HAVANA/KINGSTON — Hurricane Melissa slammed into Cuba early on Wednesday, hours after causing devastation in neighboring Jamaica as the strongest-ever storm on record to hit that Caribbean island nation.
Melissa hit the southern coast of eastern Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
&#8220;Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and landslides, and damaging hurricane winds are ongoing this morning,&#8221; the center said.
Around 735,000 people were evacuated from their homes in eastern Cuba as the storm approached, authorities said. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned on Tuesday that the storm would cause &#8220;significant damage&#8221; and urged people to heed evacuation orders.
Melissa had weakened to a still dangerous Category 3 hurricane after roaring ashore near Jamaica&#8217;s southwestern town of New Hope on Tuesday, packing sustained winds of up to 185 mph, well above the 157 mph threshold for Category 5, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
&#8216;SOME LOSS OF LIFE EXPECTED,&#8217; JAMAICAN LEADER SAYS
In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left &#8220;underwater,&#8221; an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power.
&#8220;The reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well, and damage to our road infrastructure,&#8221; Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on CNN after the storm had passed.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="http://dailywire.com/Subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Holness said the government had not received news of any confirmed deaths from the storm, but given the strength of the hurricane and the extent of the damage, &#8220;we are expecting that there would be some loss of life.&#8221;
As daylight returned to Jamaica early on Wednesday, eyewitness reports and videos on social media showed swaths of downed trees, washed-out roads, and roofs tossed about fields and roadways.
Video of the airport in Montego Bay showed inundated seating areas, broken glass, and collapsed ceilings.
Meteorologists at AccuWeather said Melissa ranked as the third most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean, after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988 &#8211; the last major storm to make landfall in Jamaica.
Melissa&#8217;s winds subsided as the storm drifted past the mountains of Jamaica, lashing highland communities vulnerable to landslides and flooding.
Local media reported at least three deaths in Jamaica during storm preparations, and a disaster coordinator suffered a stroke at the onset of the storm and was rushed to the hospital. Late on Tuesday, many areas remained cut off.
&#8220;Our country has been ravaged by Hurricane Melissa but we will rebuild and we will do so even better than before,&#8221; Prime Minister Holness said early on Wednesday.
In the Bahamas, next after Cuba in Melissa&#8217;s path to the northeast, the government ordered evacuations of residents in the southern portions of that archipelago.
Farther to the east, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic had faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities there said.
CUBA BRACES
The storm&#8217;s center, churning with violent wind gusts over 125 mph and heavy rain, slammed into Guama, a rural, mountainous area 25 miles west of Santiago de Cuba, the island&#8217;s second most populous city.
Authorities had shut down power to virtually all of eastern Cuba, evacuated vulnerable areas, and had asked residents to shelter in place in the provincial capital, Santiago, a city of 400,000 people.
Videos posted by local media showed torrents of brown rainwater rushing down roads through dark towns at the base of Cuba&#8217;s Sierra Maestra mountains, not far from the city.
Authorities reported widespread flooding of lowland areas early on Wednesday from Santiago to Guantanamo, where upwards of 35% of the population had been evacuated.
The timing could not be worse for the communist-run Caribbean island. Cuba is already suffering from food, fuel, electricity, and medicine shortages that have complicated life for many, prompting record-breaking migration off the island since 2021.
President Diaz-Canel said Cuba had nonetheless mobilized 2,500 electric line workers to begin recovery immediately following the storm&#8217;s passage across the island later on Wednesday.
The hurricane was not expected to directly affect the capital of Havana.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood in Havana, Zahra Burton in Kingston, Sarah Morland and Brendan O&#8217;Boyle in Mexico City, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Emma Farge in Geneva and Anmol Choubey and Ishaan Arora in BengaluruWriting by Andrew HeavensEditing by Frances Kerry and Peter Graff)

Aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa Hits Cuba Hours After Devastating Jamaica

Category 5

Cuba

Hurricane Melissa

Jamaica

KINGSTON/HAVANA — Hurricane Melissa began lashing Jamaica with violent gusts on Monday as the U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded it to a Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of 165 mph, the largest on record to slam into the Caribbean island.
Cuba, the eastern Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos also lie in the expected path of the storm, which will make its way north and east towards Bermuda later this week.
The hurricane is expected to stay well offshore of the United States, bringing only rough surf and minor coastal flooding to the U.S. East Coast.
On Monday at midday (1600 GMT), Melissa was still 145 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 330 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, according to the NHC in Miami.
The hurricane was creeping west at just 3 mph, the center said, but would likely make a north-northeastward turn through Jamaica late on Monday and into Tuesday.
The storm&#8217;s slow movement over unusually tepid Caribbean water had contributed to its ballooning size and strength, the center&#8217;s forecasters said, threatening Jamaica with days of never-before-seen catastrophic winds and as much as 3 feet of rain.
&#8220;This will result in extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities,&#8221; the NHC said.
Nearby Haiti and the Dominican Republic have already faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities in those island nations said.
Damian Anderson, a teacher from Hagley Gap, a town nestled in Jamaica&#8217;s soaring Blue Mountains, said impassable roads had already cut off his community.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t move,&#8221; Anderson, 47, said. &#8220;We&#8217;re scared. We&#8217;ve never seen a multi-day event like this before.&#8221;
Jamaica has seen many large hurricanes in the past, including Category 4 Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, but a direct hit from a Category 5 would be unprecedented, said Evan Thompson, of Jamaica&#8217;s Meteorological Service.
Category 5 is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds exceeding 157 mph.
Much of the eastern half of Cuba also battened down ahead of the storm&#8217;s expected landfall late on Tuesday.
Cuban authorities said they had evacuated upwards of 500,000 people living in coastal and mountainous areas vulnerable to heavy winds and flooding.
More than 250,000 people were brought to shelters around Santiago de Cuba, the island&#8217;s second-largest city, which lies square in the crosshairs of the hurricane&#8217;s predicted path.
On Monday, authorities cancelled schools, buses, and trains until further notice across eastern Cuba ahead of the storm&#8217;s arrival.
The hurricane was not expected to directly impact the capital of Havana.
(Reporting by Zahra Burton in Kingston and Dave Sherwood in Havana; writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Nia Williams)

Hurricane Melissa approaches, in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa Begins to Pummel Jamaica As ‘Catastrophic’ Category 5 Storm Ahead Of Landfall

Hurricane

WASHINGTON—A bill to honor a prominent Cuban anti-communist has bipartisan congressional support.
Cory Booker isn&#8217;t having it.
The New Jersey Democrat blocked a bill that would rename the street outside the Cuban Embassy after the late anti-communist Cuban activist Oswaldo Payá. Payá, who founded the Christian Liberation Movement in the 1980s, died in a 2021 car crash, that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights determined to be an intentional act by the Cuban government against Payá, according to the New York Times.
The bill to name the street “Oswaldo Payá Way” in his honor has been introduced multiple times, most recently by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Cruz described the late activist as a “Cuban dissident who fought against the communist regime and who stood up and fought for free speech for democracy and for human rights. He was a thorn in the side of the Cuban communist regime his entire life.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>
Booker called Payá an “extraordinary hero&#8221; who should be honored, but said it should be up to the Washington, D.C. City Council to rename the street.
“His work should be recognized more by our nation, and I would support the D.C. Council, their elected representatives, if it decided through their democratic process to work with the senator and the Democratic sponsor to rename the street,” Booker said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“My objection is simply right now about Washington, D.C.’s, right to control their own local affairs. This objection is about home rule and self-governance. Now it is true, as my colleague said, that this has passed through this chamber multiple times,” the Democrat continued.
Cruz, whose family fled Cuba&#8217;s communist regime, rebutted Booker’s argument. The Texas Republican said Booker&#8217;s opposition is simply about opposing President Donald Trump, who faced Democratic pushback for the federal law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital.
“The purpose here is to put pressure on the Cuban Communist regime, and naming the street does that. Now, Mr. President, as I pointed out, Sen. Booker voted for this identical legislation just two years ago, this bipartisan legislation that leads to the obvious question, what has changed?” Cruz said on the floor.
“And one thing has changed. The resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, when Senator Booker voted for this bipartisan legislation, Joe Biden was the president. Today, Donald J. Trump is the president, and unfortunately, our Democrat colleagues have decided bipartisan cooperation is no longer something they&#8217;re interested in. Their party is instead unified behind one principle, which is that they hate Donald J. Trump,” the Republican continued.
Booker, who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spartacus-cory-booker-breaks-record-for-longest-senate-floor-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke the record</a> for the longest-ever Senate floor speech, has a history of grand political gestures.

Meet the Press – Season 74

Booker Blocks Bipartisan Bill Honoring Anti-Communist Hero

Communism

Cory Booker

Dick Durbin

Senate

Ted Cruz

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Checks In At Baltimore ICE Office After Release From Jail

The Left Still Won’t Let Go Of Their Worst Poster Boy

Deportations

illegal immigrants

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Leftists

Maryland

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Uganda

President Donald Trump earlier this month announced ban on travel from a dozen countries and partial restrictions from seven more in an effort to protect the United States from terrorist and public safety threats.
The ban fully restricts or limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries “found to be deficient with regards to screening and vetting and determined to pose a very high risk to the United States” including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Seven countries will face partial travel restrictions, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. The White House says the order makes exceptions for lawful permanent residents, people with existing visas, certain visa types, and anyone whose entry would support American national interests.
According to the White House, the goal of the ban is to pressure foreign governments to cooperate on security, help enforce United States immigration laws, and support key national security and counterterrorism priorities.
The restrictions follow a January executive order in which national security agencies were told to assess the security risks of various countries. That review led to the current list.
Here are the reasons the Trump administration says each country is facing restrictions:
<h3>Full Restrictions:</h3>
Afghanistan
Taliban-controlled Afghanistan lacks a reliable government to issue valid passports and civil documents and does not have adequate screening and vetting measures, according to the Trump administration. Furthermore, Afghanistan has a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of nearly 10% and a student (F), vocational (M), and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of nearly 30%.
Burma
Burma has extremely high visa overstay rates — over 27% for tourist/business visas (B1/B2) and more than 42% for student (F), vocational (M), and exchange visitor (J) visas. Burma has also refused to take back its citizens who are ordered to be deported from the U.S. The government added that Burma has “historically not cooperated with the United States to accept back their removable nationals.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=How+Trump+And+Rubio+Put+America+First+In+100+Days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HOW TRUMP AND RUBIO PUT AMERICA FIRST IN 100 DAYS</a>
Chad
Chad has one of the worst visa overstay rates, with nearly 50% for business/tourist (B1/B2) visas and over 55% for student (F), vocational (M), and exchange (J) visas in 2023. In 2022, the B1/B2 overstay rate was also high at 37.12%. The U.S. says these numbers indicate “a blatant disregard for U.S. immigration laws.”
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo, which has been embroiled in conflict for more than 30 years, also has a visa overstay issue with a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of almost 30% and student (F) visas, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visas, overstay rate of about 35%.
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, located in central Africa, had a business/tourist (B1/B2) overstay rate of 21.98% and student (F) visas, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 70.18%.
Eritrea
The United States questions the competence of the central authority for issuance of passports or civil documents in Eritrea, and says it does not have access to criminal records for Eritrean nationals. The east African country has also historically refused to accept back its deported citizens. Its tourist/business (B1/B2) visa overstay rate is about 20% and student (F) visas, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate is about 55%.
Haiti
Currently overrun by murderous gangs, Haiti had hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens flood into the United States during the Biden administration. According to the Trump administration the “influx harms American communities by creating acute risks of increased overstay rates, establishment of criminal networks, and other national security threats.” Haiti also lacks “a central authority with sufficient availability and dissemination of law enforcement information necessary to ensure its nationals do not undermine the national security of the United States.” Haiti had a tourist/business (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 31.38% and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of about 25.05%.
Iran
Iran, a leading state sponsor of terrorism, routinely fails to cooperate with the United States government in identifying security risks and has historically failed to accept back its nationals eligible for deportation.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-recovers-bodies-of-two-american-hostages-in-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDF RECOVERS BODIES OF TWO AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN GAZA</a>
Libya
Libya lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents. The country’s historical terrorism presence amplifies the risk of Libyan nationals entering the United States.
Somalia
Somalia also lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents, does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures, and has historically refused to take back its nationals eligible for deportation. The Trump administration says Somalia differs from the other countries due to its government lacking command and control of its territory, “which greatly limits the effectiveness of its national capabilities in a variety of respects.” Somalia is also a “terrorist safe haven” where radicals travel to join terrorist groups that pose a threat to the United States.
Sudan
Sudan, located in northern Africa, lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and lacks appropriate screening and vetting measures. Sudan had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 26.30% and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of about 28.40%.
Yemen
Yemen, which is currently overrun by the U.S.-designated terror group, the Houthis, lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures. The Trump administration has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-he-will-stop-airstrikes-on-houthis-after-terror-group-capitulated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombed the group for weeks</a> in an effort to restore global trade that the Iran-backed proxy disrupted.
<h3></h3>
<h3>Partial Restrictions:</h3>
Burundi
Burundi, located in eastern Africa, had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 15.35% and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of about 17.52%.
Cuba
Cuba, a designated state sponsor of terrorism, does not cooperate or share sufficient law enforcement information with the United States and has historically refused to accept back its removable nationals. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-opens-hearing-on-chinese-surveillance-targeting-u-s-from-cuba?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=House+Opens+Hearing+On+Chinese+Surveillance+Targeting+U.S.+From+Cuba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cuba</a> had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 7.69% and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 18.75%.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-says-prepared-deal-with-greta-thunbergs-flotilla-en-route-gaza?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=IDF+Says+It%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Prepared%E2%80%99+To+Deal+With+Greta+Thunberg%E2%80%99s+Flotilla+En+Route+To+Gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDF SAYS IT’S ‘PREPARED’ TO DEAL WITH GRETA THUNBERG’S FLOTILLA EN ROUTE TO GAZA</a>
Laos
Laos, located in southeast Asia, had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 34.77% and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 6.49%. Laos has also historically failed to accept back its removable nationals.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, located in western Africa, has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals. It had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 15.43 percent and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 35.83 percent.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gazans-flood-the-streets-to-protest-hamas-as-idf-operations-intensify?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Gazans+Flood+The+Streets+To+Protest+Hamas+As+IDF+Operations+Intensify" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GAZANS FLOOD THE STREETS TO PROTEST HAMAS AS IDF OPERATIONS INTENSIFY</a>
Togo
Togo, also located in western Africa, had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 19.03 percent and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 35.05 percent.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia, had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 15.35 percent and a student (F) visa, vocational (M) visas, and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 21.74 percent.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
Venezuela
Venezuela, a socialist-run country  known for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/venezuela-frees-u-s-air-force-veteran-in-bid-to-ease-tensions-with-united-states?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Venezuela+Frees+U.S.+Air+Force+Veteran+In+Bid+To+Ease+Tensions+With+United+States" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrongfully detaining</a> American citizens, has historically refused to accept back its removable nationals. It also does not have a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and lacks appropriate screening and vetting measures. Venezuela had a business/tourist (B1/B2) visa overstay rate of 9.83 percent.

Donald Trump

Trump Travel Ban 2.0: Here’s Everything You Need To Know

Afghanistan

Haiti

Iran

Sudan

Venezuela

Yemen

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives convened a Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security hearing entitled, “Beijing’s Air, Space, and Maritime Surveillance from Cuba: A Growing Threat to the Homeland.”
In June 2023, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/cuba-to-host-secret-chinese-spy-base-focusing-on-u-s-b2fed0e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, “China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for China to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island.” The facility would reportedly enable Chinese intelligence services to monitor electronic communications on the American mainland.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, stated:
<blockquote>
Mounting evidence suggests that the Chinese Communist Party is expanding its strategic partnership with the totalitarian communist regime in Cuba to build advanced surveillance infrastructure capable of targeting the United States. This collaboration represents one of the most brazen intelligence operations ever attempted near the American mainland, and places our military operations, commercial activity, and communications squarely in the crosshairs of a hostile foreign power.
Recent satellite imagery and open-source analysis suggest the presence of several Chinese-funded signals intelligence facilities across Cuba. The possibility that these sites are capable of monitoring U.S. military operations, commercial shipping, space launches and sensitive communications is deeply troubling.
</blockquote>
“A mere 90 miles off our shores, the United States’ most formidable 21st century competitor, the People’s Republic of China, has found fertile soil to deploy its arsenal of espionage, digital surveillance, and maritime competition,” Dr. Ryan C. Berg, the director of Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the subcommittee. “When Soviet influence diminished on the island following the end of the Cold War, eyes, ears, and antennas stayed. In many ways, China filled the void.”
“CSI has positively identified about four specific facilities as highly likely sites supporting Chinese intelligence operations targeting the U.S. &#8230; As you can see &#8230; our adversaries are at our doorstep,” he declared.
“We should not be funding a regime that turns around and opens its doors to our greatest adversaries,” Gimenez said. “If reports of rising Chinese activity in Cuba are accurate, then this is no longer just a diplomatic issue. It is a direct security risk to the American people.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v0rULLTw7l8?si=7LfTK4dydc3N3EN6" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Cuba and China two flags together textile cloth, fabric texture

House Opens Hearing On Chinese Surveillance Targeting U.S. From Cuba

China

Global Politics

National Intelligence

Politics

Spying

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from ending a Biden-era program that provided legal status to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said that the Trump administration could not end former President Joe Biden’s CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela) immigration parole program without granting a case-by-case review to its more than 500,000 recipients. In her decision, Talwani sided with a number of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-tells-hundreds-of-thousands-of-biden-paroled-aliens-in-u-s-to-leave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHNV recipients</a> who had sued the Trump administration over the decision to end the program early on April 24.  
“The immediate impact of the shortening of their grant of parole is to cause their lawful status in the United States to lapse early — in less than two weeks. If their parole status is allowed to lapse, Plaintiffs will be faced with two unfavorable options: continue following the law and leave the country on their own, or await removal proceedings,” Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote in a 41-page ruling. 
Talwani said that the Trump administration hadn’t considered humanitarian reasons when it moved to end the program. 
Biden began the program first for Venezuelans in 2022 before expanding it to include the other three countries in 2023. Each month, this allowed tens of thousands of people from each country to obtain legal protections in the United States, known as immigration parole. The Biden administration billed the program as a way to decrease illegal immigration from the CHNV countries by creating “legal pathways” for those immigrants to use instead of trying to unlawfully cross the southern border. 
Each recipient was supposed to be vetted for national security purposes and had to prove they had a financial sponsor already in the United States. The Trump administration has argued that the Biden administration poorly vetted those it allowed into the country. Some data from the program showed evidence of fraud, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/biden-admin-may-restart-immigration-program-paused-for-possible-fraud-rcna168440" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one review</a> found that 3,218 people applied to sponsor around 101,000 migrants. 
President Donald Trump directed the program to be shut down, and the Department of Homeland Security published a <a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-05128.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notice</a> in the Federal Register on March 25 revealing its decision to terminate the program by April 24. 
“These programs do not serve a significant public benefit, are not necessary to reduce levels of illegal immigration, did not sufficiently mitigate the domestic effects of illegal immigration, are not serving their intended purposes, and are inconsistent with the Administration’s foreign policy goals,” DHS said in its notice. 
The department added that it planned to remove individuals from the program after the April 24 expiration and encouraged recipients to voluntarily leave the country before that deadline.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called the ruling an example of &#8220;judicial tyranny.&#8221;
&#8220;Marxist judge orders federal government to provide amnesty to half a million illegal aliens that Biden criminally flew into American towns,&#8221; he posted on X. &#8220;This is a legal insurrection against democracy itself.&#8221;

Deported migrants from the USA in Venezuela

Judge Says Trump Admin Cannot End Biden Program That Gave Legal Status To 500,000+ Migrants

Courts

Department of Homeland Security

Joe Biden

Nicaragua

Trump Administration

President Kennedy Delivering Speech

What We Learned From The JFK Files

assasination

Federal Government

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

President Trump

On Monday, while touring the Southern Border, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke about the potential of the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba (GTMO) housing violent illegal immigrants: “It’s the perfect place to provide for migrants who are traveling out of our country … but also hardened criminals.”
U.S. Marines were flown in to erect temporary tent facilities while discussions are currently ongoing with U.S. contractors to convert the base to be able to process and detain up to 30,000 illegals. Then, on Tuesday, the Trump administration deported the first batch of illegal immigrants from America to Guantanamo Bay.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The first flight of high-threat criminal illegals aliens has arrived at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These criminals trampled over our previously wide open border to bring violence and mayhem to our communities. President Trump has taken swift action to expel them… <a href="https://t.co/Kml8WX3kIK">pic.twitter.com/Kml8WX3kIK</a>
&mdash; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1887470604690882681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
This action is but the latest use of the controversial Caribbean military installation. Modern Americans know it as the austere home for middle eastern terrorists post September 11, 2001, but its history dates back to the turn of the previous century.
In 1898, in support of the island’s drive for independence, the U.S. invaded Cuba during our war with Spain. In 1901, the victorious Americans nominally recognized Cuban independence, although the U.S. still had a say in internal Cuban affairs; this agreement was formalized in the 1903 Treaty of Cuban-American Relations and then again in 1934. In return for our assistance and recognition, the U.S. extracted a permanent lease for Guantanamo Bay, and the naval base was subsequently constructed.
Guantanamo encompasses some 45 square miles of land and water, and is manned by 8,500 sailors and Marines. The bay is strategically located on Cuba’s southeastern coast. With a substantial harbor as well as two airfields, it offers our military an excellent staging area from which to patrol Caribbean waters as well as closely monitor activities in South America. GTMO also serves as an ideal winter training ground for the Atlantic Fleet. It is, in fact, the oldest overseas permanent U.S. military base.
When the communists under Fidel Castro came into power in 1959, Havana declared the base illegal and demanded that it be closed, the land returned to Cuba, and U.S. forces leave the island. These calls continue to be ignored to this day.
<div id="attachment_872737" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-872737" class="size-large wp-image-872737" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2162696407-864x576.jpg" alt="GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - JUNE 25: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been reviewed by the U.S. Military prior to transmission.) The welcome sign at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on June 25, 2023 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. At the prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay where media members are no longer allowed, 30 men still remain imprisoned while five separate war crime prosecutions involving some of the detainees proceed within Guantanamo's war court none have yet reached a trial date. (Photo by Elise Swain/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2162696407-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2162696407-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2162696407-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2162696407.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Elise Swain/Getty Images</div>
GTMO took on special significance after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. U.S. operations against Islamic extremist fighters in Afghanistan and elsewhere yielded prisoners and intelligence assets who needed a place to be imprisoned and interrogated. As the Bush administration declared that GTMO as a military base on foreign soil was outside the realm of usual jurisprudence, and that those captured on the battlefield were enemy combatants for whom Constitutional protections are inapplicable, GTMO was used as a de facto POW camp. The first detainees arrived in January 2002.
At first, the Bush administration kept the detentions a secret. Eventually, however, a FOIA request filed by the Associated Press compelled the Department of Defense to admit that it was holding, at its height, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/guantanamo-bay-detainees.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">780 prisoners</a> on the base. Among them were the most fanatical and dangerous individuals scooped up in the so-called “War On Terror” including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, widely regarded as the chief architect of the 9/11 attacks. As of January 2025, 15 prisoners remain in custody.
Given the nebulous nature of what rights prisoners at Guantanamo Bay do and do not have, the facility remains the subject of controversy. Civil libertarians declare the facility a violation of human rights, in which “enhanced interrogation” (some call “torture”) is carried out to extract intelligence. Defenders of the base and its methods offer that, as those in custody were picked up on the battlefield, yet are part of no nation or national armed force, they are nothing more than terrorists for whom Geneva Convention protocols do not apply.
But in the landmark case Boumediene v. Bush, in 2008 the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, declared that detainees did have the right to habeas corpus and other due process claims, underscoring tension between the government and civil libertarians. In writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/washington/12cnd-gitmo.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>: “To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say &#8216;what the law is&#8217;.” 
In that vein, Democrat Presidents Obama and Biden have over the years vowed to close the detention facilities as they considered them violations of international law and civil liberties. Indeed, Obama went so far as to call it a “sad chapter in American history” during the 2008 Presidential campaign. And yet, tellingly, once in office, he allowed the prison to continue albeit with occasional temporary restrictions for review purposes. One gets the feeling that, once he was actually in the Oval Office and the books were opened to him, Obama may have had his own cathartic Richard Pryor moment, wherein the comedian famously <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txp8B4ek_kk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">observed</a> how his naiveté was shattered when filming a movie set in an actual state penitentiary. “I talked to the brothers. I talked to ‘em, and thank God we got penitentiaries!”
No matter where on the spectrum one rests regarding GTMO’s necessity versus civil liberties, at the moment Guantanamo remains the only answer to what to do with the especially bad hombres once they are caught in our nets — be they in the Hindu Kush or the streets of El Paso. Like Mr. Pryor, whose eyes were opened when he saw the true nature of the men he once considered victims of an oppressive state, one must think that, its darker corners aside, Guantanamo is a necessary conditional solution when fighting evil incarnate. And it must also be considered for its deterrence aspect. One must now imagine any gangbanger wishing to cross illegally into the U.S. now, with the new sheriff in town, may cast his teardrop-tatted eyes towards GTMO and ask if that is really where he wishes to spend the rest of his days.
As with much of the whirlwind first few weeks of the Trump Presidency, there is a method to the madness. Eventually, 30,000 undesirables with no business moving within our borders will be off our streets and tossed into a prison that has seen some of the worst enemies of not just the U.S. Government but the American people pass through its barbed-wire gates.
A powerful message will be sent to those who seek to violate our national sovereignty that a prison cell in one of America’s most notorious prisons awaits should they test the resolve of this new President and those like SecDef Hegseth and others whom he has hand-picked to run this nation with him.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id%3D55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3K_WhJtiUZw7LF1PwSIHtH">books</a>. Follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02hy-lB4UuAlHo7FfD_FIQ">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/bschaeffer123&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0P6pRoAqcBhUQ1W0qwN5rH">X/Twitter</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

250130-D-PM193-1594_(54295724002) copy

Why Guantanamo Bay Is ‘The Perfect Place’ For Violent Illegals

Why Guantanamo Bay Is 'The Perfect Place' For Violent Illegals

9/11

Guantanamo Bay

Pete Hegseth

Radical Islamic Terror

U.S. Navy

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth released footage early Thursday morning showing the first flight of “high threat” criminal illegal immigrants being dropped off at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/guantanamo-bay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guantanamo Bay</a> for detention.
Hegseth posted a video on X showing U.S. military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel escorting illegal immigrants off a plane and into vans for transportation to the detention camp. The Trump administration announced last week that the U.S. would send illegal immigrants who committed violent crimes to the military prison. The Department of Defense said the plane arrived sometime Wednesday, while other media outlets reported that the flight landed on Tuesday.
“The first flight of high-threat criminal illegals aliens has arrived at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” Hegseth wrote. “These criminals trampled over our previously wide open border to bring violence and mayhem to our communities. President Trump has taken swift action to expel them immediately from our county, and our nation’s finest are helping lead the way in this critical mission.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
The first flight of high-threat criminal illegals aliens has arrived at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These criminals trampled over our previously wide open border to bring violence and mayhem to our communities. President Trump has taken swift action to expel them… <a href="https://t.co/Kml8WX3kIK">pic.twitter.com/Kml8WX3kIK</a>
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1887470604690882681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4055497/first-flight-of-illegal-aliens-arrives-at-guantanamo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that each of the ten illegal immigrants transported were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the White House designated as a foreign terrorist organization last month. The gang has a reported presence in at least 16 states. 
The Defense Department said that the gang members were not being held alongside Islamic terrorist detainees but in empty detention facilities. 
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GITMO, is a U.S. military prison within a U.S. Naval base off the coast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was established after the 2001 terrorist attacks to hold terrorism suspects and &#8220;illegal enemy combatants.&#8221;
Previously, Hegseth <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4055497/first-flight-of-illegal-aliens-arrives-at-guantanamo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Guantanamo may be used to hold illegals while they work out an agreement to send them back to their home countries. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s folks who may be in transit to their home country or a safe, third harbor country, and it&#8217;s taking a little time to move with that processing and with the paperwork,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Better they be held at a safe location like Guantanamo Bay.&#8221; 
The flight comes after President Donald Trump issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/expanding-migrant-operations-center-at-naval-station-guantanamo-bay-to-full-capacity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memorandum</a> on January 29 directing Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to take action to send “high-priority criminal aliens” to Guantanamo. 
“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-to-use-guantanamo-bay-for-illegal-alien-detention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> before signing the executive memo. “We don’t want them coming back so we’re going to send them out to Guantanamo. This is going to double our capacity immediately.”
While the base is currently equipped to hold 120 illegal immigrants, the Trump administration says it will expand capacity to be able to hold 30,000. Up to 500 Marines are also expected to be stationed at the base to help with operations and security.

Screen Shot 2025-02-06 at 7.18.28 AM

WATCH: U.S. Military Drops Off First Flight Of ‘High Priority’ Illegal Immigrants At GITMO

Department of Defense

Illegal Immigation

Kristi Noem

National Security

Tren De Aragua

White House

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> faced backlash on Tuesday after he lifted the designation of state sponsor of terrorism off of communist Cuba.
&#8220;The Government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding 6-month period,&#8221; Biden claimed in a certification lifting the designation.
Biden added: &#8220;The Government of Cuba has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.&#8221;
Rep. Micheal McCaul (R-TX), Chairman Emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, responded to the news by saying that Biden&#8217;s move would &#8220;only embolden the country’s brutal communist regime as it seeks to destabilize the globe and undermine democracy.&#8221;
&#8220;Under his watch, the Castro regime has brutally repressed and starved its own people, sent its citizens to help Putin’s army destroy Ukraine, and hosted a Beijing spy base, from which the CCP can surveil Americans and expand its malign influence,&#8221; he added.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) compared Biden to former President Barack Obama, saying that he is finishing out his final days in office &#8220;with rank appeasement of the Cuban regime.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25</a>
&#8220;They push these policies both because they believe in them and to undermine the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These moves do incredible damage to American national security and send a message to our adversaries that they can rely on outgoing Democrat administrations – and wait out pressure from Republican administrations – to continue engaging in terrorism and other aggression against Americans.&#8221;
“Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits,&#8221; he added. &#8220;The terrorism advanced by the Cuban regime has not ceased. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage from the decision.”
Other notable responses included:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In his final days as President, Joe Biden emboldens and rewards the dictatorial Cuban regime by removing Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.
Biden is a communist sympathizer and his actions are shameful.
— Jeanette Nuñez (@LtGovNunez) <a href="https://twitter.com/LtGovNunez/status/1879354024132264162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joe Biden’s parting gift to dictators and terrorists around the world: taking Cuba off the State Sponsor of Terrorism List and making it easier for them to threaten our national security. This is reckless and dangerous.
Biden’s appeasement is feeding right into the hands of…
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenRickScott/status/1879247415246745778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Once again, the Democrats have BETRAYED the Cubans!
Shame on the entire Biden Administration for taking Cuba off the State Sponsor of Terrorism list.
Cuba is a LEADING sponsor of Terrorism, harboring, training &amp; enabling Hamas, Hezbollah &amp; other terrorist enemies of the USA. <a href="https://t.co/4u9slVJCae">pic.twitter.com/4u9slVJCae</a>
— Rep. María Elvira Salazar (@RepMariaSalazar) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMariaSalazar/status/1879272392998158769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2025</a></blockquote>

President Joe Biden

Biden Slammed For Lifting State Sponsor Of Terrorism Designation On Cuba

Hurricane Rafael was upgraded to &#8220;major&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hurricane" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hurricane</a> status as it approached the western coast of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cuba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cuba</a> in the Caribbean on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Data showed the storm with 115 miles per hour sustained maximum winds, which put it in the Category 3 range on the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/mfl/saffirsimpson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale</a>. Such a storm is considered a &#8220;major&#8221; hurricane with the potential to cause &#8220;devastating damage.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
2pm EST update on Category 3 Hurricane <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rafael?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rafael</a> as it closes in on western <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cuba?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cuba</a> 
See <a href="https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ">https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ</a> for more information <a href="https://t.co/eLWOAGz4L6">pic.twitter.com/eLWOAGz4L6</a>
&mdash; National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1854237480553533759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the immediate future, Rafael was expected to bring &#8220;life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding to portions of western Cuba,&#8221; NHC <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT3+shtml/061755.shtml?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a 1 p.m. ET bulletin. The agency said some strengthening was likely to happen before landfall over western Cuba in the afternoon.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Just a couple of weeks ago, Cuba got <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8elzx8dg7zo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hit by Hurricane Oscar</a> as the island nation was grappling with a massive power outage.
NHC said Rafael is expected to weaken over Cuba before emerging into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane. Weather impacts in the forecast for the southeastern United States include tropical storm conditions in parts of the lower and middle <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Florida</a> Keys into Wednesday evening.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here are the 10 AM EST Wednesday Key Messages for Hurricane <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rafael?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rafael</a>. Life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding expected in portions of western Cuba. Follow the latest at <a href="https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ">https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/dg9rxQIgfD">pic.twitter.com/dg9rxQIgfD</a>
&mdash; National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1854179556942631043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Overall, rainfall in the Keys — an island chain extending southwest from the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula — was expected to total between one to three inches. NHC also warned of storm surge in the Dry Tortugas and lower Florida Keys, as well as the potential for tornadoes in the Keys and southwestern Florida mainland.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NOAA</a>&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESEast?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GOESEast</a> satellite is continuing to monitor Hurricane <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rafael?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rafael</a> this morning, which is strengthening in the Caribbean Sea.
Latest advisories and updates: <a href="https://t.co/ScLdyBaJZb">https://t.co/ScLdyBaJZb</a> <a href="https://t.co/VTLcGGfVDX">pic.twitter.com/VTLcGGfVDX</a>
&mdash; NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) <a href="https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites/status/1854146793082442171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Hurricane Rafael continues to intensify as it approaches western Cuba. Squalls will continue to pivot through the #FloridaKeys through tonight,&#8221; the National Weather Service <a href="https://x.com/NWSKeyWest/status/1854178465907667210" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emphasized</a> in a post to X. &#8220;The best chance for tropical storm force winds will be this evening and overnight, especially in the Lower &amp; Middle Keys.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hurricane Rafael continues to intensify as it approaches western Cuba. Squalls will continue to pivot through the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FloridaKeys?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FloridaKeys</a> through tonight. The best chance for tropical storm force winds will be this evening and overnight, especially in the Lower &amp; Middle Keys. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FLwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FLwx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeyWest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KeyWest</a> <a href="https://t.co/dl3Epo8j1y">pic.twitter.com/dl3Epo8j1y</a>
&mdash; NWS Key West (@NWSKeyWest) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSKeyWest/status/1854178465907667210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The hurricane was expected to head farther west into the Gulf during the week and into the weekend, but NHC <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at3.shtml?start#contents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cautioned</a> on Wednesday that it was &#8220;too soon to determine what, if any, impacts Rafael could bring to portions of the western Gulf Coast. Residents in this area should regularly monitor updates to the forecast.&#8221;
A couple of major hurricanes slammed into the southeastern United States this year.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/remnants-of-hurricane-helene-continue-to-wreak-havoc-on-southeastern-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hurricane Helene</a> wreaked havoc in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia in late September. And <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hurricane-milton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hurricane Milton</a> barreled through central Florida in October. Between the storms this hurricane season, the U.S. death toll is in the hundreds and the cost of the damage is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

Menu