U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charged an illegal immigrant with the murder of a mother in Maryland on Wednesday, just five days after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., returned to the state from his high-profile El Salvador visit to try to retrieve a deported alleged MS-13 member.

ICE arrested Keycy Robinson Alexis Barrera-Rosa, a 23-year-old Guatemalan national on April 5 in Charles County. He was later charged on April 23 after the body of Lesbia Mileth Ramirez Guerra from LaPlata was discovered buried near a state forest.

ICE said Barrera-Rose would be “fully prosecuted” for the alleged murder, according to ICE.

NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING TO RETURN SALVADORAN NATIONAL

Van Hollen, who returned to Maryland on Friday after trying to bring deportee Kilmar Garcia back from El Salvador, has not appeared to make any public comments on the news regarding Guerra. He has, however, commented on illegal immigrant crime in the past, including in a January statement explaining his no vote on the Laken Riley Act.

“We must keep our communities safe and prioritize the detention of violent offenders,” Van Hollen said on Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, Van Hollen and the several House Democrats who followed his lead in traveling to Central America to aid Garcia have become the focal point of the GOP’s derision in recent days. For instance, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) launched a fake tourism ad saying Democrats “should feel free to make their trip to hang out with MS-13 gangbangers one-way.”

DEMOCRAT’S EL SALVADOR TRIP LAMPOONED IN SENATE GOP FAUX TOURISM AD: ‘BIENVENIDOS’

The ad came after serious crimes at the hands of illegal immigrants cropped up around the Old Line State.

Most recently, Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of killing Rachel Morin on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air.

Morin’s mother, Patty, was later invited to speak from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, where she lambasted Van Hollen for traveling to El Salvador to help Garcia.

On Sunday, Van Hollen told “Fox News Sunday” that what happened to the Morin family “was awful and unacceptable.”

Last week, a jury took less than an hour to convict another Maryland illegal immigrant murder suspect – Victor Martinez-Hernandez – on first-degree premeditated murder charges in Harford County.

Also last week, ICE arrested Guatemalan national Rene Pop-Chub in Hyattsville, Maryland, outside Washington. Pop-Chub had pending murder, assault and reckless endangerment charges, and was the subject of an ignored detainer by a county corrections office, according to an ICE statement.

“The arrest of Rene Pop-Chub underscores the critical importance of cooperation between federal and local counterparts,” ICE Baltimore Acting Field Office Director Nikita Baker said in a statement.

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In a 2024 case in Montgomery Village, a northern suburb of Washington, ICE detained an “unlawfully present” Honduran national and previous deportee named Madai Gamaliel Amaya. 

Amaya’s arrest marked what ICE said was a record of 153 arrests of noncitizen sex offenders in Maryland in FY-2024. An ICE official called the case a “landmark arrest” for the Baltimore field office, and said in a statement that Amaya was previously arrested in the same county in 2009 and charged with second-degree rape. He was deported in 2013 and 2018, albeit from other states.

Despite the high-profile cases in Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore told Fox News Digital the state has seen “significant drops” in violent crimes.

“Our law enforcement officials work hard every day, in coordination with federal partners, to root out violent crime in our state. This is exactly what happened in this case, and what we do every day to keep Marylanders safe – hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes, regardless of immigration status,” Moore added, referring to the Guerra case.

Fox News Digital reached out to Van Hollen, DHS and ICE for comment but did not immediately hear back.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed plans to install two “beautiful” 100-foot flagpoles on the White House lawns that will each fly an American flag.

Trump told reporters about the plans after he was spotted touring the North Lawn of the White House with Dale Haney, head White House groundskeeper.

“We’re putting up a beautiful, almost 100-foot-tall American flag,” Trump said, adding that the two flagpoles will be “top of the line.”

“And they’ve needed flagpoles for 200 years,” Trump told reporters. “It was something I’ve often said. You know, they don’t have a flagpole, per se. So we’re putting one right where you saw us, and we’re putting another one on the side on top of the mounds. It’s going to be two beautiful poles.”

TRUMP TO CREATE TASK FORCE TO PLAN ‘EXTRAORDINARY CELEBRATION’ FOR 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICA’S INDEPENDENCE

The president noted that the flagpoles will be “paid for by Trump,” and should arrive at the White House in about a week.

PENNSYLVANIA GOV. SHAPIRO SAYS TRUMP CALLED HIM ABOUT ARSON ATTACK: ‘VERY GRACIOUS’

The White House currently flies an American flag from a flagpole on its rooftop. The flag is always flown there, no matter the president’s location. 

The POW/MIA flag has also been flown at the White House since 2019. 

The Trump administration is filing federal charges after hearing that an illegal immigrant convicted of manslaughter is set to be released over six years early by the California state government. 

Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano was driving drunk, high, and speeding at nearly 100mph on the 405 freeway in Orange County in November 2021, when he crashed into a car being driven by a young couple, 19-year-old’s Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, which killed them both as they burned alive. In spring 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Fox News reported on Wednesday morning that Ortega-Anguiano will be released by California state government on July 19 after serving just 3.5 years of his 10-year sentence, and the families of the victims were informed of the early release on Easter Sunday.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONVICTED OF KILLING TEENS IN HIGH-SPEED CRASH TO BE RELEASED EARLY: ‘IT’S DISGUSTING’

“My office has filed a felony immigration charge against this defendant. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted for 8 USC 1326. If the State of California will not seek the full measure of justice against this individual, the [DOJ] will,” Bill Essayli, United States Attorney for the Central District of California, tweeted.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also weighed in following the exclusive Fox News report.

“This is absolutely unconscionable. What about Justice for these teens? What about the rights of their parents? [The DOJ] will work with ICE to make sure this illegal alien receives full punishment for his crimes,” Bondi tweeted.

MARYLAND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED AFTER WOMAN FOUND MURDERED IN WOODS: OFFICIALS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put out a detainer for his arrest following his likely release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. However, California’s sanctuary policies led to questions about whether the state will end up complying with the detainer.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

CDCR does typically cooperate with ICE detainers, but border czar Tom Homan swiftly said federal authorities would step in after his release.

“I will work with [Homeland Security] Secretary Noem on this case, and I guarantee you, if they don’t honor the detainer, we’ll have ICE agents outside that facility to take custody of this individual and deport him,” Homan said Wednesday on “America’s Newsroom.”

ANGEL MOM OF RACHEL MORIN CONDEMNS DEMS’ TRIP TO SEE DEPORTED MIGRANT, MAINSTREAM MEDIA BIAS

According to a notice reviewed by Fox News, he is set to be released to Garden Grove, a suburb in Orange County just south of Los Angeles.

“For safety and security reasons, CDCR cannot provide information on an incarcerated person’s release date or location in advance of their release. Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming, which may move their parole dates to an earlier date,” the department stated.

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The families of the teens killed said they’re writing to the state to keep him locked up.

“It’s disgusting. You have two young, unbelievable future, productive American citizens killed for nothing and that illegal immigrant who already has been deported twice is going to be released again? For what? If even he is deported, he will come back,” Anatoly Varfolomeev, the father of Anya, told Fox News in an interview. 

“I hope he’s going to stay in prison. I hope that he’s gonna get old in prison and I hope he’s getting kicked out from our country in the end,” Pavel Osokin, Nicholay’s father, said.

“Three years for killing two kids! It’s confusing to me. Why you give them 10 if they’re gonna spend five, and then three? Give them three in the beginning, at least we know what to expect. It’s sort of spitting in my face,” he said.

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is launching a video campaign to remind gun manufacturers in Colorado that if they move just a few hundred miles to the north, they can be free of one of the nation’s most restrictive gun control bills signed into law earlier this month in their state.

“Do you want to move back to America?” Gianforte is asking Colorado gunmakers, after Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed S.B. 25-003 into law earlier this month. The new law, which is slated to go into effect in August 2026, effectively bans the manufacture, sale or purchase of semi-automatic firearms that accept detachable magazines, which include most AR-15s and AK-47 rifles sold in the United States. Some tactical shotguns and a few select handguns will also be impacted. 

“Our Second Amendment is very clear. It says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” Gianforte told Fox News Digital. “This bill outlaws some of the most popular firearms used for sporting and self-defense. It’s a violation of the Second Amendment.”

BLUE STATE GOP REP FORCED TO REMOVE 2A STICKER FROM LAPTOP: ‘OFFENSIVE’

Gianforte has helped spearhead greater protections for gun owners and sellers in his state, including through making Montana a constitutional carry state and through the passage of a law that prohibits law enforcement from enforcing federal firearm bans or regulations that infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights to possess, transfer or use any firearm, magazine or firearm accessory. 

The GOP Montana governor also spearheaded an effort to ban liberal environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards that served as a basis for private institutions, such as banks, to refuse to work with gun manufacturers and sellers.  

However, Gianforte pointed to not only his state’s defense of Second Amendment rights, but also to its pro-business policies and comparatively low tax burden for reasons why his state is ideal for law-abiding gun makers and sellers. 

EXCESSIVE STATE TAXES ON GUNS, AMMUNITION SALES ARE TARGET OF NEW GOP CRACKDOWN EFFORT

“When this [Colorado bill] came out – this announcement – I personally cold called six Colorado firearms companies. Five of them, the five I’ve spoken to so far, are all planning visits to Montana,” Gianforte recounted to Fox News Digital. The governor said that from his conversation with the companies, he deduced they were all “throwing in the towel on Colorado.”  

“My message to them was pretty simple,” he said. “‘See what’s going on in Colorado? Do you want to move back to America? Because Montana is open for business, and we would welcome you here.'”

Gianforte also pointed out how officials from the state of Montana attend what the governor described as “the largest” firearms and gun trade show in the world, which the officials frequently return from with multiple leads on manufacturers looking to potentially move to Montana every year. 

TRUMP HAILED FOR RESTORING GUN RIGHTS AS GOP FIGHTS BIDEN-ERA POLICIES

Gianforte estimated that officials walked away from the convention last year with about 10 potential new firearm businesses seriously interested in moving to Montana, while he said this year it was closer to 30.

“We have more firearms and ammunition manufacturers today than any other state in the country per capita,” touted Gianforte. “We proudly defend the Second Amendment, not just for our firearms owners, but also for firearms manufacturers and ammunition manufacturers.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Polis’ office for comment.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro claims President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked his travel visa to the U.S. this week.

Petro made the announcement at a cabinet meeting, responding to questions about whether he would attend meetings with international organizations in Washington, D.C. later this year.

“I can no longer go because I believe they took away my visa,” Petro told reporters.

“I didn’t need to have one, but anyway, I’ve already seen Donald Duck several times, so I’ll go see other things,” Petro added.

HIGH-RANKING TREN DE ARAGUA GANGSTER MURDERED TWO AMERICAN WOMEN, CAPTURED ACROSS COUNTRY: FEDS

The State Department has refused to comment on the topic due to the confidentiality of visa records, according to the New York Post.

Petro’s claim comes months after he caved to Trump after initially refusing to accept deportation flights from the U.S. military.

EXCLUSIVE: GOP MOVES TO AUTHORIZE TRUMP TO WAGE WAR ON CARTELS THROUGH MILITARY FORCE

Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem also traveled to Colombia in late March to meet with her counterpart there, Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia.

Noem said that she had a “candid” conversation with Sarabia, and the pair later jointly announced a data-sharing agreement that would help U.S. authorities identify illegal immigrants.

“We’re going to strengthen our regional security systems and make sure that we’re disrupting the movement of threatening actors that perpetuate illegal activity and also facilitate illegal trafficking of migrants across the Western Hemisphere,” Noem said at the time.

“Through this expansion of sharing of biometric data, it will be much more efficient, effective, accurate, and it will also build cooperation that will open doors to new ways that we can continue to work together,” she added.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., the Senate Democratic whip and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2026. 

Durbin, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, made the announcement in a video message on X Wednesday.

“The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy,” Durbin said. 

“I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

Deborah Lipstadt, who served as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism during much of the Biden administration, has indicated that she is “pleased” the Trump administration is seeking to tackle antisemitism.

“I’m pleased that they’re addressing it, because that’s what I did for the past three years, which was to really push the Biden Administration to seriously address it. So I am very, very pleased that it’s on their agenda,” she told the New Yorker. The outlet noted that the conversation with Lipstadt was edited for length and clarity.

Emory University announced in December that Lipstadt would return to the higher educational institution later in the academic year.

ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS BREAK RECORD FOR 4TH STRAIGHT YEAR, ADL FINDS

Fox News Digital attempted to reach to Lipstadt on Wednesday via the email and number listed on Emory University’s website, but did not receive a response to the comment request by the time of publication.

Lipstadt told the New Yorker that the Trump administration has been “calling universities to account.” 

JEWISH HARVARD STUDENTS SPEAK OUT AFTER UNIVERSITY SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER FUNDING FREEZE

“I also think there are many Jews, and some non-Jews, too, but many Jews who are disappointed by how universities have behaved since October 7th, and they see a strong – to use Passover terminology – a strong hand being used. Now, whether that hand is being used properly or not raises certain questions about what’s happening,” she reportedly said, noting, “a lot of people were relieved to see this forceful approach. I think, in many respects, it’s going too far.”

She indicated that many colleges have fallen short in tackling antisemitism.

“Look, the universities failed to address this seriously. And by failing to address this seriously, they failed the Jewish students on campus. They dismissed their grievances. They created an inhospitable atmosphere. We’re now seeing the fruits of that failure. What disturbs me so much is that the debate will now become over whether antisemitism is being used as a weapon to fight against people we don’t like. Antisemitism should not be a cudgel,” she noted, according to the outlet.

ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATOR CHARGED IN VIOLENT HATE CRIME ATTACK ON TWO JEWISH COLLEGE STUDENTS

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“The fight should be against antisemitism and not against the institutions. The institutions opened the door. Most universities failed miserably to address this, and we’re seeing the consequences of that now,” she told the New Yorker.

The White House is steadfast in its support for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amid media reports regarding his imminent ouster. 

Hegseth has attracted scrutiny once more in recent weeks after the New York Times reported Sunday that he disclosed details about a March military airstrike in Yemen against the Houthis in a Signal messaging app group chat that included his wife, brother and lawyer – about a dozen people in total – on a personal phone before his confirmation. Hegseth maintains that no classified information was disclosed over Signal. 

The incident follows a similar episode in March, where the Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included on a Signal group chat with other high-ranking Trump administration officials, including Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, discussing the same attack on the Houthis. National security advisor Mike Waltz later took “full responsibility” for that chat blunder. 

But the White House says it supports Hegseth, and argued he’s faced a “smear campaign” since Trump tapped him for the post in December 2024. 

DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH REBUFFS NEW GROUP CHAT ALLEGATIONS AS ATTEMPT TO ‘SABOTAGE’ TRUMP’S AGENDA 

“The secretary of defense is doing a tremendous job, and he is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there’s a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that’s why we’ve seen a smear campaign against the secretary of defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. 

“Let me reiterate: the president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth and the change that he is bringing to the Pentagon, and the results that he’s achieved thus far speak for themselves,” Leavitt said. 

Hegseth has received backlash ever since Trump announced his nomination to lead the Pentagon, especially after allegations of sexual assault and alcohol misuse surfaced. In response, Hegseth told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that he is not a “perfect person,” but asserted that he was the subject of a “coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media.” 

Ultimately, no Democrats voted to confirm Hegseth. In contrast, only one Democrat voted against Trump’s first secretary of defense in 2016, retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis. 

Hegseth has spearheaded multiple reforms, including a series of efforts to curb diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the Pentagon that he says are in accordance with executive orders from the Trump administration. 

NPR reported Monday that the White House was eyeing a new secretary of defense, but Leavitt shut down the report immediately, labeling the report “fake news.” The NPR story was based on one anonymous U.S. official not authorized to speak to the media. 

Meanwhile, Hegseth has maintained that the second Signal chat, like his first, did not include “war plans,” and that all discussions conducted over Signal were unclassified. Included in the group chat were Hegseth’s brother, Phil, who works at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior advisor, according to the Associated Press. The defense secretary’s longtime personal attorney, Tim Parlatore, who was commissioned as a Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps commander right before the Signal chat, was also included, according to the Times report. 

“I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,” Hegseth told Fox News Tuesday. “I look at war plans every day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things. That’s what I’ve said from the beginning.”

Meanwhile, even some in Hegseth’s orbit predict that he will not remain in his post for much longer. 

John Ullyot, a former senior communications official for the Pentagon who resigned in April under Hegseth, wrote that the abrupt Friday firings of three of Hegseth’s “most loyal” advisors – his aide Dan Caldwell, his deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, Colin Carroll – were alarming and “baffling.” 

“The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership,” Ullyot wrote in a Sunday op-ed for Politico. 

“Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account,” he wrote. “Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”

Caldwell and Selnick were included in the second Hegseth group chat, according to the Times. 

HEGSETH SHARED DETAILS OF YEMEN STRIKES IN SECOND SIGNAL CHAT: REPORT

Senate Democrats are also clamoring for Hegseth to resign. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member, asked the Pentagon’s inspector general to conduct a report into Hegseth’s use of the Signal chat. 

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“Since he was nominated, I have warned that Mr. Hegseth lacks the experience, competence, and character to run the Department of Defense,” Reed said in a Sunday statement. “In light of the ongoing chaos, dysfunction, and mass firings under Mr. Hegseth’s leadership, it seems that those objections were well-founded.” 

“Accountability starts at the top, and I have grave concerns about Secretary Hegseth’s ability to maintain the trust and confidence of U.S. service members,” he stated. 

A woman dining with her family recently had her purse stolen in downtown Washington, D.C., just a few blocks away from the restaurant where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s handbag was swiped, according to a report. 

The victim told NBC News that she was eating at a restaurant inside the Westin Hotel last Thursday and noticed that her purse was missing around the time her family received the check. A police report cited that the suspect snatched her bag “from the chair it was hanging on,” the network added. 

Three days later, Noem’s purse, which contained $3,000 in cash as well as personal documents, including her passport, keys, driver’s license and a DHS badge, was stolen at The Capital Burger, a restaurant located less than a quarter mile away. 

In both incidents, the suspect was identified as a White male wearing dark clothing, a dark baseball hat and a N95 mask, NBC News reported, citing the victim of the Westin theft and two sources familiar with surveillance footage viewed by law enforcement in the Noem case. 

DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM’S PURSE STOLEN WITH THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN DC RESTAURANT: SOURCES 

“I’m shocked at the similarity of the crime,” the victim of the Westin incident told NBC News. 

It’s unclear if the two incidents are connected, but the victim also said police contacted her Tuesday, mentioned the Noem case and asked if she herself was involved in politics – she is not.

KIMMEL MOCKS KRISTI NOEM FOR GETTING ROBBED, SAYS HER BEING CRIME VICTIM IS ‘EMBARRASSING’ 

A Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the agency cannot comment on the Noem theft because it is not leading the investigation. 

In the Noem incident, “Her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren” and she was using the cash in her purse “to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts,” a Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News. 

Fox News Digital’s Cameron Arcand contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: The families of the victims of an Orange County, Calif., high-speed car crash are sending letters to the state to keep an illegal immigrant convicted felon behind bars, as he’s expected to be released from prison over six years before his 10-year sentence is up.

Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, 43, was driving drunk, high, and speeding at nearly 100mph on the 405 freeway in Orange County in November 2021, when he crashed into a car being driven by a young couple, 19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, killing them both as they burned alive. In 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. 

“It’s disgusting. You have two young, unbelievable future, productive American citizens killed for nothing and that illegal immigrant who already has been deported twice is going to be released again? For what? If even he is deported, he will come back,” Anatoly Varfolomeev, the father of Anya, told Fox News in an interview. He has not changed Anya’s room since her death. 

EXCLUSIVE: FOX TOURS ICE DETENTION FACILITY; MANAGER HOPES TO ‘DISPEL’ ‘FALSE NARRATIVES’

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put out a detainer for his arrest following his likely release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. However, the Golden State’s sanctuary laws lead to questions about whether the state will adhere to that detainer. CDCR does typically cooperate with ICE detainers. 

Before the tragedy, Ortega-Anguiano had multiple felonies on his record, as well as several convictions for driving without a license. Border czar Tom Homan vowed on Fox News to honor the detainer and swiftly place him into federal custody upon his release.
 
In spring 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO TRUMP ADMIN’S CFPB TERMINATIONS

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer with North Kern State Prison, Delano, California, June 9, 2022, on Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, 43, of Mexico. He is serving time after being convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. His previous criminal convictions include burglary in 2005; vehicle theft in 2007; and battery on spouse with kidnapping in 2014,” the statement from ICE explains.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
 
“An immigration judge ordered Ortega removed Nov. 3, 2014; he filed several unsuccessful appeals and was taken into ICE custody Dec. 2, 2016, and removed to Mexico the same day. Ortega attempted to reenter the United States Feb. 2, 2018, near Otay Mesa, California by presenting a counterfeit document; he was paroled into the U.S. pending criminal prosecution for illegal reentry after removal. An immigration official issued Ortega an expedited removal order and removed him June 1, 2018, to Mexico; after his latest removal, he again illegally reentered the U.S. on an unknown date and location. ICE issued a detainer with the Orange County Jail, California, Nov. 27, 2021, where he was being held on vehicular manslaughter charges at the time,” it continues.

Fox News reviewed the obtained notice of release sent to Varfolomeev, which suggests releasing him in Garden Grove.

GORSUCH, ROBERTS SIDE WITH LEFT-LEANING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES IN IMMIGRATION RULING

“For safety and security reasons CDCR cannot provide information on an incarcerated person’s release date or location in advance of their release. Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming, which may move their parole dates to an earlier date,” the department stated.

The families say this is a slap in the face to them, given how early he’s expected to be brought back into the community. They remain fearful that even if he is deported, that he could re-enter the country as a gotaway, as he’s done twice before. 

“I hope he’s going to stay in prison. I hope that he’s gonna get old in prison and I hope he’s getting kicked out from our country in the end,” Pavel Osokin, Nicholay’s father, said.

“Three years for killing two kids! It’s confusing to me. Why you give them 10 if they’re gonna spend five, and then three? Give them three in the beginning, at least we know what to expect. It’s sort of spitting in my face,” he said.

A federal judge in Maryland accused the Trump administration of “willful and bad faith refusal” to comply with court orders in the case of illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis – who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama – accused the Trump administration of obstructing the legal process and refusing to provide information about the steps they have taken, if any, to free Abrego Garcia from Salvadorian custody and return him to the United States. 

“For weeks, Defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court’s orders,” Xinis wrote in an eight-page order Tuesday. “Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions. That ends now.”

4 MORE DEMS TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RETURN TO US

“If Defendants want to preserve their privilege claims, they must support them with the required detail. Otherwise, they will lose the protections they failed to properly invoke,” the judge added. 

She gave the administration until 6 p.m. Wednesday to provide those details.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday posted a photo to TRUTH Social of himself in the Oval Office holding up a photo of the gang-affiliated tattoos etched on Abrego Garcia’s knuckles. 

“This is the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that the Courts are trying to save from being deported?” Trump wrote. “He was supposed to be, according to the Judge and the Democrats, a wonderful father from Maryland, but then they noticed he had “MS-13″ tattooed onto his knuckles (and lots of really bad stories about his past!). This is the gang that is, perhaps, the worst of them all. What is wrong with our Country?” 

The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, 29, to El Salvador in what it described in court filings as an “administrative error,” and has since said that it is up to El Salvador whether Abrego Garcia returns to the U.S. 

DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN AND SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration nearly two weeks ago to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., so that court proceedings could continue, rejecting the White House’s claim that it couldn’t retrieve him. 

Trump administration officials have pushed back, arguing that it is up to El Salvador — though the president of El Salvador has also said he lacks the power to return Abrego Garcia. The administration has also argued that information about any steps it has taken or could take to return Abrego Garcia is protected by attorney-client privilege laws, state secret laws, general “government privilege” or other secrecy rules.

But Xinis said those claims, without any facts to back them up, reflected a “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”

A three-judge panel on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scolded the administration last week, saying its claim that it can’t do anything to free Abrego Garcia “should be shocking.” 

The Justice Department unveiled documents last week detailing domestic violence allegations that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. Vasquez alleged in the filing that Abrego Garcia beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her. Additionally, a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report obtained by Fox News claims that Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor and human trafficking. The report said a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper pulled Abrego Garcia over in 2022 after swerving. The patrol officer found eight other individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who had just begun driving three days prior. 

The officer originally believed the incident qualified as a human trafficking case because no luggage was found in the car, but the officer ultimately only wrote up Abrego Garcia for driving with an expired license. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Diana Stancy, David Spunt, Rachel Wolf, Greg Norman and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Vice President JD Vance told reporters in India that the U.S. had offered Russia and Ukraine “a very explicit proposal” to end the war that has been ongoing for over three years: make a deal or risk the U.S. walking away.

“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the U.S. to walk away from this process. We’ve engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on-the-ground work,” Vance told reporters.

TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE A PASS’ ON UKRAINE PEACE EFFORTS IF RUSSIA REFUSES TO PLAY BALL

The vice president also said that “the only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.”

Vance’s comments come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he would not be attending talks in London aimed at facilitating a ceasefire. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters that Rubio would not be attending the talks due to “logistical issues.” 

The secretary later wrote in a post on X that he was planning on “following up after the ongoing discussions in London and rescheduling my trip to the UK in the coming months.”

During Tuesday’s briefing, Bruce also said Gen. Keith Kellogg, special presidential envoy for Ukraine, would represent the U.S. at the talks in London.

TRUMP INSISTS UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE DEAL IS CLOSE, BUT MISTRUST IN PUTIN LEAVES EXPERTS SKEPTICAL

On Friday, Rubio suggested that the U.S. might walk away from negotiations to end the war within “a matter of days,” despite President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire deal. Trump later told the press that Rubio was “right in saying that we want to see it end.”

“Think about it, every day a lot of people are being killed as we talk about, you know, as they play games, so we’re not gonna take that,” Trump told reporters. He also said he thinks the U.S. has a “good chance” of bringing peace to Ukraine and Russia.

Security experts, however, are not as confident that peace is on the horizon, as some warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace.

Trump seems to be hoping to entice Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop the fighting with talk of how both countries could benefit from doing business with the U.S. after the war ends. He made the remark after Ukraine and Russia’s temporary Easter ceasefire ended. Both Ukraine and Russia accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

The Department of Homeland Security in May will begin implementing REAL ID requirements for U.S. travelers for the first time, a move that comes as the administration looks to act on some of President Donald Trump’s top policy priorities, including its crackdown on illegal immigration and border security.

The enhanced ID requirements are slated to take effect May 7 and will apply to all U.S. travelers over the age of 18. 

The law establishing REAL IDs isn’t new: Congress first passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 in an effort to crack down on identity verification in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and set “minimum security standards” for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. 

But after 20 years of slow-walking the law’s enforcement, the abrupt timing of the May 7 enforcement is likely to catch many Americans flat-footed.

Just how necessary is obtaining a “REAL ID”? We broke down the changes coming next month and what’s at stake for those who don’t comply. Here’s what you need to know in the final weeks before the new rules take force.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS IN BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE

Beginning May 7, all federal agencies, including DHS and TSA, are required to accept only state-issued driver’s licenses and state identification cards that comply with the updated identity verification standards.

The goal of the REAL ID Act is “to make state driver’s licenses and ID cards (which are identification cards that states issue to non-drivers) more secure, less susceptible to fraud, and more reliable as a form of identification,” Magdalena Krajewska, an associate political science professor, wrote in a 2020 article for the Oxford Academic. (The government has for years tried to stand up the REAL ID requirements, most recently in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic.)

The law seeks to add another layer of security to various forms of identification and to make it harder to counterfeit state IDs.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO TRUMP ADMIN’S CFPB TERMINATIONS 

The short answer: It depends. In order to obtain this enhanced form of ID, individuals must present to their local DMV valid proof of identity; proof of their Social Security number and date of birth, and two additional documents that prove they live in the state. This varies from state to state, though updated guidance can be found here.

The good news is that individuals can obtain one of the enhanced IDs at any time. All 50 states, D.C., and five U.S. territories are now issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards, according to the DHS. 

The REAL ID requirements are a “coordinated effort by the federal government to improve the reliability and accuracy of driver’s licenses and identification cards for individuals across the federal government,” Bart Johnson, TSA’s federal security director for upstate New York, told reporters this month. 

Every adult in the U.S., if they want to travel by plane or enter government facilities.

“Every air traveler 18 years of age and older must have a REAL ID-compliant ID, which is a state-issued driver’s license, state-issued identification card, or another acceptable form of ID, such as a U.S. passport” before the May 7 deadline, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

Though the other IDs are not rendered obsolete, the TSA said Americans will need to present these new IDs every time they board a commercial flight, even when traveling on a domestic trip. They will also need this updated ID to access federal facilities or be granted access to federal buildings.

No, not everyone needs to get a new ID. In fact, certain states have required REAL ID verification from residents for years, meaning individuals living in those states and with active forms of identification need not hustle to the local DMV.

Enhanced and “REAL ID-compliant” identification cards are marked with a seal, often a star in the top right-hand corner, according to DHS. 

The abrupt enforcement timeline could catch many Americans flat-footed, especially ahead of what is predicted to be a busy summer travel season.

While legacy IDs are still valid for travel, including driving, airline passengers who present noncompliant forms of ID before boarding, and without another acceptable alternative, such as a passport, “can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,” DHS officials said.

FIRST ON FOX: The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting a list of 25 “vulnerable” Democrats in the House of Representatives, with a digital ad blitz offering to buy them plane tickets to El Salvador on the condition they “livestream the whole thing and snap plenty of selfies with their MS-13 buddies.”

The ad campaign follows a Monday press release by the NRCC offering to foot the bill for any future trips by Democrat lawmakers to El Salvador, after several progressive lawmakers traveled to the South American country in protest of the Trump administration’s deportation policies.   

“We’ll pay for the plane tickets, they just can’t forget to smile for the camera while they sell out their constituents,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said Tuesday. “If out-of-touch House Democrats are so desperate to cozy up to violent gang members, the least they can do is let Americans watch the show.”

4 MORE DEMS TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RETURN TO US

The Democrats targeted by the House Republican arm’s ad blitz herald from states including California, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Florida, Texas and a few others.

They are: Josh Harder, D-Calif.; Adam Gray, D-Calif.; George Whitesides, D-Calif.; Derek Tran, D-Calif.; Dave Min, D-Calif.; Darren Soto, D-Fla.; Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.; Jared Golden, D-Maine; Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich.; Don Davis, D-N.C.; Nellie Pou, D-N.J.; Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M.; Dina Titus, D-Nev.; Susie Lee, D-Nev.; Steven Horsford, D-Nev.; Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.; Laura Gillen, D-N.Y.; Josh Riley, D-N.Y.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio; Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas; Eugene Vindman, D-Va.; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.

REP. MAXWELL FROST EXPLAINS WHY HE AND OTHER DEMOCRATS ARE IN EL SALVADOR

Progressive Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., traveled to El Salvador last week in a highly publicized trip to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant deported with a slew of other Venezuelan gang members and whom Democrats have said was illegally deported by the Trump administration. 

Van Hollen’s visit was followed up by another visit to El Salvador on Sunday by four far-left Democratic lawmakers: Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California.

Republicans, meanwhile, have been eager to tie Democrats to suspected criminals being deported to El Salvador. The NRCC’s counterpart for the U.S. Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), released a new digital ad this week as well that mocked Van Hollen’s recent meeting with alleged MS-13 gang member Abrego Garcia. 

“¡Bienvenidos a El Salvador Senate Dems! Democrats should feel free to make their trip to hang out with MS-13 gangbangers one-way,” the NRSC wrote in a post on X unveiling the new ad.

HOUSE DEMS DEMAND ‘PROOF OF LIFE; OF ABREGO GARCIA AFTER BEING DENIED MEETING IN EL SALVADOR

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“Welcome to El Salvador. Home to breathtaking sunsets, world class surf breaks and gang banger Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” a narrator from the video can be heard saying as well. “El Salvador is the destination for Democrats seeking the thrill of bringing violent, criminal, illegal aliens back to America,” the ad continues, noting El Salvador was a good destination for travelers to “witness Trump Derangement Syndrome in its purest form.”

The federally indicted mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, is trailing his opponent in the city’s Democratic primary runoff. 

Unofficial vote totals show state Sen. John Horhn leading two-term Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba 18,493 to 6,246, according to the city clerk’s office. Although absentee votes have not yet been counted, Horhn declared victory in the race. 

Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens II and Jackson City Councilman Aaron Banks are facing charges of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, honest services wire fraud and money laundering, the Justice Department announced last November. All three have pleaded not guilty. 

An indictment alleged the three Democrats accepted payments, including $50,000 for the mayor’s reelection campaign, from two people they thought were real estate developers looking to build a hotel near the city’s downtown convention center. It turns out they worked for the FBI. 

‘MISSISSIPPI MUSK’: STATE AUDITOR’S MOGE REPORT FINDS $400 MILLION IN GOVERNMENT WASTE

“Residents have been, you know, told a narrative that should – that should give them every reason for us not to be here, right? And we’re trying to make it clear that that’s not who we are,” Lumumba said Friday, according to the Associated Press. 

Lumumba and Horhn faced off in a Democratic mayoral primary once before in 2017. In that race, Lumumba defeated Horhn outright, earning 55% of the vote. 

The winner of this race will advance to the June 3 general election. 

“People are ready for something different,” Horhn recently said. “They are ready for change; they’re ready for leadership; they’re ready for better streets; they’re ready for less crime; they’re ready for more opportunities.” 

Lumumba, son of the late Republic of New Afrika leader Chokwe Lumumba, released a video statement last year denying ever accepting a bribe and calling the indictment a “political prosecution” intended to “destroy [his] . . . reputation.” 

CAPITAL CITY DEMOCRATIC MAYOR, PROSECUTOR INDICTED IN UNDERCOVER BRIBERY STING 

“Jackson residents, it is with great disappointment that I come before you. My legal team has informed me that federal prosecutors have, in fact, indicted me on bribery and related charges,” he said.  

“There is no coincidence, and its timing being just before the upcoming mayoral race. My legal team will vigorously defend me against these charges. Again, while I am disappointed, I am not deterred, so I ask for your patience and your prayers during this process. Thank you.” 

The three officials were in a bugged room on a yacht in Broward County, Florida, negotiating what they believed to be the developers’ payments when they were caught, according to the local Mississippi Clarion-Ledger. 

One undercover agent reportedly asked the officials to move forward a deadline for an “SOQ,” or statement of qualifications, required for the planned hotel development, and Lumumba reportedly went ahead and made a phone call. 

Another agent then handed the mayor five checks worth $50,000 total. After returning to Mississippi, the funds were reportedly deposited in the mayor’s campaign account, according to the paper. 

Fox News Digitals’ Charles Creitz and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump’s administration is firing or reassigning over 450 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a larger push to eliminate “environmental justice” programs.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the employee moves on Monday, saying 280 staffers were being fired, and 175 others would be reassigned. The cut roles were in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, and EPA regional offices.

“EPA is taking the next step to terminate the Biden-Harris Administration’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Environmental Justice arms of the agency,” a spokesperson told Axios.

Zeldin explained at a Monday press conference that tax dollars put toward environmental justice issues were widely misspent.

MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A BORDER CRISIS ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT

“The problem is that, in the name of environmental justice, a dollar will get secured and not get spent on remediating that environmental issue,” he said.

The firings come the same week that Zeldin launched talks with Mexico about eliminating sewage contamination that flows over the border from Tijuana to pollute California’s coastlines.

MEXICAN SEWAGE GUSHING INTO NAVY SEAL TRAINING WATERS IS US’ ‘NEXT CAMP LEJEUNE,’ VETS WARN

Zeldin visited San Diego to discuss the issue on Tuesday, noting that one of the affected areas is the training grounds for Navy SEALs.

“The Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this… for decades, are out of patience,” Zeldin said Tuesday. “There’s no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next 10 or 20 or 30 years of being stuck in 12 feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere.”

EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN

“So we are all out of patience,” he continued. “There’s a very limited opportunity. We’re in good faith, both on the American side and also on the Mexican side, what’s being communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve this situation.” 

Zeldin said that he met with Mexican officials for about 90 minutes Monday night to discuss the sewage spewing into U.S. waters — and relayed that the Mexican environmental secretary wants to have a “strong collaborative relationship” with the U.S. to end the pollution. 

“I will be speaking with the chief of staff to the Mexican environmental secretary to ensure that over the course of the coming days, over the course of the next couple weeks, that we are able to put together a specific statement from both countries on a mutual understanding of what Mexico is going to do to help resolve this issue,” he said.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump called him over the weekend to discuss the arson attack on the governor’s mansion a week before.

Shapiro said Trump called him Saturday morning and that the president was “very gracious.”

The governor said he did not answer Trump’s call and let it go to voicemail because he did not recognize the number the president was calling from.

“I appreciated that the president called me,” Shapiro told reporters at the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg. “I actually didn’t take his call because it came from his cellphone and I didn’t have that number in my phone, so I didn’t know who it was. As soon as I heard his message, I called him right back.”

SUSPECT’S 911 CALL RELEASED AFTER ARSON AT PA GOVERNOR’S MANSION THAT APPEARED TO BE FUELED BY WAR IN GAZA

Shapiro said he spoke with Trump for about 15 minutes about various topics, including the arson attack and how his wife and children were doing following the fire incident.

“He was very gracious,” Shapiro said. “He asked how Lori and the kids were doing. [We] talked for a couple of minutes about what transpired at the residence, and then we talked for maybe the next 15 minutes or so about a whole host of other topics.”

“Obviously, I’m not going to get into our private conversation, but he’s attuned to the issues that are important to me,” the governor continued. “I, of course, know the issues that are important to him, and we agreed to stay in touch going forward.”

Shapiro told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview recorded late last week and aired Sunday that Trump had not called him after the April 13 attack on his residence. The governor said at the time that he had heard from Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Trump said last week when asked if he knew of the attacker’s motive that he had not heard about one. He also said that the suspect “was not a fan of Trump.”

SUSPECTED PENNSYLVANIA ARSONIST MAY HAVE BEEN MOTIVATED BY WAR IN GAZA: POLICE

“He’s probably just a whack job. And certainly a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen,” Trump said at the time.

Cody Balmer, 38, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and related offenses for allegedly setting fire to Shapiro’s residence last week.

Balmer has reportedly admitted in multiple instances that he was motivated by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and what Shapiro, who is Jewish, “wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

“Governor Josh Shapiro needs to know that Cody Balmer will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” Balmer allegedly told a dispatcher in a 911 call after the attack. “He needs to leave my family alone. He needs to get his eyes off of my daughters. And he needs to stop having my friends killed.”

“You all know where to find me. I’m not hiding, and I will confess to everything that I had done,” he added.

A warrant details Balmer’s interview with state troopers in which he allegedly admitted to “harboring hatred towards” Shapiro. Balmer also reportedly admitted to a trooper that he was responsible for the arson attack and said he planned to attack Shapiro with his hammer if he were to find the governor in the mansion.

Surveillance video described in a warrant allegedly shows Balmer breaking a window at the governor’s residence before throwing “an incendiary device” inside. According to the warrant, Balmer then broke another window, entered the residence and deployed another incendiary device before he “approached the dining room exit.”

The warrant also says a woman — seemingly identified as Balmer’s “ex-paramour” — said he confessed to the attack and asked her to call police to turn him in.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley indicated in a post on X that amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. should “want to be on the right side of history.” 

“Rewarding an aggressor will only lead to more aggressive actions. Failing to stand up for democracies who are invaded will lead to more invasions of free countries. To reward Russia for bad behavior and punish Ukraine for fighting to defend itself would be a terrible injustice, America should know the difference between right and wrong and want to be on the right side of history,” she declared in a Tuesday post on X.

“Russia started this war and has been the aggressor and violator in the conflict. Ukraine deserves the right to defend itself,” she had previously declared in part of another tweet on Tuesday.

RUSSIA REDUCES SENTENCE FOR AMERICAN ROBERT WOODLAND, WHO WAS CONVICTED ON DRUG CHARGES

Haley, a former South Carolina governor, sought the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, but ultimately dropped out after failing to gain traction against then-former President Donald Trump, who she eventually endorsed.

Trump has been aiming to help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.

REPUBLICAN USES GEORGE WASHINGTON, AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO REJECT NOTION UKRAINE SHOULD SURRENDER TO RUSSIA

“HOPEFULLY RUSSIA AMD UKRAINE WILL MAKE A DEAL THIS WEEK. BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!” he declared in a Sunday Truth Social post.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., recently visited Ukraine. 

PUTIN ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY EASTER CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE WAR

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The lawmaker said in a tweet last week, “It was my profound honor to deliver a very ‘personal’ message to Vladimir Putin today, from the front lines of the war near the Russian border, on behalf of our PA-1 community. The only permissible details to share are that ‘the message was delivered on target.'” 

Fitzpatrick has noted that he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while visiting the foreign nation.

Fewer than one in three young Americans approve of the job President Donald Trump and Congress are doing, according to a new national poll from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics.

But while the approval ratings for Trump and congressional Republicans have mostly stayed consistent since the start of the president’s first administration eight years ago, the 50th Harvard Youth Poll indicates that approval ratings for Democrats in Congress among Americans aged 18-29 have nosedived.

According to Harvard’s annual spring survey, which was conducted March 14-25 and released on Wednesday, the approval rating for congressional Democrats stands at 23%, down from 42% in the spring of 2017 at the start of Trump’s first term.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

“In that same period, approval of Congressional Republicans has held steady, inching up slightly from 28% to 29%,” the poll’s release notes.

And the approval rating for Trump, who next week marks 100 days into his second tour of duty in the White House, stands at 31% in the new survey. 

AMERICANS WEIGH IN ON TRUMP’S TEASING OF A THIRD TERM

The release highlights that Trump’s numbers are “virtually unchanged from the 32% reported in Spring 2017 and the 29% recorded in Fall 2020.”

Harvard’s survey is the latest to indicate troubling numbers for the Democrats. 

The confidence rating for Democrat leadership in Congress stood at a record-low 25% in a Gallup poll conducted April 1-14 and released last week. That’s nine points below the previous low of 34%, which was recorded in 2023.

Fueling the drop in confidence in the Democrat congressional leadership was a 41-point plunge among Democrats questioned in the Gallup survey.

DEMOCRATS FAVORABLE RATINGS DROP TO RECORD LOWS

National polls conducted in February by Quinnipiac University, and last month by CNN and by NBC News, indicated the favorable ratings for the Democratic Party sinking to all-time lows.

The Democratic Party is in the political wilderness after November’s election setbacks, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. And Republicans made gains among Black and Hispanic voters as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

Democrats have become increasingly angry and energized in response to Trump’s aggressive and controversial moves in slashing the federal government and upending long-standing national since returning to the White House three months ago.

That anger is directed not only at Trump and Republicans but also at Democrats. Many in the party’s base feel their leaders in Congress haven’t been effective or vocal enough in pushing back against the president.

According to the Harvard poll, only 15% say the country is headed in the right direction, with just over half (51%) saying the country’s on the wrong track. 

And just one in four surveyed said the current state of the country is better now under Trump than it was during former President Joe Biden’s single four-year term in the White House.

Forty-one percent said things were better off under Biden, with 14% saying they see no difference and 17% unsure.

Jim Clyburn is ripping the media.

The Democratic congressman, who essentially handed Joe Biden the nomination in 2020, says the party is having trouble getting its message out.

“I think the message coming from the Democratic Party is a good message,” the South Carolina lawmaker told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi. “The problem we’ve got, I’ll say, is that we have to depend upon the media to deliver it.”

Let me stop right there. The party’s approval ratings are in the toilet – that’s not the media’s fault. The party lost every swing state to Donald Trump in November – that’s not the media’s fault.

And the Democrats have no clear leader at the moment – again, not the media’s fault. 

SCHUMER SINKS, AOC SOARS IN NEW POLL AS LIBERAL VOTERS DEMAND HARDER LINE ON TRUMP

“If we have The Washington Post, for instance, caving to this wannabe dictator and we’ve got other media entities that seem to rather push a narrative that will bring eyes to their newspapers or to their television sets and not really give a fair hearing or reporting to what we’re doing,” said Clyburn, exempting Velshi.

“I would hope that there are people outside of the audience taking in what we’re saying because my message is gonna be very, very coherent. It’s going to be very – a little bit alarming. But it’s gonna be a message that I think everybody will understand if they were to hear it.”

Sorry to break it to the esteemed congressman, but it’s not the media’s job to carry water against the man he calls a “wannabe dictator.” You and your colleagues can only do it by getting out there and making, uh, news.

At the same time, everyone already hates us. So it’s hardly surprising that the left, as well as the right, is bashing our business.

I mean, Joe Biden barely talked to journalists – even for a Super Bowl interview – and now we know why.

BILL MAHER SAYS AOC SHOULDN’T BE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE IN 2028 DESPITE RECENT HYPE

Gavin Newsom is clearly running for president in 2028 – and he makes news by appearing on Fox and right-wing podcasts. This shows that he’s willing to engage the other side. 

“I don’t know what the party is. I’m still struggling with that,” Newsom told the Hill.

He also had California sue the White House over the tariffs.

The buzz right now is about AOC running for president. This seems far-fetched on its face – not because she was once a bartender, which gives her street cred, but because of her uber-liberal record.

Yet she and Bernie Sanders are drawing huge crowds around the country in what feels like a generational handoff – an image captured on the front page of Sunday’s Washington Post.

After making an initial splash as a rebel, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now works with the party’s leadership.

POLLSTER NATE SILVER CALLS OCASIO-CORTEZ MOST LIKELY TO BE 2028 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

A conservative columnist for the Hill listed her as No. 1 for the next election, calling AOC “simply the most exciting figure in Democratic politics…Yes, she has a legion of detractors. But she also has charisma, authenticity and the ability to draw huge crowds.”

But even the columnist, Niall Ferguson, asks: “Would a left-wing Latina from New York City really be the best option for a party that needs to win states like Michigan and Pennsylvania to take back the White House?”

Axios says Ocasio-Cortez, 35, “has been cheered like a political rock star over the past two weeks” and knows how to make the cash register ring: “In the first three months of 2025, she raised $9.6 million – more than double what she’d ever raised in a quarter.”

She would undoubtedly be opposed by center-left liberals like Josh Shapiro who would stress the importance of winning swing states like, uh, Pennsylvania.

Now it’s a bit crazy to be talking about this just three months into Trump’s second term. Someone who’s “hot” now could easily cool off by then. Name recognition only takes you so far.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

In a recent Gallup poll, just 25 percent expressed confidence in Democratic congressional leadership, an all-time low.

Republicans don’t expect fair coverage from the media. But many Dems act personally offended when they draw critical coverage.

The takeaway: Democrats have to make their own news, not just bash the media. But hey, we’re the easiest target out there.