Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) is putting the city of Key West on notice after commissioners recently voted to end their partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through the 287(g) program, despite legal requirements in place under state law.

In a letter sent to Key West Commissioners on Wednesday, Uthmeier reminded the leaders it is against the law for any level of government to provide sanctuary to illegal aliens and that by “declaring the [police] Department’s existing 287(g) agreement void, Key West made itself a sanctuary city.”

‘Failure to take corrective action will result in enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office.’

The 287(g) program allows state and local police departments and sheriff offices to carry out certain federal immigration duties. Florida law requires cities to do proactive work to aid the federal government in enforcing immigration law.

“In this instance, however, it’s worse,” Uthmeier continued. “The Commission didn’t merely prevent the Police Department from entering a 287(g) agreement; it affirmatively voided an existing 287(g) agreement under which the Police Department was actively operating. Bad policy and illegal.”

RELATED: Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis

Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Uthmeier pointed to the illegal alien arrests in the Florida Keys during March where all 10 arrestees were convicted sex offenders. A month later, Border Patrol arrested two illegal aliens, one of whom had a history of violent crime and the other of whom had a history of animal abuse.

“Florida law unequivocally forbids sanctuary policies. And it requires local governments to use ‘best efforts’ to assist with federal immigration law. Your recent action violated both laws. … Failure to take corrective action will result in enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office,” Uthmeier warned.

RELATED: Alligator Alcatraz is a warning to illegal immigrants in the US: Leave now or end up here

— (@)

In March, the Fort Myers City Council did not initially vote to approve having its police department participate in the 287(g) program. While they had support from some of their constituents, the city council members later approved the agreement after similar warnings from Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Uthmeier.

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A man accused of the brutal murder of a beloved pastor confessed to the grisly killing, according to a chilling jailhouse interview. The suspect claimed he had a death wish and planned to kill over a dozen more pastors around the country.

As Blaze News previously reported, Maricopa County sheriff deputies discovered the dead body of William Schonemann — a 76-year-old beloved pastor — on April 28. Schonemann — affectionately known as “Pastor Bill” — reportedly was found covered in blood at his home in New River.

‘I want the death sentence.’

Multiple sources informed KSAZ-TV that Schonemann appeared to have suffered from significant injuries and that his arms were spread out and his hands were pinned to a wall.

Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan described Schonemann’s death as the most “tragic and bizarre” he’s ever seen.

Police arrested 51-year-old Adam Christopher Sheafe in Sedona on April 30 after he allegedly burglarized a home.

Sedona Red Rock News reported that Sheafe was charged with second-degree burglary, unlawful flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of an accident with an injury, criminal damage, theft or control of stolen property, first-degree trespassing, possession of a stolen vehicle, and resisting arrest.

Authorities noted that Sheafe has a lengthy criminal history across several states.

Sheafe allegedly told authorities that he broke into houses to steal needed “supplies.”

RELATED: ‘Haunt me the rest of my life’: Father reportedly kills family and himself in murder-suicide on same day as son’s graduation

Then in a shocking jailhouse confession, Sheafe admitted to murdering Schonemann and “crucifying” the beloved man of God.

Sheafe explained the gruesome details in a startling interview with KNXV-TV, during which he also declared that he wants the death penalty.

Sheafe said he drove to Schonemann’s house at “like two in the morning, maybe, and parked. And then I just went in there and did it.”

In an eyebrow-raising jailhouse interview with KTVK-TV, Sheafe admitted that he planned to go on a priest-killing spree across the country. After Schonemann’s death, he traveled to Sedona where he intended to kill two others, KTVK said, but he was arrested for burglary and other charges. Then came his confession.

Sheafe stated that he planned to “execute” 14 pastors across 10 states. Schonemann was the first.

“I was going to start in Phoenix and end in Phoenix and circle the nation,” he said. “Starting in Arizona, where I was born. Where it starts is where it ends, like the Garden of Eden.”

“From there, it was Las Vegas, Nevada; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Billings, Montana; Detroit, Michigan; New York, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; and El Paso, Texas,” Sheafe explained. “So four of them were going to get hit in Arizona.”

Sheafe continued, “I’m not interested in executing anyone other than the pastors or the shepherds leading the flock astray.”

Sheafe was asked if he was “feeling satisfied,” to which he responded, “Look, it’s not my heart to go around killing people.”

When asked how he would feel if someone attempted to crucify him, Sheafe replied, “Good luck trying.”

Sheafe reportedly told the FBI that he wanted the death sentence.

“I told the FBI agent, ‘Look, I want the death sentence,'” Sheafe told KNXV. “I’ll plead guilty right now, on the spot … I want the death sentence, and I want the execution date right now.”

Sheafe told KTVK, “Well, I want to be executed quickly so we can get this show on the road and show exactly what I’m trying to do. … All you gotta do is worship Jesus and you go to heaven; your sins are forgiven. That’s not what God said.”

Sheafe argued that God will “absolutely” forgive him of his sins.

“He is a forgiving God and loving God,” he said.

Sheafe declared, “It’s a commandment to rid Israel of evil.”

Sheafe’s father told KTVK in a separate story that his son changed after he became “extremely interested” in the Old Testament.

RELATED: ‘Monster’ learns his fate for killing 2-year-old girl; officials say he ‘completely severed’ toddler’s spine

The family of Schonemann — who served in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam — told KOLD-TV in April, “Our dad had such a positive impact on people everywhere he went. We will miss the loving guidance and patience. The happiness he showed just getting to walk around an airport, getting his steps in.”

The family added, “There are never enough words to say it all or to say it as well as a person would like. Simply, he is missed.”

Those who knew Pastor Bill said his grisly death is “unfathomable.”

“Who would do that? Why would anyone hurt Bill? I don’t understand how someone could do something like that. It’s still unfathomable,” neighbor Eric Asher told the Arizona Republic in May.

Mike Anders, another neighbor, said their community remains shocked over Schonemann’s murder.

“I mean, we locked our doors last night. It’s just something that we are just not used to doing,” Anders told KSAZ. “Everybody is just, until we know what’s going on, we don’t know if it was a family member, or, we don’t know what, who could do this to him.”

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​Faith, Religion, Religious hate, Murder, Arizona, Arizona crime, Crucifixion, Crucify, Crime, Pastor 

As if the streets of New York City were not already dangerous and crowded enough, illegal Chinese immigrants with few English-speaking or driving skills may be cruising about with a valid license, thanks to a potentially massive scheme allegedly involving a driving school and some corrupt DMV personnel.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Michael McMahon of Richmond County; George Ioannidis, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations; and a host of other state and federal officials held a press conference to announce some arrests made in connection with an investigation dubbed Operation Road Test.

‘Regardless of immigration status, language, and even their ability to actually operate a vehicle.’

According to authorities, T&E Driving School in Queens took to social media to identify residents who speak Fujianese for marketing purposes. Its clients, most of whom are Chinese noncitizens, would then pay anywhere from $1,600 to $2,000 for a driver’s license and/or learner’s permit.

Staff at the driving school would then allegedly take the required driver’s test on behalf of the client. The school also allegedly paid off DMV employees to issue documents and fudge the database.

RELATED: NYC comptroller locks arms with man to prevent ICE arrest: ‘Show me your warrant!’

Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

“As alleged, the defendants utilized deceptive social media practices and strategic advertising that targeted and exploited members of the Chinese community and guaranteed individuals driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status, language, and even their ability to actually operate a vehicle,” said Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel, according to SILive.com.

“Our investigation found that T&E Driving School blatantly flouted the laws and procedures that are necessary to ensure the public safety on the road,” Ioannidis added.

RELATED: Illegal alien child-rapist remains at large thanks to anti-ICE group: DHS

Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images

Thus far, two dozen suspects associated with Operation Road Test are in custody, and T&E owner Weixan Tan, 38; T&E secretary Weiwan Tan, 40; and another T&E employee, Winnie Yang, 36, have all been charged.

Others named in the indictment include: Wenfeng Yang, 38, who allegedly took driving tests on behalf of T&E clients; and Edward Tarik Queen, 40; Aji Idicula, 43; and Tianna Rose Andolina, 30, all from the DMV.

“The state employees indicted here sold out not just the safety of their fellow New Yorkers, but they sold out their oaths of office,” claimed New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang.

The scandal was apparently uncovered after NYPD received a tip, prompting a sting operation involving an undercover officer who speaks Fujianese. After working with T&E, the officer reportedly received a New York driver’s license without ever having taken a scheduled road test.

Officials fear the corrupt scheme — and others like it — may spread far and wide.

“The numbers, as we go through this investigation, as we go through the materials that have been seized, we think that we are going to find hundreds if not thousands of people that have been part of this scam,” McMahon said, according to the New York Post.

In addition to the obvious peril posed by untrained drivers who don’t speak English, issuing unearned licenses threatens the American public in other ways. Bogus driver’s licenses compromise the safety of airports and other high-security buildings that require state-issued IDs to enter, as well as the integrity of U.S. elections.

“We think this is just the tip of the iceberg, to put it simply,” McMahon added.

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​New york city, Operation road test, Driver’s license, Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, China, Chinese immigrants, Politics 

The Donald Trump administration has clamped down on illegal employment, and it seems the simple enforcement of existing law has been enough to cripple businesses relying on undocumented labor.

It was only for a brief moment that the administration showed leniency to employers in the farming, hospitality, and restaurant industries, with a Department of Homeland Security memo telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in June to put raids on those industries on the back burner. However, the White House quickly ended any such leniency and reversed the policy just days later.

The result has been a steady flow of employers getting a lesson in hiring practices and the consequences of illegal labor.

‘She’s just at work doing her best at what she can do.’

Homeland Security Investigations and ICE executed a search warrant last week and found dozens of illegal workers employed at what is likely considered a reputable business in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, population 11,142 as of 2020.

Buckeye Fire Equipment Company was the target, a fire extinguisher and fire-protection product manufacturer that boasts itself as “family-owned and operated” and “made in the U.S.A. since 1968.”

It turned out many of Buckeye’s employees were not family members after federal authorities arrested 30 people on site as a result of their initial investigation.

RELATED: Fear of deportation is crippling Los Angeles businesses so badly, unions are demanding moratorium on rent

According to an ICE press release, the operation specifically focused on allegations of aggravated identity theft and “potential federal crimes.”

Employee Eric Pinion shared video from inside the raid to local outlet Queen City News and told the news station the facility was “half empty” and “dead silent” when he went in for his shift after the raid.

Pinion also said he was afraid, despite being a citizen, because he had heard that citizens had been apprehended by ICE previously; he did not get arrested.

Family members of those who were arrested were reportedly spotted picking up cars from the Buckeye parking lot, with one employee’s daughter saying her parent is a “single mother, [who is] trying to raise two kids on her own.”

“She’s just at work doing her best at what she can do,” the young woman told Queen City News. Her mother was later released after a few hours of being detained.

RELATED: After ICE removes illegal workers, job applicants flood meatpacking plant to replace them

HSI said it will continue to pursue those who exploit financial and identification systems for their personal gain, which it says “fuels a range of criminal activity.”

Blaze News reached out to Buckeye Fire Equipment Company for comment on the story as well as how the company plans on replacing its staff.

The company’s LinkedIn page lists it as having between 201 and 500 employees, with ZoomInfo stating there are 278 employees. If the latter is correct, Buckeye will have to replace about 11% of its staff with legal workers.

Recently, a Nebraska company lost upwards of 76 employees to a federal raid but immediately had its waiting room filled with potential employees, putting a dent in the long-fabled claim that American workers do not want to take on certain jobs.

Buckeye Fire Equipment Company did not respond to a request for comment.

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​News, Ice raid, Dhs, North carolina, Illegal aliens, Deportation, Illegal immigration, Politics 

Parents in Houston, Texas, are suing in federal court after their daughter’s high school socially transitioned her in secret and against their explicit wishes.

The lawsuit names several individuals, including Superintendent Mike Miles, Bellaire High School Principal Michael Niggli, school counselor Sarah Ray, and several teachers — who all referred to the girl using a masculine name and pronouns for a whopping two years.

This began in ninth grade, when the girl’s theater teacher passed out a worksheet asking for students’ “names and pronouns.”

“If you have been out of the school system for longer than, let’s just say a decade, did you ever see a worksheet that people, that a student, or parents, whomever, had to fill out that gave ‘What is your child’s name, and what is your child’s pronouns?’” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales asks on “Come and Take It.”

“That didn’t exist up until five minutes ago when society decided that they were going to let this alphabet mafia take over the entire world, regardless of common sense, regardless of decency,” she continues.

The mother of the secretly transitioned student specifically requested that the teacher use her daughter’s legal name and female pronouns; she was ignored not only by her daughter but by the authority figures at her school.

“Which goes to the point, these teachers, they’re asking for it. They are asking for this information, they are asking for this type of situation to happen. They are lying in wait to prey upon vulnerable, confused children who are going through a rebellious phase,” Gonzales says.

“These teachers are so evil, they are just lying in wait to just get one, one to a handful of children who are confused,” she continues. “Again, what child while going through puberty, going through adolescence, hasn’t felt uncomfortable in their own body?”

“It was a right of passage up until we had all of these weirdos in school just ready to sic upon these young, confused children. We used to have adults who were focused on helping the child through it,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Upload, Video, Free, Sharing, Video phone, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Come and take it, Texas, Secretly transitioned, Lgbtqia agenda, Transgender tyranny, Transgender agenda, Transgender agenda losing 

Most mainstream press accounts have largely ignored one obvious source of the Los Angeles riots — namely, that the Biden administration released more than enough illegal aliens into this country to populate a wholly new Los Angeles. In the aftermath of those riots, it’s an appropriate time to ask this question: How many illegal aliens did the Biden administration actually let into the United States?

According to the Congressional Budget Office, from 2021 through 2024, a net 10.3 million people immigrated to the United States. That figure reflects the number of (legal or illegal) immigrants who entered the U.S., minus the number who left. As a result of this huge immigration influx, the portion of the U.S. population that is foreign-born hit 16.2%, per the Congressional Budget Office, surpassing the all-time record of 14.8% set in 1890. That mark lasted for more than 130 years, but it couldn’t survive the Biden administration.

One can only wonder how many potential terrorists got across Biden’s porous border without being encountered.

In fact, the percentage of the population that is foreign-born is probably even higher than 16.2%, as that figure was for 2023 (up from 15.6% in 2022). Since a net 2.7 million people immigrated to the U.S. in 2024, according to the CBO, and about 500,000 foreign-born residents die annually (based on the CBO’s estimate for 2023), the foreign-born population rose by an estimated 2.2 million in 2024 — from 55.1 million to about 57.3 million. So the percentage of the population that is foreign-born likely hit about 16.8% last year (57.3 million out of 342 million). In comparison, in 1970, the portion of the U.S. population that was foreign-born was 4.7%, which is just over a quarter of the current rate.

Put another way, on the cusp of next year’s quarter-millennial anniversary of American independence, about one out of every six people now living in the U.S. is foreign-born, versus one out of every 21 on the eve of the bicentennial. That’s a massive population transformation — one unlike anything our country has ever experienced.

Record-breaking numbers

Most of those who were added to the foreign-born population during the Biden years were added illegally. From 2021 through 2024 — a period that coincides almost perfectly with Biden’s presidential term (having 97% overlap) — the net increase in the number of illegal aliens in the U.S., based on CBO estimates, was 7.1 million people. In comparison, the entire population of Los Angeles is 3.9 million.

Note that this represents the net increase. The gross increase in the number of illegal aliens under Biden was likely close to 10 million. The CBO only estimates the gross increase for a portion of Biden’s term, but its partial tallies can yield a reasonable estimate for the whole four-year span.

RELATED: Exclusive: Top immigration official reflects on Biden’s failed border policies: ‘An invasion unlike we’ve seen before’

Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images

Citing numbers obtained from the Department of Homeland Security, the CBO estimates that in 2023 and 2024, the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. was 5.9 million, while the net increase was 4.3 million. That’s about four new illegal aliens added (by being released into the country, evading capture, or overstaying a legal authorization) for every one that was subtracted (by leaving or being legalized).

So the ratio between the gross increase and the net increase was about 4 to 3. Assuming the same ratio in 2021 and 2022 — when the CBO estimates that the net increase in the number of illegal aliens was 2.9 million — suggests the gross increase over that span was about 3.9 million. Adding the 5.9 million cited above reveals a gross increase of about 9.8 million illegal aliens across Biden’s four years. That’s more than the population of New York City — or all of New Jersey.

The CBO switched from using fiscal-year figures for 2023 to using calendar-year figures for 2024 in estimating the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens (and the releases, evasions, and overstays that compose that gross increase). But the number of encounters along the southwest border was very similar in FY 2023 as in CY 2023 (being 3% higher in CY 2023), so this switch likely had little effect on the CBO estimates. Indeed, for the net increase in the number of illegal aliens, the CBO provides both FY 2023 and CY 2023 numbers, and they differ by just 0.1 million.

The vast majority of these roughly 10 million illegal aliens didn’t overstay their visas, per the CBO. Rather, they either evaded capture and escaped across the border or were released by the Biden administration into the country’s interior.

Released with no accountability

By far the biggest cohort was deliberately released. As U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell wrote during a Biden-era case, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz “testified that the current surge differs from prior surges that he [has] seen over his lengthy career in that most of the aliens now being encountered at the Southwest Border are turning themselves in to USBP officers rather than trying to escape the officers.”

Ortiz, whom the Biden administration selected as Border Patrol chief, said at the time that aliens are likely “turning themselves in because they think they’re going to be released.”

They were generally right. The CBO estimates that in 2024, Biden’s DHS released more than 1.5 million aliens into the U.S. — 570,000 were encountered along the open border and released, and another 960,000 were encountered at ports of entry along the border and released — while another estimated 800,000 escaped across the border.

RELATED: Street riots can’t set US immigration policy

Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images

In FY 2023, DHS released about 2 million aliens into the U.S. — 1.1 million of whom crossed the open border and were released, 900,000 of whom were released at ports of entry — while another estimated 860,000 escaped across the border. That’s a total of 5.2 million evasions or releases over two years (specifically over FY 2023 and CY 2024, the periods for which the Congressional Budget Office provides figures). During the same 24 months, 715,000 people overstayed their legal authorizations to be in the country, per CBO estimates.

In other words, about seven-eighths (5.2 million out of 5.9 million) of those who joined the ranks of illegal aliens over those two years either evaded capture or were released into the country, rather than overstaying their visas. Applying that same seven-eighths figure to 2021 and 2022 — when the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens was about 3.9 million — suggests that about 3.4 million illegal aliens evaded capture or were released over those two years. That brings the estimated four-year tally to about 8.6 million releases or evasions under Biden (5.2 million plus 3.4 million) — a number larger than the populations of 38 individual states.

A president-approved invasion

To sum up, about 10 million illegal aliens were added to the U.S. population during the Biden administration. Of those, about 8.6 million came across the southern border — usually being released but sometimes evading capture — rather than overstaying their visas. After accounting for illegal aliens who either left the country or became legalized, the result was a net increase of 7.1 million illegal aliens during the Biden years, per the CBO.

That net increase of 7.1 million illegal aliens equals about two-thirds of the overall net increase of 10.3 million (legal or illegal) immigrants during Joe Biden’s tenure. After four years of Biden, the foreign-born population now makes up a higher percentage of the overall U.S. population than at any time on record, including during the great waves of immigration in the 19th century.

But it’s not just how many but who came into the country that matters. During the three full fiscal years (FY 2018-2020) immediately preceding the Biden administration, there were a total of nine encounters along the open border between Border Patrol officials and noncitizens on the terrorist watch list. During the three full fiscal years (FY 2022-2024) that took place entirely during Biden’s term, there were 370 such encounters — a 41-fold increase. Across all four years of the Biden presidency, the number of such encounters was approximately 400. One can only wonder how many potential terrorists got across Biden’s porous border without being encountered.

On his first day in office, Biden issued an executive order prioritizing “equity.” His DHS soon quoted that order, made clear it would apply it “in the immigration and enforcement context,” and thereafter refused to enforce federal immigration law requiring the detention of asylum-seekers. Such “equity”-driven actions were, in the words of Judge Wetherell, “akin to posting a flashing ‘Come In, We’re Open’ sign on the southern border.”

As a result of that neon invitation, 7.1 million more illegal aliens entered the U.S. or overstayed their visas than left the U.S. or became legalized while Biden was in office — more than the combined populations of Los Angeles, D.C., Boston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Miami. This was a deliberate result of Biden’s “equity” agenda, and Americans are paying the price.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics.

​Opinion & analysis, Joe biden, Donald trump, Border crisis, Border invasion, Southern border, Foreign-born population, Illegal immigration, Illegal aliens, Visa overstays, Terrorists crossing us border, Terrorist, Congressional budget office, Cbo, Department of homeland security, Immigration and customs enforcement, Border patrol, Records, Open borders 

OCHOPEE, Fla. — The mosquitoes were out in full force just before the sun rose on Tuesday in the Everglades. The shoulders of the two-lane road were packed with cars of media members doing live shots outside the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, now known as Alligator Alcatraz.

Alligator Alcatraz has made waves in Florida and across the nation because within eight days, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration worked with the Department of Homeland Security to build a temporary holding facility at the remote airport. While the site has many advantages, a primary deterrent from escape attempts or interference from open-border radicals are the state’s famous swamps and the wildlife that resides in them.

‘Voters in those states will go to their elected officials, “Hey, why aren’t you helping the president like Florida’s doing?”‘

In attendance at Tuesday’s grand opening of the facility were President Donald Trump, DeSantis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, and numerous state and federal officials. They presented a unified front to say: This holding site is operational, and if illegal aliens do not want to be held there, they can self-deport.

“They don’t have to come here. If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally,” Noem explained. “But if you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don’t ever get to come back to America. You don’t get the chance to come back and be an American again.”

RELATED: ‘It’s beyond incompetence’: Trump responds to Blaze reporter asking why Mayorkas and others have not been arrested

Photo (left): Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Photo (right): Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images

Alligator Alcatraz is expected to hold up to 3,000 detainees, with first arrivals expected this week. Another state-run site near Jacksonville at Camp Blanding will hold 2,000 detainees. Most of those held in the sites are projected to be illegal immigrants who were arrested in Florida. The hardened tents are equipped with air conditioning, medical and legal staff are on hand, and detainees have access to showers and bathrooms. None of the wastewater will flow into the Everglades, being trucked out instead.

Trump praised DeSantis’ Florida for setting the pace of cooperating with the federal government to help with mass deportations.

RELATED: ‘Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide’: Florida will have ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ for illegal aliens up and running in days

— (@)

DeSantis is calling on Alligator Alcatraz to be a one-stop shop for the removal process of illegal aliens. Not only can they be processed out of the country there, the airstrip is also able to accommodate federal deportation flights.

When asked by Blaze Media whether other Republican-run states have reached out to his administration to learn how to set up something similar in their jurisdictions, DeSantis said not yet, as of Tuesday, but Trump’s attendance at the grand opening will surely push the issue forward around the nation.

“When [Trump’s] here saying this is going to be mission-critical, saying this is a force multiplier, then what will happen is voters in those states will go to their elected officials, ‘Hey, why aren’t you helping the president like Florida’s doing?’ … Maybe they can’t do as much as Florida, but if they even did a little bit, it makes a difference, and this stuff adds up,” DeSantis said.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, whose office led the creation of Alligator Alcatraz, told Blaze Media he wished people who were baselessly calling the detention site a “concentration camp” had more sympathy for the victims of illegal aliens.

“A couple weeks ago, we announced a lifetime sentence for an illegal immigrant that had grossly sexually abused a minor, a young girl, and trafficked her out to other people. These are the crimes we’re seeing. At the end of the day, we believe in law and order. We’re going to enforce immigration law,” Uthmeier said.

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​Alligator alcatraz, Florida, Ron desantis, Donald trump, Kristi noem, Stephen miller, Illegal immigration, Illegal alien, Alligators, Everglades, Politics 

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

— (@)

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It’s what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

RELATED: No, Mike Lee isn’t paving over Yellowstone for condos

JohnnyGreig via iStock/Getty Images

As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.

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​Opinion & analysis, Mike lee, Senate, Public land, Federal land grab, 30 by 30, 50 by 50, United nations, Conservation, Sustains act, 15 minute cities, Constitution, Conservative, Land ownership, Housing, Prices, Rent, Rental housing only, Property, Blackrock, China, American dream 

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the liberal media pulled out all the stops to portray President Donald Trump in a negative light and to present his Democratic opponent as halfway intelligible.

According to an October report from the Media Research Center, the broadcast evening news coverage of the race was the most lopsided in history, with ABC, CBS, and NBC treating Kamala Harris to 78% positive coverage and Trump to 85% negative coverage.

Late in the media’s partisan persuasion campaign, Harris sat down for an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” The heavily edited version of the interview that aired on Oct. 7 proved to be a complete disaster not only for the Democratic candidate but for the liberal network and its parent company, which now has to pay a steep price to the great displeasure of liberal media personalities.

Trump sued CBS News over the interview on Oct. 31, 2024, accusing the network of “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to (a) confuse, deceive, and mislead the public, and (b) attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion.”

Trump initially sued for $10 billion but then increased his claim in a subsequent filing to $20 billion.

‘CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.’

Paramount, CBS News’ parent company, announced late Tuesday that it will settle the action, which CBS said in a court filing just days earlier was a “meritless lawsuit” that takes aim at a news organization “for editorial decisions Plaintiffs dislike.”

RELATED: CNN’s fake news fumble: Shaky anonymous sources backfire as Trump’s Iran strike proves devastating

Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Under the agreement — which the Freedom of the Press Foundation pre-emptively threatened to sue Paramount over — $16 million will be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library and to the president’s fees and costs, reported CBS News.

Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.

“With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told Fox News Digital. “CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”

This outcome greatly resembles Trump’s settlement with ABC.

Trump sued ABC and George Stephanopoulos last year over a March 10, 2024, interview wherein the ABC News host falsely stated that the Republican had been found liable by multiple juries for the rape of E. Jean Carroll.

To the great chagrin of liberal talking heads, ABC settled the action in December, agreeing to pay both $15 million to Trump’s future presidential library and $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s attorneys.

The big difference between the two settlements appears to be that CBS will not apologize for its Emmy-nominated interview, whereas ABC appended an editor’s note to the bottom of the article corresponding with its offending interview that expressed regret for the false statements.

Paramount did, however, agree that moving forward, “60 Minutes” will release transcripts of interviews with presidential candidates in the future, “subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”

‘CBS and 60 Minutes defrauded the public by doing something which has never, to this extent, been seen before.’

CBS initially refused to release the unedited transcript of its Harris’ “60 Minutes” interview, prompting complaints and finally an intervention by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC, which received a formal complaint on Oct. 16 from the Center for American Rights requesting an investigation into possible news distortion, released the raw footage and full transcript on Feb. 5.

The footage confirmed critics’ suspicions and demonstrated the great lengths taken by the network to make Harris appear intelligible and concise.

RELATED: When the mainstream media’s left-wing bias costs them credibility

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

For instance, Bill Whitaker of CBS News’ “60 Minutes” asked Harris at one stage in the interview whether America lacked influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his strategic decisions in the Middle East. Whitaker then stated, “It seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening” to the Biden-Harris administration.

Blaze News previously reported that the version of the interview that went to air and was reflected in CBS News’ official transcript was edited so that Harris appears to say in response, “We’re not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

It’s clear from the raw footage that Harris actually responded with one of her signature word salads:

Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted, or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region. And we’re not going to stop doing that. We’re not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.

There were multiple cases of similar edits made with the apparent intention of making Harris appear more coherent.

After the FCC released the full interview in February, Trump stated, “CBS and 60 Minutes defrauded the public by doing something which has never, to this extent, been seen before. They 100% removed Kamala’s horrible election changing answers to questions, and replaced them with completely different, and far better, answers, taken from another part of the interview. This was Election changing ‘stuff,’ Election Interference and, quite simply, Election Fraud at a level never seen before.”

The settlement is not the only cause for demoralization at CBS.

Wendy McMahon stepped down as president of CBS News in May, noting in a statement, “It’s become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward.”

The previous month, longtime “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens resigned, stating in a memo, “Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.”

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​Cbs news, 60 minutes, Paramount, Donald trump, Trump, White house, Fake news, Kamala harris, Politics 

The world’s richest man’s call to tank President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act by swinging resources behind its opponents and pouring money into races against its proponents is the sort of thing that typically gets Washington to listen closely. Only this time, Elon Musk’s demands were broadly met with indifferent shrugs and questions about how serious his latest round of online fights with the president really was.

If he’s paying attention, Elon Musk is about to get a crash course in how Washington really works — a lesson other libertarian billionaire businessmen have learned the hard way. Power in D.C. doesn’t flow from money alone. It comes from organizing voters and proving you can be counted on.

Counseling humility to a man who builds rockets, launches them into space, and lands them upright may sound absurd. But political gravity works differently.

Washington has no shortage of young libertarians — idealistic staffers who devoured Ayn Rand in college and believe Reason magazine when it tells them that the Cato Institute and Mercatus Center are on the front lines of liberty.

The real problem? No sizeable bloc of voters stands behind these guys.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), perhaps the most consistent libertarian in the Senate, barely registered during his 2016 presidential bid. He pulled less than 5% in Iowa and dropped out soon after.

Libertarian Party candidates haven’t fared much better. Across seven presidential elections since 2000, they’ve averaged just 1.1% of the vote — a number buoyed by Gary Johnson’s 3.3% finish in 2016.

The party’s internal dysfunction aside, the bottom line remains: No hidden libertarian majority waits in the wings to back a Musk-led third party. Political outsiders like Andrew Yang or Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) might bring novelty, but not numbers.

Musk is hardly the first to figure this out the hard way, either. When billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch jumped back into presidential politics around the time of the Tea Party revolt, they believed Americans were finally waking up to the moment they’d long championed.

David, who died in 2019, had run on the 1980 Libertarian Party ticket against Republican California Gov. Ronald Reagan and Democratic President Jimmy Carter. He got 1.06% of the popular vote. This time they were going to remake the Republican Party in their own image.

They had the think tanks and donor networks. They had taken back control of Cato from the imperial president they once supported. And they believed the grassroots movement was more than just a backlash against a detached progressive elite.

I remember sitting in a room in 2011 when Charles acknowledged that reshaping the post-Bush Republican Party would take years — full of setbacks and frustrations. “We’re in this for the long haul,” he said.

Five years later, disillusionment had set in. He pulled back large portions of his political ad spending. That summer, at the network’s plush donor retreat, Brian Hooks — the man Koch tapped to lead the operation — ordered American flag imagery and a photo of a coal miner removed from the conference hotel’s lobby displays. Too partisan, he said. In the retreat bookstore, JD Vance’s best-selling “Hillbilly Elegy” sat alongside Milton Friedman’s collected works and Charles Koch’s own “The Science of Success.”

Five months later, Donald J. Trump won the presidential election, and they were out. In those short five years, they’d succeeded in alienating Republican politicians and even a goodly number of the nonprofits they’d funded along the way, piling money in and pulling it out without warning as Hooks’ deep-seated liberalism and Charles’ fickle commitments ebbed and flowed. National Football League and Major League Baseball legend Deion Sanders spoke.

Every year, they roll out new plans to re-engage and make a difference. But it’s too late for that. In politics — a trust-based field — no one earns credibility by being unreliable or duplicitous, no matter how lofty the rhetoric.

This story deserves attention because it explains why the world’s richest man can vow to pour boatloads of money into the midterms next year and still come across as little more than a social media sideshow.

Both Charles Koch and Elon Musk stepped into the center of American power believing politicians simply needed smart business minds to fix the country. They expected gratitude. Instead, they found inertia. When change didn’t come quickly, they grew frustrated and alienated allies along the way.

Musk still has time. He’s young and brilliant, and despite his quirks and blowups, he brings real value to American political life. Counseling humility to a man who builds rockets, launches them into space, and lands them upright may sound absurd. But political gravity works differently.

Both Musk and MAGA could benefit a great deal from working together. But first, Musk will have to absorb a few hard lessons.

Conundrum Cluster: Musk’s rebellion illustrates the danger of political inexperience in an existential struggle

Blaze News: Vance casts tiebreaking vote after Republican defections from Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Byron York in the Washington Examiner: Elon goes off again

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​Opinion & analysis, Politics