There’s been a lot of reporting in recent months around Apple’s efforts to expand its footprint in customers’ homes with in-development products like a wall-mounted smart home hub. According to a new report in Bloomberg, that strategy could also include a smart doorbell. This doorbell would use Apple’s FaceID technology to scan people’s faces as […]
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Cybersecurity has been a major subject of discussion in recent years, with purported Chinese spy balloons floating overhead, a major Appalachian oil pipeline hacked with ransomware and questions about mysterious drones over New Jersey skies.
But one overlooked area of focus in this regard is agriculture, several prominent figures have said — especially with America’s ag states primed to lend their top political leaders to Washington in the new year.
Dakota State University President Jose-Marie Griffiths told Fox News Digital how important the heartland has become geopolitically, with several Dakotans gaining leadership or cabinet roles in the new year — including Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., chairing the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.
"I said quite a lot in the past and in [congressional] testimony about my concerns about agriculture and food production’s critical infrastructure, which came rather late to the cybersecurity critical infrastructure table," Griffiths said.
INFLATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND GLOBALISM ARE POTENTIAL DEATH SENTENCE TO US AG: FARMERS
"People [will] start to realize the agricultural vehicles they're using increasingly are autonomous and connecting to broadband [via] satellite — and other ways that these become vulnerable. And for people who wish to do us harm, they're exploiting vulnerabilities as much as they can."
Residents across the heartland pay much more attention to the threats China and other rivals pose to the U.S. agriculture sector, she said.
With advancements in technology, hackers can now find their way into harvesters, granaries and the nation’s freight-train network, Griffiths and Rounds said separately.
Whether the cash crop is Pennsylvania potatoes, Florida oranges or Dakotan wheat, all are crucial to the U.S. economy and supply chain, and all can be subject to cyberthreats, Griffiths suggested.
Rounds told Fox News Digital he has studied for some time the potential vulnerabilities of the American agriculture sector when it comes to foreign actors and cybersecurity.
"It’s more than just the vehicles and so forth," he said.
"A lot of it has to do with the infrastructure that we rely on. A good example is your water systems; your electrical systems... All of those right now are connected and they all have cyber-points-of-entry.
"And so, we have been, for an extended period of time, looking at threats that could come from overseas by adversaries that would like to infiltrate not only the water supplies, but also the electrical systems… and in some cases, sewer systems."
Rounds said he and other lawmakers have been focused on where malign actors can proverbially "shoot the arrows at us," and figure out who they are and how to stop them.
GREEN GOVERNANCE IS THE NEW GUISE FOR MERCANTILISM, WILL LEAD TO GLOBAL INSTABILITY: KEVIN ROBERTS
He said the Chinese firm Huawei had been selling cheap hardware to rural telecom entities and could be able to infiltrate communications systems.
"Once we found out that that was in there… that they could be putting in latent materials that could be activated at a later date, we've gotten most of them pulled out. But that's just one example of the ways in which rural areas can be a way into the rest of our communication systems," he said.
Rounds said drones are becoming increasingly used in agriculture, and they, too, have the danger of being hacked.
Vehicles like harvesters and tractors have also greatly advanced technologically in the near term and face similar challenges.
"A lot of that right now is done with GPS. You get into your tractor, you plug it in and basically it'll drive it for you. We leave people in those tractors, but at some stage of the game, some of those might very well become autonomous as well — and they're subject to cyber-intervention…" he said.
Grain elevators also can be interfered with, which stymies marketing and transportation, and endangers the greater supply chain and the ability for a farmer to sell on the open market, Rounds said.
Asked if he preferred today’s agriculture sector to the era before automation, Rounds said it’s not about what he thinks, but what is going to happen in the future.
"We will have more and more autonomous vehicles being used in farming. And the reason is we don't have the manpower — and we replace it with machinery. The machinery is going to get bigger. It's going to become more sophisticated, and we're going to be expected to do more things with fewer people actually operating them.," he said.
"The supply chain is so critical. We rely on autonomy in many cases for a lot of the delivery of our resources, both to the farmer, but also back out from the farmer in terms of a commodity that he wants to market."
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If that new technologically-advanced system malfunctions or is hacked, it will greatly disrupt the ability to provide the raw materials to the people and companies "actually making the bread" and such.
Amit Yoran, CEO of exposure management firm Tenable, recently testified before the House Homeland Security Committee and spoke at length about cyber threats to critical U.S. infrastructure.
Asked about cybersecurity in the agriculture realm, Yoran told Fox News Digital recently that there is "no singular defense paradigm that could effectively be applied across all sectors."
"Some critical infrastructure providers have a high degree of cybersecurity preparedness, strong risk understanding and risk management practices, and very strong security programs. Others are woefully ill-prepared," said Yoran, whose company is based in Howard County, Maryland.
LockBit is believed tobe responsible for at least $500 million in ransom payments alone.
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President-elect Trump filed an amicus brief late Thursday in support of a legal effort by Texas and Missouri to "immediately" stop the Biden administration’s sale of border wall materials, saying the action is "possibly criminal."
Texas and Missouri filed a motion earlier this week in a district court in the southern district of Texas to hold a status conference to determine if the government is in breach of the court’s permanent injunction from earlier this year. That injunction barred the Biden administration from using funds obligated for wall construction for anything other than that purpose.
"The Court should issue an order directing the Defendants to immediately stop any ongoing sale of border-barrier materials to private parties pending the Court’s review of Defendant’s conduct, and the Court should swiftly conduct a searching examination of the Government’s conduct, by formal discovery if necessary, to examine the Government’s compliance with the law, the Constitution, and the Court’s injunction," Trump’s amicus brief states.
The Biden administration has been auctioning off border wall parts since at least 2023, with parts listed for sale on auction marketplaces, after it abruptly shut down most border wall construction in 2021.
Those auctions have continued, with border officials telling Fox that auctions now occur weekly and have been for some time. However, the practice made news last week, when The Daily Wire published video showing parts being transported and cited Border Patrol agents who said the goal was to clear them out before Christmas.
Trump’s amicus brief states that if officials in the Biden administration are "deliberately selling off border-wall materials at a major financial loss to the Government to obstruct the pro-wall policy of Congress and President Trump, such conduct likely constitutes a criminal act, such as a conspiracy to defraud the United States."
"At the very least, the reported conduct raises troubling concerns of potentially criminal behavior," the filing states.
GOP SENATOR MOVES TO BLOCK FEDS FROM DISPOSING OF BORDER WALL MATERIALS AMID AUCTION BACKLASH
A Defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the Defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.
The official said border states, including Texas, were first offered that material for purchase before auction. The official also said the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.
"Through our reutilization, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California," the official said. "The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
However, those statements have not stopped the outrage from Republicans, who see the auctions as a move to stop the Trump administration from building the wall. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced legislation this week to put a halt to the auctions.
Trump, meanwhile, said on Monday he had been working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others to acquire the materials.
"What they're doing is really an act, it's almost a criminal act," he said. "They know we're going to use it, and if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it. And it'll cost double what it cost years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot of, a lot of wall."
Paxton said in a statement that Texas is going to court to "prevent any border security materials from being unlawfully sold and to find out the truth about what the federal government may be doing to subvert border wall construction."
"President Trump has an overwhelming mandate from the American people to build the wall and I will do everything in my power to prevent any acts of sabotage by the outgoing administration," he said.
Texas has said it intends to do all it can to help the incoming administration build the wall at the southern border when Trump enters office.
"The Biden Administration's latest attempt to block Texas and President-Elect Donald Trump's efforts to secure the southern border is downright shameful and demonstrates a continued pattern of disregard for the safety of Texas and American families in favor of increasingly disastrous open border policies," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Officials said this week they intend to purchase the auctioned off materials, and Buckingham said she intends to store it on state land for the new administration.
"I made a promise to use every tool at my disposal from the GLO to secure our border and protect Texans," Buckingham said in the statement to Fox. "That is why I have offered state leaders and President-elect Donald Trump the opportunity to store any wall panels his incoming administration may acquire on state land. I will never give up the fight to secure our porous southern border and protect our sons and daughters from violent, criminal illegal immigrants."
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
The cyberattack on Ascension ranks as the third-largest healthcare-related breach of 2024.
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In the hit virtual reality game Gorilla Tag, you swing your arms to pull your primate character around—clambering through virtual worlds, climbing up trees and, above all, trying to avoid an infectious mob of other gamers. If you’re caught, you join the horde. However, some kids playing the game claim to have found a way to cheat and easily “tag” opponents.
Over the past year, teenagers have produced video tutorials showing how to side-load a virtual private network (VPN) onto Meta’s virtual reality headsets and use the location-changing technology to get ahead in the game. Using a VPN, according to the tutorials, introduces a delay that makes it easier to sneak up and tag other players.
While the workaround is likely to be an annoying but relatively harmless bit of in-game cheating, there’s a catch. The free VPN app that the video tutorials point to, Big Mama VPN, is also selling access to its users’ home internet connections—with buyers essentially piggybacking on the VR headset’s IP address to hide their own online activity.
© Getty Images
Cybersecurity experts, who work with human rights defenders and journalists, agree that Apple is doing the right thing by sending notifications to victims of mercenary spyware — and at the same time refusing to forensically analyze the devices.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in New York arrested a Mexican-born illegal immigrant who sexually abused a child after being removed from the country five times.
According to ICE, the criminal immigrant, 36-year-old Raymond Rojas Basilio, sexually abused an 11-year-old child in the U.S.
Rojas committed this crime after being removed from the country five times and then re-entering once again on an unknown date and at an unknown location, without admission by an immigration official.
The New York Police Department arrested Rojas on Aug. 28, 2023. He was then convicted of forcible touching of the intimate parts of an 11-year-old victim by the Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Sept. 20, 2024. The court sentenced him to 60 days of incarceration and six years’ probation and required him to register as a sex offender.
DRUNK IMMIGRANT KILLED 7 YEAR OLD MONTHS AFTER HE WAS RELEASED FROM ICE DETAINER
New York ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents then arrested Rojas outside his residence in Queens on Dec. 17.
U.S. Border Patrol first arrested Rojas, following three separate attempts to unlawfully enter the U.S. near Douglas, Arizona, in May 2002.
Border protection officials then arrested Rojas again on Jan. 6, 2012, at Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, when he attempted to enter the country using a fake Arizona Driver's License and U.S. birth certificate. Just days later, on Jan. 11, border authorities again removed Rojas after he attempted to enter the country using fraudulent documents at another port of entry in Nogales.
New York ICE Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo commented on the arrest, saying: "This criminal has repeatedly shown he has absolutely no regard for our nation’s laws, as evidenced by his repeated attempts to unlawfully or fraudulently enter the United States."
"As this case illustrates, it only takes one successful unlawful entry to do irreparable harm to a member of our community," he continued.
He said that local "non-cooperation policies" in place had prevented ICE from taking immediate custody of Rojas following his sentencing by the Brooklyn court.
"However, due to the diligence of our officers, ERO New York City was able to rapidly apprehend this public safety threat before he could harm any other New Yorkers," said Genalo.
According to the statement, Rojas is currently in ICE custody pending removal to Mexico.
Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI
For many Americans, their golden years can be a time of reflection — and regret.
Since mid-September, more than 3,300 older Americans have shared their retirement regrets with Business Insider through a reader survey or direct emails to reporters. Many said they wished they'd saved more, waited longer to retire, relied less on Social Security, or been more prepared for unexpected financial setbacks, such as a layoff, a medical diagnosis, or a divorce.
"I didn't really think about retirement in concrete terms," one 65-year-old wrote in response to a survey question about how people wished they planned for retirement differently. "I always felt I had time. Now I'm older, wholly unprepared, and without savings or a 401(k)."
We want to hear from you. Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.
BI talked to financial planners, wealth managers, and a personal-finance writer about what younger generations could do to avoid similar financial mistakes. This story is part of an ongoing series.
The amount of money Americans need to save for retirement can vary based on lifestyle and the local cost of living. In a survey conducted by Northwestern Mutual in January, the average respondent said they thought they'd need about $1.5 million to retire comfortably. Wealth managers and financial planners encourage young people with this goal — or any others — to understand their options, start early, and take advantage of employer-match programs.
Brad Bartick, a wealth planner at Baird, said Americans should begin saving for retirement while they're in college or in their early 20s. "Sobering though it may be," Bartick said, "success may require you to work a second job" or "earn a higher level of training or education."
He suggests people create a "ruthlessly honest budget" so they can identify places to cut spending and ways to pay down high-interest debt or build up an emergency fund. If money is tight, start by putting $25 to $50 per paycheck aside for retirement.
"That may not seem like much, but it is the behavior of saving — the habit, if you will — that is most important later in life," Bartick said. "Additionally, time will reward your having started early."
Bartick suggested that people whose workplaces offer retirement plans contribute at least the maximum dollar amount their employer will match and raise their savings rate as their salary increases.
A fact sheet published by AARP in December cited an estimate based on Census, IRS, and Federal Reserve data that about 56 million Americans in 2022 lacked access to retirement-savings plans at work. The vast majority of those people earned less than $50,000, meaning they may not have much surplus cash to save for retirement.
Judith Ward, thought leadership director and a certified financial planner at T. Rowe Price, said that not every employer clearly communicates which resources it offers, so workers may have to research what's available. She suggests people aim to save 15% of their salary annually.
A 72-year-old who responded to the survey implored people to "always, always, always take advantage of a 401(k) program with your employer and max it out," adding: "My mortgage was too big initially, so I didn't participate in the program for a few years. Big mistake."
Those lacking a retirement-savings plan at work can use individual retirement accounts, which most banks offer. Traditional IRAs offer tax breaks up front. Roth IRAs offer tax-free qualified withdrawals later in life. Bartick said higher earners should consider a Roth 401(k), as they're likely to be in a higher tax bracket later in life and can therefore save more money.
Bartick described investing as "the great equalizer" for young people looking to build a retirement portfolio, adding that most people can open a brokerage account and invest with few barriers. While investing can be lucrative, it involves risk and isn't a surefire way to build wealth.
Rob Williams, a managing director of financial planning at Charles Schwab, said the biggest regret he hears is that people waited too long to invest, missing out on years of compounding interest.
Retirees who didn't save or invest enough often rely on Social Security in their later years. Several older adults told BI they regretted collecting Social Security at 62 instead of 67, when their full retirement benefits would have kicked in.
A 77-year-old survey respondent who wrote that they "took Social Security too early" said they regretted cashing in on their benefit before reaching full retirement age. They added that working a lower-paying teaching job hurt their Social Security income and retirement savings later in life.
Dozens of survey respondents said they regretted how they handled finances with their spouse. Some said they weren't on the same page about retirement goals, while others said the death of a partner disrupted their carefully laid plans.
Ward suggested married couples consider retirement as a household and analyze finances together, even if spouses keep their accounts separate.
"One of the biggest retirement mistakes I see is when a spouse assumes they share the same retirement vision," Ward said.
Many older adults told BI that a divorce hurt their finances. One 67-year-old survey respondent who got a divorce said they regretted "not having a 401(k) and thinking I would be OK because my husband worked hard all his life."
A study published in the Journal of Gerontology in 2022 found that from 1990 to 2010, the divorce rate for adults 65 and older nearly tripled. A BI analysis of 2023 individual-level Census Bureau data found that divorced retirees had lower average 401(k) balances, less savings, and a lower monthly retirement income than married people.
Elizabeth Ayoola, a personal-finance writer at NerdWallet, said people could protect some of their money and retirement savings with prenuptial agreements. However, prenups typically apply only to money and assets acquired before a couple ties the knot, so they provide less protection if the couple divorces later in life. She said that including major assets or money in a trust could be an effective way to secure wealth in a divorce, and she advised couples to have transparent conversations about finances at all stages of their relationship.
A spouse's death can also have detrimental financial ramifications. Older Americans told BI they struggled to get by without their spouses' paychecks or Social Security income. Others said a lack of a will threw them into a complex legal battle and probate process for their spouses' assets.
Ayoola advised couples to write a will and consider a life-insurance policy.
Some older Americans told BI that unexpected expenses or events, like medical diagnoses or layoffs, depleted their retirement savings.
One 78-year-old survey respondent wrote that her husband had heart problems and was recently laid off. She described wanting to reduce their housing costs but being unable to. "We are trapped in a large home living on Social Security and draining savings until it's gone," she wrote.
Dozens of older Americans said a layoff affected their retirement planning. Carly Roszkowski, a vice president of financial-resilience programming at AARP, advised older workers to continue updating their résumés and keep their skills sharp in case they're laid off.
Younger people may want to diversify their skills and prepare to pivot careers. They may also want to build an emergency fund to support themselves or loved ones if they lose their jobs.
"Build relationships with colleagues, mentors, and industry professionals. Networking can open doors to new opportunities and provide valuable support and guidance," Roszkowski said. "Reverse mentorship programs can be effective in organizations to help bridge generational gaps and build understanding and collaboration between different age groups."
Several older Americans said they stopped working or used up much of their savings because of a medical diagnosis. Healthcare researchers advise investing in routine checkups, factoring medical emergencies into nest eggs, and researching government-assistance options.
When a 69-year-old survey respondent and her husband began to struggle with health issues in their 50s and 60s, she said it took a toll on their savings: "Because of our health, I had to cash in my 401(k) for medical expenses at a very early age."
Financial planners told BI that people should analyze the value of their last-resort funding sources, like homes or life-insurance policies, so they know the total of their assets in a costly emergency. Ward said a healthy emergency fund for young people should include enough to cover three to six months' worth of expenses. As people age, they should allocate more: Retirees should have one to two years' worth of income, Ward said.
Sudden healthcare costs can drain emergency funds. Williams advised that people — whether they're young or heading into retirement — research their insurance options so they can reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Doug Ornstein, a director of wealth management at TIAA, argued that people paying high out-of-pocket healthcare costs in retirement "probably would have to live really bare-bones instead of being able to leave their kids some money or be able to do some trips and travel."
Benefits counselors can also help people determine the government aid they qualify for — the money may help them conserve savings and cover bills. The National Council on Aging estimates that up to 9 million older Americans are eligible for government assistance but not enrolled.
Ayoola said that benefits like SNAP or Medicaid could help lower-income people save money over time. "I would tell them to look around for as many government resources as possible to supplement their income," Ayoola said.
Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.
AI creates a dilemma for companies: Don’t implement it yet, and you might miss out on productivity gains and other potential benefits, but do it wrong, and you might expose your business and clients to unmitigated risks. This is where a new wave of “security for AI” startups comes in, with the premise that these […]
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Rapido restricted access to the exposed portal soon after TechCrunch contacted the company.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new billboard campaign on Thursday to warn potential illegal immigrants about the "horrific" reality of human trafficking, violence and danger facing them if they attempt to illegally enter the U.S.
Abbott said the state is placing dozens of billboards with warnings in several languages throughout Mexico and Central America.
"We’re here to expose the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here, the truth about the traffickers who assault so many of the women and children along the way," the governor said. "The message is: Do not risk a dangerous trip just to be arrested and deported."
Abbott, who recently made another trip to the border with the incoming border czar, Tom Homan, also emphasized that the new Trump administration will "prioritize for deportation illegal immigrants who have been arrested."
Billboards will be written in Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic, and will be placed along migrant travel routes.
The governor made his announcement at a ranch on the southern border. He was standing by a burned "rape tree," where property owners have said migrant women were routinely raped. Abbott said the billboards "tell the horror stories of human trafficking" and "inform potential illegal immigrants about the reality of what will happen to them if they try to enter Texas illegally."
One billboard written in Spanish depicts a little girl and simply asks: "How much did you pay to have your daughter raped?"
'SHUT IT DOWN': RED STATE MAKES MASSIVE LAND BUY TO RAMP UP BORDER WALL EFFORTS AMID MIGRANT SURGE
Another depicts a pregnant woman and says: "Your wife and daughter will pay for their trip with their bodies."
Abbott criticized governments and private groups who "make it sound like it may be harmless going into the state of Texas," and said the state is trying to "provide reality facts for immigrants thinking about coming here to save their lives, to save them from sexual assault, save them from being arrested and let them know there are consequences if they take any further steps to come to the state of Texas."
"This is tough medicine, but we want no more rape trees in Texas," said Abbott. "Do not make the dangerous trek to Texas."
The governor went on to lament the historic surge in illegal immigration under the Biden administration, saying: "It's a deadly situation, a horrific situation, a horror that we fully expect to end beginning in about a month when President Trump takes office and shuts down the border and restores safety and normalcy to the immigration process."
EXCLUSIVE: Baltimore ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officials on Thursday arrested eight migrants, including four convicted of child molestation and one murderer, in suburban Maryland.
The arrests happened during an exclusive Fox News ride-along with the government agency.
One of the migrants apprehended was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and exposing himself in public several times. Another migrant, from the Philippines, was previously convicted of molesting a 10-year-old girl.
According to ICE, the one migrant convicted of murder was living in the U.S. on a permanent visa status.
MIGRANT CRIME PROBLEM ‘COURTESY’ OF BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, DEMOCRATIC PARTY: REP. PETE SESSIONS
"The people we are out for are the worst of the worst," Baltimore field office Director Matthew Elliston told Fox News' David Spunt. "It's not the average person who is in the country illegally. If we are targeting you, there is a reason."
The goal is simple for the Baltimore ICE Field Office: arrest and then deport as many illegal migrants with criminal records as possible. ICE agents’ goal at the start of the day was to capture eight targets, and all eight targets are now in custody.
Now all eight of those migrants are behind bars and await hearings in front of immigration judges and potential deportation.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY IN 2025
According to ICE data obtained by the House Homeland Security Committee in September, there are at least 650,000 criminal illegal immigrants on the agency’s "non-detained docket," meaning they are free in the U.S. interior. Of those, 14,944 are murderers and over 20,000 have been convicted of sexual assault.
Although not officially a sanctuary state, Maryland, which is led by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and a majority Democratic state assembly, is considered immigrant friendly. The city of Baltimore, meanwhile, has an official policy that does not allow law enforcement to ask residents about their immigration status.
ICE data indicates that Baltimore ERO arrested 570 migrants with either a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge in fiscal year 2024.
Deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) caught up to levels seen during the Trump administration in Fiscal Year 2024, just as the number of illegal immigrants not in ICE detention soared to new highs.
The annual ICE report released Thursday shows that ICE deported 271,484 illegal immigrants to 192 different countries in fiscal year 2024. Of those, 32.7% had criminal histories and 237 were known or suspected terrorists.
It’s a significant increase from more than 142,000 deported in FY 23, and around 72,000 in FY 2022. In FY 2020, the last year of the Trump administration and which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, there were around 185,000 deportations and in FY 2019 there were 267,000 deportations.
TRUMP'S TRANSITION TEAM EYES EXPANSION OF ANKLE MONITORS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NOT IN CUSTODY
However, those numbers also include removals of those encountered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the border, which typically make up the vast majority of ICE deportations. Of removals of those arrested in the interior by ICE itself, just 47,000 illegal immigrants were deported, compared to 44,255 last fiscal year and 28,204 in FY 2022.
That compared to 62,739 in FY 2020 in the last full year of the Trump administration and 85,958 conducted in FY 2019, nearly double that of FY 2024.
ICE says that its resources were strained by having to shift staff and attention to the southern border to help with the migrant crisis, as well as an increase in those released into the interior.
"In addition, ERO detailed significant numbers of its personnel to support DHS efforts for managing irregular migration at the Southwest Border over the past several fiscal years, further straining ERO’s finite resources," the report says.
Consequently, it says the number of arrests by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) dropped in FY 2024.
"In FY 2024, ERO arrested 113,431 noncitizens — a 33.5% decrease from FY 2023, when ERO conducted a total of 170,590 arrests," the report said. "Although shifts in arrest numbers are driven by multiple complex factors, many of ERO’s resources throughout FY 2024 were concentrated on processing and removing noncitizens at the Southwest Border, limiting interior law enforcement actions. This focus on border cases impacted routine interior enforcement operations."
Both ICE arrests and the number of deportations of those arrested by ICE are expected to increase under the next administration, which has indicated it intends to drop the restrictions put on ICE during the Biden administration and launch a "historic" mass deportation campaign.
‘STANDING BY TO HELP:’ RED STATE REVEALS PLAN TO PURCHASE BORDER WALL MATERIALS TO STORE FOR TRUMP
That promise was a centerpiece of Trump’s 2024 campaign and his team are already making concrete steps towards that goal. It has already drawn resistance from some Democrats, but also some support from others in cities that have been overwhelmed by the massive migrant influx that the country has seen since 2021.
The scope of that challenge is emphasized by the ICE report, which shows that the number of illegal immigrants on ICE's non-detained docket has exploded during the Biden administration to nearly 7.7 million, more than doubling what it was when Trump left office. It was at 3.2 million at the end of FY 2020.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
The non-detained docket is made up of illegal immigrants in deportation proceedings, who are not in ICE custody, but who may be in federal, state or local custody or in forms of monitoring.
This includes illegal immigrants who were caught and released at the border and are waiting for their court dates, as well as illegal aliens who have already been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge after already having their cases heard.
Fox has previously reported that there are over 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US with final orders of removal, meaning they have been ordered deported but are still in the U.S. The report revealed that ther were more than 701,000 Venezuelan illegal immigrants on ICE's non-detained docket, but only 1,470 were in ICE detention.
Meanwhile, despite a surge into the U.S. of more than 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children into the U.S. during the Biden administration, just 411 were removed in FY 2024, an increase from the 212 in FY 2023. For comparison, more than 4,000 were removed in FY 20202.
When the federal government shuts its doors, Americans get a glimpse at a long-debated question in Washington: How much government is too much? Here's what happens during a partial government shutdown, which typically happens when Congress has failed to pass new bills authorizing spending.
Federal agencies and services deemed "nonessential" can expect to halt their operations, while "essential" services continue to function. Examples of "essential" agencies include national security, Border Patrol, law enforcement, disaster response and more.
What's more, funding for certain programs, like Social Security, and some agencies such as the Postal Service, operate separately from the yearly appropriations process.
HOUSE GOP LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR PLAN B AFTER TRUMP, MUSK LEAD CONSERVATIVE FURY AGAINST SPENDING BILL
A shutdown lasting less than two weeks would likely have minimal impact, as federal employees would still receive their paychecks on schedule. Longer shutdowns, meanwhile, are usually accompanied by retroactive pay for government workers and congressional staff. As a result, the actual effects of a shutdown tend to be far less severe than how it's typically described.
Partial government shutdowns can also be seen as an opportunity by some lawmakers to address unsustainable federal spending. The U.S. national debt exceeds $35 trillion, and many argue that allowing the government to function indefinitely without addressing wasteful spending is irresponsible. Shutdowns can thus force Congress to make decisions about funding priorities and eliminate bloated programs.
MATT GAETZ REPORT BY HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO BE RELEASED
The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, requiring Congress to pass a set of appropriations bills by the end of September to fund operations. If Congress fails to act, legal safeguards prevent executive agencies from spending money without legislative approval, effectively limiting government functions.
The annual congressional budget process begins in early February, when the president submits a budget proposal to Congress, offering recommendations for federal spending across all areas of government.
By mid-April, Congress is expected to adopt a budget resolution that establishes overall spending limits and guidelines. Throughout late spring and summer, House and Senate Appropriations Committees work on drafting 12 bills to allocate funding for specific federal agencies and programs. These bills must be passed by Congress by Sept. 30 to prevent a partial government shutdown.
The deadline to pass a continuing resolution (CR), which is a temporary funding patch, is 11:59:59 pm ET on Friday. Without one, the federal government enters a partial shutdown on Saturday, Dec. 21.
The move to urge Americans to use end-to-end encrypted apps comes as China-backed gangs are hacking into phone and internet giants.
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Alongside the rising adoption and value of crypto assets, theft is also on the rise. This year, the total value of cryptocurrency stolen surged 21%, reaching a substantial $2.2 billion. And according to a Chainalysis report released on Thursday, more than half of this amount was stolen by North Korea-affiliated hacking groups. Earlier this year, […]
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McDonald's India exposed the personal information of customers and drivers due to security flaws impacting its APIs.
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