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DHS says anti-ICE agitators helped child rapists, gang members evade deportation
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is detailing cases in which anti-ICE agitators actively helped criminal illegal immigrants evade federal arrest, including suspects accused of child rape, domestic abuse and gang-related violence.
The cases point to a growing pattern of organized interference with federal immigration enforcement during recent ICE operations. 
"These are the monsters that agitators and sanctuary politicians are protecting," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "We remind the public that obstructing law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime."
FROM PROTEST TO FELONY: THE LINES MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS MAY BE CROSSING 
According to DHS, members of the anti-ICE Colorado Rapid Response Network, alerted Jose Reyes Leon-Deras, a convicted child rapist, of ICE's presence on June 20, 2025. A Facebook post by the anti-ICE group, accused by DHS of facilitating Leon-Deras' evasion on June 20, indicates members affiliated with the anti-ICE group used a bullhorn that day to alert potential targets of ICE. The post suggested that police left without serving any warrants, while noting that agents returned the following days as well. 
Per DHS, federal agents finally arrested Leon-Deras on June 27, and he was issued a final order of removal on Oct. 30 amid the Trump administration's ongoing operations in Colorado.
In a separate situation in Minneapolis, an apartment manager allegedly prevented federal immigration agents from entering a building where a criminal foreign national from Somalia, convicted of violent sex crimes and previously arrested for a high-level assault, was located. 
DHS accused the apartment manager of actively protecting a sex offender, Mahad Abdulkadir Yusuf, who had a conviction of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. He allegedly forcibly compelled his victim to perform sex acts on him on multiple occasions. 
Meanwhile, according to DHS, Yusuf had also been arrested in 2016 for first-degree assault and had an active warrant out for obstructing police.
WEEKEND ROUNDUP: CONVICTED MURDERERS, CHILD SEX ABUSERS AMONG ILLEGAL ALIENS NABBED BY ICE ACROSS US 
Yusuf originally entered the United States in 1996 and was a lawful permanent resident, but his crimes made him eligible for removal, and ICE arrested him on Dec. 31. 
Another child sex offender, Jozias Natanael Carmona-Pena, was allegedly assisted by not only agitators but sanctuary city leaders in Minneapolis as well, according to DHS. 
Carmona-Pena had pending charges for lewd and lascivious acts with a child, but …

What have we learned from Iraq about deeply entrenched dictatorships and how to better remove them?
We're watching the same failure loop.

Preface:
I often look at Iraq as a reference point for a lot of my discussions and thoughts. I and a few of my friends are from various countries with deeply entrenched false democracies - dictatorships.
There is a very specific point I am referring to with the title. If you do not think this "assumption" of mine is correct, that is fine, but it's better that we try to not digress the topic too much, and if you disagree with the initial assumption then just imagine another country that historically struggled the with this problem.
Iraq struggled after the war because the Ba'ath Party deeply entrenched itself into every form of bureaucracy within the country, to the point that most functionaries were profound party loyalists, accompanied by corruption. When these loyalists were removed, what you were left with was a deserted and quickly crumbling system with nobody to man it. People tend to assume that all you have to do is replace the pseudo-president dictator and a couple of dozen people around him and everything will work fine. But in reality in these deeply entrenched dictatorships their loyalists are the managers of postal offices, the clerks, the janitors, the teachers, the principals. Iraq struggled a fair bit after Saddam was thrown off with this transition. I consider this transition to have been a failure, or at least there should have been a better way to handle it.
There are of course differences between superficial brutalistic dictatorships and these pseudo-democratic dictatorships. For whatever reason, the brutal upfront dictatorships tend to entrench themselves with far more shallow roots than the opposite. Maybe it's because they just can't find the people who will follow them so faithfully, or maybe they just don't trust anyone.
The reason I go back to Iraq and why it's so relevant to these discussions is that there are a lot of dictatorships today where this is very relevant. Some of them are in Europe. I and a lot of my friends are from these dictatorships (Russia, Turkey, Serbia, Hungary).
These people have effectively hooked their hearts to the breathing apparatus of their countries as a threat for what would happen if anyone tried to unplug them. If you wanted to fix these countries, you would have to replace people in about 100 000 - 600 000 public jobs with other people. For all of these countries that's essentially an impossible job.
You could perhaps use Germany, Japan and Italy after 1945 as examples of such transitions. However I'd argue there are THREE big clauses that made those exceptions work:
1) The resistance within those countries to the (former) authority was at an explosive peak during the transition, there were very few sympathizers left.
2) Someone might consider this controversial, however, these governments did aspire towards a functional future for their countries after the deaths of the current party members. What I mean by this is, they didn't JUST put people into positions based on their loyalty, certain skills were expected of these people. This is in stark contrast to the modern dictatorships I speak of, where there is no thought whatsoever about the future of the country and the only goal is to …

White House slams Democrat governor for urging public to track ICE agents with new video portal
This affects the entire country.

The White House and conservatives are slamming New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill after she announced that her administration is launching a portal to monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and alert people to their presence.
Sherrill, a U.S. Navy veteran who entered office just a few weeks ago, encouraged New Jerseyans to film federal immigration enforcement operations when they see them, saying on a recent episode of The Daily Show, "We want documentation, and we are going to make sure we get it."  
"We are going to be standing up a portal so people can upload all their cell videos and alert people," she said, adding, "If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out, we want to know."
In response, Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, remarked, "If Sherill was as committed to tracking down criminal illegal aliens as she was ICE officers, New Jersey residents would be much safer."
WHITE HOUSE ACCUSES WALZ OF UNDERMINING LAW ENFORCEMENT, BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION
Jackson told Fox News Digital that "ICE officers are facing a 1300% increase in assaults because of dangerous, untrue smears by elected Democrats."
"Just the other day, an officer had his finger bitten off by a radical left-wing rioter," she said. "ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities, and local officials should work with them, not against them."
Sean Higgins, a spokesperson for Sherrill, framed the governor’s actions as protecting New Jerseyans from federal overreach.
"Keeping New Jerseyans safe is Governor Sherrill’s top priority," Higgins told Fox News Digital, adding that "in the coming days, she and Acting Attorney General [Jennifer] Davenport will announce additional actions to protect New Jerseyans from federal overreach."  
DEM GOVERNOR DUCKS QUESTION ON 'MONSTER' ILLEGAL ALIEN WHO FRACTURED 8-YEAR-OLD’S SKULL WITH ROCK ATTACK
While speaking on the show, Sherrill cited the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in confrontations with ICE agents in Minneapolis. She accused agents of shooting Pretti "execution style," which she called "unacceptable."
"They have not been forthcoming," the governor said of ICE. "They will pick people up, they will not tell us who they are, they will not tell us if they’re here legally, they won’t check. They’ll pick up American citizens."
Meanwhile, the White House was not the only one to criticize Sherrill’s announcement.
New Jersey Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio ripped into the governor, saying her portal "puts everyone at risk" and continues a long trend of …

Boston's Wu orders release of ICE surveillance and bodycam footage, says fed government 'hides behind masks'
Who's accountable for the results?

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu accused federal immigration agents of conducting "unconstitutional" operations in the city and ordered the public release of surveillance and body-camera footage tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions, saying the move is aimed at holding federal agents accountable for alleged acts of violence.
Wu and other Massachusetts officials held a joint news conference Thursday in the blue city, slamming the Trump administration's federal immigration enforcement and pointing specifically to ICE activity in various communities.
"They are trying to do with federal agents what they have failed to do with canceled grants, sham investigations and the National Guard," Wu said. "If we experience the kind of unlawful and unconstitutional invasion we've all seen in other parts of the country, then Boston will see the [Trump] administration in court again." 
The Democrat mayor said she signed an executive order Thursday morning aimed at holding federal officials accountable, directing city departments to protect residents and respond to any violence, property damage, or criminal conduct tied to immigration enforcement.
BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE
Wu said the order makes clear that city first responders will prioritize de-escalation and public safety during federal immigration operations.
"While the federal government hides behind masks, we will be transparent," she said. "This order directs city departments to release surveillance and body-worn camera footage of violence or property damage by federal agents, in accordance with state law. 
"This order also doubles down on our dedication to use city resources to keep our residents safe."
Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey introduced legislation aimed at limiting ICE activity in sensitive locations, including courthouses, schools, child care programs, hospitals, and churches.
PORTLAND MAYOR DEMANDS ICE LEAVE CITY AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS USE TEAR GAS ON PROTESTERS 'SICKENING DECISIONS'
The proposal would also bar other states from deploying National Guard troops in Massachusetts without the governor’s approval and allow parents to pre-arrange guardianship for their children if they are detained or deported.
Like a recent executive order issued by Healey, Wu’s proposal would bar federal immigration agents from using city buildings, parking lots, and parks for enforcement operations, and makes clear that schools, libraries, community centers, and senior centers are intended for learning, gathering and public …

Man who showed up at OMB Director Russell Vought’s home charged with attempted murder
Ask who never gets charged.

A young Maryland man who appeared at the northern Virginia home of White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought last year has been charged with attempted murder.

The Arlington County Police Department announced the news on Thursday following a monthslong criminal investigation that remains active.

Colin Demarco, 26, is also charged with criminal solicitation to commit murder, carrying a concealed weapon, and wearing a mask in public to conceal his identity. Arlington County police arrested the suspect on Jan. 22 after he was extradited from Maryland to Virginia, as he is reportedly accused of plotting to murder Vought.

“We are grateful for the work of law enforcement in keeping Director Vought and his family safe,” an OMB spokesperson told NBC News.

Demarco was seen in Ring doorbell footage outside the front door of Vought’s home on Aug. 10. Police were dispatched to the White House official’s address that afternoon after a witness reported a suspicious person.

He allegedly wrote a manifesto detailing his plan to kill Vought, which included disposing of the body. He wore gloves, sunglasses, a surgical mask, and a backpack at the time.

Arlington County police said officers “recovered digital evidence that the suspect had obtained directions to the victim’s residence, had information detailing locations of firearms possessed by a relative, and had a guide detailing tips to prevent criminal detection.”

The authorities also said Demarco posted about Vought and engaged in “online discussions appearing to solicit others to murder the victim.” He then showed up at the intended victim’s home within days of the messages.

Months later, police obtained the criminal warrants to arrest the suspect at his residence.

Demarco told federal agents that President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election was the “lowest point in his life” and that the Trump administration would lead to a “fascist takeover,” according to a criminal complaint.

FBI ANNOUNCES $50,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO NANCY GUTHRIE’S RECOVERY: ‘WE’RE STILL LOOKING’

Vought was a key author of Project 2025, a policy blueprint developed by the Heritage Foundation that outlined conservative policies in the event that Trump won the election. The road map is seen as controversial by left-wing critics and Democratic lawmakers.

Demarco, who is being held without bond at an Arlington County prison, is scheduled to appear at a preliminary court hearing on …

In what ways do we see Trump's administration impacting the future 10+ years from now?
We're watching the same failure loop.

His current term has resulted in the erasure/destabilisation of institutions, an increase in international conflict, and so much more, to put it broadly. How do you think the short-term effects of Trump's presidency compare to the long-term consequences? How long will it take to reverse these effects? Do we already see long-term consequences today?

Aled Richards-Jones: A financial asteroid is about to hit Wandsworth Council
Confidence requires clarity.

Cllr Aled Richards-Jones is the Leader of the Conservative Group on Wandsworth Council.

Local government has its various traditions and procedures, which exist for a reason: to ensure transparency, accountability and proper scrutiny of decisions that affect residents’ lives.

Traditionally, the February ‘Special’ Meeting of Wandsworth Council has two agenda items: rent setting for council housing, and the general budget. But this month, Wandsworth Labour made the extraordinary decision to include only the first agenda item and block any discussion on the budget.

You might ask why.

Shortly before Christmas, when attention was more focused on mince pies than municipal finances, the Government published its Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for the next three years.

It immediately confirmed the worst fears of those of us who warned that a Labour Government would punitively rewrite the local government grant formula to transfer more money to their ideological heartlands.

In short, the settlement is a catastrophe for Wandsworth.

The Government is slashing Wandsworth’s funding by 39 per cent

Wandsworth Council faces an annual loss in funding of £85m a year by 2029/30 – roughly 39 per cent of its core spending power.

Worse still, that merely compounds Labour’s local financial mismanagement: the Council’s finances already have a budget gap of £51m a year by that same period – a cumulative £136m a year deficit. On top of that, the Administration is borrowing on its way into a financial crisis: planning to borrow £1.1 billion (at a cost over 50 years of nearly £2.5 billion) is reckless, particularly in these circumstances.

To compensate for the loss of funding, the Government expects the Council to increase council tax by at least 86 per cent.

Cynically, the Government’s model assumes that the punitive increases will start only after May’s local elections. The Government assumes only a five per cent increase this year, rising to 40 per cent in 2027/27, 77 per cent 2028/29, and 86 per cent in 2029/30.

The Council’s total useable reserves (all inherited from the previous Conservative Administration) stand at £166m – not enough to get through more than a year of this. The piggy bank will be smashed, the money will be gone and a decision on catastrophic tax hikes, public service cuts, or both, will need to be taken within the two-year window the Government has conveniently provided.

Labour knows that tax hikes will prove hugely unpopular. That’s why Labour ministers have granted Wandsworth a two-year exemption from the long-standing requirement councils have to hold referenda on council tax increases over five per cent.

It’s only right that councillors of all political persuasions should want to discuss such a dire state of affairs. But …

New appropriations legislation halts US dues payment to World Anti-Doping Agency
This is performative politics again.

President Donald Trump signed an appropriations bill on Tuesday that prevented a partial government shutdown. After weeks of concern over the potential stoppage, the new legislation, signed by the president, funds over 90% of government agencies and departments for fiscal 2026, the Washington Examiner previously reported. Yet a little-known stipulation in the appropriations bill called for the U.S. to halt payment of its annual dues to the World Anti-Doping Agency due to suspected Chinese influence over the organization.

The legislation passed on Tuesday mandated that U.S. plans to pay WADA, the world’s preeminent anti-doping organization, were contingent upon the agreement of an audit of the agency “to be conducted by external anti-doping experts and experienced independent auditors,” according to ESPN. It also required WADA and its leadership to demonstrate that the agency is “operating consistent with their duties.”

The legislative stipulation comes after months of warnings that the U.S. would withhold its annual payment to WADA unless changes were made. The U.S. pays $3.6 million annually to WADA.

Tension between the U.S. and WADA stems from a 2021 incident involving Chinese swimmers who failed performance-enhancing drug tests but were never reprimanded or held accountable, ESPN reported. Chinese officials blamed the tainted test results on chemically altered food the athletes had consumed at the time. WADA allegedly never reported “the incident publicly or to its own executive board.”

WADA’s President, Witold Banka, rejected U.S. calls for an independent audit and investigation, claiming the agency has its own audit organizations and their work was sufficient.

“I don’t know any other international organization with such strong auditing mechanisms, so I think there are no obstacles for our friends from the U.S. to fulfill their duties and pay the contributions,” Banka said during a press conference at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

“I think it fulfills the expectations or the wishes from the U.S. side, and the most important thing, in principle, the contribution is not conditional,” he added. “That is the thing which is extremely important for us.”

VANCE SAYS OLYMPICS IS ONE OF FEW THINGS THAT ‘UNITES’ THE COUNTRY

However, the U.S. insists on an audit. Sara Carter, U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy director, said in a statement to the Associated Press that an audit would be required for the U.S. to submit its dues. She added that …

Sarah Ingham: America has called time on Europe’s defence and we’d better get used to it
This feels like a quiet policy shift.

Dr Sarah Ingham is the author of The Military Covenant: its impact on civil-military relations in Britain.

“You’re in no position to dictate… You don’t have the cards.”

With a startling lack of diplomacy, almost a year ago in the Oval Office  President Trump spelt out some brutal realities to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. But the US Commander-in-Chief could just as well have been talking to Europe’s leaders.

The Ukrainian President was seeking American guarantees in connection with his country’s future. He wanted a bespoke version of Washington’s sword and shield which have been integral to the defence of NATO members and the rest of Europe since the late 1940s.

Trump’s America, however, has called time on Europe’s freeloading off its taxpayers and its mighty military.

The first year of the President’s second term was punctuated by uncomfortable reminders that the US has lost patience. They include Vice-President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference.  He was clear: “It is important in the coming years for Europe to step up in a big way to provide for its own defence.”

Across Europe’s capitals, it took a while for the penny, euro and krona to drop that the Trump administration wasn’t joking.

Keeping this country safe, as the Prime Minister reminded us at Wednesday’s PMQs, is the first duty of government. If so, there has been a dereliction of that duty, reflected by the eagerness to splurge the post-Cold War peace dividend on voter-pleasing welfare.  The defence of Europe, including this country, was outsourced to the United States.

Even with war on its doorstep following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago, dozy Europe was slow to awaken to the threat. It has needed the Trump administration to drive home the message about the importance of defence investment.

Finally, the continent is starting to step up.

This can be seen in Germany’s Zeitenwende  which will see defence spending rise this year to €108bn (compared to €34.2bn in 2016), Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO and the warning by France’s military chief General Fabien Mandon that the country must be prepared to “lose its children”.

Most significant is the commitment chiselled out of NATO-member leaders by President Trump last June, which pledged an increase in defence-related spending to an annual 5% GDP by 2035. Europe wants some cards.

Suffering defence-related FOMO (fear of missing out),  the EU has conjured up SAFE, the Security Action for Europe.  It is essentially a €150bn EU-guaranteed piggy bank “to speed up defence readiness by allowing urgent and major investments in support of the European defence industry.” SAFE also attempts to streamline defence procurement within the bloc by reducing duplication.

Aimed at member states, EU …

Tolga Inanc: The entire saga of the Chagos deal shows the naivety at the heart of Starmer’s government
Every delay has consequences.

Tolga Inanc is Co-Chair, of the Conservative Friends of Turkey.

Starmer’s Chagos deal has been delayed in Parliament following backlash from President Trump. While the UK government’s position remains unchanged, the deal’s fate hangs in the balance.

Chagos is rarely an issue for most of the public.

An archipelago in the Indian Ocean 5,800 miles away, it has been controlled by Britain since 1814. Despite being one of the most remote places on Earth, it houses Diego Garcia – a top-secret US military base vital to UK defence, intelligence, and security.

The agreement to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius while leasing Diego Garcia back for 99 years offers a fascinating insight into Starmer’s worldview. However laudable his intentions, the deal and its justification reveal an extreme naivety at the heart of our government.

Starmer’s first justification is international law. Labour ministers claim the Diego Garcia base was threatened by court decisions challenging UK sovereignty. Yet the legal ruling they cite is non-binding and advisory. On 25 February 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an Advisory Opinion disputing Chagos’s separation from Mauritius in 1965. This opinion was requested by the UN General Assembly in 2017. Starmer must know the ICJ’s advisory function was never intended to settle disputes between states.

Furthermore, he has forgotten his history. Mauritius agreed to the separation of the Chagos Islands in 1965 and reaffirmed this during its 1968 independence. Britain made a binding commitment to cede sovereignty only when the islands were no longer needed for “defence purposes.” Mauritius respected this until the 1980s, when it began demanding a sovereignty transfer. Britain, meanwhile, has stood by the 1965 agreement.

Starmer also cites national security, claiming the deal protects Diego Garcia from ‘malign influence’. It is unclear how surrendering sovereignty 5,800 miles away and leasing back a site housing top-secret assets increases security. The best guarantor of security is the status quo, where Britain maintains sovereignty for defence. Sovereignty should only pass when that defensive need ends – as it did with the Seychelles in the 1960s.

That moment has not yet come, especially as great powers jostle for leverage, best gained through assets in key locations. With 40 per cent of global trade passing through the Indian Ocean, British sovereignty is vital to its strategic advantage and prosperity. Ceding control is an unforced error in an age of geo-economic competition.

As hostile states target democracies, this deal sets a dangerous precedent for British Overseas Territories and Sovereign Bases such as the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar or Akrotiri. Having worked in the Civil Service on hostile states and …