Top Arizona election official eyes bid for border congressional seat after House Democrat dies
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, may run for late Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s seat in Congress after Grijalva died last week. The decision could lead to a major shakeup in the state’s politics. It’s a seat Grijalva, a Democrat, had held since 2003 until his lung cancer-related death earlier this month at 77. “I have long admired Congressman Grijalva. We should all be grateful for his years of service,” Fontes said in a statement Tuesday. DEMOCRATIC REP. RAUL GRIJALVA DEAD AT 77 “I am strongly considering a run to represent AZ-07, a place where I was born and raised, served my country in the Marine Corps, and protected democracy. I will have more to say in the days ahead. “Right now, we must remember and appreciate the life and legacy of the late Congressman Grijalva.” As part of the state’s “resign to run” law, Fontes would need to leave his role, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would need to appoint his replacement. The next regular election for the Secretary of State’s office is in 2026. When the governor leaves the state, the secretary of state becomes the acting governor. If the governor steps down, the secretary of state ascends to governor. This most notably happened when former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to serve as the Homeland Security Secretary for the Obama administration, which resulted in Republican Jan Brewer taking over. An office of the lieutenant governor will be created in 2027, which will make the lieutenant governor next in line for governor. BORDER STATE LAWMAKER REVEALS WHAT ‘DRASTIC’ CHANGES CAN BE SOLIDIFIED WITH MAJOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION The move is a public pivot away from prior reports that Fontes was mulling a primary bid against Hobbs in the 2026 election, which is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the country. Grijalva’s daughter, Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, said she may also dive into the race but is waiting until after her father’s funeral before announcing a decision. SOUTHERN BORDER STATE GOVERNOR TAKES ON CARTELS AND SECURITY WITH SIGNING OF EXECUTIVE ORDER “Many have asked me if I would consider running to continue my father’s legacy. In between tears and hugs, my family and I are processing our profound loss as well as that of our community, state, and nation,” she said in a statement. The special primary election for the seat will be July 15, and the general election will be Sept. 23. Grijalva won the November election with over 63% of the vote. As for other Democratic candidates in the field, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and state Rep. Alma Hernandez opted not to run in the special election. Geographically, the vast majority of the district falls along Arizona’s southern border, which has become a national flash point in recent years due to the migrant and drug crisis.
Trump admin guts Institute of Peace of ‘rogue bureaucrats’ after DOGE standoff in government office
The Trump administration gutted the Institute of Peace of “rogue bureaucrats” who held a tense standoff with a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team Monday that required police intervention, according to the White House. “Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.” The Institute of Peace is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February regarding reducing the “scope of federal bureaucracy,” which included specifically targeting the size of the Institute of Peace, as well as other government programs, such as the U.S. African Development Foundation and the Inter-American Foundation. That executive order followed one on Jan. 20 that established DOGE and directed agency leaders to establish their own DOGE teams within their respective agencies as part of the administration’s work to slim down the federal government. WHITE HOUSE UNLEASHES ON ‘ROGUE BUREAUCRATS’ AFTER AGENCY HEAD REFUSES DOGE ENTRY TO HEADQUARTERS The Institute of Peace, however, did not comply with the February executive order to reduce its size to the statutory minimum, leading to the Trump administration to fire 11 of its 14 board members last week, Fox Digital learned. “President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum,” Kelly said. “After noncompliance, 11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president.” The remaining board members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin, who on Friday fired acting president and CEO of the institute, George Moose. THE UNELECTED POWER IS THE ROGUE BUREAUCRACY, STEPHEN MILLER SAYS Moose is a Clinton-era diplomat who served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The board replaced Moose with Kenneth Jackson, a State Department official, as acting president. Jackson attempted to enter the Institute of Peace’s building in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, but was denied access by employees of the institute, an administration official told Fox News Digital. The standoff hit a fever pitch Monday when Jackson and the DOGE team attempted again to gain entry to the building, while Moose, who already had been fired, accused them of breaking into the building and vowed to file a lawsuit. An administration official told Fox Digital that Moose “basically barricaded himself” in his former office after he was fired. “Our statute is very clear about the status of this building and this institute,” Moose told reporters Monday, according to the New York Times. “So what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.” Jackson and the DOGE team held conversations with local police Monday, Fox Digital learned, as they worked to gain entry to the building. The Metropolitan Police Department reported that they received a call from the United States Attorney’s Office at about 4 p.m. that day regarding an ongoing incident at the institute, and reported to the scene. “MPD members met with the acting USIP President, and he provided the MPD members with documentation that he was the acting USIP President, with all powers delegated by the USIP Board of Directors to that role,” the police department said in a news release of Monday’s incident. “The acting USIP President advised MPD members that there were unauthorized individuals inside of the building that were refusing to leave and refusing to provide him access to the facility.” TRUMP ORDERS THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED, ‘PROPAGANDA’-PEDDLING MEDIA OUTLET “MPD members went to the USIP building and contacted an individual who allowed MPD members inside of the building,” the release stated. “Once inside of the building, the acting USIP President requested that all the unauthorized individuals inside of the building leave.” Jackson was able to enter the building upon police intervention. Moose left the building without incident and no arrests were made, police said. “Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board) @DCPoliceDept arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s private security team when said security team went to give access to Mr. Jackson,” DOGE’s X account said of the incident Monday. MUSK AND DOGE HAVE ANOTHER PERFECT TARGET: MORE TAXPAYER-FUNDED, ANTI-AMERICAN MEDIA An administration official told Fox Digital that the incident is a prime example of “rogue bureaucrats who have been (in government) for years and decades, who want to basically continue to dole out tax dollars unilaterally, with no oversight.” The Institute of Peace filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday in the D.C. District Court, calling for “the immediate intervention of this Court to stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Wednesday’s news conference that staffers physically barricaded themselves in the building. “There was a concerted effort amongst the rogue bureaucrats at the United States Institute of Peace to actually physically barricade themselves essentially inside of the building to prevent political appointees of this administration who work at the direction of the president of the United States to get into the building,” she said. “They barricaded the doors. They also disabled telephone lines, internet connections and other IT infrastructure within the building. They distributed fliers internally, encouraging each other to basically prevent these individuals from accessing the building,” Leavitt continued. “It’s a resistance from bureaucrats who don’t want to see change in this city. President Trump was elected on an overwhelming mandate to seek change and implement change.
Prince Harry’s immigration docs paint ‘clear picture’ into how he was allowed into US: report
Documents related to Prince Harry’s immigration record were released Tuesday and paint a “clear picture” of how the British royal was allowed to move to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released court declarations from agents in the immigration case of Prince Harry, while a closed-door hearing transcript of a lawsuit filed by the Heritage Foundation into the royal’s immigration case was also released, with one expert claiming the British royal likely lied on his application despite the documents being heavily redacted. “The key information may be at State,” Heritage Foundation lawyer Samuel Dewey said in a report in the New York Post on the new documents, noting the heavy mentions of the State Department in the documents that point “pretty clear picture” of how Harry was able to navigate the U.S. immigration process. While Harry’s immigration records were not released and the documents were heavily redacted, Dewey believes there are plenty of hints in what was released in federal court Tuesday after a deadline set by Judge Carl Nichols. MEGHAN MARKLE BLAMED BY PRINCE HARRY’S PALS FOR MAKING HIM ‘TOO WOKE’ BEFORE ROYAL EXIT: AUTHOR Dewey told the New York Post that the documents point to the possibility that Harry lied and failed to divulge his history of drug use on what was likely a 0-1 visa application, which are typically filed with the State Department for people “of exceptional talent or ability.” The Heritage Foundation lawyer argued that if Harry had admitted to taking drugs, the information would have gone into a DS-160 file and been sent to DHS in its entirety, but would not have ended up with DHS if he was dishonest about his prior drug use. Dewey believes that the documents are proof that the State Department and DHS were still withholding information from Heritage and the court, noting an excerpt from the closed-door hearing that was released Tuesday. “While I have some of the ‘true set of facts’ right now, I don’t have all of them,” Judge Nichols said at the April 30, 2024, hearing. “And I well understand that some of this information that we’ve been talking about today is not at DHS.” MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY SLAMMED BY JUSTINE BATEMAN FOR THEIR ‘AGGRESSIVE VICTIM OLYMPICS CAMPAIGN’ The judge would make a second reference to Harry’s case being split between DHS and State, noting at one point that “all of the relevant information was at DHS” and that if the case “didn’t have State off to the side,” it would be easier “to weigh the public’s interest in knowing that against the privacy concerns.” The Heritage Foundation initially made a Freedom of Information Act request for Harry’s immigration records in 2023, arguing that the British royal may have received special treatment when allowed to move to the U.S. in 2020. The case arose after Harry admitted to his prior drug use in his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” calling into question his honesty on his immigration paperwork a few years prior. “Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time,” Harry wrote in the book, referencing a time when he was 17 years old and sought to “feel different.” “At someone’s house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more,” he continued. Noting the admission, the Heritage Foundation has argued that it is in the public’s interest to see the immigration records to determine whether the British royal was honest or received preferential treatment on his 2020 visa application. “Time for Prince Harry to go home. Every partial answer raises three new questions. We now believe he has committed a felony by lying on an 0-1 visa and on form DS-160,” Mike Howell, Oversight Project executive director at the Heritage Foundation, told the New York Post. “The Garland Justice Department and Prince Harry conspired to hide the truth and waste a massive amount of public resources to defend someone who hates their own country and is hell-bent on tearing down this one too,” he added. “Prince Harry should self-deport now. He can use his Royal status to drink at the Netflix liberal grift machine and bash the results of the 2024 Presidential Election back in the UK on their taxpayer dime.”
Trump administration drops challenge to Texas law targeting people who illegally cross the border
Senate Bill 4, the Texas law that makes illegally crossing the border a state crime, will continue to be challenged by two immigrant rights groups and El Paso County.
Trump admin planning to consolidate HIV programs, slashing ‘overhead’ and DEI: official
The Trump administration is planning to make cost-saving cuts by merging two similar HIV/AIDS prevention programs run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an administration official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. The cuts will pertain to administrative costs and DEI-related spending. The tentative proposal, which is still “a concept of a plan,” is to merge them into one program under HRSA to streamline efficiency – in line with the administration’s downsizing of federal government agenda – as having two separate programs doing similar functions doesn’t make sense, the official said. “One of those things is still very preliminary, but obviously, you don’t need two $1 billion budgets for this, with $1 billion going to the CDC and $1 billion going to HRSA,” the official said. “Some of that will go toward paying the administrative overhead costs and that sort of thing.” Both the CDC and HRSA are part of the Department of Health and Human Services, overseen by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HOSPITALS WARNED THEY MUST PROTECT CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION: HHS AGENCY MEMO “If this goes through, that will be more definitive… like with examining DEI spending with these two programs,” the official said. The Trump administration has already moved to slash federal funding of DEI programs and initiatives in one of his early executive actions titled, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.” While the CDC has a department dedicated to the prevention of HIV and other infectious diseases, HRSA also runs a program called the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP), which provides medical care for low-income people with HIV. During his first term, in 2019, Trump launched the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, with the aim of reducing cases of HIV by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030. The initiative is operated by the CDC. TRANS AIR FORCE SERGEANTS TAKE TRUMP ADMIN TO COURT, SAY IT’S ‘NOT POSSIBLE’ TO SERVE AS WOMEN The proposal, which is still being worked on this week, comes amid big government shake-ups across several federal sectors at the direction of Trump and the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with thousands of workers let go in mass firings in recent weeks.
Reporter’s Notebook: Voting from home
Woody Allen famously decreed that 90% of success in life is just showing up. With that in mind, should the House of Representatives allow members of Congress to vote from home? How about with very particular criteria? Oh, you may say, didn’t they try that a few years ago during the pandemic? Lawmakers would literally phone in their votes to a proxy member on the floor. That member in Washington, D.C., would then rifle through a set of index cards, announcing how a member was either in favor or opposed to a given bill, amendment, resolution or motion. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY: QUARRELING NYC NEIGHBORS A COUNTRY MILE APART ON TRUMP-ERA POLICY That constituted voting in the House during the darkest days of the pandemic. Social distancing spurred proxy voting in the House. It was probably not the best idea to squeeze 435 people into the House at the same time when COVID-19 raged in 2020. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and former Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, tested positive in mid-March, 2020. McAdams was hospitalized for more than a week after experiencing shortness of breath. It took a while, but the House eventually adopted remote voting. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., initially had reservations about the practice, but as the pandemic intensified, proponents argued that flying scores of lawmakers from all around the country into Washington and back to their districts wasn’t feasible or maybe safe. So the House implemented proxy voting. DEMOCRATS LAUNCH BILLBOARDS TARGETING HOUSE REPUBLICANS AMID TOWN HALL SHOWDOWNS “People have to choose between their health and their vote. That shouldn’t be the case,” Pelosi said in 2020. “We should always be removing obstacles of participation to vote.” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., represents a district just across the Potomic River in Northern Virginia. That means Beyer was always near Capitol Hill. Beyer served as one of the most reliable surrogates for colleagues to cast votes through him on the floor and would frequently come to the floor toward the end of the roll call vote and read off a flurry of names. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., decried the practice. “For more than 231 years, never have we seen a proxy on the floor of the House,” said McCarthy. Democrats pointed to health and safety. Many Republicans in turn pointed to the Constitution. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution, which says that “a Majority of each (chamber) shall constitute a Quorum to do business.” The GOP asserted that anything the House was doing – under proxy voting and Democratic control – was unconstitutional. Members had to be there in person. Yet many Republicans eventually began engaging in the practice – even while some spoke out against remote voting. Fast-forward to the present. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., gave birth to a son during the summer of 2023. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., gave birth to a son in January. Pettersen was just the 13th woman ever to give birth while in office. But, becoming a new mom doesn’t always comport with the intense schedule mandated for Members of Congress. Traveling to and from Washington, D.C., lawmakers are routinely expected to be in three places at once: meeting with constituents, voting on the floor and perhaps attending a committee hearing. You get the idea. Then there are actual health concerns for new moms. Doctors put some pregnant moms on bedrest. “Congress needs to be more accessible to regular people,” said Pettersen. “I wasn’t actually able to fly from Colorado to DC to vote a few weeks before giving birth because of the medical restrictions.” Luna had a similar experience. HOUSE DEMS UNDERCUT JEFFRIES ON SCHUMER’S LEADERSHIP AS LEFT’S MESSAGING WOES PERSIST “I was trying to figure out what the process was for Members who are about to give birth. And to my disappointment, I was surprised. I was told that I could not vote,” said Luna. “This place is completely out of touch with average day Americans.” So, Luna teamed with Pettersen to draft a resolution allowing expectant mothers, those who have just given birth and even spouses of new mothers, a three-month window under which to vote remotely. “It is the first step forward in the right direction to not just give mothers a seat at the table, but also to encourage people to have families,” said Luna. “It’s pretty much hard to get anywhere after eight months.” There’s a cumbersome parliamentary maneuver that disgruntled House Members can use to try an end-run around leadership if the speaker isn’t keen to put their pet issue on the floor. It’s called a “discharge petition.” A discharge petition requires a solid 218 signatures – regardless of the body’s membership at that moment – to force the House to consider your issue. Discharge petitions are rarely successful. In 2002, the House successfully adopted a discharge petition for the landmark “McCain-Feingold” campaign finance law. Another discharge petition wasn’t successful until there was a bipartisan plan to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank in 2015. But discharge petitions got a boost recently. The House adopted two last year alone. One was a package on natural disaster tax relief. Members also advanced a discharge petition to curb the reduction of Social Security payments to senior citizens. But over the past quarter-century, only four discharge petitions collected the requisite signatures to compel House action. The remote voting discharge petition by Luna and Pettersen collected enough signatures last week. That will trigger the House to consider the plan on proxy voting for moms and parents – unless House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can convince the sponsors to dial things back. Johnson opposes remote voting. “I’m afraid the whole thing is unconstitutional. “So I’ve tried to discuss this with Anna, and she’s pretty stubborn about it,” said Johnson. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., is the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee. He argued that the GOP backlash to proxy voting “was insane” during the pandemic, but then McGovern called out Johnson. “Speaker Johnson voted remotely 39 times,” said
JD Vance recalls his wife texting him under table at Silicon Valley dinner: ‘These people are f—ing crazy’
Vice President JD Vance recalled the eyebrow-raising view expressed to him by a tech CEO during a Silicon Valley dinner years ago and noted that his wife Usha texted him under the table during the event. Vance noted that he was discussing his concern that the nation was “heading in a direction where America could no longer support middle-class families working on middle-class wages,” and that even if there were sufficient “economic dynamism to provide the wealth to ensure” individuals were able to afford to purchase a home and food, and the monetary aspect of work were replaced, the purpose and dignity of work would be destroyed. The vice president, who noted that this event had probably been in 2016 or 2017, recounted that a tech CEO at the event noted that he was not concerned about a lack of purpose when individuals lose their jobs. VANCE KNOCKS GLOBALIZATION’S ‘CHEAP LABOR’ AND LAUDS ‘AMERICA’S GREAT INDUSTRIAL COMEBACK’ AT AI SUMMIT Vance said that when he asked the CEO what he thought would replace people’s sense of purpose, the CEO’s answer was “digital, fully-immersive gaming.” The vice president added that his wife texted him under the table saying they had to “get the hell outta here. These people are f—ing crazy.” VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE TO PLAY KEY ROLE WITH RNC TO ‘FULLY ENACT MAGA MANDATE,’ GROW GOP MAJORITY IN 2026 Vance told the story while speaking at the American Dynamism Summit on Tuesday. During the remarks, Vance described “cheap labor” as a “crutch that inhibits innovation” and a “drug that too many American firms got addicted to.” JD VANCE SCOLDS CBS FOR ‘HARASSING’ HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW OVER DEI DIFFERENCES ‘IN ORDER TO ATTACK’ TRUMP CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He said the U.S. will not “win the future by ditching child labor laws or paying our workers less than Chinese or Vietnamese laborers. We don’t want that, and it’s not on the table,” he said. Instead, Vance said the nation can win by both protecting workers and supporting innovators.
Chaos erupts at GOP lawmaker’s town hall after left-wing groups promote protests
A House Republican town hall began and ended in chaos Tuesday night as angry protesters jeered for over an hour in a small Midwestern city and accused Republicans of trying to gut critical government programs. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., was the only House GOP lawmaker whose office set up an in-person town hall this week while Congress is in recess – and left-wing groups appear to have seized on the opportunity to disrupt. The event kicked off on a contentious note just minutes after an opening prayer, with the moderator’s first audience question accusing President Donald Trump and Flood of not supporting the “rule of law.” The crowd repeatedly booed any mention of Elon Musk or the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Flood having to stop and plead for calm multiple times. BLUE STATE GOP CHAIR UNLEASHES ON GOVERNOR FOR ‘GRANDSTANDING’ WITH SPECIAL DEMAND OF TRUMP ADMIN At one point protesters could be heard shouting, “Tax the rich.” Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Fleming Kleeb posted on X, showing the number of people heading to Flood’s town hall minutes after it began. She said state Democratic Party operatives “are on site if you need an action handout of things you can do beyond the town hall!” Meanwhile, progressive groups MoveOn and Indivisible advertised a “volunteer-organized event,” titled, “Musk or Us: Demand Mike Flood Fight Back!” The time and place listed matched Flood’s Tuesday night town hall. The event lasted roughly an hour and a half with little reprieve for the congressman as people peppered him with questions and the crowd jeered him during answers. During the open mic portion of the event, a woman noted that Flood’s wife fought breast cancer and said her own sister died of the disease, before telling him, “You decided to capitulate your job of monitoring the funding of places that do research for breast cancer.” “I would like to know how you, personally, stomach that decision,” she asked as the crowd applauded. Flood said he supported medical research funding, and that while he was not aware of any such pause, DOGE was reviewing funds on a case-by-case basis as part of its mission to reduce the national debt. However, even mentioning Musk or DOGE set off the crowd inside Columbus High School’s auditorium, and Flood had to raise his voice and repeat himself several times at points as protesters grew louder. “How can you be against a balanced budget?” an exasperated Flood asked the crowd. After the event, Fox News Digital observed discussions on the message board site Reddit urging people to go protest Flood. One user posted on a Nebraska-focused message board, “I highly implore District 1 residents to make the drive and come out to make your voices heard.” In response to another commenter noting the event was scheduled to last an hour, the same initial user replied, “That’s a whole hour’s worth of booing him and his stupid idea that he’ll get the support of his precious hometown.” In a separate thread about the town hall, another user posted, “S— man isn’t even in my district, but I’m considering going up there.” SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE STICKS SPLASHDOWN LANDING AS NASA ASTRONAUTS RETURN HOME AFTER MONTHS STUCK IN SPACE Flood’s decision to host a town hall in person comes in apparent defiance of House Republican leaders’ guidance to refrain from such face-to-face events, given the intense uptick in protests – both planned and unplanned. The majority of House Republicans have transitioned to holding tele-town halls, which the lawmakers have defended as a more productive and controlled environment. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Several have cited issues of safety for their staff, with mobs at in-person constituent events growing raucous at times. Meanwhile, left-wing groups that had been urging people to protest at GOP town halls are now taking advantage of the change in strategy, and have pushed activists to hold mock town halls with empty chairs representing lawmakers who in some cases were not even invited. Prominent Democrats like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have also seized on the vacuum to hold their own events in Republican districts.
Mahmoud Khalil blames ‘anti-Palestinian racism’ for arrest in first statement since ICE detainment
The Columbia University activist, arrested by federal immigration authorities and facing possible deportation over his alleged support for Hamas, has released a statement from inside the detention facility where he is being held. Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on March 8. In a letter released by his attorneys on Tuesday, Khalil characterized his arrest as “indicative of anti-Palestinian racism.” He also blamed Columbia’s administration, including former university President Minouche Shafik, who was criticized for failing to adequately respond to allegations of antisemitic behavior from activists on campus before she ultimately stepped down. “My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the U.S. has continued to supply Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention,” Khalil wrote. “For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.” ‘SAFER WITHOUT HIM’: COLUMBIA STUDENT CLAIMS CLASSMATE ARRESTED BY ICE ‘HATES AMERICA’ Khalil, who played a major role in the anti-Israel protests at Columbia, is fighting against his deportation in the courts. Not long after he was arrested, a judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting him. In one of the first legal victories for Khalil, a judge on Wednesday ordered his deportation case be heard in New Jersey, not Louisiana, where he is being held. The judge cited a law that required the case be held in the same jurisdiction where Khalil’s attorneys first filed a lawsuit to challenge his detention. The Trump administration previously said there was a bedbug infestation at the detention facility in New Jersey, near Khalil’s arrest, leading them to have to ship him to Louisiana. RUBIO DEFENDS DEPORTATIONS OF HAMAS SUPPORTERS AFTER COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ACTIVIST ARREST “While I await legal decisions that hold the futures of my wife and child in the balance, those who enabled my targeting remain comfortably at Columbia University,” Khalil wrote in his letter. “Presidents Shafik, Armstrong, and Dean Yarhi-Milo laid the groundwork for the U.S. government to target me by arbitrarily disciplining pro-Palestinian students and allowing viral doxing campaigns – based on racism and disinformation – to go unchecked.” Khalil said his arrest was both a direct affront to his First Amendment rights and a broader attempt by the Trump administration to “suppress dissent.” He wrote that “in the weeks ahead” students, activists and elected officials “must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine.” “I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear.”
Chicago police solve only 6% of non-fatal shootings, review finds, as mayor faces mounting criticism
Chicago authorities have made arrests of suspects in only 6% of the Windy City’s 19,000 non-fatal shootings in the past seven years, according to a deep dive conducted by the Chicago Sun-Times. Only 1,200 people have been arrested in connection with shootings since 2018, the paper reported. Neighborhoods on the South Side appeared to have the highest proportion of arrest-less cases, with Pullman and Burnside recording zero arrests for 64 and 38 shootings, respectively. Ashburn, on the West Side, was barely better with five arrests made out of 93 reported incidents. A similar trend was recorded for Roseland, where only 35 of the 584 recorded shootings there saw an arrest made. Only O’Hare – which is generally comprised of the namesake airport – and Edison Park far on the North Side recorded zero total shootings. PROPOSED CHICAGO RESOURCE CUTS COULD LAND CITY IN COURT, OFFICIALS WARN The locales with the highest proportion of arrests were Norwood Park on the North Side at 29% and Beverly on the South Side with 33%. For context, the “Loop” – Chicago’s downtown – saw 16% of its 85 cases solved. One man who was working as a rideshare driver when he was carjacked and shot in 2021 still has not seen police make any arrests, according to published reports. “I get that they’re understaffed, but at the same time, where’s my justice?” said Tom Wagner, who has a scar on his abdomen where he was shot in the gallbladder, liver and colon. Wagner reportedly called police over a 10-month period and got no response, before he was told in February that they were dropping his investigation, according to the Sun-Times. Crime experts told the paper that the lack of arrests may be worsening chronic violence, as criminals face little deterrent against lawless behavior. The paper’s study found that CPD has a smaller proportion of officers working as detectives than in other major cities, with one exception being Philadelphia. Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Brandon Johnson for comment but did not receive a response. DEMOCRAT MAYOR NOT WELCOME AT FUNERAL FOR SLAIN CHICAGO OFFICER Last year, Johnson publicly blamed his recent predecessors – Democrats Lori Lightfoot, Rahm Emanuel and Richard M. Daley, the son of famous Mayor Richard J. Daley. The last Republican to hold the mayor’s office was William Thompson from 1927-1931. “The city was run into the ground and everybody knows that,” Johnson said at the time. “They jacked up the finances, got bad deals, and so now we’re left with the chaos and the mess that was created by other people. But today is a testament that if we continue to work together at every single level of government, it’s going to take all of us and the community to continue to hold these individuals accountable but to make sure we’re making critical investments in the people of Chicago, the homicides and shootings will continue to fall.” Johnson was recently lambasted by Congress over Chicago’s crime wave and allegations his administration doesn’t properly cooperate with ICE. Johnson appeared to deny some allegations from Republicans on the panel in regard to Chicago’s “sanctuary city status.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., cited a reported 6% positive-approval rate for Johnson, saying it “speaks volumes” of how the city is deteriorating crime-wise. Johnson responded that LaHood could help his state’s largest city by supporting “continue[d] invest[ment] in these programs that continue to drive violence down in the city of Chicago.” The Chicago Police Department did not respond to an inquiry about the Sun-Times report. Neither did rumored 2028 Democratic presidential contender Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Pritzker previously rejected some of the labels given to the Windy City over its crime epidemic, claiming at a 2024 rally that Republican-led states are statistically worse: “Although there is a perception by some that violence in Chicago is the worst in any city anywhere, actually if you look at all the data, you’ll see that it’s red states that have the worst violent crimes and murder rates. Not blue states,” he said.