The Trump administration is proposing new regulations that would make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to receive work permits.
Under the Biden administration, as millions of illegal immigrants poured across the southern border, they were afforded the opportunity to receive work permits rapidly before even receiving immigration status. The new proposed rule would make it more difficult for illegal border crossers whose asylum claims have no standing to obtain work permits.
“For too long, a fraudulent asylum claim has been an easy path to working in the United States, overwhelming our immigration system with meritless applications,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.
“We are proposing an overhaul of the asylum system to enforce the rules and reduce the backlog we inherited from the prior administration. Aliens are not entitled to work while we process their asylum applications. The Trump administration is strengthening the vetting of asylum applicants and restoring integrity to the asylum and work authorization processes,&#8221; the spokesperson added.
The plan would include a pause on the issuance of work permits for asylum seekers until they&#8217;re able to process applications within 180 days, according to the Friday notice.
It could take between 14 and 173 years to reach that benchmark, according to Reuters.
Once the rule is imposed, new illegal border crossers will be ineligible for work permits, according to the plan. Illegal immigrants who notify federal immigration authorities within 48 hours of crossing the border for fear of returning to their home country based on &#8220;persecution or torture&#8221; will be exempt from the rule.
&#8220;USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] expects this rule to support another downward trend in the long term, but USCIS also expects that, upon implementation of this rule, new EAD [Employment Authorization Document] applications for pending asylum applicants would be paused for an extended period, possibly many years,&#8221; the notice read.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services currently has more than 1.4 million pending asylum claims on its plate, the agency said.
Work permits for asylum applicants are not considered &#8220;an entitlement,&#8221; according to the Department of Homeland Security, which &#8220;believes that this rule is key to disincentivizing aliens from using asylum primarily as a path to seek employment authorization in the United States and to ensuring more timely processing of asylum applications.&#8221;
The Trump administration will accept public comment for 60 days before attempting to move forward with the plan.
Some illegal immigrants who previously received work permits used them to obtain commercial driver&#8217;s licenses. While behind the wheel of heavy trucks, some of them caused fatal accidents.
Chinese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-tour-bus-driver-with-new-york-license-accused-of-causing-fatal-wreck">illegal immigrant</a> Yisong Huang, 54, is accused of killing a 31-year-old truck driver and injuring several others in Tennessee on Dec. 9 while he was distracted by a video on his phone as he drove a tour bus.
Huang crossed the border illegally in 2023 and was swiftly released into the country. He was later granted a work permit and Social Security card.
On Wednesday, an Indian illegal immigrant, Singh Sukhdeep, behind the wheel of a semi-truck allegedly caused an accident that killed 64-year-old Terry Schultz in Hendricks County, Indiana.
Singh crossed the border illegally in 2018 and was released into the country because he was a minor at the time, federal law enforcement sources told The Daily Wire.
The illegal immigrant had a valid work permit at the time of the crash. The Indian national also had an Indiana commercial driver’s license, <a href="https://noticias.foxnews.com/us/illegal-immigrant-truck-driver-accused-killing-indiana-man-after-running-red-light" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Fox News.

Surge Of Migrants Overwhelms Border Crossings

Trump Seeks Tougher Work Permit Rules For Illegals With Asylum Claims

Asylum

Department of Homeland Security

Donald Trump

Executive

Fraud

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Kristi Noem

U.S.

The Trump administration arrested an illegal immigrant who pretended to be a United States citizen to become a corrections officer in Minnesota.
The alleged &#8220;serial immigration fraudster,&#8221; 45-year-old Morris Brown of Liberia, was captured on January 15 after going AWOL from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/serial-immigration-fraudster-working-as-a-minnesota-corrections-officer-arrested" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Federal authorities said the &#8220;serial fraudster was identified as part of the major enforcement operation that targeted suspected immigration fraud in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last fall,&#8221; and had &#8220;multiple violations of U.S. immigration law, including overstaying his student visa and making false claims to U.S. citizenship.&#8221;
While the Trump administration recently ended its massive immigration sweeps in Minnesota, dubbed &#8220;Operation Metro Surge,&#8221; officials have made clear that they will not pull federal officers investigating fraud from the North Star State.
“Operation Twin Shield continues to deliver results as the Department of Homeland Security relentlessly pursues those who seek to cheat our immigration system,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement Wednesday.
“This alien tried every trick in the book to remain in the United States after losing legal status. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure he faces justice for his many violations of the law,&#8221; Edlow added.
Brown came into the country in 2014 on a student visa that was &#8220;terminated&#8221; in 2015 after he failed to enroll &#8220;in a full course of study,&#8221; USCIS said.
He also joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2014, despite having no legal immigration status, and went AWOL the next year. He was later apprehended and discharged under other than honorable conditions in 2022.
He applied for a green card under the Liberian Refugee Fairness program in 2020, but was ultimately denied &#8220;due to misrepresentations, including his failure to disclose prior military service and his false claim to U.S. citizenship,&#8221; according to USCIS.
Brown then applied for citizenship &#8220;based on prior military service&#8221; in 2024.
Federal investigators probing allegations of fraud in the Twin Cities looked into Brown&#8217;s citizenship application, finding &#8220;evidence of marriage fraud and prior instances where he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen in official documents,&#8221; USCIS said.
It was also discovered that he was employed as a corrections officer with the state.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed that Brown was employed from May 2023 to October 2025, saying that they&#8217;ve provided his employment documents to USCIS, <a href="https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/uscis-former-minnesota-corrections-officer-arrested-in-operation-targeting-immigration-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to local news outlet KSTP.
The department claimed to have adhered to federal document verification requirements when it hired Brown, the outlet reported.
“If these federal allegations are accurate, this individual engaged in sophisticated efforts to misrepresent their identity, extending well beyond Minnesota. We are grateful to USCIS and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] for their work in investigating and addressing immigration fraud,” Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said. “We will continue to comply with federal law and work professionally with our federal partners.”
USCIS notified ICE of its findings, resulting in Brown being placed into removal proceedings and facing possible prosecution for his alleged fraud offenses.
Since the Trump administration commenced its mass deportation campaign, federal authorities have discovered several other instances of illegal immigrants working as law enforcement officers.
In early February, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-orleans-police-recruit-turns-out-to-be-illegal-immigrant-fraudster">ICE revealed</a> that officers had arrested an illegal immigrant from Cameroon who was just one week away from graduating from the New Orleans Police Department academy.
In October, federal authorities nabbed Radule Bojovic, an illegal immigrant from Montenegro, who was employed as a police officer with the Hanover Police Department in Illinois.
A judge later granted Bojovic a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-releases-illegal-immigrant-cop-from-ice-custody" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$2,500 immigration bond</a>, and the police department has since allowed him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-cop-previously-nabbed-by-ice-returns-to-work-for-illinois-police-department" target="_blank" rel="noopener">return</a> to work.

Federal Agents Descend On Minneapolis For Immigration Enforcement Operations

‘Serial Fraudster’: Feds Nab Minnesota Corrections Officer Who Lied About U.S. Citizenship

Feds Capture Illegal Immigrant Who Became Minnesota Cop, Went AWOL From National Guard After Lying A

Minnesota

The White House says “the parties are pretty far apart” on reaching a deal to end the lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS is enduring a shutdown confined to its own department, which started on Friday after a continuing resolution expired. The debate moving forward centers on federal immigration enforcement tactics, even though ICE is still largely funded through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed by President Donald Trump last year.
“In terms of the written offer that was transmitted from the Democrats, the parties are still pretty far apart. The administration remains interested in good-faith conversations to end the Democrat shutdown before more Americans feel the impacts,” a White House official told The Daily Wire in a statement on background Tuesday.
“But the administration also remains committed to carrying out the President’s promise to enforce federal immigration law,” the official added.
Not only are Democrats and Republicans not seeing eye to eye on how to move forward, Congress is on recess this week, which means that agencies like TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard will be without funding for the time being – meaning those essential workers are at risk of going without a paycheck even if they show up to work.
The exact details of the offers sent between Democrats and the White House have been largely private, as Democratic leadership went public with their original list of requests earlier this month, ranging from using judicial warrants for arrests to no longer permitting officers to wear masks while conducting operations.
“This is why there must be a full, independent investigation of every incident that ICE has been involved in,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) posted to X on Friday in response to a Politico article headlined, “ICE says federal agents appear to have lied about confrontation that led to shooting.”
“DHS and this administration cannot be trusted to carry out investigations on their own. And it’s why Democrats are fighting to rein in ICE,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) blasted Democrats on the Senate floor on Friday, as a second continuing resolution was rejected to keep immigration talks going without risking the department’s funding.
“We want to continue this conversation, but yet you’re penalizing a TSA agent. A TSA agent is gonna go without a paycheck. Why? So that you can posture politically. I’m over it. Everybody on that side of the aisle knows that ICE and CBP will continue to be funded,” the Republican said, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-shutdown-likely-as-schumer-accuses-trump-admin-of-thuggery?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Homeland+Security+Shutdown+Likely+As+Schumer+Accuses+Trump+Admin+Of+%E2%80%98Thuggery%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported.
In the fall, the government faced a 43-day shutdown that resulted in a high number of TSA agents calling out, as they were working without pay.
“This one’s very different than the first. First, air traffic controllers are paid. They’ve been funded through the first appropriations bill a couple of weeks ago. That was the big linchpin concern for us in the first one,” President and CEO of Airlines for America, Chris Sununu, told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/could-the-homeland-security-shutdown-impact-your-travel-plans?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Could+The+Homeland+Security+Shutdown+Impact+Your+Travel+Plans%3F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> last week.
There was a second brief government shutdown earlier this month that was averted as part of a deal to split DHS funding from the rest of the spending package, as the rest of the federal government except for DHS remains fully funded through the end of the fiscal year in September.

Senators Meet For Their Weekly Policy Luncheons

Homeland Security Shutdown Continues As ‘Parties Are Pretty Far Apart’ On Deal

Congress

Politics

White House

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin will soon leave the Trump administration, a source familiar with her plans told The Daily Wire on Tuesday.
McLaughlin had planned to leave the department in December, but according to POLITICO, stayed on board in the wake of the two fatal shootings in Minneapolis last month.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/17/dhs-spokesperson-tricia-mclaughlin-to-leave-trump-administration-00783378" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a> first reported the news of McLaughlin&#8217;s departure, saying that she intends to inform colleagues on Tuesday. She will be leaving the department next week.
McLaughlin was a top communications aide on Vivek Ramaswamy&#8217;s 2024 presidential campaign and on Ohio GOP Governor Mike DeWine&#8217;s, according to POLITICO. She also served in the first Trump administration, working for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and at the Department of State, where she was tasked with arms control issues.
Lauren Bis, who currently serves as the deputy assistant secretary for media relations at DHS, will step into McLaughlin&#8217;s role as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, according to a source.
News of McLaughlin&#8217;s exit comes just days after the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/chaos-kristi-noem-homeland-security-f095ac95?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdoqYAY21iva280uFyu3A60ncSOX1BQJSGo1epU2ckT5CJ-582aSSTr_-JX3nc%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69948e43&amp;gaa_sig=GQBU8pYBpMhkx6bfWgg5bZbZhXRqZAdcSDV3OPWHNZfIMHBELgMXCt2baAvO42MN94XVLDgGlRe32SPwje2zfA%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> a culture of &#8220;constant chaos&#8221; enduring at DHS under Secretary Kristi Noem, &#8220;who has attempted to burnish her personal stardom at every turn.&#8221; The report also highlighted a purported incident in which a Coast Guard pilot was fired by longtime Trump aide Corey Lewandowski for misplacing the secretary&#8217;s blanket.
It also comes amid a government shutdown largely targeting DHS, as Congressional Democrats attempt to force the Trump administration to meet a laundry list of demands to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
McLaughlin <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dhs-shutdown-drags-4th-day-senate-democrats-block-funding-over-ice-reforms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> on Fox News Sunday to discuss the funding freeze, saying ICE won&#8217;t stop operations during the shutdown because it is a critical federal law enforcement agency.
&#8220;Our immigration enforcement efforts will not be hampered by this in any way,&#8221; McLaughlin said.
The lapse in funding, however, will significantly impact other DHS subagencies, such as TSA, she said.
&#8220;The Democrat politicians here, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, they are holding the American people&#8217;s national security hostage just in the name of scoring cheap political points, it&#8217;s really nonsensical,&#8221; she said.
When <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/17/tricia-mclaughlin-dhs-ice-homeland-security-leads-the-nations-immigration-conversation/87185578007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> by the Cincinnati Enquirer recently if she intended to run for office, McLaughlin said she &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t rule anything out.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s going to be a year from now or that&#8217;ll be five years from now,&#8221; McLaughlin said. &#8220;I love Cincinnati. It&#8217;s my home and I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any place like it.&#8221;
Several top officials at DHS have recently left their posts. That includes former deputy ICE director Madison Sheehan, who resigned last month and subsequently launched a bid for Congress in Ohio.
ICE&#8217;s former spokeswoman, Emily Covington, also recently moved to the Department of Justice.

Tricia McLaughlin

Top DHS Spokeswoman To Leave Trump Administration

Trump Administration

An Australian political activist and online provocateur who mocked Billie Eilish’s anti-ICE rhetoric says he was deported from the United States after immigration authorities questioned him over social media posts joking about moving into the singer’s California home.
Drew Pavlou, 24, claimed in a series of X posts that he was detained for roughly 30 hours at Los Angeles International Airport before being denied entry into the country. Pavlou speculated that Eilish’s legal team contacted the Department of Homeland Security, prompting his removal.
“Billie Eilish got me deported from the US — I think her legal team contacted DHS,” Pavlou <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2022908458723590378">wrote</a>, posting a selfie with a police officer in the background. He said immigration officials repeatedly questioned him about posts in which he claimed he planned to fly to the United States and move into Eilish’s Malibu mansion, insisting the statements were satire.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
DREW PERFORMANCE ART UPDATE
Billie Eilish got me deported from the US &#8211; I think her legal team contacted DHS
I spent 30 hours at LAX immigration trying to explain that my shit posts were just a joke and that I didn’t actually plan to personally move into her mansion
Honestly… <a href="https://t.co/R4ynQEor3c">https://t.co/R4ynQEor3c</a> <a href="https://t.co/8eVCcBE5Jr">pic.twitter.com/8eVCcBE5Jr</a>
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewPavlou/status/2022908458723590378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I spent 30 hours at LAX immigration trying to explain that my sh*t posts were just a joke and that I didn’t actually plan to personally move into her mansion,” Pavlou wrote. “Honestly most of the agents were nice and laughed at the idea but there was nothing I could do.”
Pavlou’s posts were a direct response to Eilish’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/billie-eilish-roundly-mocked-for-stolen-land-comments-at-grammys?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Billie+Eilish+Roundly+Mocked+For+%E2%80%98Stolen+Land%E2%80%99+Comments+At+Grammys">remarks</a> during her acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards, where she declared, “No one is illegal on stolen land,” before adding, “F–k ICE.”
In the days following the speech, Pavlou <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2018442764384637336">launched</a> a crowdfunding campaign claiming he would travel to the United States and attempt to move into Eilish’s home, echoing her “stolen land” framing. “I am flying to the USA next Friday to attempt to move into Billie Eilish’s beachside Malibu mansion,” he wrote, adding, “No human being is illegal on stolen land.”
The fundraiser was later <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/australian-activist-drew-pavlou-launches-campaign-to-move-into-billie-eilishs-la-mansion-after-stolen-land-grammys-rant/">removed</a> after the platform said it could not verify his plan or the recipient of the donations. Pavlou subsequently launched a new fundraiser on GiveSendGo seeking money to fly to California and “buy” the property.
The mansion Pavlou referenced was not owned by Eilish herself but by her brother, Finneas O’Connell, and had been sold in 2022 for $5.6 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The home was later destroyed in the Palisades Fire. Pavlou said he was unaware of that fact when he created the fundraiser.
In follow-up posts, Pavlou leaned into the irony of the situation, mocking the outcome as an unintended endorsement of border enforcement by leftist figures.
“She literally said ‘no one is illegal on stolen land’ but called ICE on me,” Pavlou <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2023307696947310683">wrote</a>. “Honestly amazing performance art — I somehow managed to get Billie Eilish and American liberals to endorse border control and deportations.”
Pavlou also claimed immigration officials questioned him extensively about his past activism, including his opposition to the Chinese Communist Party, describing the experience as “legitimately insane.”
Neither Eilish nor her representatives have publicly commented on Pavlou’s claims, and DHS has not confirmed whether any contact occurred between the singer’s legal team and immigration authorities.
Still, the episode has drawn attention online as a case study in the tension between celebrity activism and real-world immigration enforcement — and as Pavlou framed it, proof that even slogans about “stolen land” have limits when it comes to the expense of the sloganeers.

68th GRAMMY Awards – Show

Australian Activist: ‘Billie Eilish Got Me Deported’

Activists

Australia

Billie Eilish

Grammys

Agreements between local law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have surged 950% in President Donald Trump&#8217;s first year in office, according to a new report by the advocacy organization FWD.US.
Under the Biden administration, there were 135 such agreements. Now, there are 1,168 as of Jan. 26, according to the report.
The Trump administration has openly called on local police and sheriff&#8217;s departments to participate in its recently revived &#8220;task force&#8221; program that deputizes officers, giving them the authority to stop and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/agreements-allow-local-police-work-ice-skyrocket-rcna258787" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to NBC News.
And local police officers have been jumping at the opportunity to train to assist in Trump&#8217;s mass deportation effort.
The Obama administration ended the program in 2012 after officers in Maricopa County, Arizona, and Alamance County, North Carolina, were accused of racial profiling while participating in the model.
<div id="attachment_1044485" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1044485" class="size-medium wp-image-1044485" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2258153481-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2258153481-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2258153481-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2258153481-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2258153481.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />(Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)</div>
Trump restarted the program after reentering the White House for his second term and receiving a flood of cash from his &#8220;Big Beautiful Bill.&#8221;
With that funding, ICE is offering local law enforcement agencies $7,500 for equipment per trained officer; $100,000 for new vehicles and overtime pay of up to 25% of an officer’s salary, according to NBC. As a result, participating police departments could cash in to the tune of $1.4 billion and $2 billion this year.
“This amount would dwarf all other federal funding for local law enforcement,” the FWD.US report found.
Police agencies in 39 states have entered into agreements with ICE thus far, according to FWD.US, which regularly <a href="https://x.com/FWDus/status/2022426899952341151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advocates</a> against Trump&#8217;s deportation campaign and ICE&#8217;s &#8220;brutality and violence.&#8221;
Florida has 342 participating agencies, the most of any state. Texas is a close second with 296 agreements, followed by Tennessee with 63, Pennsylvania with 58, and Alabama with 53, according to the report.
&#8220;The Program enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities by allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to partner with state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the United States. ICE recognizes the importance of its relationships with law enforcement partners—including state, local, and tribal agencies—to carry out its critical mission,&#8221; ICE states on its website.
&#8220;Through the delegation of specified immigration officer duties, the program allows ICE to enhance collaboration with state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of aliens who undermine the safety of our nation’s communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.&#8221;

Super Bowl LIX Previews

The Little-Noticed Surge Reshaping Trump’s Deportation Push

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Police

The Department of Homeland Security will experience a lapse in funding starting at midnight, which will have the most impact on agencies under the DHS umbrella, such as TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard – and it may have a slight impact on American travelers.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who currently serves as the president and CEO of Airlines for America, told The Daily Wire that he believes this shutdown will not have as drastic of an impact on air travel as the one in the fall, as air traffic controllers are already funded as part of the rest of the government spending package already approved earlier this month.
“This one&#8217;s very different than the first. First, air traffic controllers are paid. They’ve been funded through the first appropriations bill a couple of weeks ago. That was the big linchpin concern for us in the first one,” Sununu said, noting how the system had to “slow” down for safety reasons due to a high number of callouts during the 43-day shutdown last year, saying this now mostly centers on TSA and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“No one&#8217;s going to get an empty paycheck or anything like that, at least until maybe a half paycheck at the end of the month, empty paycheck into March, because the conversations are actually happening between Democrats and the White House, that really wasn&#8217;t happening back in October,” he noted, saying that he’s “very optimistic that they are going to work this thing out.”
For those traveling, he recommends that people “keep an eye” on their upcoming flight plans, especially with Presidents Day on Monday.
“So give yourself a little extra time because it is a holiday week, but right now we don&#8217;t anticipate any significant delays,” Sununu said. “And if there are, the good news is the technology’s there and the public information is there so folks can be given a heads up if they need to give themselves a little more time.”
The former governor did encourage Congress to “find the middle ground” and “stop holding the American people hostage over political disputes,” noting proposed legislation floating that would keep TSA agents and air traffic controllers paid through shutdowns to minimize disruptions for Americans.
Although the department’s shutdown has centered on a push for federal immigration enforcement reforms, much of the funding needed for ICE’s deportation efforts was already secured through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed by President Donald Trump in July.
Congress is scheduled to be on recess for the next week as negotiations have moved at a fairly slow pace on Capitol Hill to figure out funding for DHS before the continuing resolution expires on Friday. Democrats have put forth a list of demands for federal immigration enforcement reforms, and the White House has made a counterproposal with few known public details yet.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers of both political parties have flown off to the Munich Security Conference in Germany, although fewer House members were able to go, given that an official taxpayer-funded congressional delegation is unable to occur with the shutdown, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/12/gop-munich-security-conference-shutdown-00779083" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a>.
“That&#8217;s a little frustrating in itself,” Sununu said. “I mean, look, as a former governor … there are times you can&#8217;t find that middle ground in time, and this is one of them, but you don&#8217;t leave the city. You don&#8217;t leave the country.”
“You can go into your own corners and kind of maybe take a breath, but I don&#8217;t know about this whole everyone running off to Europe thing,” he added, saying that he hopes they will find a compromise on DHS funding when they return.

Travelers At Detroit Metro Airport As TSA Experiences Staff Shortages

Could The Homeland Security Shutdown Impact Your Travel Plans?

Air Travel

Transportation

Democrats in Minnesota want the public to believe that ICE Watch groups that impeded federal agents from arresting illegal immigrants forced President Donald Trump to end &#8220;Operation Metro Surge,&#8221; his massive immigration sweeps across the state.
After White House border czar Tom Homan announced the operation would end Thursday, several Democratic officials in the state pushed the narrative that anti-ICE agitators were successful in their efforts and forced the withdrawal.
Notably, Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last month in Minneapolis, was reportedly a member of an ICE watch group. Alex Pretti, the man shot a few weeks later by Border Patrol, was also an anti-ICE activist who was seen on video kicking in a fed&#8217;s taillight before spitting on one of the officers.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar came out Thursday to credit anti-ICE demonstrators, while also saying the work must continue.
&#8220;Minnesotans stood together, stared down ICE, and never blinked. Our state has shown the world how to protect our democracy and take care of our neighbors,&#8221; Klobuchar said.
She continued: &#8220;ICE withdrawing from Minnesota is just the beginning. We need accountability for the lives lost and the extraordinary abuses of power at the hands of ICE agents, and we must see a complete overhaul of the agency.&#8221;
Most of the 3,000 federal agents deployed to the Twin Cities will soon return home, while the roughly 150 feds who were there before the operation started will remain. Additionally, the agents tasked with investigating fraud cases and others deployed to crack down on anti-ICE agitators will also stay, Homan said.
<div id="attachment_1043563" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1043563" class="wp-image-1043563 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2257841937-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2257841937-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2257841937-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2257841937-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2257841937.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Several members of the Minneapolis City Council also concurred with Klobuchar.
&#8220;Our community came together and pushed back an occupation of our city by the authoritarian Trump regime. A drawdown of this magnitude is something for our neighbors to be proud of. But we need ICE fully out of our city, not just reduced,&#8221; Aisha Chughtai, a member of the Minneapolis City Council, said.
&#8220;We need to stay organized and vigilant,&#8221; Chughtai said. &#8220;As a community, I hope we keep our arms wrapped around each other. The devastation caused by Operation Metro Surge cannot be quantified. We will need each other on the long road of recovery and healing ahead. Recovery starts with real transparency from all the individuals involved in this agreement. Minnesotans deserve transparency to be able to have accountability.&#8221;
Jason Chavez, Minneapolis City Council Member, called Homan&#8217;s announcement a &#8220;victory,&#8221; led by &#8220;the city&#8217;s residents, whose resilience, strength, and dedication led to the announcement that ‘Operation Metro Surge’ will end soon.&#8221;
&#8220;But we must not stop until ICE is completely abolished, and no more families are separated. I hope you’ll join me in continuing to carry the whistle of resistance, as our work is not done. I am still asking the community to remain cautious and vigilant until we can confirm what this truly means. We are still mourning, demanding justice, and we will never forget,&#8221; Chavez said.
One of the most prominent ICE watch organizations in Minnesota, Defend the 612, also took a victory lap.
“Minnesota is a state where neighbors have chosen to keep our neighbors safe. Minneapolis has become safer because tens of thousands of neighbors united together in common purpose to openly and courageously respond to the violent and immoral ICE surge day after day. At our schools, our hospitals, on our streets, and on our blocks,&#8221; Andrew Fahlstrom, an organizer with the group, said.
&#8220;If violent abductors truly leave town, having failed to intimidate or stop our community, the 612 has shown what it takes to truly become a Sanctuary City, in a Sanctuary State. We are all incredibly proud of what we continue to do together and build together. Nothing will ever stop the people of Minneapolis from protecting our neighbors.”
Homan said the decision to draw down the federal presence in Minnesota was motivated by &#8220;unprecedented&#8221; cooperation from local authorities, who have agreed to hand over illegal immigrants set to be released from jails.
The former ICE chief, however, made clear that the withdrawal doesn&#8217;t mean &#8220;we are backing down from immigration enforcement or mass deportations.&#8221;

Dems Try To Credit ICE Agitators With Ending Trump’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’ In Minnesota

Tom Homan

The Department of Homeland Security will presumably face a lapse in funding starting on midnight Saturday, as negotiations still continue to move at a slow pace, with few public details on any possible immigration reforms.
The White House sent a counteroffer to Democrats, who made a long list of demands ranging from a change in warrants used for immigration arrests to a ban on agents wearing masks, earlier this week.
A continuing resolution to fund the agency is in place until the end of the day on Friday, which was part of a deal to keep the rest of the federal government funded through the end of September. Both chambers are scheduled to be out of Washington next week.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) pushed for another continuing resolution to keep talks going without stopping DHS funding, which was ultimately unsuccessful because it was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), according to <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/2022024832314225089?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
“We want to continue this conversation, but yet you’re penalizing a TSA agent. A TSA agent is gonna go without a paycheck. Why? So that you can posture politically. I’m over it. Everybody on that side of the aisle knows that ICE and CBP will continue to be funded,” Britt said in a passionate floor debate with Murphy, expressing concerns about TSA workers missing more checks after the 43-day-long shutdown last fall.
Murphy said that there needs to be &#8220;reforms&#8221; and &#8220;more serious engagement from the White House than has happened thus far&#8221; in order for DHS to get funding.
A shutdown of the department might not heavily impact funding for President Donald Trump’s immigration goals, as much of that funding was already appropriated in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in July, but DHS’s other key agencies, like the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA, will be more seriously impacted.
As for the negotiations themselves, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday, according to <a href="https://x.com/cami_mondeaux/status/2021982594531729419?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deseret News</a>, “I think you all know the issue of warrants is going to be very hard for the White House or for Republicans, but I think there are a lot of other areas where there has been give and progress.”
&#8220;The proposals that Senate and House Democrats presented last week and keep pushing for are very reasonable. We want ICE simply to follow the same standards that law enforcement agencies across the country already follow,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor Thursday, calling some immigration tactics “thuggery.”
“No more rogue police forces roaming through our cities,” he said.
On X, Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse wrote on Thursday that “based on the totality of the evidence, it seems like Dems are defining ‘progress’ as ‘agree to all of our demands otherwise we&#8217;re taking our ball and going home.’”
In the House, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries referred to the White House proposal as a “so-called offer,” according to <a href="https://x.com/allymutnick/status/2021991755584090448?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Punchbowl News</a>.
&#8220;But my preliminary assessment of it is that it falls short of the type of dramatic changes necessary in order to change ICE,” he said.

Longest Shutdown Tests Air Travel, Federal Workers And Patience

Homeland Security Shutdown Likely As Schumer Accuses Trump Admin Of ‘Thuggery’

homeland security

Senate

The end is near for the Trump administration&#8217;s &#8220;Operation Metro Surge&#8221; in Minnesota.
After more than 4,000 arrests, many of the thousands of ICE and Border Patrol personnel sent to the Twin Cities from other areas of the country will soon return to their home offices, White House border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday.
Homan came to the decision with the support of President Donald Trump after seeing &#8220;success&#8221; with the operation, which has led to a significant drop in criminal illegal immigrants roaming the streets, &#8220;unprecedented levels of coordination&#8221; from local officials, and a decrease in anti-ICE agitator activity, he said. It also resulted in federal authorities tracking down 3,364 missing migrant kids who previously crossed the border alone.
&#8220;I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that the surge operation conclude,&#8221; Homan said during a press conference in Minneapolis.
But it doesn&#8217;t mean the Trump administration is backing down from its goal of carrying out a historic mass deportation campaign, he said. It also doesn&#8217;t mean ICE is leaving for good.
&#8220;A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through the next week,&#8221; Homan said. &#8220;We have a lot of work to do across this country to remove public safety risks who shouldn&#8217;t even be in this country and to deliver on President Trump&#8217;s promise for strong border security and mass deportation. Law enforcement officers drawn down from this operation will either return to the duty station or be assigned elsewhere to achieve just that.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
BREAKING: HOMAN announces that he and Trump have agreed to end ICE&#8217;s &#8216;Operation Metro Surge&#8217; In Minnesota
ICE will still have a &#8220;footprint&#8221; in the Twin Cities that will include teams to prioritize arresting criminal illegal immigrants and violent agitators <a href="https://t.co/DOzHmoXbJk">pic.twitter.com/DOzHmoXbJk</a>
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/JennieSTaer/status/2021954564791140736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;For those who say we are backing down from immigration enforcement or mass deportations, you are simply wrong, look at the data,&#8221; he said.
While the drawdown continues, &#8220;a small footprint of personnel will remain&#8221; temporarily &#8220;to close out and transition full command and control back to the&#8221; local ICE office. That includes teams deployed to quell street violence and agents investigating fraud.
Homan also said he&#8217;s directed the &#8220;strategic&#8221; placement of officers near local jails in Minnesota to ensure they&#8217;re able to swiftly receive illegal immigrants that local authorities must release.
&#8220;Federal government personnel assigned to conduct criminal investigations into the agitators, as well as the personnel assigned for the fraud investigations, will remain in place until the work is done. I will also remain on the ground for a little longer to oversee the drawdown of this operation and ensure its success,&#8221; Homan said.
Trump sent Homan to Minneapolis last month to assume control over the operation, replacing Border Patrol&#8217;s Gregory Bovino. Bovino was known for his showy operations, where he waltzed around the Twin Cities flanked by burly federal agents and conducted aggressive roving patrols.
Homan came in and changed all of that, instructing federal agents to prioritize hardened criminals before nabbing anyone whose sole crime is being in the country illegally. The former ICE chief, however, made clear from the start that it didn&#8217;t mean that illegal immigrants without rap sheets were off the table.
Homan passionately emphasized that point during Thursday&#8217;s presser.
&#8220;I hear all the hate about you should arrest everybody. We are, but we&#8217;re prioritizing those who are the biggest threat to our community, the rapist, the murderers, the child molesters. That’s the right thing to do, but I’ll say it again. Present Trump made a promise of mass deportation, and that’s what this country’s gonna get,&#8221; Homan said.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re in this country illegally, you&#8217;re not off the table,&#8221; he said.

Border Czar Tom Homan Speaks To The Press In Minneapolis

Trump To End ICE’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’ In Minnesota, Homan Says

Minneapolis

The Department of Homeland Security is slated to experience a lapse in funding after Friday, as it seems less likely that a deal will be reached in time to avoid a shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Wednesday that the GOP caucus should “stay flexible” with their plans headed into the weekend, including for travel, if a deal is somehow reached in time.
“We’re not canceling trips, I guess. But I assume those would be individual decisions that individual senators will make about whether or not they&#8217;re going to continue to attend,” he said, according to <a href="https://x.com/cami_mondeaux/status/2021664364064112835?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deseret News</a>.
“As soon as we can strike a deal, we&#8217;ll vote on it. But until then, I don&#8217;t know if there&#8217;s any point in keeping people around here sitting around doing nothing,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted to X that &#8220;Republicans have not gotten serious about negotiating a solution that reins in ICE and stops the violence&#8221; and said that the Democrats will not back a second continuing resolution to keep funding the department in the short term.
However, Thune spokesperson Ryan Wrasse said that &#8220;after Dems backed away from the bipartisan DHS bill, it took them *weeks* to produce new legislative text. Dems now giving the White House *days* to reciprocate. Who&#8217;s being unreasonable?&#8221;
Wrasse then pointed to Schumer&#8217;s stance against a second CR if a shutdown does occur: &#8220;Keep this line in mind if there&#8217;s a lapse in funding: &#8216;Democrats will not support a CR.'&#8221;
In the House, House Appropriations Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) proposed a funding deal where funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection would be separated from the rest of it.
&#8220;If Republican leadership blocks this legislation from moving forward, they are responsible for any shuttered agencies, furloughed workers, missed paychecks, or reduced services,&#8221; DeLauro said, according to <a href="https://x.com/sn_handler/status/2021627013027516586?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Punchbowl News</a>.
However, the proposal is presumably dead on arrival, with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) posting to X, “Not happening” in direct response to the report.
ICE already received the bulk of the funding necessary to execute President Donald Trump’s immigration goals through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” next year, but there are several other critical government entities that could be directly impacted by a DHS shutdown, including the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA.
&#8220;A funding lapse has severe and lasting challenges for our workforce, operational readiness, and long-term capabilities,” Coast Guard Admiral Thomas Allan said in the hearing, with him saying that other missions that are not a matter of “national security” or “the protection of life, property” would need to be stopped.
The White House made a counteroffer to the Democrats&#8217; list of requests to make reforms to federal immigration enforcement, as the Democrats want to see an end to masking for agents and judicial warrants used, among other major changes. However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer released a statement that “the initial GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient.”
DHS funding was split from the rest of the government spending package as part of a deal to fund the vast majority of the federal government through the end of September. Due to the disagreements over immigration, a continuing resolution for DHS was approved until Feb. 13.

Kyle Wagner

‘Not Happening’: Homeland Security Battle Drags Out As Top Democrat Makes Unlikely Proposal

The White House sent a Department of Homeland Security funding counterproposal to Democrats in Congress on Monday, The Daily Wire confirmed with an official on background.
There are currently no public details about the offer, which came after Democrats made a list of ten demands to reform federal immigration enforcement that needed to be met for funding of the agency to continue.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is expected to put forward a continuing resolution proposal on Tuesday to maintain funding for DHS while negotiations continue, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats in both chambers have said that he’s adamantly opposed to another temporary measure while a deal is being sorted out.
“I don&#8217;t know you know how much more time would be required, but I think it&#8217;s fair to say that it&#8217;s going to take some more time, and we should at least extend the continuing resolution to allow for that,” Thune said Tuesday, according to <a href="https://x.com/cami_mondeaux/status/2021311045713674418?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deseret News</a>.
Late on Monday night, Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a statement seeking more information about the counteroffer.
“Republicans shared an outline of a counterproposal, which included neither details nor legislative text,” the statement read.
“The initial GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct. Democrats await additional detail and text,” it continued.
However, Schumer said on Tuesday that “there&#8217;s no reason we can&#8217;t get this done by Thursday,” <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/2021308058928910383?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> reported.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson wants to see a proposal that takes the funding all the way through to the end of the fiscal year, similar to other government funding bills that were signed into law by President Donald Trump last week.
As part of a deal to avert a longer shutdown, the DHS funding was split from the rest of the spending package, instead of being approved as a continuing resolution until Feb. 13.
“We’ve not moved a CR here because our position is, the Senate should pass the House-passed homeland bill. We got it done. We did the work in the House, and I think they should — they should get that through,” Johnson told reporters, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5731476-speaker-johnson-dhs-funding-thune/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a>.
“So us offering a CR would be a concession that we don’t believe in that product.” Johnson is referring to the fact that the House had already approved a spending package before the split in funding on the Senate side, as Democrats called for the split after the Alex Pretti shooting in Minneapolis amid anti-ICE protests in the region.
The changes Democrats are hoping for range from more body cameras, no more masking for agents, and the use of judicial warrants as opposed to administrative warrants. The Daily Wire reported earlier this week that some of the requests were already slammed as non-starters by some Republican lawmakers. DHS includes other agencies outside of immigration enforcement, including FEMA and TSA, which could have broader implications if it is not funded after Friday.

Senate GOP Presser

White House Makes Counteroffer To Fund Homeland Security As Dems Push Demands

Congress Remains Split Over Homeland Security Funding As White House Makes Counteroffer

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