Category: blaze media

President Donald Trump posted a photograph of a Salvadoran man who was deported to a terrorist prison in El Salvador in order to bolster the claim that the man was a member of the infamous Mara Salvatrucha criminal gang.

The administration has continued to claim Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 in order to justify deporting him to the Terrorism Confinement Center. Garcia and his family have denied the claim and argued that he was improperly deported without sufficient evidence to send him to a notorious prison for terrorists.

The photo shows tattoos of a marijuana leaf, a smile, a cross, and a skull, which are supposed to correspond to the letters and numbers that spell out MS-13.

On Friday, the president posted a photograph of himself holding a photograph of tattoos on the knuckles of Garcia’s left hand that allegedly prove he was an MS-13 gang member.

“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person.’ They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc.,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The photo shows tattoos of a marijuana leaf, a smile, a cross, and a skull, which are supposed to correspond to the letters and numbers that spell out MS-13.

“I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.

Trump issued an order designating MS-13 as a terrorist group, which allowed him to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and fast-track the deportation of any gang members.

Critics of the policy accuse the administration of abusing the intent of the act and violating the due process rights of those accused of being gang members.

The issue went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the lower court order that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Garcia from the terror prison and treat his immigration proceedings as if he had never been deported.

The administration has responded by claiming that it has no power to return the man, and the Salvadoran president told reporters that he could not send him back to the U.S.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said there was probable cause to hit Trump with contempt charges, but the official finding will go to another judge.

“The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” he wrote Wednesday.

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A Brazilian national – who was previously deported – was arrested by federal law enforcement officers for allegedly raping and assaulting a child, according to authorities.

Ilma Leandro De Oliveira, a 53-year-old woman from Brazil, was arrested on March 20 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, by officers and agents with the Boston divisions of ICE, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Ilma Leandro De Oliveira is charged with seven different crimes regarding the sexual victimization of a child in our Massachusetts community.”

De Oliveira was charged with the rape of a child, reckless endangerment of a child, indecent exposure, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, unnatural acts with a child, aggravated statutory rape of a child, and incest.

De Oliveira was previously deported before returning to the United States.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced in a statement released this week that the U.S. Border Patrol arrested De Oliveira on Sept. 20, 2007. ICE noted that De Oliveira illegally entered the United States near Laredo, Texas. The Border Patrol reportedly served her a notice and order of expedited removal.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said De Oliveira illegally re-entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown location, and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

Hyde declared, “Ilma Leandro De Oliveira is charged with seven different crimes regarding the sexual victimization of a child in our Massachusetts community. These are crimes we simply will not tolerate.”

Hyde proclaimed, “ICE Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our children by arresting and removing any criminal alien who poses a threat to our New England residents.”

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Antonio removed De Oliveira from the United States to Brazil on Dec. 27, 2007.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said De Oliveira was served with a notice of intent/decision to reinstate a prior removal order.

ICE said De Oliveira is expected to also be prosecuted for illegal re-entry after deportation.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced this week that 206 illegal aliens had been arrested between April 6 and April 12 in a New York City sting.

ICE noted that more than half of the migrants arrested had significant criminal convictions or are currently facing charges for crimes like murder, assault, arson, rape, drugs, and illegal firearms. One of the illegal immigrants who was arrested is a 22-year-old member of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

“The majority of the aliens arrested have egregious criminal histories to include manslaughter, rape, assault, drug trafficking, and sex assault against minors,” stated Judith Almodovar, the acting field office director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations New York City.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said last week’s operation “targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods.”

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A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Department of Government Efficiency having access to the data of millions of Americans.

DOGE was tasked by President Donald Trump to cut out waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending and was initially headed up by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. After numerous lawsuits challenging the validity of the agency’s actions, the administration announced that it was led instead by Amy Gleason.

‘SSA has been guided by the foundational principle of an expectation of privacy with respect to its records. This case exposes a wide fissure in the foundation.’

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Baltimore sided with a group of labor unions that filed a lawsuit claiming DOGE’s actions violated privacy laws and put Americans’ data at risk.

Hollander questioned why DOGE needed to have “seemingly unfettered access” to data at the Social Security Administration, to which government attorneys argued that anonymizing the data would significantly slow down their efforts.

“For some 90 years, SSA has been guided by the foundational principle of an expectation of privacy with respect to its records. This case exposes a wide fissure in the foundation,” Hollander wrote in the ruling.

The injunction ordered DOGE workers to delete any non-anonymized data from Social Security records they had obtained since Jan. 20. The ruling allows them to have access to the data once it’s anonymized and the workers receive training and background checks.

Hollander had previously criticized DOGE in a temporary injunction in the same case in March.

“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” she previously wrote. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”

In the more recent ruling, Hollander acknowledged that the DOGE mission was a worthwhile pursuit.

“The objective to address fraud, waste, mismanagement, and bloat is laudable, and one that the American public presumably applauds and supports,” she wrote. “Indeed, the taxpayers have every right to expect their government to make sure that their hard earned money is not squandered.”

The 75-year-old judge was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

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A Democrat member of the Michigan House of Representatives admitted that she pulled a childish “prank” on one of her Republican colleagues after he took up two spaces in their designated parking lot.

Shortly after noon on Thursday, state Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Township) and a staffer walked into the area of the House parking garage where Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford) was parked. According to security footage sent to Blaze News, Brixie can be seen making several passes around Maddock’s vehicle with what Brixie later identified as Saran Wrap.

— (@)

Not satisfied to wait until Maddock was done for the day to discover her little joke, Brixie then took to the state House floor and announced: “Colleagues, colleagues, can I have your attention? Colleagues, I just came in from the parking ramp, and there’s a black BMW with a license plate number, [redacted], your hood is open, your lights are on, and your engine is running. Thank you.”

Of course, the hood of the car was not open, the lights were not on, and the engine was not running. The car was, however, straddling two spaces, a mistake that Republicans attributed to Maddock driving his wife’s sedan that day instead of his truck, which is afforded two spaces due to its width.

‘Someone who would Saran wrap your car today … might pull a knife tomorrow.’

“My good colleague from the 51st district parked in two spots, including mine, to make sure no one hit his fancy car,” Brixie said. “I Saran wrapped it to give it an extra layer of protection.”

In response, Maddock quipped: “I parked in an empty spot. I didn’t realize it’d turn into the highlight of Brixie’s year.”

According to the Detroit News, Brixie later characterized Maddock’s poor parking and her response as “pranks.” However, at least one Michigan journalist isn’t laughing.

James Dixon of Michigan Enjoyer believes the stunt could be considered “vandalism,” “destruction of property,” and “violence.” He views it as a “wild” attempt to intimidate a courageous Republican by a Democrat “girlboss” desperate for attention.

Dixon warned that if Republican leadership in Michigan does not impose consequences on Brixie, Democrats will become even bolder in their attempts to bully and harass their political opponents.

“Here in America, we use our words in a dispute past the age of 3. We don’t take matters into our own hands,” Dixon argued. “Someone who would Saran wrap your car today because you parked in their spot in a garage with plenty of open spaces might pull a knife tomorrow on a colleague who cut in the lunch line.”

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​Prank, Julie brixie, Matt maddock, Saran wrap, Michigan, Vandalism, Politics 

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) announced on Thursday that the state had filed a lawsuit against the messaging application Discord.

Platkin claimed that Discord has engaged in “unlawful practices that expose NJ kids to violent, sexual content and online child predators.” He further accused the platform of “deceptive and unconscionable business practices.”

‘Discord markets itself as a safe space for children, despite being fully aware that the application’s misleading safety settings and lax oversight has made it a prime hunting ground for online predators seeking easy access to children.’

According to the AG, Discord “misled parents into thinking its app was a safe space for kids despite knowing it was a hunting ground for sexual predators.”

More specifically, the lawsuit called out the platform’s direct messaging safety settings as being deceptive to parents. Discord’s safety messaging features automatically scan and delete messages containing explicit content.

Despite the alleged safety features, lurking predators are still able to “stalk, contact, and victimize children,” the lawsuit stated. The AG’s office noted that the platform “fell, and continues to fall, flat.”

Additionally, the platform allegedly misrepresented that children under 13 years old could not create an account. The complaint stated that Discord requires users only to enter their date of birth and does not perform any additional checks to verify age.

Platkin stated, “Discord markets itself as a safe space for children, despite being fully aware that the application’s misleading safety settings and lax oversight has made it a prime hunting ground for online predators seeking easy access to children.”

“These deceptive claims regarding its safety settings have allowed Discord to attract a growing number of children to use its application, where they are at risk. We intend to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and hold Discord accountable for the harm it has caused our children,” he added.

During a Thursday press conference, Platkin noted that the messaging platform “has been at the center of numerous criminal cases involving predators that were found to have used the app to engage in sexual grooming, extortion, and exploitation.”

New Jersey’s lawsuit resulted from a multiyear investigation by the AG and the Division of Consumer Affairs, which released an informational video explaining the basis of the state’s complaint.

New Jersey is the first state in the nation to sue Discord over its alleged failure to protect children online.

A Discord spokesperson told NBC News, “Discord is proud of our continuous efforts and investments in features and tools that help make Discord safer.”

“Given our engagement with the Attorney General’s office, we are surprised by the announcement that New Jersey has filed an action against Discord today. We dispute the claims in the lawsuit and look forward to defending the action in court,” the spokesperson said.

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​News, Tech, Discord, Child safety, Online safety, Online predators, Child predators, New jersey, Matthew platkin, Big tech, Politics 

RFK Jr. has announced his desire to get to the root cause of the autism epidemic — and strangely enough, Americans left of center are up in arms, as they appear not to want the truth.

The health and human services secretary created a firestorm when he claimed that people with autism won’t be able to pay taxes or hold down a job, as well as calling it a “preventable disease” caused by a mysterious environmental toxin.

Of course, while there are many children with autism who grow up to be productive members of society, RFK Jr. was speaking about those whose lives are completely upended by their diagnosis.

“I think half of everyone I know is on the spectrum,” Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News Tonight.” “They’re intelligent and interesting and bring a lot of different skills to this, but that’s not the only kind of autism.”

“There are other people who I know who have to take their kids out of different schools they are in to try and find them the resources they need. Levels of autism so bad that children are non-verbal, that they don’t walk correctly, that they will never communicate correctly, that they will have extreme difficulty ever holding down any kind of a job,” he continues.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media are blaming RFK for trying to cure autism, as they believe it’s just something that makes those afflicted unique.

“That’s insane,” Bedford says. “Our environment over the last 50 years and 20 years in particular have made the rates of autism absolutely skyrocket in this country.”

“If you care about this, and you care about your kids, you’d want to investigate,” he adds.

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​Camera phone, Free, Sharing, Upload, Video, Video phone, Youtube.com, Blaze news tonight, Rfk jr, Vaccines, Autism, Vaccines and autism, Vaccine mandates, Environmental toxins, Cause of autism, Blaze media, Blazetv, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze online, Jill savage, Matthew peterson, Christopher bedford 

President Donald Trump announced the appointment of BlazeTV host Mark Levin to his “revamped” Homeland Security Advisory Council on Friday.

The council provides “advice and recommendations” to Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, on the “creation and implementation” of operations and policies related to security.

‘Under Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s leadership, HSAC will work hard on developing new Policies and Strategies.’

Levin, co-founder of Blaze Media and host of “LevinTV,” will be joined on the council by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R), retired NYPD detective Bo Dietl, and Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters (R).

“Under Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s leadership, HSAC will work hard on developing new Policies and Strategies that will help us secure our Border, deport Illegal Criminal Thugs, stop the flow of Fentanyl and other illegal drugs that are killing our Citizens, and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. Congratulations to all!” said the president on Truth Social.

“It is a big honor to serve on HSAC,” he added and said the council was composed of “Top Experts in their field, who are highly respected by their peers.”

Levin responded to the announcement on social media.

“What an honor! Thank you, Mr. President!” he wrote.

Trump had ordered the dismantling of the HSAC after accusing the previous administration of improperly politicizing the institution.

Levin also hosts “Life, Liberty & Levin” on Fox News and worked in the Ronald Reagan administration.

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An analysis of fan comments that featured curse words has revealed which team has fans who are most likely to swear.

A sample of comments was taken from the subreddits (dedicated pages on the social website Reddit) for each of the MLB’s 30 teams, where readers can often find the most dedicated fans who want to discuss team struggles and operations.

Outlet VegasInsider took in over 1.2 million comments from the fan bases, and with a minimum 15,000 comments per team, calculated how many of those posts contained swear words. Each fandom was assigned a value based on the percentage of the comments on the fan pages that contained swear words.

The analysis, which concluded in April 2025, found the Oakland Athletics to be the most foulmouthed fan base with 6.51% of their comments including swear words. This equates to over 1,300 comments out of 20,000+ total remarks that contained cursing.

However, the devil may be in the detail of these stats. The Athletics have been planning to move their team out of Oakland and to Las Vegas since 2023, and in the interim, have played their home games in West Sacramento.

This has led to chants in support of opposing teams, planned instances of dead silence, and heckles of “sell the team!”

The reality is that before the team announced its move, the Oakland Coliseum where the Athletics played was known as one of the worst stadiums to play in, coupled with poor fan turnout. From 2022 through 2024, the Athletics had the lowest average attendance in the league and were near or at the bottom since 2006.

This may leave Cleveland Guardians (née Indians) fans as the true, most foulmouthed fan base. They came in second with a noted 6.06% swear-word rate.

Cleveland was followed by fans from the Miami Marlins with a rate of 5.91% curse word-laden remarks.

The typically loud New York Yankees fans were ranked as 20th most foulmouthed team.

The Cincinnati Reds were by far the most docile fans, with a rate of 2.86% comments that featured curse words, the only team to place below the 3% marker.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Philadelphia Phillies were second most friendly in their remarks at 3%. It seems they may save all their heckling for real-life scenarios.

With a stereotype of being friendly Canadians, Toronto Blue Jays fans placed 24th on the list at 3.34%, while the typically loud New York Yankees fans were ranked as the 20th most foulmouthed team with 3.68%. New York Mets fans swore less than the Yankees fans by half of a percentage, 3.28%.

In the end, only two words represented the most popular swear word for any given team: “s**t” and “f**k.”

While there was no rhyme or reason for this, Athletics fans happened to choose the latter.

In total, 50,034 swear words were revealed in 1,206,364 online comments.

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Chinese factories are promoting themselves through TIkTok videos and asking American consumers to buy directly from them at a lower cost than retailers.

With President Trump recently raising tariffs on China to 245%, videos have gone viral in recent days of Chinese factories offering products in bulk and/or direct to the consumer from factories that say they supply U.S. retailers.

For example, factories claiming to supply Lululemon and Louis Vuitton have offered products at minimal costs.

As reported by the Independent, one video that garnered 10 million views said it was selling yoga pants from Lululemon for $5 instead of $100, the apparent listed price in the U.S.

Another video reportedly showed a man in a factory who claimed his Louis Vuitton bags can be sold directly to consumers across the world for $50.

Both companies reportedly told the outlet that their products are not finished in China, which raised the question of what “finished” means. Of course, many of these products and factories could be producing counterfeit products, but they also could legitimately be product suppliers that are meant to maximize profits for international retailers.

For Italian products to be labeled “100% Made in Italy” (according the official certification website), a product must be made with “exclusive designs” from Italy, built entirely in Italy, made with Italian semi-finished products, and a have a traceability process.

However, at least some of Louis Vuitton’s products do not contain an official seal and simply say “made in Italy.”

A Louis Vuitton handbag’s tag that says ‘made in Italy’

The Independent noted that it found at least one video that falsely claimed to be a Lululemon supplier. However, a Lululemon spokesperson told the outlet that just 3% or thereabouts of the company’s finished goods are manufactured in mainland China.

The specific nature of the remark is indeed for a reason, as the provided list of manufacturing partners on the Lululemon website revealed that manufacturers from “China Mainland” were categorized separately from “Taiwan.”

Other locations like Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka appeared many times on the list of partners.

Other widely circulated video included $100 alleged Gucci products sold for just $1.49, while another factory boasted laundry pods being sold at a rate of 20 units for $1.

One auto-parts factory promoted a woman in a grime-covered location around dozens of engines who sang, “Many auto parts in my factory, if you need auto parts you can find me.”

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Appreciation for the nuclear family structure has been on the decline for a long time, as parents trade what once was the innate need to sacrifice for their children for their own fleeting, superficial desires.

This has created a culture of fatherlessness, specifically in minority communities — and Adam Coleman, author of “The Children We Left Behind,” knows from experience.

“I do think black fatherlessness issue is the canary in the coal mine for Americans. You know, the issue is very prominent amongst black Americans, more so today, and it’s because it’s culturally normal,” Coleman tells Sara Gonzales on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

Coleman grew up without a father, as did his wife, who grew up in Brooklyn. There was only one family in his wife’s neighborhood who had both parents in the home.

“So I do think that we’re dealing with a cultural aspect of it being normal that the father is optional,” he continues. “It’s that kind of mentality, but they ignore the part that this isn’t optimal. Just because you survive, that doesn’t mean that you’re thriving.”

In the black community, the percentage is high because the population is small. However, it’s not only confined to the black community.

“A lot of white Americans are dealing with much of the same issue, and so the number percentage-wise doesn’t seem all that big in comparison,” Coleman explains. “Most of the people who reach out to me, who share my story, don’t look like me.”

“While it is true there is a disproportionate amount of black Americans growing up in single-parent homes,” he continues, “I do think that narrative overshadows all the other kids, including white children, who are dealing with the same issue.”

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Joseph Seiders, the 44-year-old drummer for the indie rock group the New Pornographers, was charged earlier this month for alleged possession of child pornography, annoying/molesting a child, invasion of privacy, concealing a camera with intent to invade privacy, and attempting to conceal a camera without consent.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office revealed Thursday that deputies assigned to the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station were alerted on April 7 to a “suspicious circumstance” involving an 11-year-old boy. The child claimed that a man had filmed him using the restroom. According to jail records, the incident took place in the restroom of a Chick-Fil-A.

Deputies received a second report at the same location on April 9. An employee indicated that the man from the previous incident, later identified as Seiders, was “entering and exiting the restroom with juvenile males at the business.”

Deputies apprehended the alleged molester and booked him into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, California.

According to the RCSO, the Palm Desert Station Investigations Bureau searched Seiders’ residence, vehicle, and cell phone, finding evidence that allegedly implicated him in the two reported incidents at the Chick-Fil-A as well as additional crimes, including the possession of child pornography.

At the time of publication, Seiders — dubbed the “cocktail drummer” by the Daily Beast — was still in jail with his bail set at $1 million.

Suspected pervert Joseph Seider (Riverside County Sheriff’s Office)

Seiders’ band, the New Pornographers, said in a statement, “Everyone in the band is absolutely shocked, horrified and devastated by the news of the charges against Joe Seiders — and we have immediately severed all ties with him.”

“Our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by his actions,” added the band.

The New Pornographers made Rolling Stone’s list of top 100 bands of the 2000s and performed on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The Guardian noted that the band reached No. 13 in the U.S. charts in 2014 with its album “Brill Bruisers.”

The band with the alleged pedophile drummer has been highly critical of President Donald Trump, bashing him in a Rolling Stone article and noting in 2017, “Trump got 4% of the vote in DC. Where are we most popular? DC. Make of that what you will.”

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An Iranian spy managed to worm his way into the Federal Aviation Administration and even became a U.S. citizen even though he previously served in a foreign military organization associated with terrorism.

On Wednesday, Abouzar Rahmati, 42, pled guilty to acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general as well as conspiracy.

According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Rahmati frequently interacted with high-ranking Iranian officials between December 2017 and June 2024, passing along critical information regarding American aviation infrastructure without authorization.

During his scheme, Rahmati worked as an FAA contractor, a job that granted him “access to sensitive non-public information about the U.S. aviation sector,” the DOJ said. Rahmati also obtained “open-source and non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry” that he then passed along to Iranian leaders.

Rahmati ‘lied’ to US officials about his past military experience to secure work with firms that contract with the federal government.

While working for a federal contracting company, Rahmati downloaded at least 172 GB of data, including “sensitive” documents about the National Aerospace System and its airport surveillance radar networks. He then sent this data to members of the Iranian government on their orders in April 2022, the DOJ claimed.

That same month, he sent his brother, who lives in Iran, similar materials about “solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control towers” with the understanding that his brother would pass along the information to Iranian intelligence, the DOJ added. Once again, he did so under the direction of the Iranian government.

Court documents claimed Rahmati “applied for multiple positions with private companies and U.S. government entities that would afford him access to sensitive information.”

The documents reiterated that “at no time” was Rahmati ever in a diplomatic or other official position that would have made such communications at least reasonable. He also never notified the U.S. attorney general that he intended to act as an agent or official of a foreign government.

Considering his background, it is a wonder that Rahmati managed to secure employment positions with access to such critical American information. Rahmati was born in Iran and earned an undergraduate and a master’s degree in technology-related fields from the University of Tehran.

From June 2009 until May 2010, he was conscripted to serve in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an Iranian military and counterintelligence group that the U.S. government designated to be a foreign terrorist organization in 2019. He eventually rose to the rank of first lieutenant.

According to court documents, Rahmati “lied” to U.S. officials about his past military experience to secure work with firms that contract with the federal government.

When he moved to the U.S. is unclear, though he did earn a master’s of science and a Ph.D. from an American university, court documents said. The news of his conviction comes as liberals across America bewail the revocation of student visas for foreign natives who express hatred for the U.S. or who otherwise align themselves with terrorist organizations.

Rahmati is now a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Great Falls, Virginia.

With his guilty plea, Rahmati faces up to 10 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent without prior notification to the attorney general and five years for conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 26.

H/T: The Post Millennial

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After trying over the course of decades to surmount obstacles laid before them by Democrats and opponents in their own party, Texas Republicans proved successful Thursday in passing universal school choice legislation in a 86-63 vote.

The passage of Texas Senate Bill 2 — which came despite the opposition of nominal Republican state Reps. Dade Phelan and Gary VanDeaver, and after 11 hours of debate — is a major victory for parents statewide, as well as for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who indicated earlier this year that school choice was his top priority for the 89th Legislature. It may also help set the stage for a similar victory at the national level.

“Today, the Texas House took the final step to advance Senate Bill 2, the largest day-one school choice launch in the nation,” Abbott, who intends to ratify the legislation after its likely adoption by the Senate, said in a statement. “This is an unprecedented victory for families, students, and the future of our great state.”

According to the Texas Tribune, this is the first time since 1957 that the Texas House has approved legislation permitting state funds to be made available for families to use on their kids’ private education.

Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick noted that in both his current capacity and while serving as president of the state Senate, he has observed the Texas Senate pass school choice six times: “The first five bills died in the Texas House, but we never quit.”

‘I’m almost getting tired of winning.’

Patrick lauded the persistence of his colleagues and gave a nod to the last-minute boost provided by President Donald Trump, who reportedly told state lawmakers on a conference Wednesday, “This is a big vote today,” and that he hoped they would “vote in a positive manner.”

Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project and a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, told Blaze News that while Texas “wasn’t the first to the party” — 15 other states have passed universal school choice in the past four years — this “is the biggest day-one school choice victory in U.S. history.”

“The Texas win is a big deal,” said DeAngelis. “With Texas joining the club, about 40% of America’s school-age population now lives in states that have passed universal school choice policies. The number is up from 0% in 2021. The momentum for education freedom is almost unbelievable.”

DeAngelis joked, “We’re winning so much, I’m almost getting tired of winning.”

The aim of Senate Bill 2, filed by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, is twofold: first, to “provide additional educational options to assist families in this state in exercising the right to direct the educational needs of their children”; and second, to “achieve a general diffusion of knowledge.”

If ultimately enacted, the bill would direct $1 billion in state funds to create education savings accounts — vouchers that families in the Lone Star State could use to pay for private school tuition and school-related expenses.

Qualifying students under the program who attend a private school would receive $10,000 annually; disabled students would receive up to $30,000 annually; and homeschooled students would receive $2,000.

The Tribune noted that the legislation tethers the voucher program’s per-student dollars to public education funding so that increases or decreases in public school funding would be reflected in the amounts received by students participating in the program.

While this marks a decisive battle won for school choice, DeAngelis told Blaze News, “The fight isn’t over.”

“I expect more than 100,000 students will want to use the school choice program in Texas. Once that demand is shown, the Texas Legislature will need to go back and get rid of the cap on the number of scholarships like they did in states like Arizona and Florida once demand was illustrated,” said the school choice advocate. “I have confidence Texas Republicans will listen to that demand from parents.”

‘We will look back on this day as one of the darkest in Texas history.’

In the meantime, should demand outstrip supply where the program is concerned, poor families and Texas students with disabilities will receive priority.

Despite their support for choice on other matters, state Democrats — particularly those who have cozied up with public teachers’ unions — are enraged over the promise of an affordable option when it comes to Texas kids’ education.

“This bill is everything that is wrong with politics. It’s the interest of big money over everyday Texans,” said state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat endorsed by the Texas State Teachers Association and the Texas American Federation of Teachers.

Democratic state Rep. John Bucy III, who was also endorsed by the Texas AFT, said, “The history books will remember who gutted public education. We will look back on this day as one of the darkest in Texas history.”

State Rep. Alma Allen (D), a former public school administrator, suggested the “harmful voucher scam” would somehow send the state backward.

Lt. Gov. Patrick recommended the Texas Senate concur with Senate Bill 2 Friday afternoon, and Gov. Abbott reiterated he was “ready to sign this bill into law.”

Sen. Brandon Creighton noted, “Parents, lawmakers, and education advocates across Texas are finally seeing real momentum to deliver education freedom.”

The success in Texas might have national implications.

“The Texas government school monopoly has fallen. More dominoes are likely to fall with Texas leading the way. The dam is breaking, and there’s nothing Randi Weingarten and the teachers’ unions can do about it,” said DeAngelis. “This school choice momentum is sure to fuel the battle for nationwide school choice. President Trump campaigned on the issue and ultimately won the parent vote by 9 points. That’s a national mandate for education freedom.”

‘It’s time to get nationwide school choice across the finish line.’

Earlier this year, Republican Reps. Adrian Smith (Neb.) and Burgess Owens (Utah) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced legislation that would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable donation incentive for individuals and businesses to bankroll scholarship awards for students to cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education.

“The Educational Choice for Children Act is a top priority for the 119th Congress because it puts power where it belongs — in the hands of families, not bureaucracies,” Owens said in a statement. “The days of tolerating a one-size-fits-all system that traps students in mediocrity are over.”

The scholarships under the proposed legislation would be dealt out to students as a voucher. Most families would be eligible so long as their household incomes are not 300% greater than their region’s median income.

The New York Times noted that the national bill could be included in a budget reconciliation bill this summer. Accordingly, Republicans would need only 51 votes in the U.S. Senate to seal the deal.

“The Educational Choice for Children Act passed out of the House Ways and Means committee last year, and it is already co-sponsored by most Republicans in Congress,” noted DeAngelis. “President Trump said he would sign it, and the legislation is supported by Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. It’s time to get nationwide school choice across the finish line.”

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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday that the Trump administration had released 10,000 new pages regarding the 1968 assassination of Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (N.Y.).

The long-since classified investigation documents were released as part of President Donald Trump’s January 23 executive order directing the declassification of files on the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

‘In my view, these documents provide the background to more questions than answers.’

“The Executive Order establishes the policy that, more than 50 years after these assassinations, the victims’ families and the American people deserve the truth,” read a White House fact sheet on the action.

During an April 10 Cabinet meeting, Gabbard told Trump she had “over 100 people working around the clock” scanning the relevant files.

“These have been sitting in boxes in storage for decades. They have never been scanned or seen before,” she said.

Trump asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. how he felt about the news that the files on his father and uncle would be released in the coming days.

Kennedy responded, “I’m very gratified.”

“I’m very grateful to you, Mr. President,” he added.

On Friday morning, Gabbard told Fox News that the first batch of newly released files related to the government’s investigation and “questions and theories that were being posed” concerning Sen. Kennedy’s assassination.

The documents revealed that State Department cables were reporting on Kennedy’s death before it actually occurred.

Gabbard explained that the cables “showed different countries were sending messages to each other around Senator Kennedy’s assassination, saying that he had been assassinated, but that was before he was actually killed.”

“In my view, these documents provide the background to more questions than answers,” Gabbard added.

“We’re obviously not stopping here,” she said. “We sent people out to hunt through different warehouses at the FBI and CIA, knowing there are likely other documents that have not yet been turned over to National Archives.”

Gabbard noted that the second release would include more than 50,000 additional pages on the senator’s assassination.

Kennedy Jr. responded to the document release, stating, “Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government.”

“I commend President Trump for his courage and his commitment to transparency,” he added. “I’m grateful also to Tulsi Gabbard for her dogged efforts to root out and declassify these documents.”

A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Nearly six decades have passed since the tragic assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and these historic files have been hidden from the American people all this time — until now.”

“In the name of maximum transparency, President Trump has released over 10,000 pages of the RFK files with more to come,” the spokesperson continued. “There has never been a more transparent president in the history of our country than President Donald J. Trump. Another promise made and promise kept.”

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A Texas man — who is already facing murder charges in a separate case — was hit with new felony charges after his three dogs allegedly mauled a 65-year-old woman to death.

Marshall Garrett, 38, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with three counts of criminal negligent failure to secure his dogs.

Neighbors allegedly told investigators that Garrett’s dogs often escaped from their enclosure and were aggressive.

On March 23, Harriette Phillips was walking on her property and was “scanning her backyard looking for something,” according to home security video reviewed by police. She was hitting her fence with a hammer, according to court documents.

Suddenly, it “appeared that the defendant’s dogs had broken through her fence,” according to court records obtained by ABC News.

Three Staffordshire Bull Terriers reportedly attacked Phillips, and she began to scream. She attempted to defend herself by swinging the hammer at the animals.

Det. Ramon Garcia with the Houston Police Department noted that the dogs began “mauling her head, neck area, arms, elbows, and other parts of her body until the complainant was unable to move anymore or scream for help.”

The dogs mauled Phillips to death.

Garrett did not witness the attacks but “realized what occurred afterward and called 911,” according to court records.

Citing the criminal complaint, People magazine reported that investigators allegedly found the woman’s hair and pieces of her clothing inside the stomachs of the dogs.

The three dogs were euthanized under a Texas law that calls for any animal that bites a person to be quarantined for 10 days or euthanized.

On the same day as the fatal dog attack, another neighbor reportedly texted Garrett that he saw the dogs in Phillips’ yard. Court docs stated that Garrett replied: “Oh lord, I’m about to get it resolved.”

Neighbors allegedly told investigators that Garrett’s dogs often escaped from their enclosure and were aggressive. One neighbor told officers with the Houston Police Department that she had recently been bitten by one of the dogs on her finger while attempting to repair a hole in her fence, court documents stated.

Court documents revealed that Garrett is also facing a murder charge from a previous incident.

On Oct. 29, 2024, Garrett allegedly beat a 69-year-old man to death.

Alton Martin and his fiancée met Latrecia Washington in a parking lot and sold her jewelry, KHOU-TV reported.

Washington allegedly attempted to pawn the jewelry but was informed that the jewelry was fake.

Washington tracked down Martin and his fiancée at a store, court documents said. Washington allegedly used her car to block the couple’s car in the parking lot.

Martin’s fiancée reportedly told authorities that Washington walked Martin out of the store at knifepoint.

Court documents revealed that Washington and Garrett beat Martin with either the handle of a knife or a metal pipe.

Martin died 12 days after the attack. The medical examiner said Martin’s cause of death was blunt-force trauma to his head.

Washington reportedly remains at large.

Garrett was arrested for the alleged fatal beating and then released on bond, according to court records. Garrett is now back in jail.

Garrett allegedly has previously been convicted of several criminal offenses, including burglary, criminal trespass, evading arrest, possession of marijuana, and unlawful use of a criminal instrument.

You can watch a local newscast from KRPC-TV regarding the fatal dog mauling here.

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Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg said it is wrong for Democrats to campaign so hard on preserving democracy because the current political system gave American youth problems such as school shootings and climate change.

Hogg’s comments about one of the main Democratic talking points during elections are sure to cause further frustration with him because he is no longer just an activist. He is now part of the leadership within the DNC.

“We go out there as Democrats all the time and say, ‘Democracy is the most important thing. We have to defend democracy.’ We fail to acknowledge that [for] this generation, democracy is what put us through school-shooter drills and school shootings. It’s what’s put us through the climate crisis and so much more,” Hogg told CBS News.

‘We absolutely cannot wait for these people to retire at their own leisure.’

“What we have to do is prove that democracy matters by standing up to the special interests that are killing the American dream and making our young people lose faith, not only in our party, but the future of this country,” Hogg added.

Hogg is facing internal party backlash as the organization he founded in 2023, Leaders We Deserve, announced plans to spend $20 million on congressional Democrats who LWD believes are not doing enough to meet the concerns of younger voters because they have been in office for too long. While Hogg has maintained he is not going to go after Democrats in swing districts, the move is still causing intense animosity on Capitol Hill and beyond since it comes from a DNC vice chair.

In response to a Politico story framing LWD giving the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee $100,000 as “playing nice,” Hogg said he’s not trying to play nice but to reaffirm his commitment to making Democrats the majority in the House of Representatives.

“But we need a better democratic party and need to get rid of the democrats in safe seats who do not understand what is at stake right now, who are asleep at the wheel, not meeting the moment, and are a liability now and to the future of our party. The path forward requires us to do both things,” Hogg explained. “We absolutely cannot wait for these people to retire at their own leisure or to let them sit there and do nothing while the country is burning.”

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The father of slain high school athlete Austin Metcalf was the victim of a swatting attempt just minutes after he was kicked out of the family news conference for Karmelo Anthony, the accused killer.

Frisco police said that they responded to a report of a gunshot at the home of the Metcalf family on Thursday. They found no evidence of a shot being fired at the home and determined that the call was an attempt at “swatting,” which is a false call intended to cause harm through a police response.

‘The lies and false accusations that have been said about us, especially over the past week, has been overwhelming.’

Metcalf was at a track meet on April 2 at the Kuykendall Stadium when he was fatally stabbed, allegedly by Anthony, after a brief interaction, police said. The case has become the focus of a national debate on crime.

Jeff Metcalf, the father of the victim, tried to attend the press conference for the Anthony family, but he was spotted by one of the Anthony advocates, who had him escorted out by police. His presence delayed the start of the press conference.

A spokesperson for the Anthony family lambasted “conservative operatives” for spreading what he said was “misinformation” about the family and accused the critics of being motivated by “bigotry” and “racism.”

The suspect’s mother, Kayla Hayes, said the family was under intense scrutiny and was suffering from having to deal with criticism stemming from the incident.

“Whatever you think what happened between Karmelo and the Metcalf boys, my three younger children, my husband, and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed, and lied about,” she said at the press conference.

“The lies and false accusations that have been said about us, especially over the past week, has been overwhelming. The lies and their amplification put my family in danger,” she added.

“To the family who experienced the loss, my heart truly goes out to you,” Hayes said.

Anthony’s father has said that his son was not the aggressor in the incident.

Jeff Metcalf previously excoriated the suspect’s family for his accused actions.

“I’m not trying to judge, but what kind of parents did this child have? What was he taught?” he asked. “He brought a knife to a track meet, and he murdered my son by stabbing him in the heart. The guy was in the wrong place, and they asked him to move, and he bowed up. This is murder.”

Anthony was released from jail after his bail was lowered from $1 million to $250,000. He is on house arrest awaiting trial.

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The Trump administration on Wednesday placed most of AmeriCorps’ full-time employees on administrative leave as it moves to reorganize the Bill Clinton-era volunteer agency.

The independent federal agency was established by Congress in 1993 to connect young Americans with community service opportunities, providing roughly a $4,000 stipend, housing accommodations, food, and a higher education grant, the New York Times reported.

‘It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination.’

Despite receiving about $1 billion annually, AmeriCorps failed eight consecutive audits.

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) in December accused the agency of having “a long history of abusing taxpayer dollars.”

“In 2023, the AmeriCorps inspector general issued a ‘Management Challenges’ report detailing significant challenges AmeriCorps faces. This includes being unable to detect fraud. We have no real idea when AmeriCorps will be able to have a clean audit again. In fact, this year’s audit includes 78 recommendations still open, even after AmeriCorps said it addressed 20 last year,” Owens said.

He called for AmeriCorps to be on the Department of Government Efficiency’s “chopping block,” arguing that it should not receive more taxpayer money while “it continuously fails to meet basic accountability standards.”

“We can tell AmeriCorps to modernize and reform until we are blue in the face, but nothing will change unless we recognize the system is built on a flawed idea. It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination,” Owens remarked.

Like many other federal agencies in recent years, AmeriCorps has become infiltrated with woke ideology, including climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Fox News Digital reported that the agency’s 2024 annual management report listed “advancing racial and economic equity” as one of its key priorities.

“AmeriCorps has a decades-long commitment to advancing racial and economic equity through national service and volunteering,” the report read. “These efforts are designed to expand pathways to opportunity for all Americans. Racial and economic equity will be central to AmeriCorps’ planning and implementation of all priorities, ensuring AmeriCorps members and volunteers reflect the diversity of the American people and the communities in which they serve.”

While Owens supports the elimination of AmeriCorps, a Trump administration official told the news outlet that the agency will receive an operational reset but will remain in existence.

On Wednesday, the White House placed 75% of the AmeriCorps full-time employees — 535 out of 700 staffers — on administrative leave while determining how it will reconfigure the agency. Additionally, agency contracts worth approximately $250 million have been terminated.

Anything else?

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) stated on Thursday that the state would file a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop its reorganization efforts.

He wrote in a post on X, “DOGE’s actions to dismantle AmeriCorps threaten vulnerable Californians, disaster response and recovery, and economic opportunities.”

“California will be suing to stop this,” Newsom concluded.

In a separate statement, he called Trump’s actions a “middle finger to volunteers serving their fellow Americans.”

Earlier this week, Newsom filed a lawsuit against Trump to block the administration from imposing increased tariffs. The governor has set aside $50 million to challenge the current administration.

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Rachel Morin was a mother of five, but left behind her children when she was raped and killed by an undocumented migrant from El Salvador.

She was found near the MA & PA Trail in Harford County on August 6, 2023. Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of her murder on April 14 and had fled to the United States illegally after an arrest warrant was issued in El Salvador.

Patty Morin, the victim’s mother, took the stage as a special guest at a White House press briefing where Karoline Leavitt began by highlighting crimes committed by another illegal immigrant, Kilmar Garcia.

Not just an illegal immigrant but an MS-13 gang associate accused of violent crimes against his own wife, Garcia was deported by the Trump administration — while the Democrats have been fighting for his return.

But Morin is well aware of the danger these illegal immigrants pose to American citizens, and she bravely recounted the story of her own daughter’s death to drive her point home.

“He attacked her. He dragged her 150 feet, blood gushing from her head. It left a 150-foot trail of her blood,” Morin said at the press conference. “He picked her up, he threw her against the wall of the tunnel, and he raped her. But before he did that, he stopped on that trail, and rocks still stained with her blood, he used them to hammer her head against those rocks.”

“She was so stoic,” Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight.” “It was incredibly brave, and she answered on the way out the door the question that I was intending to ask.”

“She felt betrayed by those people, those politicians, who just don’t seem to give a damn in Maryland and in Washington and all around the country,” Bedford says. “When she left, the press room was silent. There wasn’t the usual hubbub, there wasn’t the yelling of questions.”

“There was just silence, and that alone was witness to the testimony that she gave,” he adds.

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Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) revealed this week that he and other Democrats intend to continue prioritizing illegal aliens in the U.S. over American citizens.

The Trump White House made clear that it will continue to champion and prioritize the American people — especially those suffering from the fallout of Democrats’ extra-national sympathies.

This distinction was nowhere better illustrated than a pair of photos shared to social media on Thursday: one showing Van Hollen comforting an alleged gangbanger from El Salvador who stole into the United States, and the other showing President Donald Trump comforting an Angel Mom whose daughter was murdered by an illegal alien from El Salvador.

Numerous Democrats have decried the deportation of Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an MS-13 associate found by more than one immigration court to be a “danger to the community.” Van Hollen went the distance with his protest, departing for El Salvador on Wednesday in hopes of bringing the alleged domestic abuser and potential human trafficking gangster back to the United States or at the very least snapping a selfie memorializing his attempt.

‘Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen.’

The junior Democratic senator was initially met with disappointment, learning that he would be unable to visit Abrego Garcia in the Terrorism Confinement Center or return him to the U.S., which Abrego Garcia unlawfully entered without inspection in 2011.

Van Hollen was, however, ultimately afforded an opportunity to speak with the Abrego Garcia Thursday afternoon.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele quipped on X, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!”

— (@)

Evidently unfazed by recent reports indicating the MS-13 associate allegedly beat his wife on multiple occasions and may have been involved in human trafficking, Van Hollen shared a picture to social media Thursday evening showing him sharing an intimate moment with Abrego Garcia.

In the image, Van Hollen can be seen leaning into his conversation with the alleged gangbanger, who appeared altogether unharmed by his stay in the Salvadoran terrorist prison.

The caption that accompanied the photo on social media was, “I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance.”

Hours later, the White House shared a picture of President Donald Trump comforting Patty Morin, the Angel Mom whose daughter, a mother of five, was brutally raped and murdered by one of Abrego Garcia’s countrymen.

‘Perfect visual of why Donald Trump won.’

The White House also shared Van Hollen’s photo. The caption accompanying the post juxtaposing the two images reads: “We are not the same.”

— (@)

Victor Martinez-Hernandez, a 24-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador, was convicted Monday in the brutal murder of Rachel Morin.

Martinez-Hernandez ambushed Rachel Morin while she was exercising on a hiking trail northeast of Baltimore. He smashed her head against nearby rocks and dragged her 150 feet from the trail into a wooded area. After beating her further and raping her, the Salvadoran thug murdered the American mother and ditched her body in a drainage culvert.

Following the conviction, the White House afforded Patty Morin an opportunity to speak to the nation about her daughter. Patty Morin couldn’t help but address Van Hollen’s apparent interest in keeping illegal aliens in the country, as opposed to holding them accountable.

The Angel Mom expressed frustration about how Van Hollen, “who didn’t even acknowledge or barely acknowledged [her] daughter and the brutal death that she endured,” would waste “taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that’s not even an American citizen.”

When Patty Morin met with Trump in the Oval Office, the president said, “She’s been through hell.”

“Your daughter’s looking down, proud of you,” Trump told Morin. “Just keep it going.”

The White House noted, “While Sen. Chris Van Hollen tried to coddle an MS-13 alien in El Salvador, Angel Mom Patty Morin stood in the Oval Office with President Trump — fighting for her daughter, raped and murdered by an MS-13 alien from El Salvador.”

— (@)

Responding to the contrasting photos shared by Van Hollen and the White House, All-American swim star Riley Gaines noted, “Perfect visual of why Donald Trump won on November 5th and why Democrats will continue to lose.”

The Department of Homeland Security stated that Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “are fighting for the victims of illegal crime and putting the safety of Americans FIRST.”

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