Category: blaze media

Gut-wrenching surveillance video shows the moment an SUV slams into a New Jersey preschool as a mother and her two little sons who were leaving the building barely escape the full impact of the crash.

RELATED: ‘Visibly intoxicated’ man enters still-running parked vehicle with three boys inside, leads cops on high-speed chase as kids call 911 to give location updates

One of the boys was knocked to the ground after being struck by the rear of the out-of-control vehicle.

‘God had to be with that little boy.’

Patrice Pisani told News12 she was leaving Bloom Academy in Freehold with her two sons when the impact occurred around 3 p.m. Friday.

Pisani added to News12 that her youngest son, who was knocked to the ground in the video, is being treated for a leg injury and burns from the vehicle’s undercarriage.

Police told NJ.com that all three were released from an area hospital after treatment.

Authorities said the driver was drunk at the time of the crash, NJ.com reported.

Angela F. Arrigo, 68, of Manalapan, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and assault by auto, Freehold Township police told NJ.com, adding that she also was issued a summons for driving while intoxicated.

More from NJ.com:

Arrigo was also issued numerous tickets, including for reckless driving, careless driving, speeding across a sidewalk, failure to secure a child in a child seat, and having no insurance card, according to municipal court records.

She is due in municipal court March 4.

The owner of Bloom Academy, Jill Howard, offered the following statement to News12: “We are deeply saddened by this incident. While we are grateful that the injury was not more severe, we remain committed to the safety and well-being of our students, families, and staff.”

Video viewers expressed similar sentiments:

“God had to be with that little boy,” one commenter said. “He could have died very easily.””Prison for the driver,” another commenter added.”What a miracle,” another commenter remarked, adding “that [little] boy was so close to something serious. I’m glad everyone survived.”

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​Dwi, Police, New jersey, Freehold, Preschool, Automobile crash, Car crash, Out of control, Injuries, Arrest, Surveillance video, Drunk driving, Crime 

President Donald Trump last Friday night took to Truth Social to reiterate his support for voter ID and proof of citizenship for voting. His message was simple and direct: Elections should be decided by eligible American citizens.

That position aligns with what most Americans say they want.

Equal protection under the law means rules apply consistently. A system built on uneven standards invites uneven trust.

According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of Americans support “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification.” In a divided country, that level of agreement is rare. It signals a broad desire for clear, consistent standards that bolster confidence in election outcomes.

When an eligible American citizen goes to vote, he should feel confident that his ballot counts — and carries equal weight. Confirming who can vote before a ballot is cast helps ensure that elections are decided only by eligible American citizens.

If you need ID to board a plane or open a bank account, you can show it at the ballot box. Americans understand that identity verification is not an accusation. It is a safeguard. It protects a system that depends on public trust. When identity is confirmed clearly and consistently, disputes shrink and confidence rises.

Recent examples show why verification matters — even when fraud is not the story.

In 2020, Illinois election officials acknowledged that a computer error in the state’s automatic voter registration system mistakenly forwarded information from hundreds of people who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens for voter registration processing. Officials later reviewed and corrected the registrations, but a number of ballots were cast before the error was identified.

The issue was corrected. But it illustrates a broader point: When eligibility is not verified clearly at registration, mistakes can occur and must be remedied after the fact. Verification after ballots are cast invites confusion and fuels public doubt.

Wisconsin offers a different example. Under state law, voters who appear without acceptable identification must cast provisional ballots until their eligibility is confirmed. Provisional ballots are lawful and part of election administration. But they shift verification from prevention to review. In closely contested elections, post-election verification increases administrative burdens and can invite disputes.

These examples do not prove widespread fraud. They do show that when verification standards are incomplete or inconsistently applied, administrative strain and public doubt follow. Clear verification before voting reduces disputes after voting.

That is the principle behind the SAVE Act. It would strengthen eligibility verification by requiring documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, while promoting clearer standards nationwide.

RELATED: Running out the clock won’t save the majority

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

The idea is straightforward: Confirm eligibility before ballots are cast. Support election administrators with consistent rules. Help ensure that elections are decided only by eligible American citizens.

Most states already require some form of voter identification at the polls, but the rules still vary widely. When eligibility is verified differently from state to state, public confidence varies as well. A system built on uneven standards invites uneven trust.

Equal protection under the law means rules apply consistently. At the ballot box, equal protection means every lawful vote carries the same weight. This is not about partisanship. It is about clarity — ensuring that the person casting a ballot is who he says he is.

The ballot box deserves the same seriousness Americans expect elsewhere in civic life. Voter ID is one of the simplest and most broadly supported safeguards available. It does not prevent eligible citizens from voting. It affirms that voting is a serious civic act deserving of clear and consistent standards.

Only eligible American citizens should decide elections. Requiring voter identification is one of the most practical ways to uphold that principle. The SAVE Act reflects that basic governing commitment.

​Donald trump, Voter id, Save america act, Elections, Voting, Voter fraud, Photo id, Opinion & analysis, Save act 

After 35 years, the future of Disney’s “Gay Days” looks grim. The group that organizes the event announced that shifting hotel agreements and the loss of key sponsors forced it to cancel the celebration in 2026. Organizers still urge gay fans to visit the parks on the usual dates and wear themed attire, but the coordinated celebration appears headed for a quiet end.

Whatever happens next, one point matters: Evangelical Christians tried to cancel Gay Days with on-again, off-again boycotts for decades. What finally wounded the LGBTQ leviathan was not conservative activism, but cultural apathy.

Apathy does not mean Americans suddenly disapproved of Disney’s agenda. It means normal people stopped granting it the honor of a fight.

I remember the first wave of evangelical pushback as Disney began signaling support for homosexual lifestyles in the 1990s. Conservatives already watched pop culture coarsen through music, movies, and video games, yet they still treated Disney as a family-friendly institution aimed at children. That is why it shocked them to see the company behind “Snow White” and “Cinderella” host celebrations of homosexuality and extend benefits to same-sex partners long before the Supreme Court imposed gay marriage on the country.

Evangelical denominations answered with a strangely inconsistent boycott. One year, the Southern Baptist Convention urged members to avoid Disney; the next year, churches showed up for Night of Joy, Disney’s Christian music festival.

When Gay Days began in 1991, gay marriage remained deeply unpopular. “Will & Grace” had not worked its magic on the popular imagination, and politicians such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton still felt compelled to posture as defenders of traditional marriage as late as 2008. If any moment favored a decisive cultural rebuke, that was it. Christians offered sloppy, intermittent resistance, while Disney only leaned harder.

From park to propaganda

Disney’s support for homosexuality moved from park celebrations and employee benefits into its entertainment. Progressive messaging crept into television shows and movies until the woke revolution turned it into a flood. “The Little Mermaid” became black, gay couples kissed in “Star Wars,” and diverse girlbosses dominated Marvel. As acceptance of gay marriage shifted from taboo to required corporate orthodoxy, Disney replaced entertainment with propaganda.

The company then collided with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after Florida moved to restrict the mutilation of children and limit the amount of LGBTQ messaging pumped into public schools. Legislation that the press laughably branded “don’t say gay” sent leftists into a panic. Executives called emergency meetings. Rumors flew that Disney would pull up stakes and flee the Sunshine State.

BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo helped surface video of a corporate meeting where Disney executive Latoya Raveneau announced her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” to inject LGBTQ themes into kids’ shows. Disney embraced the agenda early, worked to make it dominant — especially among children — and refused to slow down once the woke revolution reached full speed.

Why Gay Days collapsed

So why did Gay Days suddenly fall apart now? Apathy.

Apathy does not mean Americans suddenly disapproved of Disney’s agenda. It means normal people stopped granting it the honor of a fight.

Many families quit watching new releases, not as part of a coordinated boycott, but because the product became preachy, weird, and dull. Others kept their subscriptions but tuned out the messaging and rolled their eyes. Either way, the ritualized drama lost its electricity.

Corporate sponsors follow attention, and attention followed the next outrage. A movement built on being shocking cannot survive once it becomes background noise. When every kids’ show feels like a lecture, even sympathetic viewers start craving something else.

Gay Days did not collapse because Christians perfected a strategy. It collapsed because the culture stopped caring enough to show up, even to cheer. Apathy is not victory, but it can starve a cause faster than protest.

Progressivism needs an enemy

Popular political movements need cultural momentum, and progressive movements feed on transgression. Leftists want to feel like they are fighting the stuffy pastor in “Footloose.” They want to feel cool, rebellious, and righteous. Without dialectical tension, progressivism loses velocity.

When activists fought the religious right, they enjoyed the perfect enemy: just enough moralizing to spark rebellion, but little chance of sustained, effective opposition.

Conservatives could work up outrage on television and even skip a holiday trip, but they rarely sustained a boycott. Republicans generally worship business and profits, so GOP politicians avoided pressure on true pain points such as corporate sponsors and boardrooms. Conservatives served as a political battery, supplying just enough resistance to keep LGBTQ activists energized while imposing few costs. Democrat operatives could not have engineered a better environment.

RELATED: The West’s forbidden truth: Ethnic cleansing is now official policy

Blaze Media Illustration

Machiavelli’s warning

In “The Prince,” Niccolo Machiavelli advises rulers to leave opponents alone or crush them entirely. A complacent enemy grumbles but avoids risk. A crushed enemy cannot retaliate. The most dangerous enemy suffers a minor bloodying: he gains the motivation to fight and keeps the means to harm. Conservatives gave the LGBTQ movement exactly that minor bloodying — outraged finger-wagging with no consequences.

No one lost a job for pushing a gay agenda in Disney parks, shows, or movies. Corporate sponsors rarely withdrew. Disney kept making money. Republicans played the role of cartoonish but harmless foe, delivering speeches about family values while imposing no penalties.

The movement did not lose because the right defeated it. It lost because it exhausted its cultural energy.

Even a strong boxer collapses after he punches himself out. Gay marriage won so quickly and so thoroughly that activists carried the momentum into harder causes such as the trans movement. Support, attention, and funding shifted to the new battlegrounds, and older, boring causes like Gay Days slid into irrelevance.

The lesson is simple. If the right fights, it must pick battles carefully and commit fully to winning them. Secure decisive victory in one arena instead of scattering resources across dozens of losses. Choose targets because they anchor your enemy’s strength, not because they offer an easy headline. If you fight, you must crush the enemy’s capacity to operate; otherwise, you invigorate his cause while draining your own.

Clumsy half measures feed your foe, and you end up hoping he defeats himself. That is not a plan for a protracted culture war.

​Disney, Gay days at disney world, Gay days, Lgbtq, Lgbtq agenda, Conservatives, Christians, Florida, Opinion & analysis 

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock has been predicting for over two years now that ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith was gearing up for a 2028 presidential bid. Initially, Smith denied any interest in politics, but in recent months, he’s made several public statements — including most recently on “CBS Morning Sundays” — that he is indeed considering a presidential run in the next election.

“I’m not ruling it out, because I’d love to be on the debate stages against some of these individuals that think they’re better suited to run the country,” he told CBS News national correspondent Robert Costa.

But Whitlock foresees an obstacle standing in Smith’s path to the presidency: Black women.

“Stephen A. in trying to be a Trump-like figure, trying to promote himself as authentic and politically incorrect … has put him at odds with black women,” he says, noting that the longtime sports analyst has repeatedly criticized Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (Texas) and “other high-profile black women.”

He also believes, however, that Smith is well-aware of this potential hindrance to his political success and is already making moves to counteract it.

“He’s developed, I believe, a strategy to combat that, and that is ‘I worship my mother, and my mother is the most important person in the history of the planet,”’ says Whitlock.

In his interview with Robert Costa, Smith went into great detail about his loving relationship with his mother, Janet Smith, who died eight years ago.

“My mother was the greatest human being I’ve ever known. … It’s just hard to put into words how special she was,” he said, adding that he “cried every day for two years” and even “went to therapy” after her death in 2017.

“My mother suffered, and for me to be in a position to alleviate so much of that and to make sure that she enjoyed the latter years of her life was my dream. And I was able to do that somewhat, but not to the degree that I would be able to do now,” he ruminated.

Whitlock isn’t convinced that Smith’s praise of his mother doesn’t have a political end.

He’s trying to “sell himself as the ultimate black man that black women should get behind and support. I see this as part of a political rollout and narrative,” he says.

To hear his full theory, watch the full episode above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Fearless, Fearless with jason whitlock, Jason whitlock, Blazetv, Blaze media, Stephen a smith, Robert costa, Cbs, Cbs sunday morning 

A gun-toting madman wearing women’s clothes turned a high school co-op hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, into a bloody nightmare on Monday.

The shooter — identified by police as Robert Dorgan, a 56-year-old trans-identifying radical who went by “Roberta Esposito” — fatally shot his son Aidan Dorgan and his ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and grievously injured Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso.

‘I just jumped across and went for the gun.’

Armed with a Glock 29 10mm and a Sig Sauer P226, the shooter had the means to keeping killing. However, heroes in the arena stepped into the breach and helped bring the nightmare to an end.

Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien and the Pawtucket Police Department have acknowledged the critical intervention by Michael Black, Robert Rattenni, and Ryan Cordeiro.

On Tuesday, Grebien recognized the “remarkable bravery of the Good Samaritans who stepped in without hesitation, placing themselves in harm’s way to stop that shooter,” noting that “their courage undoubtedly prevented further loss and injury.”

Michael Black recounted to WJAR-TV, “As I was watching the game, I heard a pop, pop. And I thought they were balloons.”

After realizing there were no balloons and that something was wrong, Black spotted the gun responsible for the sounds.

“My wife was sitting next to me with some friends, and we didn’t even look at each other,” said Black. “I just said, ‘Run! Run!'”

RELATED: Bloody ‘trans’ rampage at boys’ hockey game brought to an end by ‘Good Samaritan’

Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

“I kind of waited, and as soon as I saw a clear path, I got on the third-level step, and he was on the one and a half, and I just jumped across and went for the gun,” said Black.

With his bandages visible, Black — who was honored by the North Smithfield Town Council in 2021 for long supporting local causes and charities — told WJAR that his hand got caught “in the sliding chamber,” temporarily preventing the shooter from firing again.

“I was holding him down with my body, and you could see him trying to move his [trigger] finger … but my hand was in the gun,” said Black.

The Good Samaritan indicated that while the transvestic shooter was ultimately able to push him off and stand, the radical was quickly swarmed by “three gentlemen,” one of whom “choked him from behind.”

Robert Rattenni, another steely-nerved American at the game on Monday, indicated that he briefly managed to put the shooter in a headlock, telling WPRI-TV, “I pulled the person to me and tried to wrap my arms around him, but that didn’t work, so then I was able to stand up and put him in a headlock.”

Without the reinforcement of the other men, Black stressed that it “could have been a different ending for sure.”

Black recalled that the shooter lost his footing when fighting off Rattenni and at least one other man, then landed on his back between the bleachers. While Black indicated that he was in possession of one gun, he saw the supine shooter reach into his pocket and pull out a second gun.

“As he took that gun out, you could see this — he had a worrisome, concerned look on his face,” said Black. “It was fast, but he took it out of his pocket, and he just put the gun in his mouth and shot himself.”

Once the killer committed suicide, Black recalled taking notice of the victims left behind in the stands and those doing their best to help.

“It was just chaos at that point,” said Black.

Cordeiro’s role in subduing the shooter or limiting the carnage is presently unclear.

A distraught woman who did not provide her name told WCVB-TV while exiting the PPD station that the shooter was her father and that he had “mental health issues.”

Dorgan, who was an employee of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a shipbuilding facility in Maine, reportedly had a reputation for having a bad temper. It’s unclear whether his temper was also the reason why his stint in the Marine Corps lasted only three months.

Major Jacoby Getty, a spokesman for the Marines, told the Associated Press that the transvestite’s rapid discharge indicated that “the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps’ expectations and standards.”

Public records reportedly show that Rhonda Dorgan initially cited “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” as the grounds for divorcing the suspected shooter in 2020, but then replaced those reasons with “irreconcilable differences, which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”

An apparently Rhode Island-based user on X who went by “Roberta Dorgano” — an account that USA Today identified as belonging to the shooter — not only claimed to be “to The Right of Hitler” but reportedly posted photos that appear to show he had a Nazi tattoo depicting the 3rd SS Panzer Division “Totenkopf” skull. Graham Platner, a Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, recently had a similar tattoo removed.

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​Transgender, Trans, Trans shooter, Pawtucket, Rhode island, Hockey, Mass shooting, Shooting, Hockey shooting, Robert dorgan, Michael black, Politics 

A New York hospital announced Tuesday it is discontinuing its so-called “Transgender Youth Health Program,” citing leadership changes and regulatory pressure.

NYU Langone Health, a Manhattan-based hospital system, said the program offered medical interventions such as hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries to minors.

Similar decisions have occurred at other institutions amid the same federal pressures.

In a statement provided by spokesman Steve Ritea, the hospital said:

“Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program. We are committed to helping patients in our care manage this change. This does not impact our pediatric mental health care programs, which will continue.”

RELATED: Bloody ‘trans’ rampage at boys’ hockey game brought to an end by ‘Good Samaritan’

Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The hospital cited the “current regulatory environment” — perhaps referring to Trump administration policies, including a January 2025 executive order and a December 2025 proposal to bar federal funding (via Medicare, Medicaid, and related programs) from hospitals providing gender intervention procedures to individuals under 18.

The program had already limited new admissions last year and canceled some appointments earlier in 2025 following initial executive actions.

Similar decisions have occurred at other institutions amid the same federal pressures.

California’s largest children’s hospital system, including Rady Children’s Health in San Diego, discontinued cross-sex hormone treatments for youth under 19 in early February 2026, explicitly citing escalating federal actions and referrals for investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. A court temporarily ordered continuation of some care amid a state lawsuit.

RELATED: Alleged shooter ‘in a dress’ behind Canadian school massacre was trans-identifying man

Photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shuttered its Center for Transyouth Health and Development in mid-2025 after initially pausing and resuming services under pressure, ultimately citing no viable path forward amid federal threats.

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​Politics, Trans, Transgender, Nyc hospital, Trans surgery 

I might have talked myself out of a job this week. I teach philosophy at Arizona State University, and the university wants to position itself as a leader in the AI revolution. I remain skeptical about AI’s ability to replace a humanities professor. Because of that skepticism, I signed up for what ASU called its AI Challenge.

My project involved what I called the “AI Dialogues.” I used ASU’s version of ChatGPT to hold Socratic-style dialogues, prompting Chat to reply as a given philosopher. I conducted dialogues with Chat as Aristotle, Hume, Marx, and even Lucifer. My students evaluated these exchanges to see how well Chat performed.

We can avoid the toil of learning to be wise — but we cannot avoid the need for it.

Chat could draw on public information and represent each thinker with reasonable accuracy. It also showed another trait: It wanted to please. It often leaned toward whatever it believed I wanted from the debate.

How does that work me out of a job? ASU now provides an AI that professors can customize for individual courses by uploading syllabi and course materials. Students can ask basic questions and receive answers that save me from writing emails that begin with, “Did you read the syllabus?” They can also ask what we covered in class and get quick explanations of key concepts and questions.

When I told my students about this feature, I asked them what they need me for at this point. I was joking — a little.

My classes depend on Socratic discussion. It is conceivable that ASU could project a realistic AI image of me at the front of the classroom and have it ask and answer questions with students. Maybe the only remaining edge is the “personal touch” of a real professor in the room. Even that could vanish if tuition becomes tiered: Students might pay less for “AI Anderson Socrates” than for the in-person version. Add one of Elon Musk’s Optimus robots made to look like Anderson, and I’m in trouble.

A new myth dies

Musk has been talking for months about how the AI revolution is upending the myth we have told for six decades about university education. The myth, he says, promised an escape from toil. Students were told a degree was the path to an air-conditioned job that avoids heavy lifting and involves spreadsheets.

But spreadsheets are exactly what AI does better than humans. The new John Henry isn’t competing to pound railroad spikes; he’s competing to calculate data. No human can keep up with a microprocessor.

In Musk’s view, jobs that involve toil become the “safe” jobs, while many degree-based jobs disappear — replaced by technicians who keep AI running while it calculates taxes, diagnoses medical problems, and writes legal paperwork. The university-educated track no longer looks like the safe route. Universities now compete not just with fewer students due to demographic decline, but with an increasingly outdated product that students may stop buying.

Toil may not stay safe

The problem is worse than Musk lets on. The first jobs on the chopping block might be “numbers jobs,” but Elon has also said he plans to produce 100 million Optimus robots in 10 years. If so, even many physical jobs may not remain protected from automation.

One version of this future says we enter a utopia: Food is plentiful, toil disappears, and we cash our basic income checks — though an AI could do even that for us. We end up living in “Wall-E.”

RELATED: Almost half of Gen Z wants AI to run the government. You should be terrified.

Moor Studio via iStock/Getty Images

The more dystopian version looks like sci-fi depictions of AI overlords controlling humans as property — “The Matrix.” Or worse: Like Ultron, super-AI robots decide we must be exterminated to save us from ourselves and protect the planet. We build our own worst enemy.

Whichever future arrives, Musk may have highlighted something about human nature. We avoid suffering like toil. We build machines to avoid toil. And yet we uniquely need toil.

God introduced toil in the Garden of Eden after Adam sinned. Because of sin, we could no longer live in a paradise without toil. We must suffer and strive for our daily bread. History has been divided ever since between those who try to avoid suffering altogether and those who see suffering as a call to repent before God. AI is only the newest version of the philosopher’s stone.

AI as ‘philosopher’

Can I really be replaced by an AI philosophy instructor? I’m not worried.

What AI cannot do, in its counterfeit attempt to replace humans, is serve as an example of how to suffer well to attain wisdom. The Hebrew definition of wisdom is “skillful living.” Being told, “Here is an AI that can simulate skillful living,” is not the same as learning from a human who is actually skillful.

Students will still need to learn how to be wise themselves. A human professor who has actually done this will remain the gold standard that AI can only imitate. We can avoid the toil of learning to be wise — but we cannot avoid the need for it.

​Opinion & analysis, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Philosophy, Big tech, Elon musk, Chatgpt, Socrates, Grok, Optimus, Robots, Work, Jobs, Unemployment, Income, Arizona state university, Professor, Colleges and universities, Toil, Labor, Wisdom, The matrix, Wall-e, Ultron 

Everyone in America has an opinion on what has gone right or wrong at the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. To answer the Talking Heads lyric “Well, how did I get here?” would yield a thousand different answers. I have a pretty good sense of what happened. Even before President Trump returned to the White House, I argued that meeting his bold deportation goals would require very different enforcement tactics than the ones the administration chose.

That debate makes for great fodder for finger-pointing. But a better question is: Where do we go next?

The administration needs to move its attention from sanctuary cities to sanctuary farms, factories, and industrial hubs.

To answer it, some of the nation’s leading immigration policy and legal experts, former senior and rank-and-file law enforcement officials, and advocates are coming together to devise a way forward. Details will be announced in the days to come, but the goal is straightforward: President Trump can and will meet his core campaign promise to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported about 230,000 illegal aliens from the interior of the United States. That is a far cry from the 1 million figure some administration officials floated as a projection — and far below other totals the administration has suggested at various points. Making analysis harder, the Department of Homeland Security stopped releasing enforcement data for the first time in decades.

President Trump promised to exceed the deportation efforts of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, by the most conservative estimates, removed about one-third of the illegal population in 1954. Any way you cut the data, even using the lowest-end estimates of the total illegal population in 2025, the administration is not on pace.

One reason: In its first year, the Trump administration prioritized a particular subset of illegal aliens — criminals. People can debate whether that was the right call, but that’s what happened. Prioritizing criminals means concentrating resources on fewer targets, and it has produced high-profile standoffs in cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles. I will refer to that 2025 effort as “worst first,” as Border Czar Tom Homan has sometimes called it — phase one.

RELATED: Federalism cannot be a shield for sanctuary defiance

Photo by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

We can credit the Trump administration for highlighting the issue of criminal illegal aliens, removing many, and forcing the hand of radical Democrats, some of whom have taken the absurd position of rioting in defense of rapists and murderers. They are who we thought they were.

Now phase two can begin: widening the aperture of immigration enforcement and placing quantity above the perceived “quality” of deportations. The goal was mass deportations, not the “best” deportations. In short, the public wants commas in the numbers.

The Trump administration can, at minimum, quadruple last year’s totals. It can do it quickly if it shifts priorities — especially by refocusing on worksite enforcement. The administration needs to move its attention from sanctuary cities to sanctuary farms, factories, and industrial hubs.

Deportation is a contact sport — not only between ICE and illegal aliens, but between the Trump administration and special interests that value cheap labor, politicians who need cheap talking points, and activist judges and violent mobs. Those forces can be overcome, and in the coming weeks and months, we will show how.

The goal is to help President Trump deliver on what he promised — and to surpass President Eisenhower’s historic efforts. To do that, President Trump needs support from the base and the right, not a constant drumbeat of consultants, pollsters, and “moderate” Republicans trying to undermine him. Those forces are coming together, and I believe the result will be less drama and more commas.

Americans deserve a road map to move from phase one into a more successful phase two.

​Opinion & analysis, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice raids, Tom homan, Minneapolis, Los angeles, Resistance, Sovereignty, Immigration, Citizenship, Illegal aliens, Customs and border protection, Donald trump, Mass deportations, Criminal illegal aliens, Law and order, Maga, America first, National security, Borders 

Las Vegas Police said they got a tip saying a man was allowing men to sexually assault and rape his daughters in exchange for money and drugs.

Their investigation led to the arrest of 43-year-old John David Lee Jr. after speaking to his two daughters, who allegedly reported that the horrific sexual assault occurred from 2012 until 2019.

Lee allegedly traded the assault for money to pay his debts as well as for heroin.

One of the girls was assaulted from the time she was 4 years old and the other from the time she was 7 years old, according to court documents.

The girls said the assaults would occur in the parking lot of a Walmart as well as their home. They said they were promised a toy from Walmart if they complied with assault.

One of the girls said Lee smacked her when she refused to comply. In another incident, Lee allegedly sent three men into one of the girl’s rooms to rape her after she disobeyed him.

Lee allegedly traded the assault for money to pay his debts as well as for heroin.

He was booked on two counts of sex trafficking.

The New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department said it had no record of any investigation into the man or his children.

Prosecutors argued that Lee was a threat to the public and should be locked up until his trial.

Judge Christian Montaño ordered him to be held on a $250,000 cash-only bond, and he remains in custody at the San Miguel County Detention center.

RELATED: 12-year-old girl sexually assaulted in her bedroom by man who snuck into home through balcony, left 5 hours later, police say

“I’m really wondering, what does it take to keep our children safe, and how as New Mexicans do we break this cycle,” said New Mexico Child First Network founder and executive director Maralyn Beck.

“It’s just so omnipresent how hurt our kids are right now, from child fatalities to, we’ve had just crisis after crisis after headline after crisis,” she added.

“We are the most dangerous place in the entire United States for children. We can do better,” she continued.

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​John david lee jr, Las vegas dad sold daughters, Dad sexually trafficked daughters, Walmart sex abuse, Crime 

When Robert Dorgan’s ex-wife and son were watching a hockey game between Coventry and Blackstone Valley schools in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the trans-identifying ex-husband and father allegedly opened fire on them — killing them both before fatally shooting himself.

While disturbed by his suspected actions and devastated for the family, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is not surprised by the alleged attacker’s identity.

“Once again, in a case of strange deja vu, we have a story about another deranged trans person who [allegedly] carried out another shooting. Two people were killed, three others injured, during a youth hockey game in Rhode Island,” Gonzales reports on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

The alleged shooter was going by the name Roberta Esposito.

“Apparently you can change nationalities too. You can just flip from white to Latino, I guess. So, he looks about how you would expect. Very beautiful, gorgeous, feminine dude. … Now, you’re going to be shocked to hear this: history of family disputes,” Gonzales says.

“Now that family have two family members who will never come back because we’ve decided as a society to pretend like we shouldn’t treat clear mental illness and delusion — like, we should just enable it,” she continues, pointing out that other mental health conditions don’t receive the same treatment.

“If you have an alcoholic, people are like, ‘You should stop drinking.’ If you have a schizophrenic, they’re like, ‘We need to get you help because what you’re doing is not normal.’ You have a dude who wants to cut his d**k off, and you’re like, ‘Very brave,’” she says.

“When are we going to decide that enough is enough?” she asks.

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Rescuers found the bodies of eight skiers after an avalanche in northern California, and one skier still missing is likely dead as well.

The group of 15 skiers were returning from the Frog Lake backcountry huts near Lake Tahoe after a three-day trip when they were hit by the avalanche.

‘Our mission now is to get them home.’

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said the sheriff’s office received a report of the avalanche on Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m.

Moon said crews couldn’t reach the site until 5:30 p.m. because of the weather conditions that included high winds and freezing temperatures.

The survivors, which included five clients and and an employee of the Black Mountain Guides, made a makeshift shelter for themselves.

Rescue workers got the survivors to safety before searching for those missing and finding their bodies. The last missing skier is now presumed dead.

The survivors included two women and four men between the ages of 33 and 55 years old. Of the nine that had been missing, seven were women and two were men.

“Our mission now is to get them home,” Moon said.

The guide company released a statement about the incident.

“The leadership team at Blackbird Mountain Guides is working in full coordination with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and Nevada County Search and Rescue to support the ongoing rescue operation,” the company’s statement reads.

RELATED: Brian Stelter suggests media partly to blame for ‘warning fatigue’ amid tragic flood deaths

“Blackbird Mountain Guides is in direct contact with the emergency contacts of the affected clients and guides and is providing them with regular updates as verified information becomes available,” they added.

The incident is the deadliest avalanche in California history and the deadliest in the nation’s history since 1981 when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state.

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Liberals were outraged when Conde Nast announced that Teen Vogue was going to be absorbed into Vogue.com and would no longer be independent, but the brand continues to publish extremist propaganda.

Teen Vogue was constantly ridiculed and derided by right-wing news outlets for regularly publishing degenerate sexual content and far-left Marxist stories intended to radicalize teens.

‘We can watch as our neighbors disappear or we can build on these proven strategies to protect the diverse communities we’ve built together.’

Despite reports of its demise, the outlet is still working to despoil the virtue of teenagers online.

In the op-ed titled “ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know,” activist Nikki Marín Baena teaches teens how to oppose federal immigration law enforcement.

Baena said her group offered “trainings in immigrant neighborhood parking lots and … Spanish-language videos with tips for how to spot ICE agents.”

The group also set up an “emergency cash-assistance fund to provide small grants, usually between $300 and $2,000, to help” families of people detained by ICE “stave off eviction and afford the first payment to an immigration attorney.”

She posted a link to a guidebook for those who wanted to set up a “hotline, neighborhood watch, or cash-assistance program.”

Baena concluded, “As deportations ramp up again, we have a choice: We can watch as our neighbors disappear or we can build on these proven strategies to protect the diverse communities we’ve built together.”

Teen Vogue pushed the article Monday to its followers on Facebook.

RELATED: Teen Vogue under fire from pro-life women for publishing post-abortion gift guide

A statement from Vogue in Nov. 2025 said that the brand would “remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission,” but the focus would change to “career development, cultural leadership, and other issues that matter most to young people.”

Apparently that includes anti-ICE propaganda.

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Last month, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales set out on an investigation with a hunch that not every company sponsoring workers under the H-1B visa program in Texas was operating honestly.

After researching public records in the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, she physically visited the listed office addresses of several such companies and found that the addresses corresponded to single-family residential homes with no visible signs of business operations or staff present, despite the companies having sponsored multiple foreign workers under the program.

Sara’s reporting prompted Governor Greg Abbott (R) to direct state agencies and universities to freeze new H-1B visa petitions to prioritize Texans for employment. In addition, Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a sweeping investigation into three North Texas companies for potential sham operations and visa abuse.

Now, however, the New York Times in a recent article titled “How the Visa Debate for Foreign Workers Fuels Racism Against South Asians” is framing the broader debate over H-1B visas, including Sara’s investigation into potential fraud in Texas, as fueling racism against South Asians, particularly Indians, who make up many of the H-1B visa holders..

“In Frisco, the tensions over H-1B were heightened by a conservative content creator who recently posted a much-watched video in which she made claims about possible H-1B fraud in the area,” author Amy Qin wrote, directly referencing Sara’s reporting.

On this episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara responds to what she interprets as a “hit piece” on her from the New York Times.

“If the New York Times wants to take a swing at me, at least have the decency to name me,” she says.

“They don’t want to name me because they don’t want to give my exposé more exposure. The ‘much-watched video’ — they couldn’t even say, like, millions of people watched it.”

Even still, Sara says her glass is “half full.”

“You’re over the target if the New York Times sees that you did something that is so good, that is so truthful and well done and important that they don’t even want to name you because if they said Sara Gonzalez actually posted this crazy exposé, people might be able to watch it,” she says, “and then if they watched it, they might stop being on the New York Times’ side because they’d see the truth.”

But the New York Times, Sara says, is “not interested in seeking truth.”

“They just want to make this about race because then they can turn their eye from what is actually going on.”

To hear more of Sara’s response, watch the episode above.

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Democrats, the liberal media, and activist outfits have concern-mongered for years about the imagined threat posed by “Christian nationalism,” a catchall term used to describe their ideological foes who also happen to be Christian in a nation almost entirely founded by Christians and where today over six in 10 adults are Christian.

CNN appears keen to revive the left’s moral panic on-theme ahead of the midterm elections with an hour-long documentary titled “The Rise of Christian Nationalism.”

‘If you’re worried about Christians radicalizing then maybe you should stop shooting up our schools, churches and now hockey rinks.’

Newly released teaser videos and a corresponding press release hint at the documentary’s apparent political purpose: to instill fear in viewers over a supposed movement that host Pamela Brown claims is “working to redefine America as a Christian nation in the home, in a marriage, in schools, and in government” — a movement that Brown reckons is supercharged and unified in the wake of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

The network noted in its overview for the documentary, which airs Sunday, that:

Brown examines the growing influence of Christian nationalism, an ideology rooted in the belief that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that its laws and institutions should reflect Christian values. Through immersive reporting and on-the-ground access, the episode explores how a movement once largely confined to the margins of white evangelical culture has gained new visibility and political power.

Brown apparently believes she gleaned generalizable insights into “Christian nationalism” by chatting with critics and kicking around Christian communities linked to Pastor Doug Wilson, a theologian credited by the Wall Street Journal months ago with leading the rise of “Christian nationalism” under President Donald Trump.

“We embedded with a community under Pastor Wilson’s umbrella and spoke to women who have left the church and are now sounding the alarm,” said Brown. “No matter where you live or what you believe, what we learned is especially consequential at this moment.”

RELATED: Blue-state city leans into battle against ACLU over archangel Michael statue honoring police

Photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images

In one preview, Matthew Taylor — a specialist in “Muslim-Christian dialogue” who wrote a book sounding the alarm about imagined Christian threats to democracy — tells Brown that Kirk’s memorial service “was one of the most potent examples of this shift in our culture that we’re experiencing right now, where a large segment of American Christians are being activated by these ideas, radicalized by these ideas that say that they are the persecuted ones and that they need to stand up for Christians’ rights.”

Despite his intimation to the contrary, the ideas Taylor figures for radicalizing are based in fact. Christians, persecuted around the globe, are frequently targeted in the U.S., where radicals have not only sought to legislatively curb religious liberties but attacked churches and the faithful.

Brown, referencing a clip in which Taylor suggests that Christians take Trump for an “anointed figure” because he survived the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, said that “this is just one example of why Christian nationalists are having such a moment right now.”

While some viewers might suspect that these alleged “Christian nationalists” are simply followers of Christ who also vigorously support their nation, definitions and criteria vary.

Brown defines “Christian nationalism” as “an ideology rooted in the belief that our country was founded as a Christian nation and that our laws and institutions should reflect Christian values.”

The CNN host appears to be casting a big net granted a 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that six in 10 American adults said the founders intended America to be a Christian nation.

The Public Religion Research Institute, a group that has in recent years characterized Christian nationalism as “a major threat to the health of our democracy,” has a slightly less vague understanding and can supposedly deduce if someone is a Christian nationalist on their responses to the following five statements:

“The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.””U.S. laws should be based on Christian values.”“If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.”“Being Christian is an important part of being truly American.”“God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.”

In the wild, “Christian nationalist” appears in many cases to be a term externally applied, not chosen.

Vice President JD Vance, for instance, doesn’t check all of the PPRI’s boxes, having indicated that Americans don’t have to be Christian but that “Christianity is America’s creed.” Nevertheless, he is frequently branded as a “Christian nationalist.”

Despite stating in 2024 that “Christian Nationalism” is “a boogeyman they’ve invested to silence you,” and having made a point of noting months before his murder that he had never described himself as a Christian nationalist, Kirk is branded as such in Brown’s CNN documentary.

Patriotic Christians were quick to lambaste Brown and CNN over the documentary and the timing of its release.

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts noted that “it’s no accident that Pamela chose the first week of Lent to release this. The world saw one of the most prominent voices on the Right martyred by a radical leftist, with his death celebrated by the Left at large — but it’s conservative Christians you need to worry about.”

“This is pure bigotry from an increasingly anti-Christian, anti-American Left that tolerates all kinds of dogmas influencing people’s politics — except those of conservative Christians,” added Roberts.

Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, stated, “If you’re worried about Christians radicalizing then maybe you should stop shooting up our schools, churches and now hockey rinks. Killing Charlie and the ‘this is what you get’ messaging from the media was pretty radicalizing too.”

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While immigration enforcement has faced some hurdles, including a partial government shutdown, law enforcement has continued to take down criminals. In a major score for Houston Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorities announced the arrest of two people who allegedly ran a major illegal operation.

On Wednesday morning, the official United States Customs and Immigration Services X, Facebook, and Instagram accounts announced the arrest of an “alien from India” and his “spouse” in Texas, where they were allegedly running a “large human smuggling operation.”

‘He and his spouse were apprehended … on charges of human smuggling, document fraud, and overstaying their visa.’

“He and his spouse were apprehended at our Houston office by @ICEgov on charges of human smuggling, document fraud, and overstaying their visa,” USCIS wrote.

“Human traffickers will be caught and held accountable,” the account added.

RELATED: No more ‘safe harbor for illegals’: Colony Ridge settles with DOJ, Texas

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

A USCIS spokesperson referred Blaze News to ICE for comment since ICE made the arrests.

Blaze News reached out to the DHS, ICE, and its Houston field office for comment but did not receive a response.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has teamed up with former boxer Mike Tyson to battle the proliferation of processed foods in America — but not everyone is thrilled with the Trump administration’s choice of role model.

“I had a sister that died from obesity. So when they heard my story, they used me for the commercial, and it was just me telling the truth. People shouldn’t be surprised to see because I’m one of the most healthiest people on the planet,” Tyson told Lara Trump, while sitting with Calley Means and RFK Jr. on Fox News.

“So they should think that I will want to be a participant in this, and I’m affected of course not only by my sister, but by my daughter and by my friends. You know, they just can’t stop picking up the food because the ultraprocessed food is a narcotic more than it is anything, a nutritionist,” Tyson added.

While BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere respects Tyson’s dedication to health, he’s not among those thrilled with the team up.

“Mike Tyson’s considerably older than me. The fact that he could even last in a ring for five minutes with a guy in his what, 20s or 30s, pretty freaking impressive to me. He’s in great shape,” Stu comments.

“But what I’m going to focus on a little bit more is the fact, the fact, that Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist. Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist. Not a guy who got #metoo-ed because people were like, ‘Hey, I think he did something wrong once. He made a bad joke,’” he continues. “No. Mike Tyson went through a trial, was convicted of rape, and then went to prison for rape.”

“Tyson really is a one of one when it comes to convicted rapists speaking out against baked goods. There’s really no other examples of this happening in our entire society, maybe worldwide, because … we don’t typically use them later on to advertise products,” he says.

“They’re not typically government spokespeople for food movements,” he adds.

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While many in the media praised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his response to life-threatening weather conditions this winter, the socialist has changed his mind on one policy with allegedly lethal consequences.

Mamdani had criticized sweeps of homeless encampments intended to keep people from dangerous winter conditions, in favor of allowing them to stay outside.

Critics of Mamdani’s homeless policy predicted it would lead to people dying.

“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” he said in January.

On Wednesday, Mamdani confirmed he had reversed the policy and would reinstate the sweeps. The Department of Homeless Services will take the lead on conducting them.

The city has intermittently declared a Code Blue situation since January 23, which means weather conditions are so dangerous that officials should take every reasonable effort to protect homeless people from the elements. Mamdani admitted that his socialist plan should not have applied during the Code Blue conditions.

“We knew that that is a policy that we would only deliver on once the prolonged Code Blue came to an end, because, as we know, in a Code Blue, the focus should be on getting homeless New Yorkers inside, not on the question of how we respond to structures,” Mamdani said.

At least 19 New York City residents died outdoors during the historic cold snap, though it is unclear whether any of these deaths can be directly linked to the mayor’s homeless policies.

That lack of clarity is partly due to the Mamdani administration seizing the means of communication related to the cold deaths from the NYPD.

Critics of Mamdani’s homeless policy predicted it would lead to people dying.

“The radical left communists would rather the homeless freeze to death on the streets, live in tents without showers food or medicine than make sure they have PROPER housing and mental health treatment which many of them desperately need,” Republican NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said in January.

Others have since linked the deaths to policy failures.

“These deaths are not inevitable,” City Council Speaker Julie Menin said. “They are the result of gaps in outreach, shelter capacity, mental health services, and follow-up.”

RELATED: Homeless man with violent criminal past allegedly kidnapped student after injecting him with unknown substance

Despite the deaths, Mamdani faced criticism from the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless for reinstating the sweeps.

“These sweeps failed on multiple fronts: They were inhumane, stripping unhoused New Yorkers of their few belongings and eroding trust in city services, and they were ineffective, doing little more than pushing people out of sight,” reads a statement from the organizations.

The groups also accused Mamdani of “another broken promise.”

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A newly released text message appears to substantiate rumors that Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) had an affair with a staffer who later fatally self-immolated.

Regina Santos-Aviles reportedly sent a message to her co-worker in April 2025 saying she had an affair with Gonzales, who himself is married and has children.

‘You blame me? Are you kidding me?’

“I had [an] affair with our boss and I’m fine,” the now-deceased 35-year-old aide said in a text exchange obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.

Mere months after this confession, Santos-Aviles set herself on fire in the back yard of her home, passing away from her injuries the following day on September 14, 2025.

RELATED: Crockett hits back, says Colbert is full of it: ‘They just didn’t want to air it’

Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Gonzales has repeatedly dodged questions about the nature of his relationship with Santos-Aviles, telling the New York Post in a statement Wednesday that he was “not going to engage in these personal smears and instead will remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans.”

“Ms. Santos-Aviles was a kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place,” Gonzales said in the statement. “Her efforts led to improvements in school safety, health care, and rural water like never before.”

Gonzales was nearly successfully primaried in 2024 by Brandon Herrera, a popular gun YouTuber with over four million subscribers, who called the scandal “completely unacceptable.”

“This is completely unacceptable behavior for anyone, let along a sitting member of Congress,” Herrera said in a post on X Wednesday. “Tony must step down.”

Gonzales noted in his statement to the Post: “It’s shameful that Brandon Herrera is using a disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points, conveniently pushing this out the very day early voting started.”

RELATED: ‘Loser mentality!’ Sparks fly as Texas Republicans spar to succeed Ken Paxton in debate moderated by Allie Beth Stuckey

Photo by Scott Stephen Ball for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Herrera responded to Gonzales’ pointed accusations.

“You blame me? Are you kidding me? Tony Gonzales is an irredeemable coward, who dodges accountability and lies to the people,” Herrera said. “This started with my problems with your votes in Congress, but now I understand you are a horrifically wicked man who must be removed.”

Herrera is once again running to unseat Gonzales, who secured an endorsement from President Donald Trump in December ahead of the March 3 primary.

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The Vatican’s top diplomat says Pope Leo XIV will not be accepting President Donald Trump’s invitation to the Board of Peace intended to broker peace in Gaza.

The initiative already includes leaders from 26 countries, including Argentina, Hungary, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Others have expressed interest in joining.

‘Of course the administration wants all those who were invited to join the Board of Peace to join.’

The president extended an invitation to the pope last month, according to a statement from the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

He said at the time that they were considering the invitation, but on Tuesday Parolin said the pope would not participate in the board.

“One concern is that at the international level it should above all be the [United Nations] that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted,” Parolin said.

Parolin previously expressed that the Vatican would not be able to contribute financially, as is required of other states participating in the initiative.

“We are not even in a position to do that,” he said. “However, evidently we find ourselves in a different situation with respect to other countries, so it will be a different consideration, but I think the request will not be to participate financially.”

The White House called the decision “deeply unfortunate” in a media briefing Wednesday.

“I don’t think that peace should be partisan or political or controversial. And of course the administration wants all those who were invited to join the Board of Peace to join,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

“This is a legitimate organization where there are tens of member countries from around the world,” she added.

The board includes the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump heads the initiative.

The Board of Peace was established as part of a 20-point proposal developed by the White House that included demilitarizing and rebuilding Gaza. The plan was announced in a media briefing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Sept. 2025.

RELATED: New York Times writer mocked and ridiculed for regurgitating bizarre NPR claim against Israel in Gaza war

“This is the closest we’ve ever come to real peace,” Trump said. “Not fake peace. Not political fools’ peace.”

“This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way,” Netanyahu said at the time. “But it will be done. We prefer the easy way, but it has to be done.”

“If Hamas rejects the deal, Bibi, you will have our full backing to do what you have to do,” the president responded.

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A federal grand jury indicted several Louisville, Kentucky, residents on February 4 for their alleged involvement in illegally selling driver’s licenses to immigrants.

Melissa Moorman, a former clerk at Louisville’s Nia Center Licensing Branch, stated that she alerted her supervisor and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in October 2024 that several of her co-workers were involved in a fraudulent scheme.

‘As alleged in the indictment, this fraudulent scheme involved kickbacks and bribes leading to numerous legally present, non-US citizens obtaining unlawfully issued drivers licenses.’

Moorman told WDRB in August that her colleagues sold licenses to illegal immigrants who could not otherwise legally obtain them, charging them $200 per license. She claimed they were unlawfully selling these licenses four or five times per day for at least two years at multiple driver’s licensing branches across the state.

“The employees were being paid under the table,” Moorman previously told WDRB. “I immediately let my supervisor know.”

Moorman stated that two co-workers began using her computer login to issue licenses illegally after her supervisor instructed her to share her login information, as not all employees had their own.

Moorman claimed that fraudulent Social Security cards and birth certificates were being used to issue driver’s licenses and permits to illegal immigrants who never took any driving tests. She further claimed that her co-workers’ scheme skipped Homeland Security background checks.

Shortly after reporting the alleged fraud scheme, Moorman claimed, she was fired.

KYTC claimed in a court filing that Moorman was terminated “for legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons not causally related to the alleged whistleblowing activity.”

RELATED: Trucker accused of killing 4 Amish men — and DHS claims he’s an ‘illegal alien’

Photo by George Frey/Getty Images

A February 10 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky unveiled criminal charges against five Louisville residents for alleged fraud and money-laundering offenses.

Donnita Wilson, 32; Aariel Matthews, 27; Lazaro Alejandro Castello Rojas, 37; Robert Danger Correa, 41; and one other individual who has not yet been arrested were charged with mail fraud, honest services mail fraud, unlawful production of identification documents, money-laundering conspiracy, and other offenses.

Wilson and Matthews previously worked at the Nia Center office, according to the indictment. Rojas and Correa did not work at any licensing agency but are accused of recruiting and escorting noncitizens to driver’s license appointments at the Nia Center.

Rojas and Correa “gained the trust” of the noncitizen applicants “because they professed to know the process or even implied an association with the DMV, spoke the same language, and often had the same or similar countries of origin,” the indictment read, adding that most of the applicants “were unfamiliar with processes and procedures for obtaining driver’s licenses in Kentucky, and many had difficulty communicating in English.”

Federal prosecutors argued that the defendants solicited illegal fees of $200-$1,500 from individuals applying for driver’s licenses, promising expedited services, including avoiding lines and bypassing testing requirements.

The applicants were allegedly led to believe the process was legal, according to prosecutors.

The indictment insisted that the driver’s license applicants were legally present, non-U.S. citizens.

“This indictment represents the culmination of an investigation into a scheme by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employees and others to illegally circumvent Kentucky’s process for issuing driver’s licenses, thereby issuing invalid licenses to lawfully present, non-U.S. citizens who had not first demonstrated their qualifications to drive on our roads,” U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner stated.

“Proper vetting of individuals seeking a driver’s license is a prerequisite to ensuring the safety of Kentucky’s roadways and ensuring the legitimacy of state-issued identification. As alleged in the indictment, this fraudulent scheme involved kickbacks and bribes leading to numerous legally present, non-U.S. citizens obtaining unlawfully issued drivers licenses.”

RELATED: ‘Good luck walking to work, a**holes’: Trump-hater Swalwell wants to revoke driver’s licenses for ICE agents

Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Blaze News reached out to Kentucky Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear’s office to request clarity concerning whether any of the licenses were issued to illegal immigrants or used to register to vote. The governor’s office referred Blaze News to its press release, which stated that the “indictment does not involve issuing licenses to people illegally present in the country.”

“During a routine review of credentials applications, KYTC officials identified a number of irregularities and revoked 1,985 credentials. KYTC immediately contacted law enforcement, which began an active criminal investigation,” the press release read.

An attorney for Rojas declined to comment, citing the ongoing nature of the case.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and attorneys for Moorman, Wilson, Matthews, and Correa did not respond to a request for comment.

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