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Federal Judge Drops Hammer on Trump Officials

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Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) praised U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Wednesday for issuing a potential criminal contempt ruling against the Trump administration over deportation orders. Speaking on CNN, Raskin called Boasberg a “great judicial hero” for confronting what he described as defiance of federal law.

Judge Boasberg had previously issued an injunction halting specific deportation flights. According to his detailed 46-page opinion, the Trump administration knowingly allowed those deportations to proceed, with flights bound for El Salvador departing despite the court’s order. Boasberg emphasized that even if the aircraft had already taken off, the administration’s failure to comply remained a serious violation.

The judge referenced longstanding legal precedent requiring compliance with court orders, including the 1967 Walker v. Birmingham case. Boasberg reminded all branches of government—including the Executive—that no one is above the law. His opinion stated that willful disobedience of a federal injunction could result in criminal contempt charges.

Raskin, while defending Boasberg’s actions, underscored the seriousness of the issue, suggesting the Trump administration had deliberately defied the judge’s clear directives. He warned that the administration should immediately return the individuals covered by the injunction to avoid further legal consequences.

Boasberg has not yet finalized the criminal contempt finding, offering one last opportunity for compliance. If the administration fails to act, officials involved in the decision could face prosecution. The legal standoff marks a significant confrontation between the judiciary and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement and the limits of executive power.

He Fought for a Gang Member—But Ignored a Murdered Mom?

El Salvador
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The Trump administration sharply rebuked Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) this week for prioritizing a deported MS-13 gang member over the safety of American citizens like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman murdered by an illegal Salvadoran national in 2023. Van Hollen has traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to return 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, despite his gang affiliations.

Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally at age 16 and was arrested by ICE in Maryland before being deported in March to El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center. While an immigration judge granted “withholding of removal” due to alleged threats from rival gang Barrio 18, DHS confirmed that two separate judges had already identified Abrego Garcia as a member of MS-13.

Though his deportation flight was acknowledged as a procedural mistake, President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele both refused to reverse it. Bukele rejected a request to return Abrego Garcia, stating plainly, “I can’t smuggle a terrorist into the United States.”

Van Hollen responded by flying to El Salvador himself, declaring his intent to meet with officials and Abrego Garcia. “He was illegally abducted and needs to come home,” Van Hollen claimed. Meanwhile, the Trump administration noted the irony, saying, “He’s already home,” and criticized Van Hollen for his silence on Rachel Morin’s murder.

Van Hollen’s campaign gained support from leftist lawmakers including Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), who are organizing others to pressure for Abrego Garcia’s return.

Trump’s DHS blasted Van Hollen, stating he has done “more to bring a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, and illegal alien back to Maryland than to protect his American constituents.” The department also highlighted the senator’s complete lack of response to Morin’s brutal murder, contrasting his attention to an illegal alien with his disregard for a murdered American mother.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) joined the pushback, declaring that Abrego Garcia is “where he belongs.” Trump’s administration continues to draw a hard line against prioritizing the rights of criminal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, reinforcing its America First approach to law enforcement and border security.

What Trump’s Team Just Uncovered in the Skies Will Shock You

Drone
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a sweeping drone detection effort led by the Trump administration, sharply contrasting it with the Biden administration’s failure to provide answers during the 2024 drone mystery. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be conducting detection tests involving over 100 drones in Cape May, New Jersey, running through April 25.

Duffy emphasized the administration’s “radical transparency” in handling airspace safety, noting the widespread public concern over unexplained drone sightings last year. During the Biden presidency, federal agencies failed to clearly identify the purpose or origin of drones flying over states like New Jersey. A joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and FBI claimed there was no foreign threat, but did not explain the activity. That lack of clarity left Americans alarmed and distrustful.

President Trump’s Department of Transportation has committed to informing the public with direct updates and behind-the-scenes access to government safety operations. Secretary Duffy, formerly a U.S. Representative and now leading the DOT, confirmed that affected residents have been notified about the current tests. The FAA will operate drones ranging from small commercial types to large uncrewed aerial vehicles, focusing on how to detect and track them without interfering with aircraft navigation systems.

The FAA testing is taking place over water near the Cape May Ferry Terminal during daytime hours on weekdays. Technologies being evaluated include Remote ID systems, acoustic arrays, and radar capabilities to track drone activity. The administration has issued advisories for recreational drone users to stay clear of testing zones.

The FAA plans to expand these detection efforts to other states later this year, including New Mexico, Mississippi, and North Dakota. This initiative marks a clear shift toward transparency and preparedness in national airspace management under President Trump’s leadership.

Autism ‘Running Rampant’ Among U.S. Children

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network survey found that 1 in 31 children has autism.

The survey, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, estimated the prevalence of autism in children between 4 and 8 years old during 2022. “Among children aged 8 years in 2022, ASD prevalence was 32.2 per 1,000 children (one in 31),” the report said, drawing upon data collected from sites in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Nearly 40% of autistic children aged 8 years were classified as having an intellectual disability.

The prevalence of autism is 4.8 times higher than when the survey was first conducted in 2002.

“The autism epidemic is running rampant,” said U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “One in 31 American children born in 2014 are disabled by autism. That’s up significantly from two years earlier and nearly five times higher than when the CDC first started running autism surveys in children born in 1992.

Kennedy called the prevalence of autism in boys “astounding,” listing it as 1 in 20 and further noting its prevalence in California as 1 in 12.5.

“President Trump has tasked me with identifying the root causes of the childhood chronic disease epidemic — including autism,” Kennedy stated. “We are assembling teams of world-class scientists to focus research on the origins of the epidemic, and we expect to begin to have answers by September.”

He added that the autism epidemic “has now reached a scale unprecedented in human history because it affects the young.”

“The risks and costs of this crisis are a thousand times more threatening to our country than COVID-19,” he said. “Autism is preventable and it is unforgivable that we have not yet identified the underlying causes. We should have had these answers 20 years ago.”

TIME Magazine Honors Abortionist on ‘Most Influential People’ List

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TIME Magazine has included Hope Clinic co-owner Julie Burkhart on its “100 Most Influential People of 2025” list.

Hope Clinic, based in Illinois, views unborn babies as “pregnancy tissue,” according to its website.

“An abortion procedure also known as ‘surgical abortion’ or ‘in-clinic abortion’ is a simple, safe procedure that involves a pelvic exam, dilation of the cervix, and removal of the pregnancy tissue through vacuum aspiration and additional instruments,” the website says.

According to TIME, Burkhart “has been fighting for decades to provide abortions in some of the most rural and conservative areas of the U.S.” She opened the only full-service abortion clinic in Wyoming in 2022, which is actively involved in a legal battle in the state after the governor “signed new legislation requiring abortion clinics to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers, forcing Wellspring to stop providing abortions while it challenges the regulation in court.”

TIME Magazine further praised Burkhart’s work in ending pregnancies, recognizing that Hope Clinic has “seen a 700% increase in out-of-state patients since abortion restrictions went into effect in neighboring states.”

“Burkhart is devoted to making sure patients can get abortion care, no matter where they live,” TIME wrote.

Others included on the influential figures list include actress Demi Moore, rapper Snoop Dogg, former tennis player Serena Williams, and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is also featured on the list.

President Donald Trump is also on the list of influential figures and was featured as the magazine’s 2024 Person of the Year.

‘Miraculously Unharmed’ American Pastor Rescued from South Africa

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Bible (Aaron Burden/Unsplash)

American missionary and pastor, Josh Sullivan, has been rescued after being kidnapped in South Africa.

Sullivan, from Tennessee, was taken by armed men while leading a prayer service in the Eastern Cape Province.

According to the South African Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (HAWKS), three suspects involved in the kidnapping were left deceased after a “high-intensity shootout” during the rescue operation.

“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” authorities said. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”

Upon hearing of Sullivan’s release from South Africa, Tom Hatley, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, wrote on Facebook, “Josh has been released. I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known’. SA media has started broadcasting. American media will follow. Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for The Sullivans. Praise The Lord Jesus Christ!”

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Fox News ahead of Sullivan’s rescue that the department’s Diplomatic Security Service was involved in the operation.

“A multi-law-enforcement agency team, including [the] State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, has formed on the ground and is actively pursuing the case and supporting the family members involved with embassy and consulate colleagues,” the spokesperson said, adding, “The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad.”

Sullivan’s abduction came amid a rise in kidnappings across South Africa, with over 17,000 reported cases in the 2023–2024 fiscal year.

New Border Entry Coming to Southern California

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Border wall panels (Photo by Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that a new Port of Entry is coming to Southern California.

A $150 million federal grant has been awarded to construct a new road and entry facility for the San Diego-Baja California border region.

“These investments will enhance border security by providing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with state-of-the-art inspection facilities. The new agreement also removed previous Green New Deal requirements, including a zero-emission vehicle charging provision, which was a waste of taxpayer funds and irrelevant to CBP’s national security mission,” the Department of Transportation explained in a news release.

“Thanks to the prior administration’s lack of focus, this critical project sat in limbo for two years. No more. We moved to finalize this deal so we can help protect our Southern border and crack down on drug trafficking while preventing tax dollars subsidizing pointless Green New Deal priorities,” Duffy said in a statement. “This department will continue to clear the previous administration’s unprecedented grants backlog and deliver results.”

The new Port of Entry will improve congestion in Otay Mesa and will facilitate freight moving across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued the department’s first waiver for the border wall, allowing 2.5 miles of the barrier to be constructed in California.

The wall projects will affect the Jacumba Gap and Smugglers Gulch, as well as another section of the San Diego Sector called the SDC 4 Wall Project.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Acting Commissioner, Pete Flores, said this week that Border Patrol’s apprehensions along the southwest border for March 2025 were “lower than the first two days of March 2024.”

“This is a testament to the tireless dedication and vigilant service of the men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who work every day to keep our country safe,” he said. “Their commitment on the front lines plays a vital role in securing our borders and protecting American communities.”

Illegals in Arizona Receive Stern Message

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The Trump Administration has initiated a significant message toward restoring immigration enforcement by terminating parole for hundreds of migrants who entered the U.S. through the Biden-era CBP One app. These parolees, many of whom failed to apply for asylum or other legal protections, received notices instructing them to leave the country within seven days or face deportation.

One such notice read plainly: “It is time for you to leave the United States.” It further warned: “If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States.”

Roughly 900,000 migrants were paroled into the U.S. through CBP One, an app that former President Trump criticized for enabling abuse of the asylum system. On day one of his return to office, Trump discontinued CBP One and introduced CBP Home, which now directs migrants to self-deport.

DHS confirmed the action, stating: “CBP has issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain.” This action does not apply to those under specific Biden-era programs like U4U (for Ukrainians) and OAW (for Afghans aiding U.S. forces).

While immigration activists and liberal lawyers claim the notifications caused “fear” and “confusion,” the reality is that many parolees were never on a path to lawful residency. Some, like Afghan national Hekmatullah Quvanch, expressed fear of deportation despite having a pending asylum application. Quvanch, a former journalist who fled the Taliban, told media: “I am worried, scared and confused.”

Still, immigration attorney Delia Salvatierra acknowledged: “Just because the current administration wants them to leave doesn’t mean that they have to leave if they have a pending court hearing.” However, she noted that work permits linked only to parole may no longer be valid.

Advocates like Julianna Larsen from the Arizona Refugee Center claim the Trump Administration is using fear to push self-deportation. “It’s fear,” she said, accusing the administration of creating “chaos.”

The message reflects a return to law and order at the border and the end of broad, discretionary parole policies that critics say opened the door to unchecked entry and undermined the integrity of the immigration system.

State Department Closes Censorship Hub

Secretary of State Marco Rubio (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC), has closed. Conservatives criticized the center for its censorship activities.

“Freedom of speech and expression have been a cornerstone of what it means to be an American citizen,” Rubio said in a statement. “For centuries, the United States served as a beacon of hope for millions of people around the world. Over the last decade though, individuals in America have been slandered, fired, charged, and even jailed for simply voicing their opinions.”

“That is not an America our Founding Fathers would recognize,” Rubio declared.

“It is the responsibility of every government official to continuously work to preserve and protect the freedom for Americans to exercise their free speech,” he said, adding that the office “spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.” He called the activity “antithetical to the very principles we should be upholding.”

“That ends today,” Rubio asserted. “Under the administration of President Trump, we will always work to protect the rights of the American people, and this is an important step in continuing to fulfill that commitment.”

Open the Books reported that the former White House administration spent more than a quarter of a billion taxpayer dollars on “misinformation” efforts.

From 2021, the Biden-Harris administration put forward $267 million in research grants involving so-called “misinformation.” At least $127 million was dedicated specifically to study “misinformation’s” spread and persuade the American public to “go along with Covid-related public health recommendations and mandates,” the report said.

One grant of $200,000 was spent targeting President-elect Donald Trump. “The grant resulted in a paper suggesting populist leaders and movements in various countries kept people from coming together in ‘solidarity’ and public officials need to have the ‘main say’ on health guidance next time,” Open the Books wrote.

The expenditures on “misinformation” included grants supporting AI tools censoring speech.

Boasberg Finds Probable Cause to Hold Trump Admin in Criminal Contempt

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President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Judge James Boasberg announced that he has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for disobeying his order to halt deportation flights.

“The Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote in the opinion. “The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory.”

“One might nonetheless ask how this inquiry into compliance is able to proceed at all given that the Supreme Court vacated the TRO [temporary restraining order] after the events in question. That Court’s later determination that the TRO suffered from a legal defect, however, does not excuse the Government’s violation,” he wrote, adding, “The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it.”

Boasberg gave the Trump administration until April 23 to “purge” its contempt.

“In the event that Defendants do not choose to purge their contempt, the Court will proceed to identify the individual(s) responsible for the contumacious conduct by determining whose ‘specific act or omission’ caused the noncompliance,” the opinion says.

The opinion follows the Supreme Court lifting the lower court’s injunction earlier this month, allowing deportations under the Alien Enemies Act to continue. The ruling emphasized that detainees must receive timely notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal in court.

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