He cites Michael Bay movies and the Call of Duty video game series as his inspiration for joining.
For me, I love being activated. It’s my second activation … It’s really fun to be out supporting what’s supposed to be, you know, an important mission, making sure everything’s safe or making sure the civilians are safe, making sure we’re safe and everything, you know.
I just, I love wearing this uniform … I enlisted with the Army ’cause I saw all the fun stuff when I was growing up. All the ads, the Michael Bay movies, the Call of Duty. And so I still have pride in this uniform. I’m still sort of new to the Army though, so it’s two years. So everything still has its gold wrapper to it really.
Staff Sergeant Zachary Shannon, a squad leader with the 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, alludes to his efforts at reassuring soldiers that the deployment involved “doing the right thing,” as he put it, and of the importance of not listening to the protesters.
“I have advised my service members to just keep it professional, keep it military, military professionalism in one ear out the other in a sense that if they say something, my soldiers know who they are and they know why they’re here and they know. That they’re doing the right thing and if there is a protestor saying otherwise, they should know that that’s not true.”
If you’re confused about the point of the deployment, you’re not alone. The term “show of presence” originally appeared in an operations briefing leaked to me. A story I published in this newsletter about that admission precipitated an internal Army investigation almost as farcical as the deployment itself.
The soldiers I’ve talked to often expressed puzzlement as to what their orders are, which they said seemed to change at a moment’s notice with plans starting and stopping seemingly every day. In one case, the Guard arrived for an operation late and just turned around and went back to base without having done anything.
Is the withdrawal of 2,000 Guardsmen and 700 Marines, what’s been announced so far, the end of the mission, or is it just the Pentagon’s way of reorganizing for the next phase? I don’t know yet. Guard sources tell me that most of the remaining troops on the streets will be military police, troops who in theory are trained and ready to engage in crowd control and similar missions in the future.
I welcome help from Guard, Army, and Marine Corps soldiers who can further shed light on the tangled mess. And of course to you readers whose subscriptions make my work possible!
VIDEO: Troops Question Los Angeles Deployment
An inside look at the ill-fated mission in soldiers’ own words
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/video-troops-question-los-angeles
Guardian: ‘Daddy, police!’: new video shows Ice arresting Oregon father at preschool
Chiropractor Mahdi Khanbabazadeh still in detention after being seized by masked agents in daycare parking lot
New video has been released showing masked immigration officers taking an Oregon father into custody while dropping off his child at a Portland-area preschool last week.
In four clips obtained and verified by Oregon Public Broadcasting, Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old chiropractor, can be seen asking US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents to “wait for three minutes” because “there is a baby in the car”. Minutes later, after the child exited the vehicle, the video shows Ice officers breaking the driver’s side window of the car.
Three of the video clips were taken by a dashboard camera; in the fourth, taken by a witness, an onlooker can be heard saying, “This is not OK, and no one here will identify themselves to me,” as masked agents handcuff and escort Khanbabazadeh away.
Ice arrested Khanbabazadeh outside Guidepost Montessori school in Beaverton, Oregon, on 15 July. A citizen of Iran, Khanbabazadeh entered the United States on a student visa. Ice said the father had overstayed his visa, but his family told local news that he was married to a US citizen and had already applied and interviewed for a green card.
Immigration agents stopped Khanbabazadeh en route to the daycare, but allowed him to proceed to the school to drop off his child. There, Ice said he “stopped cooperating, resisted arrest and refused to exit his vehicle”. In a statement, the agency added that officers broke a window, and the child was not harmed.
Khanbabazadeh is still being held at a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, according to local news reports.
Oregon Public Broadcasting obtained the four video clips from Khanbabazadeh’s family.
The first video, recorded at 8.17am, shows Khanbabazadeh rolling down his window during a traffic stop.
As Khanbabazadeh searches for his identification, his child says, “Daddy, police!” from a carseat in the back of the car. In response to a question about where they are headed, Khanbabazadeh says, “Daycare.”
In the second video clip, recorded at 8.32am from what appears to be the daycare parking lot, Khanbabazadeh implores officers to wait. “There is a baby in the car,” he says. “Is it hard to wait for three minutes?”
In the third and final dashcam video, recorded at 8.42am, an Ice officer breaks through the driver’s side window of the car. Khanbabazadeh can be heard saying, “I am getting out,” to which a masked Ice agent replies: “Well, you should have done it already.”
In the final video, taken by a bystander, Ice agents handcuff Khanbabazadeh while he is pressed up against his car. Khanbabazadeh can be heard saying, “I’m Iranian, I don’t know why they are doing this. I am a doctor,” while the bystander says, “No one here will identify themselves.”
Randy Kornfield, who was dropping off his four-year-old grandson at the Montessori school during Khanbabazadeh’s arrest, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that one of the school’s teachers asked the officers to identify themselves. He said the agents got into a heated exchange with the teacher at the request.
This was the first confirmed federal immigration arrest at an Oregon school, according to local news. Local and state leaders, including Beaverton’s mayor, Lacey Beaty; the Oregon governor, Tina Kotek; and Congresswoman Andrea Salinas, condemned the arrest.
Good civics lesson for the little kiddies! Next week they’ll be learning how to do Nazi salutes.
‘Daddy, police!’: new video shows Ice arresting Oregon father at preschool
Chiropractor Mahdi Khanbabazadeh still in detention after being seized by masked agents in daycare parking lot
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/22/ice-arrest-video-preschool-oregon
Daily Mail: Inside the Pentagon, she crossed a line with Pete Hegseth – now she’s out and feeling VERY scorned
A pro-MAGA reporter who criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s treatment of the press at the Pentagon lost her job after speaking out.
Gabrielle Cuccia is a proud ‘MAGA girl’ who has long been outspoken about her adoration of President Trump.
But while working as the chief Pentagon correspondent at pro-Trump television channel One America News, Cuccia published a tell-all article to her personal Substack channel about the pitfalls of Hegseth’s leadership.
‘If you want the best case study for the death of the MAGA movement — look no further than the Department of Defense,’ she wrote.
‘People sleep on the Pentagon. They don’t realize what’s been simmering at the bottom for weeks, months, sometimes even years.’
Cuccia had expressed concerns Hegseth was blocking media access in the wake of his Signal scandal, in which a journalist was unintentionally added to a group chat with Hegseth where he openly shared sensitive details about an impending strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
From that moment onwards, Cuccia said Hegseth shut down crucial communication points between the press and his staff in an effort to ‘reduce the opportunity for in-person inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures.’
‘Think of every time you hear a journalist reference a source as “Defense Official” or something abstract… a lot of times, it’s coming from these guys,’ she revealed about the Pentagon press office.
‘And they are always there to provide additional context, field questions, and relay the reality of ops in an unclassified manner.’
Her article was published on Monday. By Thursday, her boss had asked her to hand in her Pentagon access badge, and on Friday she was fired, she told CNN.
Cuccia criticized Hegseth for his lack of transparency, noting he had failed to deliver press conferences and alleged his team would deliberately hide details of his schedule until it was too late for media representatives to attend.
‘Over at the White House, the Administration understands the freedom of the press, and keeps the door open anyway,’ she said. ‘They would certainly not field questions *before* said press briefing.’
Cuccia alleged that during one press briefing, staff for Hegseth reached out to her to find out what question she would ask if she were called upon at a conference.
She told them, thinking they simply ‘wanted to be prepared for their very first press briefing to answer questions with as much info in response as possible. Unfortunately that was not the case.’
‘This article isn’t to serve as a tearing down of the SecDef,’ she wrote. ‘This is me wanting to keep MAGA alive.
‘Despite my loyalty to this movement, we are killing ourselves.’
Cuccia said the power of the MAGA movement was sparked in 2015, when ‘America came alive’ on the back of a ‘shared realization we weren’t going to blindly accept our government as Bible anymore.’
Since then, she said there has been a pointed shift away from the core values of the movement.
‘Somewhere along the way, we as a collective decided — if anyone ever questioned a policy or person within the MAGA movement — that they weren’t MAGA enough.
‘I will always be MAGA, but consider this a love letter to what we have lost, what we must regain, and my final plea to Love Your Country, Not Your Government.’
Cuccia broke her public silence over her axing on Saturday, writing on Instagram: ‘I was once told that a former peer feared I was too MAGA for the job.
‘I guess I was. I guess I am.’
DailyMail.com has contacted both Cuccia and her former employer for comment.
Prior to joining OAN, Cuccia served in the White House under Trump from 2017 to 2018.
Daily Mail: Pete Hegseth hit by deeply embarrassing allegations as leaked letter calling for his removal rips through the Pentagon
An effort is under way among some Pentagon officials to denounce Pete Hegseth as unfit to serve as Defense Secretary, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Since May, drafts of a letter have been circulating among high and mid-level military brass and civilian workers to ‘Let the American public know this guy has no clue what he’s doing,’ one of them told DailyMail.com.
Sean Parnell, the department’s chief spokesman, came to his boss’ defense characterizing the letter as ‘palace intrigue’ or ‘sensationalized mainstream media gossip’ that he said Americans ‘don’t care about.’
‘They care about action,’ reads his statement.
Three Pentagon officials — two military and one civilian, and each with at least 20 years in the department — spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Aside from losing their jobs, they fear prosecution by Donald Trump‘s administration, and being replaced by people with less experience who would be less apt to challenge some of Hegseth’s decisions.
Each said the letter calling for his ouster won’t be made public until next week at the earliest.
They described its contents in the meantime – with complaints ranging from politicized decision-making to department-wide dysfunction, low morale, and a climate of paranoia driven by what they describe as Hegseth’s obsession with rooting out dissent.
They also pointed to his preoccupation with optics, citing his installation of a makeup studio inside the Pentagon, his staged photo ops lifting weights with the troops, and his new grooming and shaving policy for servicemen.
‘He has branded himself the epitome of his so-called ‘warrior ethos’ that he’s always talking about,’ one insider said, adding that Hegseth appears to be reshaping the military into ‘a cross between a sweat lodge and WWE.’
They said the letter decries the Defense Secretary for issuing orders and setting policies without considering — or even hearing — input from intelligence, security and legal advisors.
As all three insiders told us, the letter also cites dysfunction and chaos in the department due to what they said are Hegseth’s inattention to, indecision on, and inconsistencies regarding several military matters, big and small.
Those include defining the role the U.S. military should play in space and setting a realistic timeline for building the ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system, a top military goal for Trump.
They also include clarifying the channels by which Pentagon personnel should and should not communicate with each other.
One insider said Hegseth’s top aides are clamping down on contact between workers, even when there’s no security, professional or ethical reason to do so.
The insiders described what they perceive as Hegseth’s extreme distrust of the military and civilian personnel who work in the Pentagon, especially senior staffers who speak out when best practices are sidestepped or institutional memory ignored.
They said Hegseth’s preoccupation with sussing out leakers and critics in the department has caused bureaucratic logjams, brought some basic, but essential military business to a standstill and triggered a sense of paranoia throughout the building.
One of the officials said that some Pentagon personnel feel pressured to attend the Christian prayer services Hegseth has arranged during work hours, even though they’re supposed to be optional.
Two spoke of disdain among many Defense officials about the Secretary’s preoccupation with optics — token gestures they said have little to do with defense.
They cited the makeup studio the former Fox News personality and fitness buff had installed at the Pentagon and his insistence on being photographed lifting weights and doing push ups with troops.
‘Sure, he wants everyone as fit as he is. But he also wants everyone noticing how he looks,’ an insider said.
Aside from Hegseth’s review of fitness standards, he also has focused on military grooming, including specific instructions on how members should shave.
Under his new policy, soldiers with a skin condition that causes razor bumps and affects mainly Black men could be discharged from service.
One insider pointed to current tensions in Europe and Asia, and full-out war spanning from the north to the south of the Middle East, and said: ‘With everything that’s happening in the world, he’s choosing to focus on razor bumps. Seriously?’
One also cited last month’s mobilization of about 4,000 National Guard troops in response to protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles as an example of Hegseth ignoring his department’s advice.
‘Nobody in the building thought that was a wise idea,’ one of the insiders said.
Few in the Pentagon also support Hegseth’s efforts to undo diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and eradicate what he calls ‘wokeness’ in the military by restoring the names of military bases that had previously honored Confederate generals.
That insider said Hegseth’s repeated criticism of diversity policies has led to ‘far more’ racist incidents than before the Secretary took office.
He noted that Hegseth’s anti-wokeness agenda also has prompted suspicions among many non-white service members and DOD staffers that their job performance is being scrutinized more closely than those of their white colleagues.
‘Some people are being looked at as if they don’t deserve their positions,’ he said. ‘The effect that has on productivity can’t be overstated.’
Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman, credits Hegseth with ‘record-high’ recruiting numbers, European allies’ agreement to meet Trump’s 5% defense spending target, and what he called the ‘flawless success’ of the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites on June 22.
‘Secretary Hegseth has successfully reoriented the Department of Defense to put the interests of America’s Warfighters and America’s taxpayers first, and it has never been better positioned to execute on its mission than it is today,’ his statement reads.
‘The DoD’s historic accomplishments thus far are proof of Secretary Hegseth’s bold leadership and commitment to the American people and our men and women in uniform.’
The three Pentagon officials we spoke with told us that a small group of their colleagues — including officers from all military branches except for the Coast Guard — and some civilian workers met at a private home in May to discuss how to get the word out about what they view as Hegseth’s incompetence.
They agreed the message would be stronger coming from current rather than retired DOD personnel.
Attendees jointly decided to give themselves a few months to agree on the wording of a joint letter that they would either send to the news media, run as an ad in a major newspaper or launch online via social media or a newly created web site.
They set a deadline for mid-July — this week — to finalize the letter so it could be made public by next Friday, the 25th, which marks Hegseth’s half-year in office.
The letter is written but, as the planned launch date nears, organizers are undecided about whether it should be signed only by the few people willing to jeopardize their careers, or if there’s a way to organize broader engagement throughout the military by protecting signers’ identities.
The group is in discussion with a public relations advisor, tech consultant and community organizers in hopes of finding a way to broadcast their complaints far and wide throughout the U.S. while limiting the risk of retaliation.
‘We need to believe it’s possible,’ one of the officials told us, adding that a solution, if one exists, may not be feasible before next week.
The effort comes after Hegseth — a former Army National Guard officer who had limited experience running large, complicated organizations — got off to a bumpy start leading the country’s biggest bureaucracy.
During his confirmation process, critics raised concerns about his treatment of women and issues with alcohol.
Three Republican senators, including Mitch McConnell, voted against his appointment, and Vice President J.D. Vance cast a tie-breaking vote.
Less than two months into his tenure as defense secretary, a group of national security leaders discussed a planned military strike against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on a group chat using a nonsecure group chat on Signal that accidentally included the editor of The Atlantic magazine.
The ‘Signalgate’ scandal caused two of Hegseth’s top aides and the chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary to be booted from the Pentagon. Trump ultimately fired National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, who organized the chat.
Meanwhile, several outlets reported that Hegseth shared sensitive information about the attack in a second Signal text chain with his brother, lawyer and wife.
Trump, at least outwardly, has been steadfast in supporting Hegseth, who arranged for the military parade the president long had wanted, but was denied by Pentagon officials in his first term in office.
Hegseth also embraces Trump’s ‘America First’ ideas.
The Secretary’s willingness to carry out Trump’s isolationist goals was starkly clear this week when he abruptly pulled about a dozen high-ranking military speakers from the Aspen Security Forum.
The four-day summit in Colorado has for years drawn officials from Republican and Democratic administrations to publicly share ideas with the world’s leading national security and foreign policy experts.
In a statement to Just the News, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson derided the event for promoting ‘the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States.’
One attendee of the conference told DailyMail.com last Thursday that the Defense Department’s absence from the event is a ‘worrisome sign’ that Hegseth is sealing the military off from outside opinions and potentially helpful input.
Another called the cancellation ‘boneheaded.’
So by 25 July we should have a palace coup? Let’s roll!
CBS News: ICE head says agents will arrest anyone found in the U.S. illegally
In an exclusive interview with CBS News, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said his agents will arrest anyone they find in the country illegally, even if they lack a criminal record, while also cracking down on companies hiring unauthorized workers.
Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, said his agency will prioritize its “limited resources” on arresting and deporting “the worst of the worst,” such as those in the U.S. unlawfully who also have serious criminal histories.
But Lyons said non-criminals living in the U.S. without authorization will also be taken into custody during arrest operations, arguing that states and cities with “sanctuary” policies that limit cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement are forcing his agents to go into communities by not turning over noncitizen inmates.
“What’s, again, frustrating for me is the fact that we would love to focus on these criminal aliens that are inside a jail facility,” Lyons said during his first sit-down network interview on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “A local law enforcement agency, state agency already deemed that person a public safety threat and arrested them and they’re in detention.”
“I’d much rather focus all of our limited resources on that to take them into custody, but we do have to go out into the community and make those arrests, and that’s where you are seeing (that) increase” in so-called “collateral” arrests, Lyons added, referring to individuals who are not the original targets of operations but are nonetheless found to be in the U.S. unlawfully.
Collateral arrests by ICE were effectively banned under the Biden administration, which issued rules instructing deportation officers to largely focus on arresting serious criminal offenders, national security threats and migrants who recently entered the U.S. illegally. That policy was reversed immediately after President Trump took office for a second time in January.
As part of Mr. Trump’s promise to crack down on illegal immigration, his administration has given ICE a broad mandate, with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller pushing the agency to conduct 3,000 daily arrests. While ICE has so far not gotten close to that number, the agency just received tens of billions of dollars in additional funds from Congress to turbo-charge its deportation campaign.
Lyons said “it’s possible” to meet the administration’s target of 1 million deportations in a year with the new infusion of funds. ICE has recorded nearly 150,000 deportations in Mr. Trump’s first six months in office, according to internal government data obtained by CBS News.
From Jan. 1 to June 24, ICE deported around 70,000 people with criminal convictions, but many of the documented infractions were for immigration or traffic offenses, according to data obtained by CBS News.
While the administration frequently highlights arrests of non-citizens convicted of serious crimes like murder and rape, ICE also has sparked backlash in communities across the country due to some of its tactics and actions, including the use of masks by agents (which Lyons said will continue due to concerns about the safety of his officers), arrests of asylum-seekers attending court hearings and raids on worksites.
“ICE is always focused on the worst of the worst,” Lyons said. “One difference you’ll see now is under this administration, we have opened up the whole aperture of the immigration portfolio.”
Lyons promises to hold companies accountable
Another major policy at ICE under the second Trump administration is the lifting of a Biden-era pause on large-scale immigration raids at worksites.
In recent weeks, federal immigration authorities have arrested hundreds of suspected unauthorized workers at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska, a horse racetrack in Louisiana and cannabis farms in southern California. At the cannabis farms alone, officials took into custody more than 300 immigrants who were allegedly in the country unlawfully, including 10 minors.
Amid concerns from industry leaders that Mr. Trump’s crackdown was hurting their businesses, ICE in June ordered a halt to immigration roundups at farms, hotels and restaurants. But that pause lasted only a matter of days. Since then, the president has talked about giving farmers with workers who are not in the U.S. legally a “pass,” though his administration has not provided further details on what that would entail.
In his interview with CBS News, Lyons said ICE would continue worksite immigration enforcement, saying there’s no ban on such actions. He said those operations would rely on criminal warrants against employers suspected of hiring unauthorized immigrants, which he said is not a “victimless crime,” noting such investigations often expose forced labor or child trafficking.
“Not only are we focused on those individuals that are, you know, working here illegally, we’re focused on these American companies that are actually exploiting these laborers, these people that came here for a better life,” Lyons said.
Asked to confirm that ICE plans to hold those employing immigrants in the U.S. illegally accountable — and not just arrest the workers themselves — Lyons said, “One hundred percent.”
