The Trump administration reported the single largest month for arrests by ICE in July, but now, its efforts are moving beyond the border and into community banks. 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Arizona on Thursday to tell lenders to view credit applications under an increasingly scrutinized lens. 
&#8220;This administration will not tolerate blatant abuse of our financial system, nor will it permit risks posed by the extension of financial services to illegal aliens,&#8221; Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0595">told</a> the bankers. 
He was careful to frame the ask as part of the bankers’ ordinary duties rather than an expansion into border enforcement. 
&#8220;We do not ask bankers to assume the burdens of border enforcement,&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;But we depend on banks to do what you do best: know your customers, identify risks as they arise, and report suspicious patterns before they metastasize into criminal schemes.&#8221;
The administration is pushing the banks to view lending money to undocumented immigrants as an added risk. The administration outlined concerns, such as the possibility of deportation and termination after an employer discovers the employee doesn&#8217;t have a valid work authorization. The guidance does not carry the force of law, however, as banks are not prohibited from offering accounts or loans to illegal immigrants.
Bessent argued that Arizona carries particular weight in the effort, telling the bankers the state &#8220;remains uniquely exposed to the aftershocks of Biden&#8217;s border crisis, including cartels and criminal organizations that seek to conceal illicit proceeds within legitimate channels.&#8221; He made similar remarks in Texas, given its proximity to the southern border. 
Critics of the Trump administration&#8217;s new guidance argue that community banks will suffer if they have to bear the burden of increased compliance as they face pressure to more closely scrutinize their customers. 
The National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals <a href="https://inclusiv.org/news/inclusiv-nlcup-joint-statement-executive-order-restoring-integrity-americas-financial-system">said</a> the guidance will create a “nearly insurmountable operations and compliance burden for financial institutions in tracking the immigration and work authorization status of their members. This burden will be felt most acutely by small credit unions and will likely lead to closures and fewer affordable financial services in the communities that need credit unions the most.”
Bessent responded to that criticism by framing the federal government&#8217;s relationship with community banks as a two-way street. The secretary told the audience that even as Washington leans on community banks for vigilance, Treasury owes them relief from what he called years of &#8220;overregulation&#8221; that has cut the number of community and small banks in half since the 2008 financial crisis. 
&#8220;Dodd-Frank was supposed to end &#8216;too big to fail,'&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;Instead, it created &#8216;too small to succeed.&#8217;” 
He reminded the banks of the administration’s commitment to reducing regulation and reminded them that increased regulation did not stop three bank failures in 2023.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent testifies before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill

Trump Admin Taps Surprising New Partner To Combat Illegal Immigration

Arizona

Border

Community Banks

Dodd-Frank

Illegal Immigration

Regulations

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

Trump Administration

WASHINGTON — In March, the Senate confirmed one of its own, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
President Donald Trump announced Mullin&#8217;s nomination on Truth Social, in a post that also served as a pink slip for scandal-plagued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem, many in the president&#8217;s orbit felt, had hindered the administration&#8217;s deportation agenda with her flashy media appearances and personal blunders. Surely Mullin, the hardcore MAGA legislator, would not make the same mistakes.
Less than five months into his tenure, it seems Mullin may have made mistakes of his own.
Speaking over the weekend at a National Governors Association meeting in Oklahoma City, Mullin recommended revising employment-based work visa programs to fix labor shortages, saying: &#8220;If we&#8217;re looking to grow our economy, then we need more permanent solutions on this.&#8221;
&#8220;This narrative that it steals American jobs is true in some industries, it&#8217;s not true for all industries,&#8221; he noted. &#8220;It is America. We want to take care of Americans first. It’s our economy, it’s our homeland, but there’s a way to utilize labor where we’re not having the participation rate we need to, and we can plug those holes.”
Mullin quickly clarified his remarks on X, posting: &#8220;NO amnesty for illegal aliens. Ever.&#8221;
But the remarks spread like wildfire on social media, drawing fierce criticism from commentators like Laura Loomer.
&#8220;Markwayne Muslim [sic] got rich in industries that depend on cheap illegal alien labor,&#8221; she posted on August 3. &#8220;Now, as DHS Secretary, he’s refusing to deport illegals at the scale President Trump promised because those same businesses still &#8216;need&#8217; illegal alien workers.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not what we voted for. Once again, Markwayne wants to appease liberal media and big labor,&#8221; Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren said of Mullin&#8217;s remarks.
Lahren&#8217;s &#8220;once again&#8221; points to growing dissatisfaction with Mullin among the MAGA hardliner crowd, whose ranks are frustrated with what they perceive as his unwillingness to aggressively carry out Trump&#8217;s promised deportation agenda.
The president has repeatedly expressed frustration with Mullin in private, two sources familiar with the situation shared, not only over immigration policy, but also over the secretary&#8217;s attempt to cancel the &#8220;Salute To America&#8221; fireworks display on July 4 due to severe weather.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told The Daily Wire that Trump &#8220;has confidence in his Cabinet to carry out the agenda the American people voted for.” But one source with knowledge of the president&#8217;s frustrations shared that Trump has already considered replacing Mullin.
Trump&#8217;s former chief strategist Steve Bannon would like to see Mullin replaced with Bill Pulte, a Trump enforcer whose brief stint leading the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was marked by aggressive staffing purges. Bannon says Pulte is seen as a &#8220;folk hero&#8221; with the MAGA base — but Pulte <a href="https://x.com/pulte/status/2084756473855311960">said Tuesday</a> that he isn&#8217;t interested in the job.
That&#8217;s not going to stop Bannon, who has been pushing the White House to oust Mullin before the Republican Party&#8217;s September midterm convention in Texas.
&#8220;Hardcore MAGA base has two core central issues,&#8221; Bannon told The Daily Wire Tuesday. &#8220;The stolen 2020 election and the invasion of the southern border predicated upon the stolen election and the illegitimate Biden regime.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re 90 days out from a midterm that could end the presidency with impeachment and try to end Trumpism, it has to be all hands on deck seven days a week,&#8221; Bannon said. &#8220;To know that he went after some governors&#8217; conference in Oklahoma and had time to be up there with [Oklahoma Governor Kevin] Stitt, who&#8217;s another squish, right &#8230; I understand he&#8217;s your buddy from Oklahoma, but if you&#8217;re that f*cking dumb, right? You should be fired.&#8221; 
Loomer echoed that point, saying, &#8220;He’s ignoring why President Trump made him DHS Secretary to begin with and what wins midterms: MASS DEPORTATIONS!&#8221; 
The Trump administration has deported more than 605,000 illegal aliens this term, according to the White House, and an additional 1.9 million have self-deported. That brings the total number of illegals leaving the United States since the president returned to the White House to over 2.5 million. But for many in the MAGA base, <a href="https://massdeportationcoalition.org/playbook/">those numbers fall short</a>.
“Every young voter I talk to is asking where the mass deportations are,&#8221; conservative commentator Jack Posobiec told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This is easily a number one issue with many, many among the grassroots who are feeling like the domestic policies have taken a backseat.&#8221;
A DHS spokesman told The Daily Wire that Mullin has been very clear in his message to illegals: that they will be detained and deported if they come to the U.S. illegally. The Department of Homeland Security is &#8220;focused on delivering on the president’s mission to deport illegal aliens and protect the homeland,&#8221; the spokesman added.
&#8220;Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to sow division and create an illusion of chaos.&#8221;

Untitled design – 2026-08-05T144920.859

How Markwayne Mullin Lost MAGA

deportation

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigation

Markwayne Mullin

The Trump administration wants migrant children who came to the United States alone to feel empowered to seek help if they have become victimized by traffickers.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to release a 30-second video this week informing migrant children about the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s National Call Center, a hotline where they can seek help if they&#8217;re being abused or exploited, The Daily Wire has learned.
The video, which includes Spanish subtitles, urges migrant children who are in forced labor or exploitative conditions to call a number for support.
Once a child reports abuse, Homeland Security Investigations will &#8220;immediately&#8221; open an investigation, often &#8220;within hours,&#8221; and begin tracking down the victim, John Fabbricatore, a senior advisor at HHS leading the effort to track down the thousands of migrant kids who went unaccounted for under the Biden administration, told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a tool in our toolbox that we can put out there to hopefully get some information on children that are still out there,&#8221; Fabbricatore, who previously served as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office director in Denver, said.
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">&#8220;We&#8217;re gonna do everywhere that we can &#8230; We&#8217;re going to contact social media, we&#8217;re gonna contact influencers, we&#8217;re gonna contact news organizations and try to push that out everywhere we can &#8230; share it with Telemundo and Spanish-speaking channels and media and try to get it out to the broadest audience that we can,&#8221; he said.</div>
The PSA video features an animation of a child walking alone before he&#8217;s seen working cleaning and construction jobs.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re one of the nearly 479,000 children that came to the U.S. alone prior to January 2025, without family, without support, if you&#8217;re being forced to work, experiencing exploitation, or feeling unsafe, help is available,&#8221; the video states.
&#8220;The national call center connects you to support, information, and a safe way to report concerns. You&#8217;re not alone; don&#8217;t let anyone take advantage of you. If you need help or are in danger, call now,&#8221; it adds.
Under then-President Joe Biden&#8217;s watch, federal authorities lost track of roughly 320,000 migrant kids after they were released into the United States to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-trump-administrations-effort-to-stop-child-migrant-trafficking?row=0&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;rowType=Web+Search+Overlay">poorly vetted sponsors</a>, according to an August 2024 inspector general’s report.
The Biden administration&#8217;s hotline for migrant minors in distress also had 65,000 unanswered calls, Fabbricatore said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Monday that federal authorities have now located more than 148,000 previously unaccounted-for children.
Mullin said the administration &#8220;will not stop fighting until every last one is rescued.&#8221;
Roughly 291,000 of the migrant children were never given future court dates, making it nearly impossible for federal authorities to know their whereabouts, according to the inspector general report. 

There were another 32,000 migrant children that were released with hearing dates but failed to appear in court, according to the report, which tracked cases from October 2018 to September 2023.
Federal whistleblowers also exposed the faulty vetting system that they said placed some of the children with gang members, criminals, and traffickers.
Since President Donald Trump&#8217;s return to the White House, the vetting process has been completely overhauled.
The Trump administration now requires sponsors and other adults living in their home to provide their fingerprints for thorough background checks. DNA testing is required for sponsors who claim to be relatives of the child.
Homeland Security agents must also meet with the sponsor and HHS officials inspect the sponsor&#8217;s home to ensure it&#8217;s suitable for the child.
Fabbricatore emphasized that the Trump administration won&#8217;t &#8220;tolerate children being placed with sponsors who pose risks to their safety and well-being.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s very important that we&#8217;re not just releasing children into the community that are just going to disappear,&#8221; Fabbricatore said.
&#8220;We want to make sure that if there is a release that we&#8217;ve gone through an entire process to make sure that that child is going into a safe environment,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re not releasing kids within a matter of minutes or days like the last administration did.&#8221;
One of the victims of the Biden administration&#8217;s lax vetting system for sponsors recently shared her disturbing account of being held by abusive sponsors. The video was released by Steve Hilton, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in California, to highlight the failures of his opponent, former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW TESTIMONY: “I was sexually abused because of Xavier Becerra.”
Migrant girl sent to child traffickers after Becerra dismantled HHS vetting procedures. Forced to work 20 hour days—no pay, no water. Slept on ceramic floor surrounded by men. Sexually assaulted.
“They kept me… <a href="https://t.co/gcycSJO3Xy">pic.twitter.com/gcycSJO3Xy</a>
— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) <a href="https://x.com/SteveHiltonx/status/2084377908798452222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">&#8220;Because of the administration of Xavier Becerra, I have been sexually abused. I slept on a ceramic floor in a room with four men who were sleeping there. A drunk man came in the house &#8230; and stayed to sleep next to me and he wanted to rape me,&#8221; the girl recounted.</div>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper"></div>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">&#8220;I got up and knocked on the door of my supposed sponsor. I knocked on the door and told her that I didn&#8217;t know what that man was doing there. And that&#8217;s where I sleep, I told her. She said, &#8216;Let him because he&#8217;s drunk and he doesn&#8217;t know what he&#8217;s doing.&#8217; Xavier Becerra failed me because he never cared about my safety. I ended up in the hands of child traffickers and I was almost raped. They kept me like a slave and they didn&#8217;t let me talk to my family,&#8221; she added.</div>

Untitled design – 2026-08-04T143918.578

Trump Admin Sets Up Hotline Targeted At Nearly 500,000 Migrant Kids Who Came Alone Under Biden

Child Migrant Crisis

Department of Health and Human Services

Human Trafficking

Immigration

A tribal member living in Canada pleaded guilty Thursday to her role in planning a cross-border smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of a family with two children who were under the age of three, The Daily Wire has learned.
Stephanie Square, 53, a dual Canadian-American citizen from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, ran a smuggling organization that brought illegal immigrants across the northern border via the Indian reservation, according to the Justice Department.
In March 2023, Square was contacted by &#8220;a prolific Canadian smuggler&#8221; who asked her to bring a Romanian family of four across the St. Lawrence River and into New York. Square then recruited several others to help sneak the family across.
One of the individuals Square tried to recruit refused to assist in the scheme, citing high winds on the St. Lawrence River that night. Still, Square looked for other smugglers.
Square disregarded the high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility, insisting that she get paid.
“Aliens attempting to enter the United States illegally across the U.S.-Canada border are exposed to a range of dangers at the hands of human smugglers trying to capitalize on the misfortunes and misplaced hopes of others,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
“Here, in the face of known dangers, the defendant directed her co-conspirators to smuggle a family with young children across the St. Lawrence River on a cold, windy night with limited visibility. The dangers materialized into a preventable and tragic loss of life,&#8221; Duva said.
Dakota Montour, one of Square&#8217;s &#8220;regular&#8221; smuggling drivers, agreed to drive the family to Timothy Oakes&#8217; home on Cornwall Island, a well-known staging area used by smugglers.
The family arrived at Oakes&#8217; home around 3:35 a.m. on March 29, 2023, and left that evening. Oakes&#8217; car was seen hauling a light blue boat toward a public boat launch.
The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service began a search, recovering the bodies of the four family members between March 30 and March 31, 2023. They also recovered the smuggling boat.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1141715" style="width: 646px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1141715" class="wp-image-1141715 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434.jpg" alt="" width="636" height="379" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434.jpg 636w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434-300x179.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" />DOJ</div>
Authorities found the body of the boat captain, Casey Oakes, eight months later, according to the DOJ, though some reports say three months.
Square pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for financial gain, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death. She faces a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum punishment of life behind bars.
&#8220;This defendant and their co-conspirators showed a blatant disregard for human life, our laws, and the safety of our communities. We remain unwavering in our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect and secure our northern border,&#8221; First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York John A. Sarcone III said.
Four of Square&#8217;s co-conspirators entered guilty pleas earlier.
Square and co-conspirator Rahsontanohstha Delormier, also known as &#8220;Storm,&#8221; 31, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, were extradited to the United States from Canada in 2025. Delormier entered a guilty plea on June 26.

Untitled design – 2026-07-23T092622.453

EXCLUSIVE: Member Of Indian Tribe Admits To Orchestrating Deadly Border Smuggling Scheme

Canada

Crime

Department of Justice

New York

Smuggling

An illegal immigrant with a rap sheet is accused of murdering an elderly veteran outside his Utah home.
Army and Air Force veteran James Randell “Randy” Witten, 71, was hanging up decorations on his porch in Davis County, Utah, in May when Axel Eduardo Chavez-Marroquin, 24, allegedly drove up and fatally shot him from behind, <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/51596068/newly-unsealed-charges-say-west-point-veterans-doorbell-camera-recorded-the-murder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to local news outlet KSL.
The accused &#8220;leapt out of the front passenger seat and moved towards James, firing approximately 10 rounds and killing James from behind,&#8221; KSL reported, citing charging documents. Chavez-Marroquin then returned to his car and sped away.
Police received reports of a car with something orange covering its license plate driving &#8220;erratically&#8221; nearby shortly after the shooting, the local outlet reported. One witness reported seeing a passenger tossing donuts, a beanie, a bandana, and gloves out of the vehicle.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1139559" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1139559" class="size-full wp-image-1139559" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-21T100020.837.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="240" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-21T100020.837.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-21T100020.837-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes=" (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />DHS</div>
Surveillance footage showed a passenger exiting the vehicle and ripping off the orange tape concealing the license plate before the car headed into Las Vegas hours after the shooting, according to KSL.
Authorities in Nevada located the vehicle on June 16 with Chavez-Marroquin inside and arrested the illegal immigrant. He was transferred to the Davis County Jail in Utah on June 29.
Chavez-Marroquin, who hails from El Salvador, crossed the California border illegally in 2021 before the Biden administration released him into the country, <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/07/20/ice-lodges-arrest-detainer-criminal-illegal-alien-arrested-murdering-veteran-utah" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The illegal immigrant received a conviction for domestic violence in Santa Ana, California, in 2024, DHS said. Authorities also arrested him for domestic violence in Laguna Niguel, California, in 2025.
In both cases, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged detainers with authorities in California, who released him from custody under local sanctuary policies, according to DHS.
Chavez-Marroquin arrived in West Point, Utah, from Nevada just eight hours before the shooting and left immediately after carrying out the attack, authorities said.
ICE has lodged a detainer seeking Chavez-Marroquin&#8217;s arrest for the third time following his latest crime, the agency said Monday.
In his latest case, prosecutors have argued that he&#8217;s a flight risk given his ties to El Salvador and his status as a fugitive from California, where he was on probation, according to KSL.
“This monster is charged with murdering a 71-year-old Army and Air Force veteran in Utah. California sanctuary politicians RELEASED this criminal from jail TWICE after arrests for domestic violence. Following his release, he went on to commit this heinous murder,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“This illegal alien should’ve never been allowed on our streets, and James Witten should still be alive today. ICE is now asking officials in Utah to commit to not releasing this criminal from jail and to work with ICE so that we can remove him from our country. Reckless sanctuary policies in states like California are putting American lives at risk,&#8221; Bis added.
The suspect is charged with murder with a dangerous weapons enhancement, discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, obstruction of justice, and dangerous weapon conduct by a restricted person, according to KSL.

Untitled design – 2026-07-21T092122.341

Illegal Immigrant Convict Accused Of Gunning Down Elderly Veteran

Department of Homeland Security

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Veterans

He came into the country illegally and was kicked back to Mexico before he snuck back in to prey upon a young child.
On at least four occasions between February and March 2025, Samuel Flores de Dios, 36, sexually abused his victim, who was under the age of 13, in a rented bedroom where he had positioned various cellphones to film the encounters, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/illegal-alien-sentenced-production-child-sexual-abuse-material" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Department of Justice. One of the videos also showed a second man abusing the child.
Flores de Dios received a 30-year prison sentence on June 24 for production of child sexual abuse material, according to the Justice Department. His sentence also includes lifetime supervised release and requires that he register as a sex offender.
Authorities first learned of the abuse when a deputy paid a visit to a home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on April 8, 2025, <a href="https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/article_dcf9e1a6-3709-5352-8f90-66be90b7f81f.html?mode=nowapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The deputy encountered a 12-year-old girl at the home who indicated that Flores de Dios had sexually assaulted her.
Flores de Dios denied the abuse, but admitted that he possessed a photo on his phone of another man who lived at the home sexually abusing the girl, according to the local news outlet. Authorities arrested the other man, Alberto Coc Tec, 21, that same day, charging him with rape of a child under the age of 13.
Coc Tec told police that Flores de Dios threatened to turn him in if he didn&#8217;t pay thousands of dollars in what appeared to be part of a blackmail scheme, according to the report. Coc Tec was unable to come up with the cash.
A Spotsylvania grand jury indicted Coc Tec in July 2025, according to court records. His case remains ongoing.
In November 2025, Flores de Dios pleaded guilty to a local charge of possession of child pornography in a Virginia court, according to court records. The plea agreement resulted in a one-year prison sentence.
The Department of Homeland Security has since pledged to eventually deport Flores de Dios and lodged a detainer in January as part of the removal process.
“Once his sentence is complete, we will remove him from our country so that he can never harm another innocent child. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, we are putting the safety of the American people first,&#8221; Acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
Flores de Dios crossed the Arizona border illegally in 2005 before he was &#8220;voluntarily returned&#8221; to Mexico by federal agents, according to DHS. He then snuck back into the country without getting caught at a later unknown time.

Untitled design – 2026-07-01T092430.241

Previously Deported Illegal Receives Lengthy Sentence After Filming Sexual Abuse Of Child

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Federal authorities caught an illegal immigrant accused of causing a fatal hit-and-run last week while he was attempting to board a flight to his home country, The Daily Wire has learned.
Josue David Carranza-Castellon allegedly struck and killed Brian Roy Longaberger, 56, at about 4:47 a.m. last Wednesday when his car veered off the road and onto a grassy median in Gaithersburg, Maryland, before fleeing the scene.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) caught up to the illegal immigrant the following day as he was boarding a plane bound for Honduras at Newark International Airport, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Daily Wire.
Carranza-Castellon, 26, crossed the border illegally in 2016 as a teenager, DHS said. At the time, federal authorities were experiencing an overwhelming influx of illegal border crossings.
He also has a rap sheet that includes a conviction for a fourth-degree sex offense and an arrest for lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, according to DHS. It is not clear why Carranza-Castellon was out on the streets and not behind bars at the time of the crash.
<div id="attachment_1124097" style="width: 242px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124097" class="size-medium wp-image-1124097" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-26T120046.541-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-26T120046.541-232x300.jpg 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-26T120046.541-445x576.jpg 445w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-26T120046.541.jpg 528w" sizes=" (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />DHS</div>
Now, DHS says it is putting an end to Carranza-Castellon&#8217;s &#8220;crime spree&#8221; in the United States, Acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“This criminal illegal alien tried to flee the country to avoid facing justice for his involvement in a fatal hit-and-run. This is not the first time this illegal alien broke our laws. He was previously arrested for lewd or lascivious acts with a child,” Bis said.
“He will face consequences for his crimes and then be swiftly removed from our country so he cannot continue to terrorize American communities. His crime spree is OVER,&#8221; she added.
A dramatic photo taken after the crash showed Carranza-Castellon&#8217;s gray 2011 Honda CR-V with a shattered windshield and a completely dented hood. There was also damage to the front bumper.
Police were able to locate the damaged vehicle later that day, tying Carranza-Castellon to the incident.
Longaberger died at the scene, local officials said.
Carranza-Castellon faces charges of manslaughter by vehicle and failure to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death.
He is currently being held in Elizabeth, New Jersey, while awaiting extradition to Maryland, officials said.

Untitled design – 2026-06-26T115036.573

EXCLUSIVE: Illegal Immigrant Attempts To Flee The Country After Causing Fatal Hit-And-Run

airport

Travel

President Donald Trump scored <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scotus-delivers-two-massive-immigration-wins-for-trump">major victories</a> in two Supreme Court decisions issued Thursday that will allow him to ramp up his ongoing crackdown on the border and illegal immigration.
The high court ruled that the federal government could turn away migrants seeking asylum at ports of entry, rejecting arguments that federal law requires officials to process every migrant who arrives at the border seeking asylum. In a separate ruling, the court opened the door for the Trump administration to proceed with its plans to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 350,000 Haitian immigrants and 6,000 Syrians from deportation.
The court&#8217;s two 6-3 decisions were made along ideological lines.
In its decision on TPS, the court rejected claims that the Trump administration&#8217;s decisions with regards to Haitians specifically were based on racial animus.
&#8220;Citing statements made by President Trump and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, one set of respondents advances an equal protection claim that Haiti’s TPS designation was terminated because of the racial makeup of that country’s population,&#8221; Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.
&#8220;But, ironically, one of respondents’ other arguments undermines the equal protection claim by offering a strong, race-neutral explanation for Haiti’s termination: namely, that the current administration, which has terminated every TPS designation that has come up for renewal, simply opposes the TPS program, at least as it has been implemented in the past,&#8221; Alito added.
Both groups, who have been shielded from deportation for over a decade, now &#8220;have to leave&#8221; the United States since they will lose their legal status, Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told The Daily Wire.
Many of the Haitian and Syrian nationals have yet to receive deportation orders and will likely remain in the United States until they are formally ordered removed by an immigration judge.
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) New York Field Office Deputy Director Scott Mechkowski said they&#8217;re not all yet targets of Trump&#8217;s mass deportation effort and that the process will take time.
&#8220;The cases get worked the way every other case gets worked, by priority, starting with criminal records and prior removal orders,&#8221; Mechkowski said.
Since Trump&#8217;s second term commenced, the president has sought to end TPS for 13 of the 17 countries with such protections. Only four — El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine — remain covered by the program, NPR reported.
White House border czar Tom Homan celebrated the ruling, saying the protections were abused.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been doing this since 1984. TPS has never been temporary. That&#8217;s why the whole statute exists: temporarily give people protection while their country&#8217;s in turmoil or after they suffer a hurricane. The problem is no administration has had the guts to actually follow that statute,&#8221; Homan said.
In the court&#8217;s ruling on the border, federal authorities will be able to turn back asylum seekers who are in Mexico and don&#8217;t actually set foot on American soil.
&#8220;The consequences of this are if the administration closes the border &#8230; folks who are kept from crossing the line cannot make any claims that they&#8217;ve got a right to be in the United States,&#8221; von Spakovsky said.
&#8220;It literally means stepping over the border line between the two countries. If you are one foot across the U.S. border, you&#8217;ve arrived in the U.S.,&#8221; he added.
Traditionally, federal officers at the border screened migrants and generally allowed those who expressed a fear of persecution into the country for further processing. Even if the fear claim was rejected during an initial interview with an asylum officer, the migrant could choose to have their case heard in an immigration court.
&#8220;In ordinary speech, no one would say that a person &#8216;arrives in&#8217; a place — for example, a house, a city, or a country — before the person enters that place,&#8221; Alito wrote in the majority opinion.
The Center for Immigration Studies&#8217; Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge, said the ruling &#8220;reaffirms the fact that we don&#8217;t have to let everybody in,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We do have the ability to actively keep them out.&#8221;
In response to an overwhelming influx of migrant crossings in 2016, the Obama administration began employing the practice of rejecting asylum seekers at the border through the process, which is known as &#8220;metering.&#8221; Lower courts eventually blocked the practice before Trump revived it, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/nx-s1-5844292/supreme-court-syrian-haitian-tps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to NPR.

US-RWANDA-DRC-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP

How Trump’s Big Day At SCOTUS Opens Door For Border Crackdown, Deportations

Supreme Court

The Trump administration has issued a new crackdown after it identified more than 15,500 individuals who each had sponsored at least three unaccompanied migrant children, raising concerns about potential trafficking.
Roughly 475,000 illegal immigrant children crossed the border alone during the Biden administration as officials lost contact with more than 300,000 of those who came without parents. The Trump administration has located roughly 146,000 of the missing children, some of whom were with criminals in labor or sex trafficking rings.
When children cross the border alone, Border Patrol agents send them to the Department of Health and Human Services&#8217; Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to help them connect with their sponsors in the United States.
Under the Biden administration, children &#8220;were released to adults who were rarely seen in person&#8221; and &#8220;were sent to addresses that were not visited or verified,&#8221; Acting ORR Director Angie Salazar said during a Thursday press conference alongside administration officials.
Salazar said the Trump administration identified 81,000 addresses that were used multiple times to take in migrant children, over 76,000 instances where mandatory safety checks were missing, and more than 97,000 cases that lacked background checks.
Now, in an effort to reform the system, ORR is requiring stronger checks, including fingerprint background checks, DNA testing when sponsors claim to be relatives of the children, income verification, and in-person home visits and meetings with sponsor applicants, Salazar said.
&#8220;I will move heaven and hell to go find these kids,&#8221; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
As part of the crackdown, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced charges against three alleged illegal immigrant &#8220;super sponsors&#8221; accused of trafficking more than a dozen unaccompanied minors by exploiting vulnerabilities in the sponsorship system under the Biden administration.
&#8220;This is one example, one indictment, but it is not unique,&#8221; Blanche said during Thursday&#8217;s presser.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: <a href="https://x.com/DAGToddBlanche?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DAGToddBlanche</a> says the Trump admin has identified more than 15,500 individuals who each sponsored at least three unaccompanied migrant children, raising concerns about potential trafficking.
Blanche also announced charges against three alleged illegal immigrant &#8220;super… <a href="https://t.co/XUN6KoEmie">pic.twitter.com/XUN6KoEmie</a>
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) <a href="https://x.com/JennieSTaer/status/2065069001642803476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Guatemalan illegal immigrants Maritza Cahuec Coc, her brother Carlos Cahuec Coc, and Gladys Marina Caal Chen allegedly engaged in a &#8220;wide-ranging conspiracy to smuggle more than a dozen children into the United States by scamming the system and exploiting the loopholes created by the last administration,&#8221; Blanche said.
Between December 2020 and October 2023, Maritza Cahuec Coc submitted sponsorship applications using others&#8217; identities to take custody of children she claimed were children of close relatives. Upon searching her Cleveland, Ohio, home two weeks ago, federal agents found eight other adults, nearly all of whom were in the United States illegally, and four minor children living there.
Some of the adults in the home were brought into the country as unaccompanied minors, authorities said.
&#8220;She used other people&#8217;s birth certificates, Guatemalan consular ID cards to deceive ORR, even submitting photographs of herself holding someone else&#8217;s ID. Several of those applications were successful, causing the ORR to release children to her care. This was a business, payments were deposited into her and her coconspirators&#8217; bank accounts,&#8221; Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva said.
&#8220;This case highlights the fraud and abuse perpetrated by illegal aliens and exposes how this government program was manipulated to bring children to the United States and deliver them to unvetted people,&#8221; he said.
Another &#8220;super sponsor,&#8221; Juan Tiul Xi, received a ten-year prison sentence Wednesday after he lied to take custody of a 14-year-old girl before he sexually assaulted her. The trafficker &#8220;arranged for a coyote&#8221; in September 2023 &#8220;to have a Guatemalan family&#8217;s 14-year-old girl illegally enter the United States, he submitted a sponsorship application and lied that the girl was his sister&#8221; in order to take custody of her, Duva said.
&#8220;He was entrusted with her care and sexually assaulted her multiple times. He told her the sex was repayment for bringing her to the United States,&#8221; Duva said.
&#8220;These cases tell a story. First, about the crimes that people commit to come to the United States illegally, the dangers and risks associated with that often long journey, including tragic consequences of vulnerable children being subjected to smugglers who exploit them often sexually and physically. And second, how criminals use a child protection program to commit fraud,&#8221; Duva added.

Justice Department Holds A Press Conference On Unaccompanied Children In The Immigration System

Trump Admin Makes Stunning Find While Investigating Biden’s Migrant Child Trafficking Crisis

Trump Admin Makes Stunning Finding While Investigating Biden's Migrant Child Trafficking Crisis

drug trafficking

illegal immigrants

The Biden administration failed to properly check the caregivers of illegal immigrant children who crossed into the United States alone for criminal histories as it scrambled to handle the influx at the border, according to a new federal watchdog report.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) only conducted 176 of the 256 required visits between September 2021 and August 2024 to check conditions at unlicensed facilities in Texas and Florida, <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11689/A-06-24-07001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General&#8217;s report released Wednesday. Due to the oversight failures, &#8220;new staff may have had access to children before the care provider could verify that the staff member did not have a criminal history or a history indicating a risk to unaccompanied alien children.&#8221;
&#8220;As a result, the health and safety of unaccompanied alien children may have been at risk,&#8221; the audit found.
The Biden administration hastily used the unlicensed facilities, which didn&#8217;t meet the normal requirements, to handle the overwhelming flow of roughly half a million migrant children who arrived in the United States alone.
When Border Patrol agents encounter unaccompanied migrant children at the border, they transfer them to the department&#8217;s ORR, which places them in shelters, foster care, or secure facilities. Some of those children eventually end up with sponsors in the United States, which include family members.
ORR is required to check on the facilities during its first three months of taking in migrant children and on a quarterly basis thereafter, according to the report. There is also a requirement to conduct checks no less than once every two years.
When conducting visits at the facility, ORR officials spend a week checking on conditions by reviewing case files and other documents, including staff files for background check information, and interviewing staff, children, and stakeholders.
In some cases, ORR found that facilities failed to conduct or document some FBI fingerprint-based background checks or let them expire. They also discovered that the care providers didn&#8217;t conduct Child Protective Services (CPS) clearances or conducted them after employees were already hired.
In March 2023, ORR officials inspected one of its largest care providers&#8217; 17 facilities in Texas for the first time since it was delicensed in August 2021, according to the report. During the audit, the federal inspectors found that the provider failed to conduct FBI background checks and only ran names through state criminal databases of more than 3,000 employees since their delicensing.
Four of the employees who failed risk evaluations were ultimately terminated, the report noted.
ORR said monitoring visits were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when they stopped conducting in-person visits and ran checks virtually, and an &#8220;influx of unaccompanied alien children through the southern border.&#8221;
The agency also said they didn&#8217;t have the resources or staffing to conduct timely checks &#8220;due to a hiring freeze and difficulty securing monitoring contractors.&#8221;
The Biden administration has also received intense scrutiny of its vetting of the sponsors of some of the children, who were released from their care. An earlier government watchdog report found that the Biden administration lost track of roughly 320,000 unaccompanied migrant kids, some of whom ended up in the hands of traffickers, gang members, and predators.

US-TEXAS-BORDER-IMMIGRATION-DETENTION

Biden Admin Placed Illegal Immigrant Children With Caregivers Who Never Had Criminal Background Checks

Federal authorities busted a massive cross-border drug tunnel leading to a fake California storefront that investigators say was used to move cocaine into the United States.
The tunnel, which stretched 1,933 feet from Tijuana, Mexico, to Otay Mesa, California, near the border port of entry, was 55 feet deep and 4.5 feet high, according to the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s office for the Southern District of California. The covert passageway led to a purported store called “Buy 4 Less&#8221; and was outfitted with reinforced walls, rail and ventilation systems, and electricity.
Authorities seized more than a ton of cocaine with an estimated value of $45 million during the operation, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/four-charged-trafficking-more-45-million-worth-cocaine-through-sophisticated-cross" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Justice Department.
WATCH FROM TODAY&#8217;S EPISODE OF MORNING WIRE:
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<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; border: 0; height: auto;" title="DW Player" src="https://public.dailywire.com/preroll-player/embed.html?playback-id=878ciUiQOSxwyREMR8Uh3tFajZxUlI9X&amp;ad-tag-url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubads.g.doubleclick.net%2Fgampad%2Fads%3Fiu%3D%2F61914415%2Fdw.video.article%26description_url%3Ddailywire.com%26url%3D%26tfcd%3D0%26npa%3D0%26sz%3D640x480%26min_ad_duration%3D5000%26max_ad_duration%3D60000%26gdfp_req%3D1%26unviewed_position_start%3D1%26vpos%3Dpreroll%26output%3Dvast%26plcmt%3D1%26env%3Dvp%26vpa%3Dclick%26vpmute%3D0%26impl%3Ds%26correlator%3D%5Bcachebuster%5D" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the bust shows the Trump administration&#8217;s &#8220;unwavering commitment to dismantling cartels, stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities, and keep American families safe.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sophisticated Cross-border Tunnel between Tijuana, Mexico and Otay Mesa, California" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PkMfeXh6C6Y" width="352" height="626" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Justice Department charged four individuals with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances as part of the investigation. One of the accused was also hit with charges of conspiracy to use a cross-border tunnel and conspiracy to import controlled substances.
Homeland Security Investigations agents began conducting surveillance on the Buy 4 Less warehouse starting in December 2025 after observing &#8220;suspicious activity there,&#8221; according to the Justice Department.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Yesterday, following a months-long investigation by the Homeland Security Task Force, authorities discovered a sophisticated cross-border tunnel connecting Tijuana, Mexico, to a building posing as a retail store in Otay Mesa, California, near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
As a… <a href="https://t.co/ZQ0rCYRx6d">pic.twitter.com/ZQ0rCYRx6d</a>
— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) <a href="https://x.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/2061867957601308879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Agents observed Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez and other store employees transporting large numbers of suitcases between the storefront and into vehicles or walking suitcases across the border into Mexico, the Justice Department said. The suitcases appeared to be empty, so agents didn&#8217;t act on them.
Agents then watched on May 29 as a man loaded three large, heavy objects into a white van that drove away from the store and parked near a mechanic&#8217;s shop. One of the accused, Brandon Escalante Sandoval, was allegedly conducting counter-surveillance nearby on his bicycle.
Escalante allegedly later went up to the van, removed the key hidden in the gas cap, got in, and began reversing it toward the rear of another van.
Both vans had their rear doors open to one another as people removed three deep freezers from one of the vehicles, then placed them in the bed of a truck and stuffed the truck with packages.
The loaded truck then drove away and parked nearby. Agents said they watched Escalante exit the truck, jump on his bike, throw the keys under the truck, and leave the area.
Jose Jimenez grabbed the keys and drove away in the truck before sheriff&#8217;s deputies stopped him. The deputies&#8217; K9 police dog alerted them to the presence of illicit drugs.
Agents later observed two men carrying heavy boxes out of the Buy 4 Less and into another truck. Hernandez then sped off in the truck before he was stopped by sheriff&#8217;s deputies, whose K9 again alerted them to the existence of controlled substances.
Deputies also stopped the second van and identified Antonio Cortez as the driver, when a police dog again alerted them to the presence of drugs.
In total, authorities seized more than 2,269 pounds of cocaine — or more than 1 ton, according to the Justice Department.
Authorities in southern California have discovered 99 cross-border tunnels since 1993, the most recent in 2022.
Following the drug seizure on May 29, a federal judge signed warrants authorizing the searches of the fake storefront and the mechanic shop. Agents found the tunnel exit hidden under the floor of a storage room during their search of the Buy 4 Less property.

Untitled design – 2026-06-02T143636.631

What Authorities Found Beneath This Store Led Straight To The Cartels

Cocaine

drug cartel

Tunnels

Texas authorities caught a group of six Chinese nationals dressed in camouflage as they tried to sneak across the southern border, officials said Wednesday.
Border Patrol agents found the Chinese illegal immigrants Tuesday night among a group of 12 border crossers attempting &#8220;to evade capture on a private ranch&#8221; in Maverick County, which is home to Eagle Pass, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Lt. Chris Olivarez said in an X post.
Chinese illegal immigrants are considered &#8220;special interest aliens&#8221; due to national security concerns and often face more scrutiny from federal authorities.
Earlier on Tuesday, DPS tracking K-9 Bona and her handler helped Border Patrol locate a group of seven illegal immigrants from India, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, and Ecuador on a private ranch in the same county. They handed the group over to Border Patrol.
Photos shared by Olivarez showed the Chinese group dressed in head-to-toe camo as they sat on the ground surrounded by officers.
Olivarez said such &#8220;apprehensions highlight the ongoing efforts in deterring criminal activity along the southern border and the critical partnership between Texas DPS and our federal partners under Operation Lone Star.&#8221;
&#8220;Border security is national security,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://x.com/hashtag/NEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NEW</a>: SPECIAL INTEREST ALIENS APPREHENDED IN MAVERICK CO—TEXAS DPS K-9 BONA ASSISTS IN TRACKING GROUP ON PRIVATE RANCH
On 5/26/26, <a href="https://x.com/TxDPS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TxDPS</a> Tracking K-9 Bona and her handler assisted the U.S. Border Patrol in Maverick County, tracking, locating, and apprehending seven illegal… <a href="https://t.co/zqKPbdEFJJ">pic.twitter.com/zqKPbdEFJJ</a>
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) <a href="https://x.com/LtChrisOlivarez/status/2059686802735133133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The arrests come as the Trump administration touts historically low levels of illegal border crossings while warning that the Mexican drug cartels are increasingly attempting to move migrants through more covert smuggling routes.
Unlike under the Biden administration, illegal immigrants aren&#8217;t released into the United States pending immigration proceedings.
Officials say the tougher enforcement environment has led to a rise in the number of gotaways, or illegal immigrants who evade capture.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security recruited roughly 200 Border Patrol agents from both the southern and northern borders for 30-day volunteer duties to support overwhelmed colleagues in Laredo, Texas, who are trying to chase down the “gotaways,&#8221; The Daily Wire previously reported.
A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection said the region has become &#8220;a target&#8221; due to shifting smuggling routes. 
While Border Patrol agents sometimes detect gotaways through sensors and cameras, officials acknowledge the true number of gotaways remains unknown.
Roughly 2 million gotaways entered the United States during the Biden administration, <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/2024/09/23/startling-stats-factsheet-biden-and-harris-border-crisis-still-wreaking-havoc-at-the-borders-and-in-the-interior/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the House Homeland Security Committee.

Untitled design – 2026-05-27T142857.760

Camouflage-Clad Chinese Illegals Caught At Border

China

Texas

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