Former President Joe Biden's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to "de-gender" bathrooms and locker rooms in agency offices as part of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) push, according to an unearthed memo confirmed to Fox News Digital.
A Biden-era EPA internal memo, obtained by the watchdog Functional Government Initiative and first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, recommended that the federal environmental agency "increase participation in voluntary self-disclosure of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)" and "incorporate LGBTQIA+ prospective employees into hiring and recruiting activities."
The Biden administration also pushed to "de-gender restroom/locker room access" at agency offices, "add gender pronouns in MS 360" and "change style manual requirement for gendered honorifics in Agency Correspondence," according to the 38-page report, which the EPA confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The agency highlighted their efforts toward "increased access to gender-neutral bathrooms," revealing that a nationwide survey conducted by the Office of Facilities Management found that, at the time, there were 155 gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms for the entire agency.
Additionally, according to the memo, only four of their 10 regional offices did not have gender-neutral bathrooms.
Another objective of the Biden EPA included ensuring "inclusion of LGBTQIA+ employees in recruitment efforts, career development and training, data collection, analysis, and measurement, DEIA employee engagement, sustainability, accountability, and accessibility."
In accordance with Biden's order making DEI a priority of his administration, the EPA charged "all agencies with taking steps to ensure that Federal employees have their gender identities accurately reflected and identified in the workplace, including by exploring opportunities to expand access to gender-neutral facilities inside federal workplaces."
"Under the leadership of then-EPA administrator Michael Regan, in 2021, the agency created an employee-led ‘DEIA implementation team’ that was empowered to establish workgroups and take DEI-related actions," Functional Government Initiative said in a statement that was posted on X and shared with the Free Beacon. "The goal, according to the Biden EPA, was to ‘embed’ DEI agency-wide, create ‘cultural change,’ and establish the agency as a DEI model for the entire federal government."
The report comes as President Donald Trump's EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin reworks the key environmental agency with the termination of hundreds of millions in DEI and environmental grants issued by the previous administration.
The EPA has been working closely with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the cost-cutting department led by Elon Musk, to make the spending cuts.
"I am canceling over 400 DEI and Environmental Justice grants across 9 grant programs totaling $1.7 BILLION, bringing @EPA's total savings to over $2 BILLION!" Zeldin wrote in a post on X on Monday. "This fourth round of EPA/@DOGE cuts was our biggest yet."
Fox News Digital reached out to Biden and the Functional Government Initiative for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative beer company is pushing back after beer giant Anheuser-Busch filed a trademark claim against it after the company went viral for criticizing Bud Light’s association with a transgender influencer.
"Anheuser-Busch has filed a federal trademark opposition before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in an act of corporate revenge against Conservative Dad’s Ultra Right Beer," the Conservative Dad beer company said in a press release accompanied by a new video this week, explaining that Anheuser-Busch is claiming Ultra Right Beer's trademark request infringes on the trademark of Michelob Ultra.
Anheuser-Busch wrote in its opposition that it "believes that it will be damaged by the registration of the mark ULTRA RIGHT" and pointed out that it has "marketed and sold billions of products in the United States under the arbitrary and inherently distinctive mark ULTRA and variants."
The trademark filing comes roughly two years after Ultra Right Beer's launch video, which featured founder Seth Weathers smashing a Bud Light can with a baseball bat, went viral in response to Bud Light partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The partnership sparked a social media firestorm causing beer drinkers to boycott Bud Light which appeared to have a significant impact on the brand’s domestic sales.
"This isn’t about trademarks – it’s about retaliation," Weathers said in a statement.
"Anheuser-Busch is furious we helped expose their woke disaster with Bud Light, so now they’re using their billion-dollar legal machine in an attempt to financially bleed us dry. But unlike them, we’re not just a corporation looking to maximize profit – we’re a movement of Americans who have had enough."
"Applicant’s ULTRA RIGHT Mark is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake or to deceive consumers with consequent injury to Opposer," the beer giant, who is the opposer, continued, "The likelihood of confusion, mistake or deception that would also arise from concurrent use and registration of Applicant’s ULTRA RIGHT Mark with Anheuser-Busch’s use and registration of its ULTRA Marks is that (a) persons are likely to believe that Applicant’s products have their source in Opposer, or (b) that Applicant and its products are a version of Opposer’s ULTRA Marks or are in some way legitimately connected, associated or affiliated with, sponsored, approved, endorsed or licensed by Opposer when, in fact, they are not."
Ultra Right's press release explains that Anheuser-Busch is a $100+ billion corporation that has a "long history" of using its resources to "crush opposition."
The release also points to a 2023 Newsweek article citing an expert who expressed the opinion that the beer giant was unlikely to win any potential trademark case.
"Now, instead of accepting the consequences of their own marketing disaster, they are weaponizing the legal system to erase a conservative small business that dared to call them out," the press release says.
"For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has been brewing the world’s most beloved and well-known beers, and we will continue to protect and enforce the trademark rights of our iconic brands as we always have," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Companies are permitted by law to continue selling products while trademark applications and disputes are pending.
In response to what Ultra Right calls "corporate intimidation," the company is launching a GiveSendGo campaign to raise funds to fight for its trademark.
The press release also included a hint at the return of Ultra Right Beer’s "signature rebellion," which is a reference to the viral launch video with the baseball bat that was seen over 100 million times on social media when it launched.
Additionally, the company announced a Buy 1, Get 1 Free promotion on Conservative Dad’s Border Wall Tequila, with proceeds supporting the legal fight.
"They think they can drag this case out long enough to force us into submission through excessive legal fees," Weathers said. "I only have one response: We will Fight! Fight! Fight!"
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are pushing legislation to ban Chinese nationals from getting student visas in the U.S.
Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., has been sounding the alarm for weeks over what he sees as the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) exploitation of the American visa program meant for studying in the U.S.
He is now expected to introduce the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act, or the Stop CCP VISAs Act, on Friday.
The bill is still being circulated for co-sponsors, Fox News Digital was told, but people expected to support the bill include Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Brandon Gill, R-Texas.
"Every year, we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security," Moore said.
"Just last year, the FBI charged five Chinese nationals here on student visas after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live-fire military exercises. This cannot continue."
He called on Congress to act on "China's exploitation of our student visa program."
"It’s time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals," he said.
The incident Moore referenced involved five former University of Michigan students who graduated in May as part of a joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China accused of spying on the U.S. military.
They are accused of covering up surveillance efforts on a National Guard facility in Michigan during a training operation with the Taiwanese military.
The former students, all Chinese citizens, were confronted by a sergeant major of the Utah National Guard in August 2023, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Oct. 1.
Moore's legislation is likely to be challenged by Asian American and progressive groups, as previously similar attempts have been.
The group Asian Americans Advancing Justice previously criticized Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., for calling for a ban on Chinese nationals studying in the U.S.
"It is unconscionable to suggest limiting the fields of study or remove visa options for all students from China. This rhetoric follows the racial profiling and racist statements made by public officials such as FBI Director Wray and President Trump," the group said in 2020.
A federal judge tore into lawyers from the Justice Department on Wednesday, homing in on a retweet from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about disqualifying transgender troops from service "without an exemption."
U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee who previously stated that the idea of only two sexes is not "biologically correct," heard arguments on the Pentagon’s attempt to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military as trans rights groups seek a preliminary injunction to halt the policy entirely.
During the hearing, Reyes pointed to a post on X in which Hegseth quoted, "Pentagon says transgender troops are disqualified from service without an exemption." The post in question linked to a Fox News Digital article about an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing late last month, says U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption.
When Reyes questioned government lawyers that Hegseth’s repost made it appear that all transgender troops would be disqualified from service, DOJ lawyer Jason Manion argued that Hegseth was only using "shorthand" for the broader policy.
"Look at the words in the policy," said Manion.
"No!" said Reyes. "Do you really think you can do that, say one thing in public and then come here to court and say something else entirely?"
Reyes then said that Manion had until Monday to deliver a declaration from Hegseth that he didn’t actually mean all transgender people.
"His words are that this covers all transgender people. I'm not going to speculate that he was just being sloppy," Reyes said of Hegseth.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 that requires the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding "trans-identifying medical standards for military service" and to "rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness."
Government lawyers have argued that Trump and Hegseth have broad authority to set policies for national defense.
As of December, around 4,240 active duty, guard, and reserve service members have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
President Donald Trump said during a meeting with the Irish prime minister in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., "has become a Palestinian."
"Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I'm concerned. You know, he's become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian," Trump said.
Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history. Trump made the remark after a reporter asked him about lowering taxes.
"We are planning to lower taxes. Yeah. If the Democrats behave," Trump said, before condemning outbursts and other disruptive behavior from Democrats during his first address to Congress last week.
Trump particularly took issue with Democrats' behavior when he recognized the mothers of two women murdered by illegal immigrants, as well as when Trump celebrated a boy with cancer becoming an honorary Secret Service agent.
FIRST ON FOX: The Environmental Protection Agency announced the "most consequential day of deregulation" in U.S. history Wednesday, putting the Biden administration's Clean Power Plan 2.0, which cracked down on power plants, on the chopping block.
"President Trump promised to kill the Clean Power Plan in his first term, and we continue to build on that progress now," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in an announcement, first obtained by Fox News Digital. "In reconsidering the Biden-Harris rule that ran afoul of Supreme Court case law, we are seeking to ensure that the agency follows the rule of law while providing all Americans with access to reliable and affordable energy."
The Biden administration finalized its Clean Power Plan 2.0 in April 2024, cracking down on existing and future fossil fuel-fired power plants as part of the previous administration's sweeping climate agenda. The plan required existing coal-fired power plants and new baseload natural gas-fired power plants to install carbon capture technology by 2032 in an effort to effectively eliminate carbon emissions by 2050.
The 2.0 plan was touted in 2024 as one of the Biden administration's most "aggressive" climate policies, while conservative lawmakers slammed it as one that could have a "catastrophic" impact on the nation's electric grid.
The Clean Power 2.0 plan followed the 2015 Clean Power Plan under the Obama administration, which worked to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants and set national standards for carbon emissions. The Supreme Court in 2022, however, struck down the Clean Power Plan in the case West Virginia v. EPA, curbing the agency's ability to broadly regulate carbon emissions.
"The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 2015 Clean Power Plan in West Virginia v. EPA, holding thatthe major questions doctrine barred EPA from misusing the Clean Air Act to manipulate Americans’ energy choices and shift the balance of the nation’s electrical fuel mix," the EPA noted in its press release. "The Biden Administration issued its own rule in 2024 which many critics say is just another attempt to achieve the unlawful fuel-shifting goals of the Clean Power Plan."
The EPA continued in its press release that the Trump administration's executive orders and actions to "Power the Great American Comeback," combined with the announcement putting the Biden administration's "Woke Green Agenda" under reconsideration, marks the "most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history."
"These announcements represent the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in the history of the United States," the press release stated. "While accomplishing EPA’s core mission of protecting the environment, the agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower costs for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions."
Zeldin posted a video announcing the EPA is taking 31 actions Wednesday to "advance President Trump's Day 1" executive orders to "Power the Great American Comeback."
"I'm pleased to make the largest deregulatory announcement in U.S. history," he said in the video, announcing that the Clean Power Plan 2.0 is on the chopping block. "The Environmental Protection Agency is initiating 31 historic actions to fulfill President Trump's promise to unleash American energy, revitalize our auto industry, restore the rule of law and give power back to the States. EPA will be reconsidering many suffocating rules that restrict nearly every sector of our economy and cost Americans trillions of dollars."
Zeldin went on to say that the EPA was reconsidering rules on mercury and air toxic standards, as well as reconsidering rules on light, medium and heavy, cars and trucks, and "so-called social cost of carbon."
Zeldin has been on a warpath against corruption and mismanagement within the EPA in recent weeks, including making waves Tuesday evening when he announced the agency was terminating $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects.
Eight nonprofits had been awarded the funds, according to Zeldin, including the Coalition for Green Capital, Climate United Fund, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv and the Justice Climate Fund. These organizations have partnered with various groups, including Rewiring America, Habitat for Humanity and the Community Preservation Corporation.
"This termination is based on substantial concerns regarding program integrity, objections to the award process, programmatic fraud, waste and abuse and misalignment with the agency's priorities, which collectively undermine the fundamental goals and statutory objectives of the awards," Zeldin said in a Tuesday video announcement.
"The EPA will once again be an exceptional steward of your tax dollars," Zeldin said. "I will have it no other way."
Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump said during a meeting with the Irish prime minister in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., "has become a Palestinian."
"Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I'm concerned. You know, he's become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian," Trump said.
Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history. Trump made the remark after a reporter asked him about lowering taxes.
"We are planning to lower taxes. Yeah. If the Democrats behave," Trump said, before condemning outbursts and other disruptive behavior from Democrats during his first address to Congress last week.
Trump particularly took issue with Democrats' behavior when he recognized the mothers of two women murdered by illegal immigrants, as well as when Trump celebrated a boy with cancer becoming an honorary Secret Service agent.
"The only thing they liked is when they heard about the death taking place with Ukraine, that they were happy about," Trump said of Democrats.
"Pocahontas was very happy," Trump said, using his term for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who falsely claimed to be of Native American heritage while considering a Democratic presidential run years ago.
"These people are sick. They don't know what's happening in the real world. The Democrats have to get their act together, and if they don't vote, then what?" Trump said. "You're going to have taxes that are going to go through the roof. You're going to have a very bad time. You're going to have some very bad things happen and people are going to blame the Democrats."
New Mexico Republicans are warning the likely passage of a semiautomatic firearms prohibition law in Santa Fe will turn law-abiding citizens into potential criminals, citing the types of guns targeted and a new registry provision.
The Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act, or SB 279, will prohibit the import, sale and possession of such guns, as well as "large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices," in the Land of Enchantment – and require certification of semi-auto weapons and "providing penalties."
A source familiar with the legislation also said the focus on gas-operated firearms allows proponents to target the AR-15 without naming it. The source added that "gas power" appeared intended to suggest added lethality when in reality it refers to the use of spent gas from a casing to reset the gun’s bolt for the next firing.
One of the most vocal opponents of the bill told Fox News Digital that the bill is the hallmark of the "radical agenda of New Mexico Democrats" and that the left is "ignoring practical realities and constitutional protections given to all of us."
State Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, said the bill slaps a ban on typical magazines and arms already owned by many New Mexicans and that Democrats, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, are trying to "trample the Second Amendment under the guise of public safety."
"The ambiguous wording of the bill risks turning law-abiding gun owners into felons overnight," Lord said. "It is clear this isn't just about safety – it's about control, driven by a liberal tide that's swept through Santa Fe with unprecedented force in 2025."
The governor, however, defended the bill, telling Fox News Digital it is not an attack on Second Amendment rights but a responsible move to protect the populace.
"It simply regulates the most dangerous firearms and accessories that are disproportionately used in mass shootings," Lujan Grisham said.
"The vast majority of handguns – what the Supreme Court has called the 'quintessential self-defense weapon' – aren't regulated under this act. Current owners can keep their regulated gas-operated semiautomatic firearms and large-capacity magazines by filing a simple form with local dealers – not a 'gun registry' as critics have falsely claimed."
Lujan Grisham added that other laws around the country similar to the one matriculating through the Roundhouse in Santa Fe have been upheld by judges of all political inclinations.
"We are confident this legislation is likewise constitutional and necessary to protect New Mexicans," she said.
State Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, was unconvinced.
Block said the gun control bill is par for the course in what he called the "most liberal legislative session this state has ever seen."
"This ban on gas-operated semiautomatic firearms is wrapped in vague language that hands unelected officials way too much power to decide which guns get outlawed," he said.
Block, who, along with Lord, unsuccessfully sought to impeach Lujan Grisham in 2024 when she enacted a temporary public health order restricting open carrying of firearms after a spate of Albuquerque gun violence, said the bill reminds him of that situation.
"It is clear [Democrats] are dead-set on disarming all New Mexicans," Block said.
Matthew Mammoser, an official with the National Association for Gun Rights, posted a video last week of himself delivering several Xerox-type boxes he said were full of "thousands" of petitions from New Mexicans opposed to the bill.
Meanwhile, New Mexico House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Socorro, said her caucus was and is open to working with Democrats on "real solutions" to gun violence and other concerns the bill seeks to address.
"This session, rather than take violent offenders off our streets, address our healthcare shortage and work on the unaffordability crisis our state is facing, Democrats have opted to pursue a radical agenda at the expense of our constitutional rights," she said.
Fox News Digital reached out for comment from the bill’s top-listed sponsor, state Sen. Micaelita O’Malley, D-Bernalillo, but did not receive a reply by press time.
A conservative legal watchdog group is urging both the Trump administration and the state of Ohio to investigate Kenyon College, which they allege is breaking the state's recently passed bathroom bill categorizing restrooms by biological sex.
America First Legal sent letters to Craig Trainor, the Department of Education's acting assistant secretary in the Office for Civil Rights, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost Thursday morning urging the agencies to open an investigation of the college.
"Ohio law is clear: multi-occupancy restrooms must be designated for either men or women," Will Scolinos, AFL legal counsel said. "Schools of higher education should focus more on educating students rather than re-educating them into radical gender policies that require students, men and women, to share the same restrooms. It is not normal."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the college said, "Kenyon fully complies with all state and federal laws."
"We are committed to ensuring that women on Kenyon’s campus do not experience discrimination or harassment of any kind, just as we do for all students and the faculty and staff who support them," the spokesperson said. "We look forward to working with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the Ohio Attorney General to address any concerns they may have."
Kenyon College is being accused of violating Ohio law by allowing multi-occupancy restrooms in its administrative and academic buildings to avoid sex-based requirements. The law, which went into effect in February, designates student restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities by biological sex.
According to its policy update, Kenyon justifies its administrative multi-occupancy restrooms by stating that the restrooms are "not, and cannot be, designated for use exclusively by students" and students "are permitted to use these restrooms if they choose to do so, but the student restroom requirements outlined above do not apply to these facilities."
However, Ohio law states that any "restroom... accessible to multiple individuals at the same time" must adhere to sex-based entry restrictions, AFL argues.
The letter points out that other Ohio schools comply by applying these restrictions to all multi-occupancy restrooms.
AFL also alleges the policy doesn't align with President Donald Trump's executive order, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."
"The order establishes that it is the official policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female, defining 'sex' as ‘an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female [and] is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity,’" AFL's letter to the DOE states.
"Furthermore, Kenyon’s failure to provide separate restrooms for men and women in academic and administrative buildings appears to violate Title IX," the letter reads.
The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is already investigating Denver Public Schools, a school district, for potentially violating Title IX by installing multi-stall, all-gender restrooms.
"Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, OCR will not tolerate discrimination of any kind," Trainor said in a news release last month.
Kenyon, a private university, encouraged its students affected by the new law to "seek support" from its civil rights office, college chaplains, campus safety, the counseling center and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office.
The Department of Education, which Trump has indicated he wants to fully dismantle and where workforce reductions are already underway, is a key battleground in the new administration for overturning Biden-era DEI and woke policies.
It also launched an investigation into 60 universities due to allegations of antisemitism and violence against Jewish students since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
As the Trump administration seeks to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced that he plans to propose "bone-breaking sanctions and tariffs" this week in a bid to goad Russia into making peace.
The U.S. and Ukraine declared in a joint statement on Tuesday that Ukraine would be willing to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
"Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," the statement noted.
But Graham noted in a Wednesday post on X that he is "skeptical that Russia will accept the ceasefire" and is "very doubtful they want to end this war."
"In order to move toward peace, I will be introducing bone-breaking sanctions and tariffs against Russia before the end of the week. If they do not pursue the ceasefire with the same vigor as Ukraine, there will be hell to pay," Graham warned.
"I expect overwhelming bipartisan support for my proposal," he noted.
The U.S.-Ukraine statement noted that America "will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace" and "immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine."
The United States will require Canadians visiting for more than 30 days to register with authorities and have their fingerprints taken, according to a new interim final rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The new requirement, which takes effect on April 11, applies to all foreign nationals who cross the U.S.-Canada land border and are at least 14 years old who stay in the U.S. for 30 days or more.
The rule was submitted to the Federal Registrar on Wednesday amid an escalating trade war between the United States and its northern neighbor. Canada, meanwhile, announced $21 billion in new U.S. tariffs on Wednesday.
The change will impact some Canadians who were previously exempt from this requirement, including many Canadian snowbirds – retirees who spend winter months in U.S. states – who now have to register with the government or face fines.
The interim final rule confirms that children under age 14, whose parents or guardians must register them, will not be fingerprinted. Biometrics will also be waived for Canadian business and tourist visitors who enter by land, but they also must register if they remain in the country for 30 days or more.
DHS recognized that the "affected population impacted by this rule are those who are currently unregistered and who would use the general registration form designated under this rule."
"DHS estimates the affected population to be between 2.2 million and 3.2 million," the rule said.
DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in February acknowledged their intention to follow President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day executive order requiring all immigrants to register with the U.S. government.
The Jan. 20 executive order directs DHS to ensure all immigrants are registered under the Immigration and Nationality Act. That law, which has not previously been fully enforced, mandates that noncitizens over 14 years old must register and be fingerprinted within 30 days of entry, and that all registered noncitizens over 18 years old must carry proof of registration at all times.
"Once an alien has registered and appeared for fingerprinting (unless waived), DHS will issue evidence of registration, which aliens over the age of 18 must carry and keep in their personal possession at all times," the February post to the USCIS website said. "Failure to comply may result in criminal and civil penalties, up to and including misdemeanor prosecution, the imposition of fines, and incarceration."
"Many aliens in the United States have already registered, as required by law," the post said. "However, a significant number of aliens present in the United States have had no direct way to register and meet their obligation under INA 262. USCIS has established a new form, G-325R, Biometric Information (Registration), and an online process by which unregistered aliens may register and comply with the law as required by the INA."
USCIS added, "Registration is not an immigration status, and registration documentation does not create an immigration status, establish employment authorization, or provide any other right or benefit under the INA or any other U.S. law."
President Donald Trump is pushing back against talk of a recession.
"I don't see it at all. I think this country is going to boom," the president told reporters on Tuesday as he inspected a Tesla electric vehicle that was parked on the South Lawn of the White House, courtesy of top Trump adviser Elon Musk, the car company's billionaire CEO.
However, when it comes to the economy - the issue that more than any other arguably boosted Trump back into the White House in last November's presidential election - Americans do not seem so pleased with the job he is doing.
Trump stands at 44% approval and 56% disapproval for the job he is doing steering the economy, in a CNN national poll conducted March 6-9 by SSRS and released on Wednesday.
The president was also underwater on the economy by 10 points in a Reuters/Ipsos survey in the field March 3-4.
While a handful of national polls indicate Trump above water on the economy, most recent surveys put him in negative territory when it comes to the top issue on the minds of Americans.
When it comes to his overall approval rating, Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president's approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid 40s. An average of the latest surveys indicates he is hovering slightly above water.
While Americans are split on Trump's performance, the approval ratings for his second term are an improvement from his first tour of duty, when he started 2017 in negative territory and remained underwater throughout his four-year tenure in the White House.
However, when it comes specifically to his handling of the economy, CNN's latest numbers are below where he stood at any point in their polling during his first term in office.
The president's rapidly shifting tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico - America's neighbors and top trading partners - have rattled the financial markets and raised concerns of further inflation and a possible recession.
When asked on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" by host Maria Bartiromo whether he expected there would be a recession this year, the president responded, "I hate to predict things like that."
"There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big," Trump said as he referred to his agenda, which includes tariffs.
"It takes a little time," Trump said before predicting that his economic agenda "should be great for us."
While aking questions Tuesday amid another down day for the nation's financial markets, Trump said "You're going to have drops and markets are going to go up and they're gonna go down."
Trump's predecessor in the White House, former President Joe Biden, was dogged by inflation during his tenure.
Biden's approval rating hovered in the low-to-mid-50s during the first six months of his single term as president, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to the low- to-mid-40s.
However, Biden's numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation's southern border with Mexico, and amid soaring inflation.
Biden's approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency, as high prices for goods remained a top concern on the minds of American voters.
"He just got crippled and never recovered," said Daron Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas who serves as a member of the Fox News Decision Team and is the Republican partner on the Fox News Poll.
Trump received some good inflation news on Wednesday, with the consumer price index coming in at a lower-than-expected level last month, according to a new government report.
The White House communications shop spotlighted the news in an email release titled "Inflation Eases as Job Creation Soars and Border Security Pays Off."
However, Shaw emphasized that inflation remains critical to Trump's political fortunes.
"If prices remain high, he’s going to have trouble," Shaw warned.
Iran, Russia and China are set to hold high-level talks in Beijing Friday to discuss Tehran's near-nuclear capabilities.
Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, informed reporters about the meeting on Wednesday. The trio of nations has friendly relations, and all are parties to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the talks will be on "developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions."
The Friday meeting will follow a closed-door meeting of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran’s uranium enrichment that has breached 60%, dangerously close to the 90% enrichment needed to make a bomb.
That meeting, which was requested by the U.S. and its allies, could discuss the triggering of so-called snapback sanctions – sanctions that were lifted under the JCPOA.
The U.S. left the Iran nuclear deal during President Donald Trump’s first administration. But the other parties to the agreement – Britain, Iran, China, Russia, Germany and France – could decide to call back the international sanctions before the Security Council resolution behind the deal expires in October.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will preside over the meeting, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi in attendance.
Tehran has provided Moscow with drones and missiles for its offensive in Ukraine. And China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills on Monday.
The meetings follow an unsuccessful attempt by Trump to restart talks on a new nuclear deal. Iran recently rebuffed a letter Trump sent on the matter and said it would not negotiate with "bullying" countries.
"It is unacceptable for us that they give orders and make threats. I won't even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want," said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Trump has insisted he'd prefer diplomacy, but will not rule out military tactics to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
"If we have to go to the military option, it will be very, very bad for [Iran]," he said.
Tehran still denies it is pursuing a nuclear weapon, but experts have said there is no civilian use for 60% enriched uranium.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had agreed to assist the U.S. in communicating with Iran on its nuclear program.
"It is clear that Iran is seeking negotiations based on mutual respect, constructive negotiations," Peskov said of possible nuclear talks.
The directors of the Central Intelligence Agency and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) spoke by phone for the first time in more than two years, reports say.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe called his Russian counterpart Sergey Naryshkin on Tuesday and "discussed the issues of interaction of both intelligence agencies in areas of common interest and the settlement of crisis situations," Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported, citing a statement from the SVR’s press office.
It added that both Ratcliffe and Naryshkin agreed "on maintaining regular contact between the SVR and CIA directors with the aim of facilitating international stability and security and reducing confrontation in relationships between Moscow and Washington."
The CIA, when contacted Wednesday by Fox News Digital, declined to comment on the matter.
Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence officer who specialized in Russian military doctrine, told Fox News Digital that the "Ratcliffe-Naryshkin meeting is supposed to be part of the revival of the CIA-SVR cooperation, which also has been tried before and abandoned."
"Although such cooperation could be valuable, for example, in the counter-terrorism arena, it always eventually fails because there’s a dramatic difference between how the Russians and Americans see the world," she said.
"We are ostensibly in a period of another attempted reset with Russia. Every U.S. president attempted to reset U.S. relations with Moscow and every one of them has failed," Koffler continued. "There’s such a fundamental difference between the ways that Moscow and Washington see the world and their role in it that eventually, the policies each pursues come into collision with one another. The way that Russia and the U.S. have defined their national interests have placed the two nations in direct confrontation with each other."
"The two are mutually irreconcilable. And this is clearly demonstrated in the war in Ukraine, which has been sacrificed and destroyed in the proxy battle between Moscow and Washington," Koffler added.
"It is possible that President Trump, who is a realist, will place Russia-U.S. relations on a transactional basis, without the ideological angle, as all the previous administrations, that always drove an edge between the two. It remains to be seen if he will succeed," Koffler also said.
Prominent House Republican Clay Higgins is telling local law enforcement agencies to "get geared up" to assist with ICE immigration operations because of "ongoing" enforcement actions throughout the country.
While speaking during a House Federal Law Enforcement Oversight Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Higgins, who represents Southern Louisiana and chairs the subcommittee, cautioned local law enforcement to "get your mind right" and train up to help with the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the border and deport illegal immigrants.
"ICE is coming," he said. "You will very soon be given the opportunity to join a task force with ICE in your state and your community to remove criminal illegals."
"This is going to be an ongoing operation," he said, adding that the subcommittee will also be involved in the effort, which he described as a "restoration of law and order in our country."
"In recent years we’ve seen the weaponization of our justice system, lawlessness in our cities and an open border that has allowed drugs and dangerous gangs into our country with deadly results," he said.
Higgins vowed that "throughout this Congress, we’ll tackle these issues and ensure that President Trump has all the tools and resources he needs to address rampant crime."
During the hearing, several experts testified that local "sanctuary" policies keeping law enforcement agencies from cooperating or assisting ICE and other federal authorities makes it very difficult to enforce immigration law and poses a danger to communities.
Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society and one of the experts testifying during the hearing, said that under the Biden administration, 14 million illegal immigrants entered the country. He said that "if only .5 percent" of these illegals are involved or tied to criminal organizations, "then we are facing a crime, terror contingent inside the United States that is the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps combined."
"If that’s not a national security emergency, I don’t know what is," he commented.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County, Florida, testified during the hearing that, in light of the criminal illegal threat in his community, his department is voluntarily participating in ICE’s 287(g) program, which authorizes local law enforcement to assist with certain immigration actions such as detainment and processing.
Though his office participates in this program, he called for Congress to pass federal legislation to authorize all local jails to hold criminal illegals for ICE based solely on immigration detainers.
"In other words, give the detainers force of law as opposed to simply making them an ask with no teeth," he explained. "This is a big deal to fix, and it should be done as soon as possible because it would mean that criminal illegals, like the one I mentioned, will be deported directly from jail and not released back into the community to commit more crime."
FIRST ON FOX: A new House GOP bill would block federal funding for hospitals that perform sex-change surgeries on minors.
The legislation, led by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and backed by interest groups Do No Harm and Genspect, specifically targets funding that medical centers receive through a program aimed at fostering new children's physicians.
"We’re standing for basic medical ethics and recognizing those who have been silenced and betrayed by a system that put ideology ahead of genuine care," Crenshaw told Fox News Digital. "Medicine should be grounded in truth and healing—not in false promises that cause lasting harm."
The bill would require re-authorization of the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Payment Program through fiscal year (FY) 2030.
The legislation includes a provision that "no payment may be made…to a children's hospital for a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2026) if, at any point during the preceding fiscal year, such hospital furnished specific procedures…and drugs to an individual under 18 years of age."
Those specifics are defined as being "for the purpose of changing the body of such individual to no longer correspond to the individual's sex."
Do No Harm Medical Director Dr. Kurt Miceli lauded the legislation to Fox News Digital.
"The American taxpayer should not fund hospitals that perform unscientific sex-change procedures on minors. Representative Crenshaw’s bill is important to help protect our children by ensuring federally funded graduate medical education programs do not engage in these harmful practices," he said.
The bill is being introduced on what conservatives have dubbed "DeTrans Awareness Day."
Permissions for transgender medical care or procedures for minors have been a lightening rod in the ongoing culture war between the right and left.
The issue of transgender minors' participation in school sports has also seen heated debate, with some Democrats even speaking out against their party for obliterating dissent on the topic.
Notably, California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said on his new podcast that allowing transgender men to play in women's sports is "deeply unfair."
"I think it's an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness," he said to conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The White House dismissed concerns that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is instructing employees to destroy classified documents amid efforts by the Trump administration to shutter the agency.
USAID's acting Executive Secretary Erica Carr instructed employees to begin shredding and burning documents, according to a motion that government labor unions filed in a federal court Tuesday.
But the documents remain available on computer systems – and the order comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection is poised to move into the USAID building, according to White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
"This was sent to roughly three dozen employees," Kelly said in a Tuesday night X post regarding Carr’s order. "The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems. More fake news hysteria!"
Everyone involved in the process of eliminating the documents had a secret security clearance or higher, and were not among those placed on administrative leave, an administration official told Fox News Digital Wednesday.
As a result, those involved were familiar with the content they were handling and were specifically appointed by the agency to review and conduct the purge, the official said.
Thousands of employees at USAID were either fired or placed on administrative leave in February, following recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to implement cuts targeting wasteful spending.
Carr issued an email to employees instructing them to "shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break," ProPublica first reported Tuesday.
The State Department, which oversees USAID, did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The American Foreign Service Association, a union representing those who serve in the U.S. Foreign Service and several other groups, filed a motion Tuesday in a Washington, D.C., federal court requesting a temporary restraining order blocking USAID from ordering employees to destroy documents.
Specifically, the groups asserted in the filing that Carr’s order "suggests a rapid destruction of agency records on a large scale that could not plausibly involve a reasoned assessment of the records retention obligations for the relevant documents."
The American Foreign Service Association said it would monitor the situation and pressed officials at USAID to issue more guidance on the directive.
"Federal law is clear: the preservation of government records is essential to transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the legal process," the American Foreign Service Association said in a Tuesday statement.
"The Federal Records Act of 1950 and its implementing regulations establish strict requirements for the retention of official records, particularly those that may be relevant to legal proceedings," the statement said. "Furthermore, the unlawful destruction of federal records could carry serious legal consequences for anyone directed to act in violation of the law."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the State Department had concluded a six-week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs.
FIRST ON FOX: A study in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin runs contrary to the popular claim of many on the political left and concludes that voter ID laws have not suppressed the vote in the state.
"The study finds no statistically significant negative impact of Wisconsin’s voter ID law on overall voter turnout," the new study from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) concludes.
"In fact, turnout has slightly increased since the law’s implementation, challenging claims that voter ID requirements lead to widespread disenfranchisement."
Critics have also railed against voter ID laws in recent years, claiming that it disenfranchises minority voters who, according to critics, have difficulty obtaining identification. The study states that it found "no evidence of a negative effect on turnout from the implementation of voter ID among non-white Wisconsinites."
The study compared turnout in Wisconsin over a 20-year period, starting with the 2004 presidential election and ending with the 2024 presidential election while including gubernatorial elections in the years between. WILL acknowledged that turnout can be "impacted by many factors beyond voter ID laws" but explained that it "included these key control variables to ensure we isolated the law’s true impact."
Wisconsin established voter ID laws in 2011 that have undergone several court challenges in the following years.
Will Flanders, research director at WILL, told Fox News Digital that he hopes people take away from this study that the popular narratives about voter ID laws are not based in data.
"When people make these claims that voter ID is this instrument of suppression, there's really no evidence to back that up," Flanders said.
"People often say it's especially hard for minorities and folks from low-income backgrounds. We specifically looked at the impact on areas with more minority voters, and we found that there's no evidence, even in those areas, to support this case. There's no impact on voter turnout in areas with high numbers of minority residents relative to other parts of the state as well. So no impact overall and no impact on those voters that are generally claimed to be most affected."
Honest Elections Project Action Executive Director Jason Snead told Fox News Digital that the WILL report is consistent with "many" other studies that show voter ID laws "do not do what the Left claims."
"To the contrary, voter ID laws enhance public trust in elections, leading directly to higher voter turnout and greater trust in the democratic process. Liberal politicians are desperate to mislead the public, but the truth is that voter ID laws are overwhelmingly popular. That is why 36 states have them and voters in states as diverse as North Carolina and Nevada have voted for ballot measures to require voter ID," he said.
On April 1, voters in Wisconsin will be asked if they want to enshrine Wisconsin’s voter ID law into the state Constitution.
Polling shows that the majority of Americans support the idea of requiring identification to vote.
The latest Gallup poll on the issue showed that more than 80% of voters support showing photo identification to vote as well as providing proof of citizenship.
A 2024 Pew Research Poll also showed a bipartisan consensus that over 80% of Americans support voter ID measures.
In Wisconsin, nearly 75% of residents polled by Marquette University Law School supported voter ID.
Legal experts slammed a recent left-wing narrative that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest of a pro-Hamas activist who led protests on Columbia University's campus is an attack on the First Amendment, telling Fox News Digital the case is rooted in national security concerns and that immigration laws support the Trump administration's efforts to deport the agitator.
"The State Department has pulled the first visa of a foreign student who engaged in pro-Hamas disruptions. That’s the right thing to do if we want to fix campus cultures," Ilya Shapiro, the director of constitutional studies at the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, wrote in an essay for the City Journal Friday. "And contrary to disingenuous critics, such a move poses no First Amendment problems."
"While the government can’t send foreigners to jail for saying things it doesn’t like, it can and should deny or pull visas for those who advocate for causes inimical to the United States," he wrote. "There’s nothing objectional or controversial about removing those who harass, intimidate, vandalize, and otherwise interfere with an educational institution’s core mission. More, please."
Pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil was taken into ICE custody a day after Shapiro's essay was published at his Columbia University-owned apartment in Manhattan. The Department of Homeland Security said he was a former Columbia graduate student who "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization."
Khalil, who reportedly graduated with a master's degree from Columbia in December 2024, helped lead the anti-Israel protest that plagued the campus in April 2024, including as a negotiator for radical agitators students on campus as they set up a tent encampment and took over an academic building, Hamilton Hall.
He served as a leader of a group called Columbia United Apartheid Divest, which demanded that Columbia completely divest from Israel amid the country's war with Hamas that began on Oct. 7, 2023. The divest group said its main goal was to "challenge the settler-colonial violence that Israel perpetrates with the support of the United States and its allies," according to an op-ed published in the Columbia Spectator in November 2023.
DHS additionally reported that Khalil "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization."
President Donald Trump and his administration have railed against the protests on college campuses, which hit a fever pitch in 2024 before Trump was back in office.
The 47th president signed an executive order in January putting pro-Hamas protesters in the U.S. on student visas on notice that they will be deported.
"To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you," the president said in a Jan. 30 fact sheet on the executive order. "I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before."
Khalil was born in Syria in 1995, the New York Post reported, and has been in the U.S. on a green card. He is under investigation as a possible threat to U.S. national security, with investigators reportedly finding "antisemitic and hateful" posts on Khalil’s social media accounts, White House sources told Fox News Tuesday. DHS, the Department of Justice and the secretary of state are involved in the investigation, according to sources.
Following Khalil's detention, Democrats and other left-wing activists and groups slammed the arrest as an attack on the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and assembly.
The Senate Judiciary Committee's X account also called for Khalil to be freed, which was met by a response from the White House account quoting Trump that more arrests will soon follow.
Julian Epstein, an attorney and former chief counsel to the Democratic House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital that "the arrests and deportation of pro-Hamas organizers seems not only legal but long overdue."
"The Immigration and Naturalization Act allows the denial or revocation of any visa holder who espouses or otherwise supports terrorist organizations," he continued. "Further, 18 USC 245 makes it a criminal offense for any of these protesters to intimidate, harass or impede Jewish students from moving freely about campus and attending classes."
Epstein continued that deportation is a "mild step" and that the DOJ should consider criminal prosecutions of violent protesters.
"The Columbia University protesters’ support for Hamas has been widely reported, as have their violent actions targeted at Jews," he said. "Deportation is a mild step. The DOJ should be considering criminal prosecutions."
Shapiro added in his essay that immigration law clearly outlines that an individual's visa, which offers temporary entry to the U.S., or green card, which grants permanent residence to a non-American, can be revoked.
"Indeed, it’s a basic application of U.S. immigration law, which says that people here on a visa (tourist, student, employment, or otherwise) who reveal themselves to be ineligible for that visa — ‘inadmissible,’ in the parlance of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) — can have their visa revoked," Shapiro continued in the piece.
In response to claims that the Trump administration was violating Khalil's First Amendment rights, Shapiro responded on X that "green cards can be revoked. We have laws and must enforce them."
Khalil "having a green card only changes the extent of the process due — a hearing before an immigration judge rather than just an administrative order — not the substance of the law or the outcome," Shapiro added in comment to Fox News Digital Tuesday.
U.S. officials also have stressed that the detention of Khalil is a matter of national security, not free speech, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio determining that the activist's presence in the U.S. holds "serious adverse foreign policy consequences," according to a senior State Department official.
"Secretary Rubio found that his presence and activities in the U.S. would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest, rendering him deportable under Section 237 (a)(4)(C) of the [Immigration and Nationality Act]," a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
Section 237 (a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act details: "An alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable."
There is no requirement that a crime be committed under this section of the law. Instead, it provides broad power to the secretary of state to declare an alien deportable.
Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney and executive director of the Lawfare Project, which focuses on the civil rights of the Jewish community, told Fox News Digital that Khalil is "warping the First Amendment" in an effort to justify his actions on campus.
"Mahmoud Khalil is facing deportation because of his conduct, including allegedly engaging in building takeovers — criminal activity that endangers public safety — and endorsing and espousing terrorist activity in contravention of the Immigration and Nationality Act," she said Tuesday. "Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, Khalil is trying to justify them by warping the First Amendment as somehow protecting his illegal conduct. It does not."
"Being some kind of ‘spokesperson’ for terror doesn’t immunize Khalil from liability for his acts and the acts of his co-conspirators," Goldstein said. "The U.S. government has every right to revoke the visas or green cards of individuals who endorse or promote terrorism, and whose conduct deprives Americans of their civil rights."
She added that being a green card holder is a "privilege," not a right, and that when a green card holder violates the conditions of their admittance to the U.S., they face the consequences.
"Everyone here on a student visa, or who applies for a green card, is aware of their obligations, and of the expectations on their behavior as a condition for being in our country," she said, noting that Khalil "was one of the leaders and organizers of multiple events targeting Jewish students."
"This case isn’t about Khalil expressing his Jew-hatred through speech, it’s about him acting on that hate — about planning, and engaging in, actions that deprive others of their rights. It’s Khalil’s actions, not his words, that make him subject to deportation," she said.
New York state Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz, a Republican, also bucked the narrative that Khalil's case is focused on First Amendment rights, saying he wasn't arrested "for holding a sign or chanting in a quad," he was arrested "because he actively engaged in activities aligned with Hamas, a blood-soaked organization that massacres civilians."
"Let’s dispense with the nonsense — this isn’t a debate over free speech; it’s a matter of national security, plain and simple," he said. "The First Amendment protects words, not actions taken in service of a terrorist cause."
Blumencranz took issue with New York leadership's handling of the arrest, arguing that Democrats such as Gov. Kathy Hochul turned a blind eye to the protests that broke out on Columbia's campus in 2024, which included Jewish students reporting that they feared for their safety and left campus.
"This is the radical left’s twisted game: hijack the language of civil rights to shield those who openly support terror," he said. "Cry ‘free speech’ when it’s convenient, stay silent when the mobs descend on Jewish students, and pretend that a man aiding Hamas is just a misunderstood activist. It’s a disgrace."
"Let’s be crystal clear — a green card is not a birthright," he said. "It is a privilege. The United States has every right, and indeed a duty, to revoke it from anyone who uses their time here to foment extremism. But instead of backing law and order, politicians like Letitia James, Chuck Schumer, Kathy Hochul, Hakeem Jeffries and their radical allies are tripping over themselves to defend Khalil, all while ignoring the real victims: Jewish students forced to flee their own campus."
Following Khalil's arrest, Trump warned that "many" more arrests will follow.
"This is the first arrest of many to come," Trump wrote in a post. "We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country – never to return again."
A Manhattan federal judge ruled Monday that Khalil not be deported "unless and until the Court orders otherwise." A hearing on his case is scheduled for Wednesday. He is being held at the Lasalle Detention facility in Louisiana, according to ICE.
His attorney has railed against his arrest, but said in a statement that Khalil is "healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament."
"The remarks by government officials, including the President, on social media only confirm the purpose — and illegality — of Mahmoud's detention," Khalil's attorney, Amy E. Greer, said in a Monday statement. "He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent in violation of the First Amendment. While tomorrow or thereafter the government may cite the law or process, that toothpaste is out of the tube and irreversibly so. The government’s objective is as transparent as it is unlawful, and our role as Mahmoud’s lawyers is to ensure it does not prevail."
Fox News' Diana Stancy, Danielle Wallace and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the detention and possible deportation of former Columbia University protest organizer Mahmoud Khalil, as critics claim it goes against the First Amendment.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday at Shannon Airport in Ireland, Rubio said that the issue is "not about free speech." Rubio discussed the situation during a refueling stop en route to the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Canada after conducting negotiations on the Ukraine war in Saudi Arabia.
A federal judge in Manhattan later Wednesday morning is expected to consider arguments from Khalil's lawyers challenging the Trump administration's revocation of his green card.
"When you come to the United States as a visitor, which is what a visa is – which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor’s visa – as a visitor, we can deny you that visa," Rubio said. "When you tell us when you apply, ‘Hi, I’m trying to get into the United States on a student visa. I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages,’ if you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this and if you tell us when you apply for your visa, ‘and by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities,’ if you told us all these things when you applied for your visa, we would deny your visa. I’d hope we would."
"If you actually end up doing that once you’re in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it, and if you end up having a green card, not citizenship, but a green card as a result of that visa while you’re here doing those activities, we’re going to kick you out. It’s as simple as that. This is not about free speech," Rubio said. "This is about people who do not have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a greed card by the way."
"So when you apply for a student visa or any visa to enter the United States, we have a right to deny you for virtually any reason, but I think being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down, being complicit in what are clearly crimes, vandalization, complicit in shutting down institutions," Rubio added. "There are kids at these schools that can’t go to class. You pay all this money to these high-priced schools that are supposed to be of great esteem, and you can’t even go to class. You’re afraid to go to class because there are lunatics running around with covers on their faces screaming terrifying things. If you told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out."
Federal immigration authorities arrested Khalil at his university-owned apartment in New York on Saturday, and he was transported to a detention center in Louisiana. A student organizer during last year's anti-Israel protests, Khalil was born in Syria to Palestinian parents and was granted a student visa to enter the U.S. to attend Columbia in 2022. He has since obtained a green card and is married to an American citizen who is reportedly eight months pregnant.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York on Monday temporarily blocked Khalil's deportation as the case plays out. His attorneys argue that his constitutional rights of free speech and due process under the First and Fifth amendments were violated and filed a motion challenging the validity of Khalil’s detention. They are pushing for Khalil to be returned to New York, while Trump administration lawyers say they intend to file a motion to dismiss or transfer the case out of the Southern District of New York by Wednesday night. They say the Manhattan federal court is "an improper venue."
A federal judge in Manhattan later Wednesday morning is expected to consider arguments from Khalil's lawyers challenging the Trump administration's revocation of his green card.
Sources tell Fox News that Khalil is being investigated as a potential national security threat. State Department officials say Khalil's activities in the U.S. would have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday the Immigration and Nationality Act gives Rubio the right to revoke a green card or visa from an individual considered "adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America," and that Khalil "took advantage" of the privilege of coming to the United States to study at one of America's finest institutions "by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists, who have killed innocent men, women and children."
After riding in a Tesla with Elon Musk at the White House, Trump addressed his promise that Khalil's detention would be the first of many related to antisemitic campus unrest.
"I think we ought to get them all out of the country. They're troublemakers. They're agitators. They don't love our country. We ought to get him the hell out," Trump said Tuesday. "I heard his statements, too. There were plenty bad. And I think we ought to get him the hell out of the country …I watched him, I watched tapes, specifically, I watched tapes…> You can have him, okay? You can have him, and you can have the rest of them."
"Let them go to school, let them learn. Columbia used to be a good school. Now it's been overrun because of bad leadership. That's what happens. Happens to countries, it happens to the universities, and it happens to companies," Trump said.
Fox News' Maria Paronich and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
