Border & Immigration News
The Daily Signal provides border and immigration news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on policy, enforcement, and political debates.
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Congress Advances Prevention and Education to End Human Trafficking
Congress is putting parties aside to extend the bipartisan protection and prevention of human trafficking in the United States. The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act has been stalled in the House since February 2025. But Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., are now calling for more education to…Virginia Grace McKinnon -
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CBP Makes Massive Meth Seizure at California Border Crossing
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly 1.4 tons of methamphetamine in a routine commercial truck inspection at a California border crossing. The seizure points to a broader trend of transnational criminal networks using legitimate trade infrastructure to smuggle industrial-scale narcotics into the United States. On April 14, CBP officers…Mehek Cooke -
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Double Court Victories for Trump on ICE and ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
The Trump administration scored two legal victories this week in combating illegal immigration. Appeals courts cleared the way for building a Florida immigration detention center that President Donald Trump calls “Alligator Alcatraz” and halted a California law requiring agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to unmask. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday…Fred Lucas -
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The LAX Arrest That Proves Iran’s Threat Is Already Inside America
While Americans are told to think of Iran as a distant threat measured by uranium enrichment, diplomatic statements, and maps half a world away, the arrest of Iranian national Shamim Mafi at Los Angeles International Airport shattered that fiction on April 18. According to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, Mafi, a lawful permanent resident living in Woodland…Mehek Cooke -
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American Immigration Policy Could Learn From Modern Italy, Ancient Rome, and Plato
New winds are shaping conversations about citizenship in the U.S. and Europe. As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the Trump administration’s constitutional argument for tighter birthright citizenship, Italy’s Constitutional Court has already signed off on a law raising the bar for would-be citizens. Italy’s rationale is instructive for the U.S., whose prow seems pointed toward…Michael T. Hamilton -
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New York Refuses ICE Detainer for Illegal Alien Accused of Killing 4 in Arson
New York is so committed to nullifying immigration law that it refuses to relinquish an alleged arsonist accused of killing four people in New York City. That was reported by the New York Post and Fox News on Thursday. According to those reports, Roman Ceron Amatitla—who is a Mexican national illegally living in the U.S.—is…Jarrett Stepman -
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‘16 Years Is Not Temporary’: Freedom Caucus Members Want TPS Ended for Haitians
Members of the House Freedom Caucus are urging colleagues to oppose extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants ahead of a final House vote Thursday, citing concerns about public safety. Several House Republicans, along with now-independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, joined Democrats in voting to bring a bill to the floor extending TPS for…Pedro Rodriguez -
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‘Look These Mothers in the Eyes’: Families of Victims Killed by Illegal Aliens to Testify Before Congress
Two mothers who lost their sons and another whose daughter remains permanently injured will testify before Congress on Thursday about how these tragedies—each involving illegal aliens—could have been prevented through stricter enforcement of immigration law. This forum could be uncomfortable for House Democrats who oppose enforcing immigration laws, said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., chairman…Fred Lucas -
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EXCLUSIVE: ICE Arrests More Pedophiles, Kidnappers
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday arrested criminal illegal immigrants for crimes including sexual contact with a child, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and sexual assault, and child molestation, The Daily Signal has learned. “Every day, the courageous men and women of ICE risk their lives to arrest criminal aliens to safeguard American communities,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
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Watchdog: Salazar’s Immigration Book Relies on Nonconservative, Center-Left Sources
A book by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar promoting her immigration legislation simply recycles old ideas and relies on some center-left sources, a conservative watchdog group says. The Florida Republican member’s book, “Dignity Not Citizenship: The Truth About Immigration No One Is Telling You,” is an argument for her bill called the DIGNIDAD Act, short for…Fred Lucas -
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Transparency Watch: Atlanta Puts a Hefty Price Tag on Muslim Activists’ Pay Records
THE CENTER SQUARE—In the last year of the Biden administration, millions of dollars flowed from the city of Atlanta to nonprofits so they could aid migrants pouring through U.S. borders. A quarter-million dollars went to a Chicago-based Islamic activist organization that was raising money for Gaza at the time. The Center Square wanted to know what, specifically,…Johnny Edwards -
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‘LAWLESS BEHAVIOR’: Charges Dropped Against Woman Who Allegedly Disrupted Easter Service at Cities Church
Anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters have continued to target an evangelical Christian church in St. Paul, Minnesota, after agitators invaded the church on Jan. 18, and police arrested a protester on Easter Sunday. While the Justice Department has charged 38 people in the Jan. 18 invasion, the church’s attorney claims that state and local authorities…Tyler O’Neil -
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EXCLUSIVE: Chip Roy Urges Feds to Roll Back Obama-Era Ban on Collecting Immigration Data in Schools
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is urging two federal agencies to rescind an Obama-era policy he says has prevented states from collecting basic immigration-status data in public schools. In a letter sent Wednesday to Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Roy argued that a 2011 Department…Pedro Rodriguez -
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EXCLUSIVE: ICE Announces Arrests of Several Violent Criminals and Sex Offenders
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested another round of violent criminals in the country illegally who have been convicted of heinous crimes in the United States. Among those ICE arrested are five men from Mexico or Guatemala, some with sexual crime convictions, including crimes committed against children. Erik Eusevio Cortez-Leyva, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was convicted of…Rebecca Downs -
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Migrant Shelter Corruption Probe Puts NY Politician and Hochul Aide Under Investigation
New York City Council Member Farah Louis and her sister, Debbie Louis, a top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, are under federal investigation for allegedly receiving kickbacks from city contracts awarded to a migrant shelter firm. BHRAGS Home Care Inc. has received over $200 million in taxpayer-funded city contracts since shifting from an…Pedro Rodriguez -
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Lawmakers and Lobbyists Drop the Gloves in Ice Hockey Thriller
Washington, D.C., is used to power plays, but not the kind on display from lawmakers and lobbyists at the 2026 Congressional Hockey Challenge on Thursday night. At the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, a bipartisan team of officials and staff took the ice to face off against some of the districts’ finest lobbyists in their annual hockey game for charity. The lobbyists took home…Virginia Grace McKinnon -
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Federal Appeals Court Holds That DHS Can Detain Illegal Alien Without Bond
Earlier this week, a federal appeals court held that the Department of Homeland Security could detain an illegal alien without bond pending his removal proceedings after he was arrested in Minneapolis in 2025. In journeyman fashion, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the applicable immigration laws as written and applied common sense to reach its decision. That law, 8 U.S.C. § 1225, a nearly three-decade-old statute, requires detention without bond for “an alien who…Cully Stimson -
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‘Precisely the Problem’: Immigration Advocates Want Asylum Hearings Scheduled ‘Years’ Ahead
In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, immigration advocates insist that an asylum case should take “years” to conclude and want “at least a year” to prepare while applicants remain in the United States. The lawyers claim that the administration is unfairly singling out their clients, Somali asylum-seekers, in a “Somali Fast-Track Policy,” giving them…Fred Lucas -
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EXCLUSIVE: Noem Hails ‘Promise We Delivered’ Following 10 Months of No Illegal Alien Border Releases
For the 10th month in a row, no illegal aliens were released into the United States from the border, according to the Department of Homeland Security. “Ten straight months of ZERO illegal aliens released at the border. President Donald Trump promised to secure the Border, and that is a promise we delivered,” outgoing DHS Secretary…Virginia Allen -
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EXCLUSIVE: DHS Reacts to Illegal Alien Allegedly Groping Female Students
Multiple parents in Fairfax County, Virginia, say a man groped their daughters in crowded school hallways. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is asking “Virginia sanctuary politicians” to not allow the alleged perpetrator, who is an illegal alien, back into the community. Israel Christopher Flores-Ortiz is from El Salvador. He illegally entered the United States…Virginia Allen