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A federal prosecutor acknowledged Thursday that the decision to charge Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia two years after a routine traffic stop was “extraordinary,” while defending the human smuggling case as legally justified.

Abrego Garcia, 31, has become a flashpoint in the national immigration debate since last March, when he was deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order in what Trump administration officials acknowledged was an “administrative error.” 

The Supreme Court later ruled that the administration had to work to bring him back to the U.S.

After returning in June, Abrego Garcia was taken into federal custody in Nashville and detained on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.

He has pleaded not guilty and is seeking dismissal of the charges on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution.

A 2019 court order prevents Abrego Garcia from being deported to El Salvador after an immigration judge determined he faced danger from a gang that had threatened his family. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager and has been under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Abrego Garcia was accused in court records of repeated domestic violence against his wife, who alleged multiple incidents of physical abuse in protective order filings. She later withdrew the protective order request and has defended her husband publicly. 

The Department of Homeland Security has also said he was living in the U.S. illegally and has alleged ties to MS-13, disputing portrayals of him as simply a “Maryland man.” His attorneys have denied the gang allegations.

Tennessee Highway Patrol body camera footage from when Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding shows a calm exchange with officers. While officers discussed suspicions of smuggling among themselves — noting there were nine passengers in the vehicle — Abrego Garcia was issued only a warning.

TENNESSEE BODYCAM OF ‘MARYLAND MAN’ TRAFFIC STOP SHOWS TROOPERS’ HANDS TIED DESPITE SMUGGLING CLUES

First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire, who was acting U.S. attorney in April 2025, testified Thursday that his decision to charge Abrego Garcia was based on the evidence.

“I had previously prosecuted several human smuggling cases,” McGuire said, noting that after seeing video of the traffic stop, “I was immediately struck by how similar what was being depicted in the body cam was to those investigations.”

McGuire said Abrego Garcia’s vehicle belonged to someone with “a human smuggling background” and added that the route was “suspicious.”

“It was a large number of individuals traveling in one SUV with a driver who spoke for the group. No one had luggage… the car had Texas plates… the route was suspicious,” McGuire said.

DEM JUDGE IN HOT SEAT AFTER DHS EXPOSES ‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL’ OF ACTIVISM, SHELTERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

During cross-examination, McGuire acknowledged that the timing of the charges, coming so long after the traffic stop, was “extraordinary.”

He said he had not previously been aware of the traffic stop but reiterated that nobody in the Trump administration, including the White House or the Department of Justice, pressured him to seek the indictment.

When asked about whether he might have felt pressure to prosecute the case, McGuire said, “I’m not going to do something that is wrong to keep my job.”

DHS OFFICIAL RIPS KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA FOR ‘MAKING TIKTOKS’ WHILE AGENCY FACES GAG ORDER

McGuire also said timing factored into charging Abrego Garcia since he was being held in El Salvador and he did not want the indictment to go public before all senior officials were briefed on the matter.

“I knew from the get-go that this was going to be a controversial matter,” McGuire said.

U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw did not make a ruling Thursday and said he would wait to receive post-hearing briefs from attorneys by March 5 before determining whether another hearing is necessary.

Crenshaw previously found some evidence that the prosecution “may be vindictive” and that prior statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.”

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Thursday’s court appearance came after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from re-arresting Abrego Garcia into federal immigration custody on Feb. 17.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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State of the Union speeches are all about aspirations. It doesn’t matter if you’re Reagan. Clinton, Obama, the Bush tandem or Trump. Aspirations are the quintessence of State of the Union speeches. What presidents aspire to do. And what a president wants Congress to do.

All of this flows toward the ultimate of political aspirations: winning elections. Be it the next presidential election. Or, House and Senate seats during the midterms.

There were two big asks — and one admonition — from President Donald Trump this week. He wants Congress to approve the SAVE Act, requiring proof of citizenship for people to vote. He wants lawmakers to pass a stock trading ban, handcuffing Congress from dealing in stocks. And the President doesn’t want Congress to meddle in tariff policy. 

President Trump touted his new tariffs, arguing that they will eventually replace the nation’s income tax. This commander-in-chief has wielded executive power more broadly than any other president. So he instructed lawmakers to trade in their tariff authority.

“Congressional action will not be necessary,” Trump said of his new tariffs.

The Constitution blesses Congress with the power to impose tariffs. The Supreme Court upheld that power last week. But President Trump went ahead and slapped another set of tariffs on all nations, leaning on a different law.

Like most presidents, Trump wants to control legislation. That includes precluding Congress from tampering with his tariffs. However, a number of Republicans have their own aspirations: getting re-elected. That’s why some House Republicans, who believe their districts are getting hammered by tariffs, would like to reclaim that power. Or, at the very least, be on the record opposing the president.

The House voted a few weeks ago to extinguish a special rule House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others put in place to block members from unwinding the tariffs for a year. Then the House adopted a plan to undo tariffs with Canada.

TRUMP’S PUSH TO ‘KNOCK OUT’ FILIBUSTER GAINS NEW GOP TRACTION AS FUNDING DEADLINE NEARS

But again, these are aspirations of some Republicans fed up with tariffs. The bulk of Republicans are okay with keeping them in place. And that’s exactly what Trump wants – regardless of what the Supreme Court decided.

Let’s go back to Trump’s two major legislative asks in his speech. The SAVE Act is the one he really wants to be passed. This fits nicely with Trump’s narrative about illegal immigration, his claim that former President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election and voter fraud.

“They want to cheat. They have cheated. And their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat,” said the President of Democrats during his speech. “Cheating is rampant.”

TRUMP UNDERCUTS GOP PUSH TO ATTACH SAVE ACT TO SHUTDOWN BILL AS CONSERVATIVES THREATEN MUTINY

A study examining election fraud by the conservative Heritage Foundation, discovered that examples of election fraud are minuscule. For instance, Pennsylvania, a swing state, has only unearthed 39 instances of voting fraud over the past three decades.

The House already approved the SAVE Act. But the question is the Senate.

“The Senate is working. I think every Republican over there is obviously in favor of the SAVE America Act, and they’re trying to cobble together the votes. It’s a 70% Democrat issue. It’s over 90% in some polls,” said Johnson. “Hopefully, some Democrats will come to their senses. I don’t know how they can go home to their voters and say that they were opposing that when it’s such a popular issue. So we’ll see how it goes.”

See how it goes is right.

It was notable that in his plea for Congressional action on the SAVE Act, Trump did not demand that senators end the filibuster. Fifty GOP senators now support the SAVE Act. But the trick is whether those who endorse the legislation can hit the magic threshold of 60 yeas. That’s the number of votes required to break a filibuster.

Senate Majority leader John Thune, R-S.D., has repeatedly resisted altering the Senate’s filibuster customs and precedents to pass the SAVE Act. The bill will never become law unless the Senate changes things. And Thune reiterated his opposition to undoing the filibuster. 

Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and others have advocated a “talking filibuster.” That means senators must actually speak and hold the floor for hours on end. Otherwise, the Senate must vote. Talking filibuster proponents don’t want senators to silently object from the sidelines. That’s what compels the Senate to take procedural votes needing 60 yeas to overcome a filibuster.

LEAVITT DEMANDS SENATE GOP ‘GET OFF THEIR BUTTS’ AND ABOLISH FILIBUSTER RULE TO ADVANCE TRUMP’S AGENDA

“The talking filibuster issue is one on which there is not a unified Republican conference. And there would have to be (unity) if you go down that path,” said Thune.

He mentioned that the GOP must “keep 50 Republicans unified pretty much on every single vote,” adding that “there isn’t the support for doing that at this point.”

Fox News is also told that there is some friction between House and Senate Republicans. Some Senate Republicans don’t appreciate the House amping up pressure to ditch the filibuster. The right to filibuster is a privilege to which senators of both parties cling tightly.

MARK HALPERIN: TRUMP STRATEGY SUPER SESSION PLOTS MIDTERM SURVIVAL AS HISTORY STALKS GOP

Moreover, subjecting the Senate to lengthy debate could tee up amendment votes which many vulnerable senators may find unsettling. Getting them on the record on a host of controversial issues wouldn’t help the GOP ahead of the election.

So, while it’s Trump’s aspiration to pass the SAVE Act, his aspirations regarding the filibuster are unclear at best.

Then, there’s the aspiration about prohibiting lawmakers from trading stocks. Even Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., stood and applauded when Trump made that entreaty.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION BECOMES POLITICAL BOXING MATCH AS DEMOCRATS BOYCOTT

Johnson said that the House is trying to “move (the bill) as aggressively and as quickly as we can.” But says he’s got to have “the votes for it.”

That’s the reason the House hasn’t addressed the bill yet. It lacks the votes. For now, that is an aspiration. If the bill has the votes, Johnson will deposit the legislation on the floor.

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There’s an old expression that the president “proposes” and Congress “disposes.” It’s certainly possible that even a GOP Congress will do that this year with some of Trump’s legislative wishes.

But that doesn’t handicap presidential aspirations. After all, even presidents can dream.

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Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., called a challenge from President Donald Trump at the 2026 State of the Union “racist” when he asked listeners to stand if they agreed the U.S. should prioritize the safety of its own citizens over illegal aliens.

“If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support,” Trump said.

“The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

Democrats remained seated for over a minute and a half as the Republican side of the chamber burst into prolonged applause.

After the address, Bynum, who is on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s list of vulnerable Dem incumbents, said the moment made her uneasy.

“I think you can agree with the ‘what’ — like standing up for American citizens,” Bynum said. “But I disagree with the ‘how.’”

“There’s thinly veiled racist language, anti-immigrant language in what he was asking, and that was uncomfortable,” Bynum said.

Bynum’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump’s challenge had asked lawmakers to discriminate on the basis of race. 

TRUMP SHAMES DEMOCRATS IN VIRAL STATE OF THE UNION CHALLENGE ON MIGRANT CRIME: ‘FIRST DUTY’

Trump’s remarks to Democrats on Tuesday came as a partial government shutdown drags on over demands Democrats have made to reform the agency at the heart of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Democrats are demanding a set of 10 enforcement reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and won’t vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until Republicans meet their demands.

DHS, which oversees ICE, went into a shutdown on Feb. 14.

DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS INTO WEEK TWO AS IRAN THREAT, SOTU CLASH COMPLICATE HILL TALKS

Among other changes, Democrats are looking for a ban on masks, an end to roaming patrols, visible identification and stiffer warrant requirements for arresting illegal aliens in public.

Republicans have dismissed those demands, arguing that Democrats must first pass legislation to restrict “sanctuary cities” — local communities that have instructed their law enforcement not to cooperate with federal agents on immigration apprehensions and deportations.

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In a press release after the State of the Union, Bynum, who voted against DHS earlier this year, listed Trump’s framing of his immigration crackdown among her many critiques of the address.

“Tonight, I watched President Trump spend the majority of his speech lying about the state of our economy, demonizing immigrants and spewing more of the same divisive BS. I can’t say I’m surprised,” she wrote.

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A Senate Republican warned Thursday that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s primary focus is shedding American blood as U.S.-Iran relations continue to simmer. 

“The Ayatollah not only thinks that I’m going to hell because I don’t agree with his religion — he wants to kill me,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on the Senate floor Thursday.

“He wants to kill Americans and the Israelis and anybody who does not believe in his jihad and drink our blood out of a boot,” Kennedy continued. “And he’s acted on that, and that’s not acceptable.”

Kennedy’s message comes as tensions with Iran are escalating. At the core of the issue is Iran’s capability and Khamenei’s desire to build a nuclear weapon.

President Donald Trump gave the country’s leadership roughly 10 to 15 days to reach a nuclear agreement and warned that the inability to strike a deal could lead to U.S. military action in the region.

He renewed that edict during his State of the Union address earlier this week.

TRUMP’S IRAN ULTIMATUM ENTERS DECISIVE STRETCH AFTER STATE OF THE UNION

“I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror … to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Kennedy cautioned that if the Trump administration were to broker a deal, it would need to have guardrails.

“If we make a deal with Iran, let’s make sure we have a protocol to enforce it, because in my experience in watching the Ayatollah through the years, I wouldn’t trust this man if he was three days dead,” he said.

SEN LINDSEY GRAHAM: IRAN IS FACING A BERLIN WALL MOMENT — HISTORY IS WATCHING US NOW

Meanwhile, lawmakers are wrestling with the exact nature of what a strike could look like and whether Congress should weigh in before Trump makes a decision.

Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., expect that their Iran war powers resolution will hit the Senate floor next week, which would curb Trump’s ability to strike the country without Congress’ approval.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that the most important aspect of the Iran negotiations was “to prevent them from having nuclear capability.”

“But there are also other threats that they represent in the region, and we have a big presence in that region, as you know, so I think they’re looking at and working through what the options might be,” Thune said. “In my view, if you’re going to do something there, you better well make it about getting new leadership and regime change.”

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Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the Democrats’ behavior during the State of the Union address this week “showed us that we cannot give power back to congressional Democrats” in the midterm elections this November. 

Vance, speaking during a visit to a machining factory in Plover, Wisconsin, made the remark before ripping Democrats for not standing up Tuesday in support of Dalilah Coleman, a young child who survived after an illegal immigrant from India allegedly struck the car she was in on a highway in San Bernardino County, California, in June 2024. 

“I want to talk about the stakes coming up in November because it feels like this election in November is very far away. But, if anything, the State of the Union should have showed us that we cannot give power back to congressional Democrats,” Vance said. 

“Now, I am fundamentally an optimist about this country. I believe most people, most human beings, most American citizens, whether they got a D next to their name or an R next to the name or they have no political affiliation, they’re good people. 

“They love our country. They want our country to thrive and prosper. But I got to tell you, after the State of the Union, I’m not so sure that is true of the congressional Democrats that we saw at the State of the Union address.

“For example, you have this beautiful little girl. She had such a sweet moment with her dad. You may have remembered. She was probably 6 years old. She had been assaulted by an illegal immigrant. She had had a very bad, I think, medical prognosis. But it turned out that she was OK. This 6-year-old girl, hurt by a human being who never should have been in this country in the first place, who was led into this country by Joe Biden, the Democrats,” Vance said. 

“And she’s hugging her dad, and she’s so excited. And you can tell, and I think everybody’s heart feels very, you know, you get that warm and fuzzy feeling. And then I look over at the congressional Democrats, and they’re just scowling. They cannot clap their hands for a 6-year-old who survived an attack from an illegal alien. What is that?” the vice president added. 

“What kind of a person can’t stand up and cheer for an innocent young girl who’s doing well, who’s showing the entire country strength and resilience?” 

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The man driving the 18-wheeler that allegedly struck Coleman was identified as Partap Singh, who was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and immigration-related charges. 

“I think when that little girl was standing up hugging and kissing her dad, that those Democrats, there was at least a part of them, the human part and their soul that wanted to stand up and cheer for that little girl. And all of them sat on their hands. And you have to ask yourself, why is that?” Vance also said.

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“And the answer is because they know they don’t answer to you, they answer to somebody else. They answer to people who have corrupted this country,” he concluded. 

“They answer to the people who open the border. They answer the people who got rich off of illegal immigrant labor. We want you guys to get rich off of the labor of American citizens. We want American workers to get rich for working hard, not illegal aliens. 

“And that, to me, is the fundamental difference between congressional leadership and congressional Democrats and the congressional Republicans under the leadership of this president.” 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report. 

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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who skipped President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to attend Democrat counter-programming, hailed a group of frog-clad protesters as “patriots,” crediting them for defeating Trump’s anti-crime efforts in Portland, Oregon.

“Boy, the frogs are rocking this town,” Wyden said Tuesday night. “I’m with the frogs, and I’m with all of you because political change starts at the grassroots.

“For weeks, social media was flooded with these wonderful patriots. Videos of unicyclers, naked bike riders, the guy in the chicken suit and a whole lot of frogs.

“When Donald Trump sent his agents to the streets of Portland, we took on authoritarianism, and we won!”

The frogs, part of an organization called the Portland Frog Brigade, use “inflatable animal costumes to practice the proven art of peaceful, creative dissent, exercising our right to free expression in defense of the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law,” according to its website.

In September, as part of a crackdown on crime, the Trump administration announced it would send National Guard troops to Portland among other urban centers across the country. In Portland, the order sparked social unrest and protests, including backlash from local officials.

“Portland is an American city, not a military target,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a post on social media.

“President Trump has directed all necessary troops to Portland, Oregon. The number of necessary troops is zero.”

Almost immediately, the state launched a legal challenge to the deployment in the case of Oregon v. Trump, arguing that the administration lacked the legal authority to use federal troops to combat local crime.

US JUDGE EXTENDS ORDER BLOCKING TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN PORTLAND

As that legal battle raged inside the courtroom, the city’s person-based crime — such as homicides, kidnappings, sexual offenses and vehicular manslaughter — has fallen marginally every month, according to data from Portland’s Police Bureau.

From October 2025 to January 2026, person-related crimes are down 18%. Total crime, including property and social crimes like drug offenses, is down 8%.

But in December, Trump began winding down his deployment to Portland as its legal battle began to run into a series of losses.

As recently as Feb. 17, the Trump administration ended its efforts to overturn a 9th Circuit order halting Trump’s deployment of the guard to Portland.

“Oregon National Guard members are currently in transit to Fort Bliss, Texas, where they will demobilize, and the demobilization process will take approximately 7 to 14 days to complete,” the court ruled on Jan. 8, 2026.

OREGON RESIDENTS SUE HOMELAND SECURITY AFTER TEAR GAS USED ON ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS

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Wyden celebrated the decision.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Wyden’s framing of the administration’s drawdown of the National Guard from Portland.

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A resolution led by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran is getting the blessing of the House of Representatives’ top Democrat.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement alongside other Democratic leaders Thursday announcing that they will force a vote on Massie’s resolution next week.

“As soon as Congress reconvenes next week, we will compel a vote of the full House of Representatives on the bipartisan Khanna-Massie War Powers resolution,” the joint statement read.

“This legislation would require the President to come to Congress to make the case for using military force against Iran. The Iranian regime is brutal and destabilizing, seen most recently in the killing of thousands of protesters. However, undertaking a war of choice in the Middle East, without a full understanding of all the attendant risks to our servicemembers and to escalation, is reckless.”

Jeffries and other top Democrats argued that any military force against Iran would be illegal without approval from Capitol Hill.

“We maintain that any such action would be unconstitutional without consultation with and authorization from Congress. Next week, every Member will have the opportunity to go on the record as to whether they support military action against Iran absent Congressional approval,” they said.

Massie cited Congress’ war powers in the Constitution in unveiling the legislation earlier this month alongside Khanna.

GOP MUTINY FORCES HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON TO DELAY VOTE ON KEY PIECE OF TRUMP’S AGENDA

“Congress must vote on war according to our Constitution,” he posted on X. “[Khanna] and I will be forcing that vote to happen in the House as soon as possible. I will vote to put America first, which means voting against more war in the Middle East.”

But other Republicans, like House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., are opposed to the resolution.

“This is not a war powers resolution, telling the President how he can protect our country. This is a surrender document to the Ayatollah, signed by a bunch of cowards, telling the President that no matter what Iran does, he cannot defend America,” he told Fox News Digital.

There are multiple mechanisms for forcing a vote over the will of House leadership. But the quickest route is called a “privileged resolution,” which mandates that a specific piece of legislation is considered by the full chamber within two legislative days of its introduction.

Before a vote on the measure itself, however, House GOP leaders can call for a preliminary vote to “table” the legislation or refer it to the relevant committee, both ways of effectively killing those resolutions. 

It’s considered easier for lawmakers in the majority party to vote to kill resolutions on that procedural vote before they have to take a vote on the bill itself.

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Privileged resolutions, which are traditionally seldom used, have gained popularity in recent years as Republicans grapple with a razor-thin House majority.

In this case, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only afford one GOP defection if all Democrats vote to proceed with blocking Trump’s war powers. 

Because Massie is already likely to vote with the minority party, all remaining Republicans in the chamber must vote in lockstep to block the resolution.

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A Texas-based career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet is behind bars in Travis County after he was charged with murdering a father of five outside a 7-Eleven in Austin, reviving scrutiny of Travis County District Attorney José Garza and what critics call his controversial prosecutorial record and “soft on crime” approach.

Caleb Anthony Jenkins, described by police as a career criminal, was charged with murder in connection with a shooting last year that left a 25-year-old father dead outside a 7-Eleven. According to Austin police, Jenkins allegedly shot the victim and drove off.

But critics argue the killing may have been preventable. Garza’s office previously dismissed or declined to prosecute three separate gun charges against Jenkins in incidents dating back to 2022. He was also arrested in 2023 on a domestic violence charge and failed to appear in court, as Fox News reported. Most recently, he was re-arrested and released after his bond was raised.

Taken together, the developments have intensified public criticism of Garza, the Democratic district attorney backed by liberal mega-donor George Soros,

Garza, who was elected Travis County DA without prior experience as a prosecutor, has faced criticism from police advocacy groups and victims’ families since taking office. They have accused him of deliberately slow-walking certain cases and embracing lenient sentencing policies.

The criticism has sparked national attention in years past. In 2023, the family of 25-year-old Doug Cantor, who was shot and killed in the 2021 Sixth Street mass shooting in downtown Austin, criticized Garza for slow-walking the trial of the gunman.

Family members told Fox News Digital in an interview at the time that they believed Garza had put the case on the “back burner.”

“It’s very clear that his focus and attention is not on this case,” Nick Kantor told Fox News Digital in an interview reflecting on the two-year anniversary of his brother’s death — and the way Garza, who has been widely criticized for soft-on-crime policies, has handled the case.

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“He’s doing things that are clearly causing distress on the trial and on the overall outcome of the case and for getting justice for my brother,” Kantor said. 

Other victims’ families cited similar behavior from Garza’s office in interviews with Fox News Digital. 

While overall reported crime in Travis County has declined, opponents argue dismissal rates have been “political,” and could further endanger public safety.

It “appears that Garza has now become more of an advocate for the criminal than he has for the victim,” Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officer’s Association, previously told Fox News Digital.

“The prosecution is acting more like defense attorneys than they are prosecutors,” Farris said in an interview roughly one year after Garza took office. “Whatever his skewed view of what criminal justice reform is, it isn’t working. It sure isn’t working for the victims.” 

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“It used to be that they got the victims’ buy-in before offering plea bargains. Now it doesn’t appear he’s even doing that, because they’re not even communicating with them, and that’s what’s leading to the revictimization of these families.” 

Current and former local law enforcement officers have criticized Garza’s actions and his alleged “war on cops,” after the Soros-backed district attorney campaigned on indicting police officers and “reimagining” policing in Austin.

Soros contributed $652,000 to the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC in the months leading up to the 2020 Travis County DA election, according to campaign finance records.

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That same PAC spent almost $1 million on digital and mail advertisements to help Garza’s campaign, as Fox News reported.

The Travis County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden on Thursday again ruled against the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy, months after the Supreme Court blocked his earlier decision and rebuked him in a rare follow-up order.

The Supreme Court not only stayed Boston-based Judge Brian Murphy’s injunction over the same deportation policy in a 6-3 order last June, but the high court followed up with a second 7-2 order a week later admonishing the judge for flouting its decision. Murphy’s latest ruling is also likely to land before the justices, setting up a fresh test of the judge’s decisions in the high-stakes case.

Murphy, who was confirmed by the Senate along party lines, had issued a sweeping 81-page decision on Thursday finding that the Department of Homeland Security’s process for deporting migrants to third countries (countries that are not specified in the migrants’ removal orders) was unlawful because it violated the migrants’ due process by not giving them enough time to raise fears that they could be tortured in the country they are sent to.

Murphy’s decision came after the judge last year issued a preliminary injunction that also blocked DHS from deporting migrants to third countries under the department’s current protocols. The Supreme Court’s order in June halted that decision, but, pointing to a technicality, Murphy said that a separate subsequent ruling he made on May 21 specifically addressing six migrants bound for South Sudan was still “in full force and effect” despite the high court’s stay.

The judge’s move led the Department of Justice to ask the Supreme Court for clarification, and the high court responded by issuing its follow-up 7-2 opinion saying Murphy could not block DHS from deporting the six migrants.

“Our June 23 order stayed the April 18 preliminary injunction in full. The May 21 remedial order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable,” the Supreme Court’s majority wrote.

In an unusual move, the majority also noted that if the government needed further help to stop Murphy’s interference, it could seek a writ of mandamus, a rare legal tool used by a higher court to force a lower court judge to follow the law.

The high court said it expected Murphy to “now conform [his] order to our previous stay and cease enforcing the April 18 injunction through the May 21 remedial order.”

Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee who agreed with Murphy’s initial decision to block the deportations, sided with the majority in agreeing that the judge had acted defiantly.

“I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this Court has stayed,” Kagan wrote in a concurring opinion.

FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST DHS ON WARRANTLESS IMMIGRATION ARRESTS IN OREGON

The DOJ had fumed over Murphy’s attempt to block the deportation of the six migrants. Solicitor General John Sauer described it as a “lawless act of defiance” of the Supreme Court’s authority when seeking clarification from the high court.

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“For over two months now, the Executive has labored under an injunction that this Court yesterday deemed unenforceable,” Sauer wrote. “This Court should immediately make clear that the district court’s enforcement order has no effect, and put a swift end to the ongoing irreparable harm to the Executive Branch and its agents, who remain under baseless threat of contempt as they are forced to house dangerous criminal aliens at a military base in the Horn of Africa that now lies on the borders of a regional conflict.”

Murphy said in his ruling Thursday that DHS’s deportation policy was “not fine nor is it legal.” During the prior administration, when Murphy was appointed to the federal bench, Biden sought to undo Trump’s strict immigration policies, leading to nearly 10 million migrant encounters at the southern border. Biden also faced criticism for lax policies involving releasing millions of migrants into the country during his tenure while they awaited immigration hearings. Border encounters have dropped dramatically since Trump retook office.

Murphy stayed his ruling for 15 days to give the Trump administration time to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, given what the judge acknowledged was the “importance” and “unusual history” of the case.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

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A proposed Department of Housing and Urban Development rule would crack down on illegal immigrants or unqualified people living in public housing, closing a loophole established amid major departmental reforms under President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Current HUD rules allow “mixed-status” households to use public housing under what is called the “do not contend” provision, in which a person living among a public housing family can declare they “do not contend” their HUD eligibility under their immigration status, and the family instead receives prorated housing assistance.

The HUD-ineligible family member or members may remain in public housing so long as the family accepts their diminished subsidies, according to reports.

The new HUD rule proposed this week under Secretary Scott Turner would eliminate the option for residents to say they “do not contend” and instead require every member to verify citizenship or prove eligible noncitizen status to continue receiving housing assistance.

The proposed rule would not categorically prohibit noncitizens from public housing, but those remaining would have to prove they are eligible for taxpayer-funded assistance.

While illegal immigrants would be barred, green-card holders are currently fully eligible under federal housing law.

People admitted to the U.S. under official refugee or asylee status also remain eligible, as well as individuals whose DHS order of removal is being legally withheld due to threat of personal harm in their home country.

Cuban emigres who have fled the Communist dictatorship 90 miles off Key West have also historically been considered eligible, as have certain foreign domestic violence or trafficking victims.

Turner’s proposal, however, would guarantee that all people living in HUD-funded housing are eligible under statute.

The longstanding HUD Act of 1980, which the Clinton-era reforms adjusted, already prohibits HUD from providing financial assistance to ineligible noncitizens, and Turner’s reforms would make the prorated assistance option temporary instead of indefinite, pending eligibility verification.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the days of illegal aliens, ineligibles, and fraudsters gaming the system and riding the coattails of American taxpayers are over,” said Turner, a former Washington Redskins cornerback.

BIDEN-ERA RENTAL ASSISTANCE INCLUDED PAYMENTS TO DEAD TENANTS AND NON-CITIZENS, NEW HUD REPORT REVEALS

“HUD’s proposed rule will guarantee that all residents in HUD-funded housing are eligible tenants. We have zero tolerance for pushing aside hardworking U.S. citizens while enabling others to exploit decades-old loopholes.”

Turner previously wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that previous administrations “turned a blind eye” to enforcing these types of HUD laws and policies.

“Liberal officials at both the federal and state level purposefully blurred and weakened the law by allowing some applicants for HUD assistance to simply sign a declaration of citizenship without requiring any documentation or proof,” he said in one example.

Critics of the change, however, said HUD’s efforts are going to lead to families being booted from public housing.

“Our country can ensure that every one of us, no matter where we come from or what language we speak, has a safe home,” National Housing Law Project executive director Shamus Roller told the Associated Press.

“Trump is trying to evict immigrant families, citizen and non-citizen, from HUD housing.”

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Roller’s colleague Sonya Acosta told the wire service that the new policy would wrongly force an “agonizing choice between losing the assistance that helps [families] pay rent every month or separating their family.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FIRST ON FOX: China is expanding a network of space facilities across Latin America that could strengthen Beijing’s military surveillance and war-fighting capabilities in the Western Hemisphere, according to a new report. 

A new report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party identifies at least 11 PRC-linked ground stations, radio telescopes and satellite ranging sites in Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile and Brazil — installations the panel says may have dual-use military applications.

The report calls on the Trump administration to “halt the expansion” of Chinese space infrastructure in the region and “ultimately seek to roll back and eliminate” PRC space capabilities in the hemisphere that threaten U.S. interests.

According to the findings, the analysis relies on open-source reporting, satellite imagery and Chinese planning documents that elevate space cooperation as a pillar of Beijing’s relations with Latin America. Lawmakers argue China’s military-civil fusion strategy makes it difficult to separate academic or commercial space cooperation from potential military applications.

“Beijing uses space infrastructure in Latin America to collect adversary intelligence and strengthen the PLA’s future warfighting capabilities,” the report states.

Lawmakers also raised concerns about oversight at certain sites, noting that in at least one case host-nation inspection rights appear limited. The report emphasizes that “host nations retain both the right and responsibility to verify that facilities advertised as civilian are not being used for military or intelligence purposes inconsistent with their national laws.”

One of the most closely watched sites is a Chinese-operated deep space station in Argentina’s Neuquén province, established under a 50-year lease agreement signed in 2015. The facility, which includes a 35-meter antenna used for satellite tracking and deep space missions, has been described by Beijing as a civilian research installation supporting lunar and space exploration programs.

US RAID IN VENEZUELA SIGNALS DETERRENCE TO ADVERSARIES ON THREE FRONTS, EXPERTS SAY

However, the House report notes that the station is operated by an entity linked to China’s satellite launch and tracking network and raises concerns about transparency and oversight. In previous reporting, questions have surfaced about the extent to which Argentine officials have inspection access to the site, fueling debate over sovereignty and foreign control of strategic infrastructure.

The Argentina embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Lawmakers argue that facilities like the one in Neuquén illustrate the broader concern that ostensibly civilian space cooperation can be integrated into China’s military-civil fusion framework, potentially supporting the People’s Liberation Army’s global space architecture.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the specifics of the committee’s findings but said it “continuously monitors developments that could affect the security environment, including space-related infrastructure and capabilities.” 

A Defense Department spokesperson added that the department remains “attentive to activities that could impact stability, transparency, or the long-term security interests of the United States and our partners in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Department of War’s 2025 annual report to Congress on China’s military developments similarly notes that Beijing “has the largest space infrastructure footprint outside of mainland China in Latin America and the Caribbean,” and assesses that expanding its regional space presence “almost certainly provides China with enhanced space domain surveillance capabilities, including against U.S. military space assets, throughout the hemisphere.” 

The same report states that China’s growing space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities have “dramatically increased its ability to monitor, track, and target U.S. and allied forces both terrestrially and on orbit.” 

The House panel also points to Chile, where a proposed expansion of a Chinese space-related project was put on hold following engagement from the Trump administration, according to sources familiar with the project. Lawmakers view the pause as evidence that diplomatic pressure can influence host governments weighing cooperation with Beijing.

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The report further urges federal agencies to review existing cooperation agreements in the region. Lawmakers recommend that NASA examine any partnerships with countries hosting Chinese-operated space facilities to ensure compliance with the Wolf Amendment, a federal law that restricts bilateral space cooperation with China and Chinese-owned entities.

The panel argues that even multilateral arrangements could warrant scrutiny if they indirectly benefit PRC-linked infrastructure and calls on Congress to clarify that such agreements should not be structured in a way that circumvents existing prohibitions.

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FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican is moving to advance one of President Donald Trump’s key State of the Union requests but says he doesn’t expect Senate Democrats to support it.

“The Dems are not acting rationally these days,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “And, of course, anything that they think is something that Trump would support or likes they sort of reflexively oppose.”

Cornyn plans to introduce legislation that would bar illegal immigrants from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) — a move Trump directly called for during his address Tuesday night, which received little reaction from congressional Democrats.

The bill is named Dalilah’s Law after Dalilah Coleman, a young girl who suffered life-altering injuries in a 2024 crash in California allegedly caused by Partap Singh, an illegal immigrant from India who was driving a tractor-trailer.

Trump addressed the incident during his State of the Union speech and argued that “many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs as to direction, speed, danger, or location.”

“That’s why tonight, I’m calling on Congress to pass what we will call the Dalilah Law, barring any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens,” Trump said.

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Like most legislation in the Senate, it would need Democratic support to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Cornyn said he hoped, but did not expect, any Democrats to cross the aisle to back it.

“I mean, in a normal world, this would not be controversial,” Cornyn said. “But like the president said last night, ‘Those people are crazy.’”

That could be because the legislation would primarily affect blue states, such as California, whose commercial licensing standards have come under scrutiny from the Trump administration.

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Cornyn’s bill would require states to verify applicants through E-Verify before issuing a CDL. It would also penalize noncompliant states by making them ineligible for certain federal transportation grants and would create a federal felony offense for an illegal immigrant who travels in interstate or foreign commerce using a CDL.

The lawmaker described the legislation as building on Trump’s broader immigration agenda, particularly by removing what he views as an incentive for immigrants to enter the country illegally.

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He noted that U.S. Border Patrol officials often discuss immigration in terms of push and pull factors. A push factor for illegal immigration includes people leaving their home countries because of poverty or “wanting a better life,” Cornyn said.

“You know, we all understand that,” Cornyn said. “But they talk about the pull factors, or the things that we do here that make it more likely that people will come to the country illegally, and this would be one of them.”

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President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing for the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to nix temporary protected status for Syrians.

“This application marks the third time that the government has been compelled to seek a stay from this Court after lower Courts have baselessly blocked the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determinations regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) just before they took effect,” the filing declares.

“The lower courts’ arrogation of core Executive Branch prerogatives irreparably harms the government, and respondents’ alleged harms were inherent in the temporary nature of the program that Congress designed.”

This is a breaking news article and will be updated.

Georgia Republicans are introducing a bill to hold sanctuary jurisdictions financially accountable for damage and crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Nearly two years since nursing student Laken Riley was killed by an illegal immigrant at the University of Georgia, Republican state Rep. Houston Gaines said the bill would help hold local governments’ “feet to the fire” when they refuse to enforce the law.

“You’ve seen these issues all across the country, in Minneapolis, certainly in Los Angeles … where you have really liberal local governments that just simply aren’t enforcing the law, and so we’re going to put an end to it here in Georgia,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Gaines, who is running for Congress represents the district where Riley was killed, is one of six Republicans co-sponsoring the bill. The state already bans sanctuary policies at the local level. If passed, the measure would allow citizens to help crack down on jurisdictions attempting to subvert Georgia’s ban by enabling property and business owners to seek financial compensation from local governments for damages caused by sanctuary-style immigration policies.

Under the bill, property owners and leaseholders can claim compensation from jurisdictions that adopt a “policy, pattern, or practice” of failing to comply with state immigration enforcement laws, declining to enforce laws against activities such as illegal public camping or shoplifting, or allowing a public nuisance that harms the property.

Gaines said that while Georgia does not come immediately to mind when thinking of sanctuary jurisdictions, cities such as Atlanta and Athens, where Riley was killed, have previously been lax in enforcement.

“Georgia is a red state, but we do have blue jurisdictions,” he explained. “I get calls all the time in Athens of a business or a family who’s woken up to someone in their front yard or at a business where they’ve had someone break in overnight. There’s all sorts of issues where these liberal local governments frankly just aren’t doing their job and not enforcing the law.”

“What we’re doing here is making sure that people across the state know that if your local government is not doing their job, it’s time for the state to step up and make sure they do it, and the way to do that is hit them in the pocketbook.”

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Georgia is not the first state to make such a move. In 2024, Arizona voters approved a proposition to let property owners apply for property tax refunds if their local city, town, or county fails to enforce certain public nuisance laws and the owner incurs documented expenses as a result. The Georgia bill, however, would allow citizens to file directly for reimbursement through lawsuits.

Gaines said the intent of the bill is to serve as a deterrent for liberal jurisdictions considering not enforcing the law.

“Our whole goal here is not for all these refunds to occur, it’s just for local governments to enforce the existing law on the books,” he said. “If a local jurisdiction is getting complaints, they simply clean it up and fix what they’re doing wrong so that you don’t see repeated complaints.”

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Gaines said that he believes his bill could serve as a model for other states.

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“I would encourage other states to do this because it is something that I believe will work and will hold local governments accountable if they’re failing to enforce their own laws and putting their own citizens in dangerous situations … that’s what we’re trying to avoid with this legislation.”

Gaines is running to replace Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is running for U.S. Senate. 

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio held back his judgment when addressing the shootout between Cuba’s coast guard and a U.S.-registered speedboat. The secretary called the situation “highly unusual” and emphasized the need for the U.S. to evaluate the facts of the incident before giving its response.

While speaking with reporters in Saint Kitt on Wednesday, Rubio said the U.S. was “going to have our own information” on the incident, and it would be evaluated to determine what occurred. He also said, “There are a number of things that could have happened,” but refused to speculate on various scenarios.

“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time. But we’re going to find out,” Rubio said. “We’re not going to base our conclusions on what they’ve told us. And I’m very, very confident that we will know the full story of what happened here, and we will know it soon. And then, you know, we’ll respond appropriately based on what that information tells us.”

One reporter asked about the possible consequences for Cuba if those on the boat were Americans, but Rubio would not give an answer, saying there was more analysis of the facts that had to be done.

Vice President JD Vance confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that Rubio had briefed him on the situation. Similarly to Rubio, Vance said several details remained unknown and the U.S was closely monitoring the situation.

“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be, but I can’t say more because I just don’t know more,” Vance said.

On Wednesday, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the country’s coast guard shot four dead and left six others wounded in a shootout with a U.S.-registered speedboat. The ministry also said the speedboat was carrying 10 “armed individuals who, according to preliminary statements from the detainees, intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.”

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The Cuban Embassy in the U.S. said in a statement that the speedboat crew fired on the Cuban personnel who boarded the vessel. It added that the commander of the Cuban watercraft was injured in the shootout.

“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region,” the embassy’s statement on X read.

The embassy added that “investigations by the competent authorities continue in order to fully clarify the events.”

Cuba’s Interior Ministry said personnel found “assault rifles, handguns, handcrafted explosive devices (Molotov cocktails), bulletproof vests, telescopic lookers and camouflage uniforms” aboard the vessel.

Seven of the men involved have been identified, the ministry said, including: Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. Additionally, among the deceased was Michel Ortega Casanova.

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The ministry said it is working to confirm the identities of three others. It also claimed that those aboard the speedboat were Cubans living in the U.S. and that many had “a known history of criminal and violent activity.”

According to data retrieved by Fox News Digital, the vessel, registered in Florida with number FL7726SH, is a 24-foot Pro-Line boat.

A source told Fox News that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement contacted the Miami-based owner, who confirmed the vessel had been docked at a marina in the Florida Keys. After being notified by authorities, the owner — who is not considered a suspect — reported the boat stolen.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this report.

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Oman’s foreign minister met Thursday in Geneva with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as efforts intensify to reach a new agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

The minister, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, said the talks focused on Tehran’s proposals and perspectives, as well as questions and responses from the U.S. negotiating team regarding key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program and the guarantees required for a potential agreement.

“His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs clarified that the efforts are continuing intensively and in a constructive spirit, under the negotiators’ unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas and solutions, while preparing the supportive conditions for progress and reaching a fair agreement with sustainable guarantees,” the ministry said in a post on X.

The closely watched meeting comes amid heightened regional tensions and a visible U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, including the repositioning of naval assets and additional air defense capabilities.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and multiple guided-missile destroyers are operating in the Arabian Sea, as well as additional destroyers stationed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Several combat ships are also positioned in the Persian Gulf near Iran’s southern coastline.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that while Trump prefers a diplomatic solution, Washington views Iran as a “grave threat” and remains deeply concerned about both its nuclear ambitions and expanding missile arsenal.

He said the talks in Geneva would be “largely focused on the nuclear program” but warned that Tehran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missiles poses a major obstacle.

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“Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of our bases in the UAE, in Qatar, in Bahrain,” he explained. “I want everybody to understand that, and beyond just the nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans, if they so choose to do so. These things have to be addressed.”

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Polling data tracking voters’ real-time reactions to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, showed Independents and Republicans were highly motivated when the president urged members of Congress to pass restrictions on congressional stock trading, but Democrats appeared less enthused.

This moment in Trump’s address was one of the few moments during the speech when Democrats inside the House chamber, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., offered standing applause.

“They stood up for that, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it,” Trump quipped after calling for an end to congressional stock trading. “Think Nancy Pelosi would stand up if she was here? Doubt it. Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay.” the president continued to a roaring applause. During one moment, a camera panned over to Warren who could be seen standing and clapping. 

The dial test administered by Lee Carter, the president of Maslansky & Partners, showed that after Trump said the Stop Insider Trading Act must be passed “without delay” that Democrats remained largely stagnant, but Republicans and Independents reacted far more positively. 

As the crowd inside the House chamber Tuesday night continued to applaud following Trump’s remark that a law on congressional stock trading restrictions should be passed immediately, the Democrats’ dial returned to baseline. It had taken a turn downwards after Trump took a jab at Pelosi over the matter. She has long been the brunt of criticism over the success of her stock portfolio and the manner in which certain trades have lined up with matters in front of lawmakers.

The group of voters monitored during the president’s speech Tuesday night, included 29 Democrats, 41 Republicans and 30 Independents.

Warren and other Democrats could be seen giving a standing ovation to the president’s urgency around adding stricter restrictions to congressional stock trading. Warren was also reportedly seen standing after Trump insisted Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. 

When asked to respond to Trump’s jab at her Tuesday night, Pelosi told Trump to “look at your own self.”

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“The inference he wants to draw is there was something wrong with that, which there wasn’t, and if there was, people get prosecuted for it. For a long time now we’ve been trying to pass this law. It doesn’t have — now it has more support than it had before, and —” Pelosi said before being cut off by CNN’s Kasie Hunt, who pointed out Warren stood up to applaud Trump’s urging to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act.

“Well, we all did. I did too,” the former House speaker shot back. “He said, ‘Did Nancy stand up?’ Yeah, I did too. A lot of people stood up, a lot of Democrats stood up.”

The Stop Insider Trading Act would go beyond the current rules members of Congress must follow when trading on the stock market, ushered in by the 2012 STOCK Act. Since 2012, lawmakers have attempted to implement tighter federal restrictions to no avail.

While Trump’s urging to get the latest restrictions passed was one of the rare moments that Democrats appeared to applaud the president during his SOTU speech, left-wing nonprofit groups have simultaneously argued that the Stop Insider Trading Act does not actually go far enough to stop insider trading.  

“Passing SITA would hide insider trading instead of stopping it, leading to the same concerns we see today,” said a statement earlier this month from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “The only path forward that can rejuvenate the American people’s faith in Congress is serious reform though meaningful bipartisan cooperation.”

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CREW points to a bill it believes would do a better job at reining in insider trading among lawmakers called the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which “effectively bans members of Congress from buying, selling and owning stocks and their equivalents and ends the conflicts of interest that have plagued Congress for far too long,” according to CREW.

“Abandoning viable, bipartisan legislation in favor of partisanship and ineffectual half measures would be a political and ethical failure that would further erode Americans’ trust in government,” CREW insisted. 

Fox News Digital’s Marc Tamasco contributed to this report.

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has endorsed Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw in the Lone Star State’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.

“I am proud to endorse @SteveTothTX for Congress in Texas’s 2nd Congressional District. Steve faithfully served the people of Texas in the Texas House of Representatives, championing our Texas values of liberty, limited government, and constitutional governance,” Cruz said in a post on X.

“Steve is an unwavering fighter for school choice, fiscal responsibility, and the next generation of Americans. Washington needs bold leadership and representatives who will stand up for Texans at every turn,” Cruz continued.

“Steve has the experience, the courage, and the conviction to do just that. I’m honored to support his campaign and urge voters in Texas’s 2nd Congressional District to join me in electing Steve Toth to Congress,” he added.

While President Donald Trump has not made an endorsement in the race, he previously backed Toth for Texas state House in 2022 and 2024.

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“State Representative Steve Toth is doing a fantastic job representing Texas State House District 15. A Small Business Owner and an Ordained Minister, Steve is fighting tirelessly to Secure our Elections, Grow the Economy, Eliminate Needless Regulations, Strengthen the Border, Support our Great Military/Veterans, and Protect and Defend our under siege Second Amendment. Steve Toth has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump wrote in a 2024 Truth Social post.

The last day of early voting for Texas’ March 3 primary contests is Friday, according to the Texas Secretary of State website.

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Crenshaw has served in Congress since early 2019.

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Republican and Independent voters reacted favorably when President Donald Trump brought up how his administration has cracked down on drug cartels and fentanyl, but Democrats appeared less motivated by Trump’s aggressive foreign policy stance. 

“For years, large swaths of territory in our region, including large parts of Mexico, really large parts of Mexico, have been controlled by murderous drug cartels. That’s why I designated these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and I declared illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,” Trump said to applause as he turned to look at Republicans. 

Per a panel assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners of 29 Democrats, 30 Independents, and 40 Republicans, which tracked their real-time reactions during Trump’s SOTU address, Democrats appeared to go slightly below baseline when Trump began touting his aggressive stance towards cartels in Central and South America, specifically his administration’s bombing campaign against them which has included attacks in the open ocean off the South American coastline and in the eastern Pacific.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Independents showed a much stronger favorable reaction to the president’s remarks about the actions his administration has taken against drug cartels and illegal fentanyl. 

During his address, Trump also highlighted the U.S.’s help in capturing drug kingpin “El Mencho” earlier this month in Mexico. Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the CJNG, was killed Sunday in a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Mexico, authorities said. Though the operation was carried out by Mexican forces, the United States laid the groundwork, making El Mencho’s fall possible.

On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order directing the State Department to designate several cartels and international criminal groups “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTOs), a designation unlocking military-grade surveillance and “material support” prosecutions. Though lesser known than MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, CJNG was one of the groups designated an FTO by the administration.

Shortly after Trump’s executive order, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a policy memorandum to all Department of Justice employees, announcing a “fundamental change in mindset and approach” to cartels and transnational criminal organizations to a policy of “total elimination.”

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The Trump administration has engaged in an aggressive bombing campaign against cartel boats throughout both 2025 and 2026. The U.S. has also conducted non-lethal maritime drug interdiction efforts as well.

In early 2026, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro was captured by U.S. forces and extradited to New York on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, with Trump accusing him at the time of being a “kingpin of a vast criminal network.”

The recent violence and capture of El Mencho this month has led American tourists to be trapped in Mexico. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the State Department has been taking “hundreds of calls a day” providing Americans with travel support and advice.

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“We are unaware of any reports of any Americans being hurt, kidnapped, or killed, and the Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American or they will pay severe consequences under this president – and they already are,” Leavitt told Fox News. 

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

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An official with the Department of Homeland Security told state election officials Wednesday that federal immigration agents will not be stationed at polling locations during the November midterm elections, as some Democrats have warned the Trump administration could attempt to interfere in the elections through intimidation or racial profiling.

Heather Honey, DHS’ deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, told secretaries of state on a call that “any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true,” according to Arizona’s Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.

A spokeswoman for Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, also a Democrat, said Honey likewise assured officials that immigration agents would not be stationed at polling locations. Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, also posted on X that DHS “confirms to Secretaries of State that ICE agents will not be at voting locations this year.”

Honey, who has previously endorsed claims that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election against former President Joe Biden, participated in the call, which also included representatives of the FBI, US Election Assistance Commission, Postal Service and other federal agencies to discuss coordination ahead of the midterms.

Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS for comment.

This comes as several Democrats have expressed concern that immigration agents may be placed at polling locations to intimidate Americans who fear they could be racially profiled and targeted if they show up to vote.

“I’m talking about something that I think would be extraordinary in American history, which is uniformed and masked ICE agents encircling polling places,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said at a recent congressional hearing. “And it’s not fantasy, and it’s not made up. We need to be clear-eyed about that. These are things that the president and his cabinet have suggested.”

The Department of Justice has been filing lawsuits seeking detailed voter data, though the department has not publicly detailed its specific rationale for each request.

Trump has also renewed his claims that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election, claims that have been widely disputed and rejected by courts, and has called on administration officials to investigate that election.

Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing ballots and other voting records from 2020, according to local officials. A Democratic stronghold, Fulton County includes Atlanta. The Peach State went to Biden in 2020, but Trump carried the state in 2024.

Democratic officials and public interest lawyers across the country have been concerned for months about the possibility of Trump’s interference in the midterms voting and ballot counting.

Democrats have pointed out that Trump was willing to attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss, pardoned those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and has filled his administration with allies who backed his attempts to overturn the election defeat.

The U.S. Constitution affirms that states run elections, not federal officials. Most states have their Secretary of State oversee elections.

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Participants on the call said Democrat secretaries of state asked Honey several questions about the administration’s cuts to election security funding and its efforts to root out noncitizen voting, which is already illegal and rare, as well as concerns about federal law enforcement officers appearing at polling places.

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The White House has dismissed those concerns, saying there was no disruption during last year’s election when Democrats performed well.

During a congressional hearing earlier this month, Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott both said they were not involved in any efforts to patrol voting places.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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