News Brief: ICE Arrests Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants; DOJ to Probe Officials Who Obstruct Immigration Enforcement

Former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 17, 2024. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some critical stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening nationally and around the world.

Federal officials arrest hundreds of illegal immigrants on President Donald Trump’s first full day in office, the U.S. government takes a number of significant actions to support the country’s mass deportation efforts, and the president makes a controversial decision regarding the ongoing employment of certain federal workers.

Also, a Democratic senator says he’s in favor of a key Cabinet nominee, and Russia issues a stern warning to our new commander-in-chief concerning a vital waterway—and the president responds with a warning of his own.

We have a number of impactful stories to share with you today, and we begin with U.S. federal agents apprehending hundreds of illegal immigrants, many of whom are reported to be hardened criminals. More now on this developing story.

ICE Arrests Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants

White House border czar Tom Homan says that on Jan. 21, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested more than 308 criminals, including murderers, rapists, and child abusers.

He said that right now, ICE is operating out in the field, that they’re performing well, and that they’ll continue pursuing the bad guys every single day.

In case you missed it, since taking office on Monday, Trump has signed a number of executive orders meant to strengthen our country’s immigration and border security policies.

One of those orders says that it is our country’s mission to “faithfully execute the immigration laws” against all the people who are here illegally, particularly those individuals who threaten the safety or the security of the American people.

Another order declared a national emergency at the southern border, which allows for military deployment, for the completion of the border wall, and for drones to be dispatched without restrictions in order to detect immigrants who are illegally entering the United States.

Additionally, the Trump administration just rescinded a policy that barred federal officers from arresting illegal immigrants at so-called sensitive places, including schools, churches, and food banks.

The Department of Homeland Security said that the action empowers ICE agents and Customs and Border Protection officers to catch criminals who will “no longer be able to hide” in those places in an attempt to avoid arrest.

Meanwhile, the president just ordered a new deployment of around 1,500 military troops to the southern border as part of his ongoing effort to halt both illegal border crossing and smuggling efforts.

We’ll stay on topic, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is doubling down on the new administration’s efforts to deal with border issues, and here’s more now on that story.

DOJ to Probe Officials Who Obstruct Immigration Enforcement

The DOJ has ordered its prosecutors to investigate all instances when either state or local officials take action to obstruct federal immigration enforcement efforts.

In a memo sent to all department employees, the acting deputy attorney general said that the U.S. Constitution requires those state and local officials to comply with federal immigration enforcement efforts. He also said that federal law bars them from resisting, obstructing, or otherwise failing to cooperate with legal immigration-related commands that come from the executive branch.

The memo went on to say that the DOJ will investigate all incidents involving any related misconduct for potential prosecution, because they violate a law that prohibits conspiracy to either commit an offense against or defraud the federal government. By the way, that law carries a prison term of up to five years for each count.

Additionally, the deputy AG pointed to another law that bars individuals from harboring illegal immigrants or bringing them into the United States. He said that people convicted of that crime can receive up to 20 years in prison and could even face the death penalty, if a violation results in the death of any person.

Taking it a step further, the memo said that the Civil Division of the DOJ will also look into laws, policies, and activities that “threaten to impede” the immigration efforts of the executive branch by preventing the disclosure of information to federal authorities.

We continue now with a developing story regarding a new directive from the Trump administration, which says federal employees who work in a DEI capacity will now be placed on paid leave. More now on what we’ve learned.

Trump Directs All Federal DEI Employees to Be Put on Leave

An independent federal agency called the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says that all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees have now been put on paid leave, and this order went into effect yesterday afternoon.

In a memo, the OPM also ordered the agencies to remove all websites and social media accounts associated with DEI initiatives, to cancel all DEI-related training programs, and to terminate any contractors who are involved with DEI.

The agencies were required to compile a list of federal DEI offices and staff working in those offices as of Nov. 5, 2024, and to submit a plan for executing a “reduction-in-force action” against those workers by the end of this month.

Additionally, the memo tells the agencies to list any contract or position descriptions that were changed after the Nov. 5 presidential election in order to “obscure their connection” to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs.

In case you missed it, shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that was aimed at eliminating DEI-focused policies and programs within the federal government.

That order criticized the former Biden administration for forcing “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” into virtually “all aspects” of the federal government through DEI initiatives.

We’ll make the move now to Senate hearings regarding nominees for Trump’s new Cabinet, and one prominent Democrat votes in step with his Republican colleagues, and more now on what just happened on Capitol Hill.

Fetterman Votes With Republicans to Advance Hegseth

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voted to advance the nomination of Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, and said in a recent interview that he’s not going to switch to the Republican Party.

So you know, Fetterman was the only Democrat to join Republicans in passing a motion to proceed with that nomination; every other Democrat who voted, as well as the two independents in the Senate, voted against moving Hegseth forward in the confirmation process.

Because Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the upper chamber, Fetterman’s vote was not required to move the nomination forward. Still, his vote marks the latest instance in which the Pennsylvania lawmaker has taken a position that differs from many members of his party.

Additionally, Fetterman recently met with Trump in Florida at Mar-a-Lago. He also attended the president’s inauguration, joined Truth Social, and said he would vote in favor of Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

However, in a new interview, Fetterman says he has told the leaders of the Democratic Party that both his party affiliation and his membership in the Senate Democratic caucus is not going to change.

He said previously on Truth Social that it’s the responsibility of a U.S. senator to have a conversation with Trump’s nominees, that his votes will come from an “open mind and an informed opinion” following those conversations, and that taking part in that interaction is not controversial—it’s his job.

By the way, the final Senate vote regarding the Hegseth nomination is expected to take place by the end of the week.

We continue today with a warning from Russia to President Donald Trump regarding his plans to take over a critical Central American waterway that he says is run by Chinese entities. A breakdown now of how this is all panning out.

Russian Official Warns Trump Against Taking Control of Panama Canal

A top Russian official is warning the Trump administration against taking over the Panama Canal after the president said earlier this week that he intends to regain control of the strategic waterway.

The official said that Russia expects Panama and the Trump administration to respect the “current international legal regime” of the canal. He also said that his country continues to affirm the permanent neutrality of the international waterway, that they’re in favor of keeping it both safe and open, and that it legally belongs to Panama.

As a reminder, the United States built the canal, which links the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It’s considered one of the most important trade routes in the world, and according to one estimate, about 40 percent of all U.S. container ships pass through the waterway.

However, Trump has said that Chinese entities are operating the canal, and he’s indicated that it’s in America’s vital interest to take it back.

Meanwhile, yesterday Trump threatened new tariffs and sanctions on the Russian economy as he begins his presidential push to quickly end Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

On Truth Social, the president said that Russia’s economy is failing, that it’s only going to get worse, and that he’s going to do Russia “a very big favor” by helping to broker a deal. He also said that if an agreement is not reached soon, he’ll have no other choice but to hit anything sold by Russia to the United States with high taxes, tariffs, and sanctions.

Before we go, another story we’re watching very carefully in the News Brief newsroom:

Just as firefighters gain control over two deadly and enormously destructive fires in Southern California—the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire—another one breaks out.

The Hughes Fire is burning in the community of Castaic, which is located approximately 42 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire had already burned close to 10,000 acres, and forced many evacuations. The fire has also prompted freeway and road closures, and to complicate the firefight, the area is under red flag warnings until Thursday evening—meaning the winds will continue to be a problem for firefighters and residents in the surrounding area.

It’s a story affecting so many people in Los Angeles County, and one which we’ll be keeping a very close watch on.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Thursday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from the great Lou Costello, who said: “I live by one golden rule: Never criticize a guy until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. And then who cares? He’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes.”

Costello was an American comedian, actor, and producer, and was one half of the great comedy team Abbott and Costello.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.