From air and sea, Hamas is rebuilding - Lilach Shoval

 

by Lilach Shoval

The terrorist group supplies itself through smuggling from the air, sea and land, rebuilding its strength and rearming. The humanitarian aid it has seized is giving it cash and oxygen.

 

An Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip. Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

Since the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip went into effect on Jan. 19, 2025, a perception has taken hold among the Israeli public that is detached from the reality on the ground: that the Strip’s borders are closed, the fighting has stopped and Hamas is on the verge of collapse. But conversations with IDF officials, some of them senior, paint the opposite picture: Hamas is undergoing a systematic and rapid process of rebuilding its strength.

According to officials familiar with the details, the humanitarian aid corridor is one of the channels enabling Hamas to rebuild, with at least two shipments recently uncovered in which banned materials had been hidden under the guise of food and approved humanitarian equipment. Senior officials say these seizures are not isolated incidents, but part of a mechanism intended to ensure Hamas’s survival and prevent its collapse.

In practice, the ceasefire has not only failed to stop Hamas, it has given the organization breathing room to deepen its renewed entrenchment and buildup. The terrorist organization in the Strip is exploiting the delay in implementing the second stage of the agreement as a “window of opportunity” to rebuild and rearm.

Not only that, but Hamas is also increasing its open presence on the ground. Its operatives move around in public, strengthen governance, man armed checkpoints and restore government infrastructure. Hamas firmly controls more than two-thirds of the territory in the Strip that is not held by the Israel Defense Forces, doing so through a combination of force, intimidation, distribution of money and the use of part of the humanitarian aid as a tool to strengthen governance.

Smuggling with containers

Since the summer of 2025, weapons and ammunition have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip by drones launched from Egyptian territory. The IDF has managed to thwart a handful of attempts, but the working assumption must be that some smuggling operations succeeded. According to officials familiar with the details, Hamas has also developed maritime smuggling capabilities using containers that float to the shores of southern Gaza.

But the real risk, the officials say, lies in the humanitarian aid framework, under which hundreds of trucks enter Gaza from Egypt through Israel. The trucks ostensibly contain humanitarian aid and are inspected by Israeli personnel, but the inspection is not airtight, and Hamas is exploiting the ability to prepare goods in Egypt in order to conceal banned materials and products inside the aid in a sophisticated manner.

Hamas, the officials say, is using the humanitarian aid as a lifeline in four ways:

• The first is smuggling weapons, ammunition and dual-use components inside shipments, including motor oil, electronic equipment and raw materials for the local production of rockets. These are inserted into boxes and hidden among legitimate goods, and no inspection mechanism can detect them with 100% certainty.

• The second is economic independence in the face of the blockade. Hamas confiscates some aid shipments, sells them in the market, distributes the money to its operatives, and uses it to develop infrastructure and support the population.

• The third is preventing the legitimacy of alternative bodies, because the aid passes through mechanisms controlled by Hamas, thereby strengthening its status as the sole governing authority and weakening efforts to build an alternative governing mechanism.

• The fourth is that humanitarian aid serves as cover for intelligence activity, the smuggling of equipment and communications and technical equipment components that provide Hamas with renewed command-and-control capabilities.

Security officials say the real risk is the failure of the agreement. As of now, the second stage of the ceasefire, which was supposedly meant ultimately to lead to the demilitarization of the Strip, has been delayed. The IDF remains in Gaza for the time being, but Hamas, as noted, is using the time to build its strength inside the Strip while also concentrating resources in other countries to identify opportunities to smuggle goods into Gaza.

Hamas is active on the ground

The assumption that closing the borders prevents Hamas from rebuilding its strength is mistaken, especially as the group uses unexploded IDF ordnance to assemble various weapons. Security officials say that as long as stricter inspections are not implemented to expand the security layers, Hamas will continue to grow stronger, build its force and prepare for another confrontation.

In light of all this, and given the Hamas activity identified on the ground, the top levels of the IDF are increasingly saying there will be no avoiding a return to fighting in the Gaza Strip. For now, with five IDF divisions in Lebanon, additional forces inside Syria, the need for reinforcements in Judea and Samaria, and the Israeli Air Force’s real focus on preparations for Iran, it is unclear how this can all come together.

That is why security officials believe it is important for Israel to keep insisting on advancing the demilitarization agreement in Gaza, and not reach a situation in which the war in Iran and Lebanon exhausts the international community, and Israel itself, and diverts it from the goal of demilitarizing the Strip.

Originally published by Israel Hayom. 

Lilach Shoval

Source: https://www.jns.org/analysis/from-air-and-sea-hamas-is-rebuilding

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PA’s pay-for slay ‘con game’ revealed by Ramallah court decision, watchdog says - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The Palestinian Authority “didn’t even try to argue that the prisoner wasn’t entitled to a salary but instead claimed some technical rationale behind the suspension,” Palestinian Media Watch reports.

 

Palestinian Authority police officers on duty during a visit by P.A. head Mahmoud Abbas to Jenin on July 12, 2023. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.

The Ramallah Administrative Court ruled on May 4 against a Palestinian Authority decision to stop paying prisoner Ahmed Firas Hassan his “pay-for-slay” stipend in mid-2025.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a Jerusalem-based monitoring group, said the episode indirectly reveals the P.A.’s “con game” to hide “pay-for-slay” from Western countries.

The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund provides monthly stipends to those imprisoned in Israel for attacks on Israelis, and to the families of slain terrorists.

Ahmed Firas Hassan’s salary was stopped together along with those of another 1,600 prisoners three months after P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas issued a “presidential” decree transferring the handling of prisoner stipends to a new entity, the Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Institution (PNEEI).

PMW said it is not clear why this group of terrorists stopped receiving their monthly stipends.

The P.A. created PNEEI after coming under pressure from Western countries to end “pay-for-slay.” The P.A. claimed PNEEI ended the program because Palestinian prisoners would not receive money for their violent acts, but based solely on their socioeconomic status. PMW has previously shown this to be a transparent attempt to pull the wool over Western eyes. “Pay-for-slay” continues as usual.

The Ramallah court case further cements this basic truth, it said.

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), a group established by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, which “regularly collaborates” with U.S.-designated terrorist groups, according to NGO Monitor, brought the case on behalf of Hassan in August 2025, “with the aim of ending the salary crisis of approximately 1,600 prisoners whose salaries were stopped,” according to a May 5 Al-Araby Al-Jadeed report.

PMW said it exposes the P.A.'s “con game” because the P.A.’s lawyers “didn’t even try to argue that the prisoner wasn’t entitled to a salary but instead claimed some technical rationale behind the suspension,” as revealed by ICHR’s attorney Ahmed Nasra to Hebron’s Radio Alam on May 4.

“The defense of the administrative prosecution was mainly procedural and formal, meaning they did not argue whether the prisoner is entitled or not entitled to a salary. ... Rather, they argued that there was a defect in the lawsuit, that there was a defect in the procedures, formal matters of this kind,” Nasra said.

“The ruling sets a legal precedent for the immediate resumption of salaries for 1,600 jailed terrorists [whose terror stipends had been suspended],” Palestinian Media Watch said.

“You are talking about 1,600 cases of people who already meet the conditions,” Nasra told Radio Alam. “They [the P.A.'s lawyers] had no reservation and did not appeal on the matter of meeting the eligibility conditions.”

From the start, PMW has exposed as fraudulent the P.A.'s attempt to present itself as having reformed its payment-for-terror program. In February, the NGO issued a report showing the P.A. had been engaged in a years-long deception, pretending to halt “pay-for-slay” by various means in order to hoodwink international donors.

In April, the U.S. State Department issued a report to Congress showing that in calendar year 2025, the P.A. provided $156 million in payments and benefits to Palestinian terrorists and their families. 

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/news/israel-news/pas-pay-for-slay-con-game-revealed-by-ramallah-court-decision-watchdog-says

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Europe's 'Global Alliance' Is Not Peace, It Is Dispossession by Another Name - Avner Amichai

 

by Avner Amichai

Europe has effectively become the financier of the PA/PLO's unilateral strategy, turning illegal construction into a weapon of territorial conquest.

 

• The so-called "Global Alliance for the implementation of the Two-State Solution" -- co-chaired by the EU, Saudi Arabia, and Norway, with active European partners including the increasingly Israel-critical Netherlands, and openly Israel-hostile states such as Belgium, Ireland, Spain, and France -- is not a peace project. It is a coordinated campaign of diplomatic pressure, financial subversion, and ideological warfare aimed at making Jewish life in Judea and Samaria impossible and at eventually making those areas free of Jews, or "Judenrein".

• Surveys by the Israeli organization Regavim, dedicated to the rule of law and clean government in Israel's land-use policy, have documented more than 103,000 illegal Palestinian structures in Area C of Judea and Samaria (the so-called 'West Bank'). That zone, according to the Oslo Accords that Europe itself signed as a witness, is under full Israeli control, including exclusive authority over land-use planning, building permits, and related civil matters. The illegal Palestinian "facts on the ground" include strategic outposts, homes, roads, schools, and solar farms are deliberately placed to fragment and splinter the Jewish homeland. The EU has poured hundreds of millions of euros into these illegal projects, often with EU flags flying as a mockery.

• That intrusion is not "aid". It is land theft by proxy.

• Europe has effectively become the financier of the PA/PLO's unilateral strategy, turning illegal construction into a weapon of territorial conquest.

• The complicity runs even deeper. Europe is not merely funding illegal outposts, it is actively training and equipping the Palestinian Authority's security forces into a 65,000-strong shadow army.

• European advisors run programs at the Jericho military academy, while EU funds cover salaries, equipment, and "professionalization." These are forces our organization has repeatedly exposed as "officers by day, terrorists by night" -- a war machine capable of launching October 7-type massacres, but potentially on a much larger scale....

• Post-October 7, pushing a Palestinian state onto the strategic highlands of Judea and Samaria – again: the cradle of Jewish civilization, where our kings ruled, prophets spoke, and our identity was forged -- is not a peace plan. It is an invitation to slaughter. The hills overlooking Tel Aviv would become launchpads for the PLO, Hamas, Iran, and other genocidal actors. Yet Europe demands Israeli concessions while ignoring Palestinian rejectionism, pay-for-slay policies, and its totally explicit goal of destroying the Jewish state.

• Regavim has a clear message for European governments and their Global Alliance: Stop funding the theft of our homeland. Stop financing classrooms that teach Jewish murder is heroic. Stop arming a terror army preparing the next October 7. Stop pretending that more than 3,000 years of Jewish history can be erased by EU euros and diplomatic declarations. And stop blocking the return of Jews to the land that has always been theirs.

Europe has effectively become the financier of the Palestinian Authority/PLO's unilateral strategy, turning illegal construction into a weapon of territorial conquest. Pictured: Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff (R), then head of the EU mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, visits the illegally-built Palestinian community of Khan al-Ahmar near Jerusalem, on January 30, 2023. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Europe has a long history, from medieval expulsions to the Holocaust, of dispossessing, murdering, and expelling Jews. Today, this same impulse continues under the language of diplomacy and "international law," now targeting the Jewish people's biblical heartland by, once again, trying to force a genocidally hostile (here and here, article 7) so-called "two-state solution" on the Jewish state.

The so-called "Global Alliance for the implementation of the Two-State Solution" -- co-chaired by the EU, Saudi Arabia, and Norway, with active European partners including the increasingly Israel-critical Netherlands[1], and openly Israel-hostile states such as Belgium, Ireland, Spain, and France -- is not a peace project. It is a coordinated campaign of diplomatic pressure, financial subversion, and ideological warfare aimed at making Jewish life in Judea and Samaria impossible and at eventually making those areas free of Jews, or "Judenrein".

While Alliance ministers issue lofty declarations about "peace," European taxpayers' hard-earned money is busy building illegal facts on the ground that destroy any real hope for peace. Surveys by the Israeli organization Regavim, dedicated to the rule of law and clean government in Israel's land-use policy, have documented more than 103,000 illegal Palestinian structures in Area C of Judea and Samaria (the so-called 'West Bank'). That zone, according to the Oslo Accords that Europe itself signed as a witness, is under full Israeli control, including exclusive authority over land-use planning, building permits, and related civil matters.[2]. The illegal Palestinian "facts on the ground" include strategic outposts, homes, roads, schools, and solar farms are deliberately placed to fragment and splinter the Jewish homeland. The EU has poured hundreds of millions of euros into these illegal projects, often with EU flags flying as a mockery. This has been going on for decades.

The Netherlands and other member states actively participate. That intrusion is not aid. It is land theft by proxy. This systematic encroachment follows the blueprint of the Fayyad Plan (2009), in which then PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad openly declared the goal of unilaterally creating a de facto Palestinian state by building "facts on the ground" in Area C of Judea and Samaria, bypassing negotiations with Israel. Europe has effectively become the financier of Fayyad's unilateral strategy, turning illegal construction into a weapon of territorial conquest.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas boasted on April 20, 2026, that "Europe is the biggest supporter of the Palestinian people", the largest donor and main backer of the Palestinian Authority, funding police, justice, governance, and border management. She is right. Europe bankrolls the entire apparatus at industrial scale.

The complicity runs even deeper. Europe is not merely funding illegal outposts. It is actively training and equipping the Palestinian Authority's security forces into a 65,000-strong shadow army. European advisors run programs at the Jericho military academy, while EU funds cover salaries, equipment, and "professionalization." These are forces Regavim has repeatedly exposed as "officers by day, terrorists by night" -- a war machine capable of launching October 7-type massacres, but potentially on a much larger scale, from the hills of Judea and Samaria directly into Israel's population centers on the coastal plain.

What else does this European investment produce? A Palestinian Authority that indoctrinates its children for the next war, a 'final-solution'-by-proxy that the Europeans themselves failed to fully accomplish. Despite repeated promises to European donors, the PA's textbooks remain filled with antisemitism and jihad. The European Parliament has condemned them for the seventh consecutive year, but, as reported by the award-winning journalist and Gatestone Senior Fellow Khaled Abu Toameh, there is no enforcement by the European Commission and its bureaucrats, or even conditions demanded with any seriousness. The current curriculum still celebrates the 1978 coastal road massacre (38 Israelis murdered, including 13 children) as heroism, uses maps that erase Israel, teaches -- despite massive archaeological, biblical and documented evidence to the contrary -- that Jews are foreign colonizers with no history here, and not only glorifies but pays sizeable stipends-for-life to the terrorists who spill Jewish blood, or to their families. These pay-for-slay payments amounted to at least $325 million in 2025, with more than 6,000 new recipients found just in the first months of 2026.

Post-October 7, pushing a Palestinian state onto the strategic highlands of Judea and Samaria -- the cradle of Jewish civilization, where our kings ruled, prophets spoke, and our identity was forged -- is not a peace plan. It is an invitation to slaughter. The hills overlooking Tel Aviv would become launchpads for the PLO, Hamas, Iran and other genocidal actors. Yet Europe demands Israeli concessions while ignoring Palestinian rejectionism, pay-for-slay policies, and its startlingly explicit goal of destroying the Jewish state.

It is hard to ignore the cruel irony that once again Europe's Jews, who have lived there for generations, are once again fleeing in growing numbers, driven out by surging antisemitism that European governments and the EU have chosen not to seriously confront. People are being murdered, synagogues are attacked, streets are not safe, and Jewish schools need guards. Even so, it is clear that the worst is still to come.

The very same political actors who cannot or will not protect their Jews now seem to be working aggressively to prevent them from finding security in their ancestral homeland, in Judea and Samaria. Europe exports its "Jewish problem" while demanding that Israel surrender the one place where those Jews could truly return home. This is a haunting echo of former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's other great historic disaster, the notorious 1939 British White Paper, which bypassed earlier international commitments to the Jews in then-Palestine, as it was called for all its citizens before Israeli independence in 1948, in favor of having an Arab-majority nation within 10 years with supposed "protection" for the Jewish minority. One can imagine how that would have worked out.

Regavim has a clear message for European governments and their Global Alliance: Stop funding the theft of our homeland. Stop financing classrooms that teach Jewish murder is heroic. Stop arming a terror army preparing the next October 7. Stop pretending that more than 3,000 years of Jewish history can be erased by EU euros and diplomatic declarations. And stop blocking the return of Jews to the land that has always been theirs.

The Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel. Regavim and other organizations will keep exposing every illegal outpost, every euro, and every lie. We will not be robbed again.

Avner Amichai (aka Wim Kortenoeven), a former Member of Parliament in the Netherlands, now serves as diplomatic liaison for Regavim.

---

[1] Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Netherlands -- long regarded as one of Israel's strongest supporters in the EU -- has adopted a markedly more critical stance toward Israeli policy, both bilaterally and within the European Union. It has actively pushed for stronger collective EU measures, including reviewing or suspending parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The Dutch parliament now has an Israel-critical/hostile majority, and pro-Israel forces such as Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) have been excluded from government participation.

[2] Aside from the powers resulting from the Oslo II Agreement, Israel has legitimate claims to Judea and Samaria under international law. 

Avner Amichai

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22512/europe-global-alliance-dispossession

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US to host new round of Israel-Lebanon peace talks next week - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

US State Department announces Israel-Lebanon talks May 14-15, focusing on peace and disarming Hezbollah.

 

Trump after Israel-Lebanon talks                                                     REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

The US State Department announced on Friday that Washington will host another round of talks between Israel and Lebanon on May 14 and 15.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement that the meeting will build uilding on the April 23 round of talks, which was led personally by President Donald Trump.

“Both delegations will engage in detailed discussions aimed at advancing a comprehensive peace and security agreement that substantively addresses the core concerns of both countries. These talks aim to break decisively from the failed approach of the past two decades, which allowed terrorist groups to entrench and enrich themselves, undermine the authority of the Lebanese state, and endanger Israel’s northern border," Pigott’s statement said.

He further said that the discussions in the next round “will build a framework for lasting peace and security arrangements, the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty throughout its territory, the delineation of borders, and creating concrete pathways for humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Lebanon."

“Both sides have committed to approaching these talks with their national interests in mind, and the United States will work to reconcile those interests in a manner that delivers lasting security for Israel, and sovereignty and reconstruction for Lebanon," said the statement.

It noted that the US “welcomes the commitment of both governments to this process and recognizes that comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization."

“These discussions represent another important step toward ending decades of conflict and establishing a lasting peace between the two countries. The United States will continue to support both countries as they seek to reach a breakthrough," the statement concluded.

After the April 23 meeting which was attended by Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s Ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Trump expressed hope that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon would be possible this year.

Trump also said he hopes to host a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington within the next few weeks.

Aoun has made clear that a high-level summit with Netanyahu is currently out of the question, stressing that the cessation of hostilities must be the primary focus before any direct political engagement can be considered.

Despite Aoun’s reluctance, the US this week reiterated its backing for a meeting between Netanyahu and Aoun.

“President Trump has been clear that direct engagement between the two countries is the best way to swiftly advance a lasting peace and security agreement," a State Department official said in a statement.

“Diplomacy is ongoing, and we will not comment on our ongoing discussions with the two countries," the official continued.

“Hezbollah is still trying to derail negotiations with attacks on Israel and threats inside of Lebanon. We are working to create the conditions and political momentum needed to move this forward," concluded the State Department official. 

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/426786

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Diplomatic breakthrough: Chile’s President to restore Ambassador to Israel - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

Chilean President José Antonio Kast tells President Herzog he will return Chile’s ambassador to Israel, ending years of rift.

 

osé Antonio Kast and Isaac HerzogAmos                                                    Ben Gershom/GPO

A significant diplomatic thaw is underway between Jerusalem and Santiago following a high-level meeting between President Isaac Herzog and Chile's newly elected leader, José Antonio Kast.

During the encounter, Kast informed Herzog of his intention to return a Chilean ambassador to Israel within the coming weeks, signaling an end to nearly two years of strained relations, according to a report in Ynet.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the presidential inauguration for Costa Rica’s new head of state, Laura Fernández Delgado, the report said. The development marks a sharp departure from the policies of the previous Chilean administration.

Diplomatic ties between the two nations plummeted under former President Gabriel Boric, a left-wing leader known for his fierce opposition to the Jewish State. Boric had famously refused to accept the credentials of Israeli Ambassador Gil Artzyeli and frequently utilized inflammatory rhetoric, at one point labeling Israel a “murderous" state.

Furthermore, Chile in 2024 joined a group of nations supporting South Africa’s genocide case against Israel filed at the International Court of Justice. Boric said at the time that he was appalled by the humanitarian devastation in Gaza and accused the IDF of using “indiscriminate and disproportional" force.

Gabriel Zaliasnik, a prominent leader within the Chilean Jewish community, previously described Boric’s actions as “the most serious expression of hostility toward Israel by the president," noted Ynet.

Chile currently hosts the largest Palestinian Arab diaspora outside of the Middle East, a community exceeding 350,000 people that has long influenced the nation’s foreign policy.

President Kast emphasized his commitment to restoring friendly relations and pursuing bilateral cooperation in critical sectors. He highlighted agriculture, healthcare, artificial intelligence, and technology as primary areas for future partnership.

Despite facing domestic media criticism for meeting with the Israeli head of state, Kast remained firm in his objective to prioritize technological cooperation and state-to-state relations. Furthermore, he reaffirmed his administration's stance against terrorism and the rise of antisemitism within Chile.

President Herzog expressed great optimism following the discussion, noting, “The meeting was excellent. We discussed important opportunities to restore Israel-Chile relations to their previous heights, for the benefit of our two nations."

Herzog later added that the dialogue uncovered “important opportunities to strengthen Israel-Chile relations for the benefit of both countries." 

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/426787

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Justice Department seeks to revoke citizenship for 12 naturalized Americans - Misty Severi

 

by Misty Severi

The department claimed the 12 individuals have been accused of serious offenses, including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes and sexually abusing a minor, which are grounds for denaturalization.

 

The Justice Department said Friday it is seeking to revoke the citizenship of 12 naturalized Americans, claiming they obtained their citizenship fraudulently.

The department claimed the 12 individuals have been accused of serious offenses, including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes and sexually abusing a minor, which are grounds for denaturalization.

“Individuals implicated in committing fraud, heinous crimes such as sexual abuse, or expressing support for terrorism should never have been naturalized as United States citizens,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “The Trump administration is taking action to correct these egregious violations of our immigration system. 

"Those who intentionally concealed their criminal histories or misrepresented themselves during the naturalization process will face the fullest extent of the law," he added.

The department filed the court documents to revoke the citizenship in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

The migrants were from multiple countries, including two citizens from Colombia and one each from Bolivia, China, Gambia, India, Iraq, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia and Uzbekistan.

“This Department of Justice continues to file denaturalization actions at record speeds to restore integrity in our naturalization process,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ's Civil Division said. “The disturbing criminal histories confirm these individuals should have never received the privilege of U.S. citizenship.  

"We remain committed to leveraging every tool available under the law to pursue those who obtain their U.S. citizenship unlawfully.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. 

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/justice-department-seeks-revoke-citizenship-12-naturalized-americans

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Democrats were confident of redistricting victory, then the Virginia gamble collapsed - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

After the Virginia Supreme Court ruling and an end to race-based districts, Republicans are poised to gain an advantage heading into the midterms. The result may be replicated elsewhere in the nation.

 

In the bare-knuckle brawl over redistricting ahead of the midterms, the Democratic leaders promised “maximum warfare” to secure an advantage over Republicans in the upcoming elections. The party came up short. 

“Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time,” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described his party’s redistricting mantra last month. 

But, now it is looking more and more like that war is lost.

The Democrats’ effort to redraw maps in blue states to squeeze out more seats in the House of Representatives was dealt a major blow on Friday when the Supreme Court of Virginia declared their referendum on the commonwealth unconstitutional. 

Using race to draw congressional districts unconstitutional, U.S. Supreme Court says

This follows a United States Supreme Court ruling last month in Louisiana v. Callais that declared that use of race as a factor in drawing congressional districts is unconstitutional. That reversed a long-held tradition under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that forced states to draw majority-minority districts which have usually resulted in electing Democrats. 

The ruling has prompted several map changes across the South that could cost Democrats between four and seven safe Democratic seats ahead of the midterm elections. 

"Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia. The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander," President Donald Trump, who first called for redistricting last year, posted to Truth Social on Friday. 

After the Supreme Court ruling, Virginia was the Democrats’ last hope.

Democrats sought voter approval earlier this year to temporarily suspend the independent redistricting requirements of the commonwealth's constitution in order to pave the way for a congressional district map heavily slanted in favor of their party. The voters approved it by a narrow 51.69% to 48.31% margin. 

That election gained nationwide attention as the epicenter of the ongoing battle between Republicans and Democrats to redraw maps ahead of the midterms. In Virginia, Democrats placed their hopes of canceling out Republican gains in states like Florida and Ohio. The map passed by the commonwealth’s legislature would likely have given Democrats control of ten seats to Republicans' one. 

The Virginia referendum was a gamble for Democrats. In order to redraw the commonwealth’s maps, the party had to circumvent the state constitution, amended by referendum in 2020 to create the Virginia Redistricting Commission–a bipartisan body tasked with drawing the state’s maps. The Democrats needed to temporarily suspend that process with another amendment. 

Virginia's amendment process invalid

But, to do so before the midterm election, party leadership had to bend the rules of the state’s amendment process–which requires an amendment be proposed in one session, an intervening election to take place, and then voted on again in the subsequent session. The problem is that the Virginia House of Delegates voted to propose its amendment after the 2025 election was already underway, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled. This invalidated the process. 

You can read the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision below: 

1260127.pdf

“From the beginning, this was the most obvious violation of Virginia’s Constitution. [Gov.] Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in Richmond knowingly violated our constitution to disenfranchise millions of Virginians,” former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, said in a statement. “The Constitution prevailed, and Virginians will never forget this unlawful attempt to rob them of their voice in Congress.”  

Before the new Virginia maps were struck down, the redistricting battle had largely resulted in a draw. After Texas redrew its maps last year, a gain of five seats for Republicans, California responded in kind, wiping out the advantage. Then, only a handful of Republican states adjusted their maps while others vowed they would do so at some point in the future. 

But now, following the Virginia Supreme Court ruling, Cook Political Report assessed that the likeliest scenario for redistricting ahead of the midterms would place the Republican Party at a “6-7 seat” likely gain. 

Legal challenges sure to come

“Best case for GOP: picking up [about] 13 seats, if they win redrawn competitive seats in TX/FL/OH/NC, and if legal fights over new maps go their way,” Cook Political’s U.S. House Editor Erin Covey posted to X on Friday. 

These gains are by no means assured for Republicans. Several states still have to officially pass redistricting measures and all of them will likely face legal challenges to any new maps. Just this week, Florida and Tennessee passed new maps that eliminated several Democratic-leaning seats in those states. 

Louisiana, the state at the center of the Supreme Court’s race-based districts case, plans to redraw its maps to comply with the high court’s ruling, but has yet to reveal the proposed map. The state could eliminate both of its Democratic seats, or choose to toss only one. 

Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina are also considering new legislative sessions to redraw their congressional district maps ahead of the midterm elections, but have not yet done so.  

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/dems-were-confident-redistricting-victory-then-virginia-gamble-collapsed

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Will the Yalu River Run through the Strait of Hormuz? - Thaddeus G. McCotter

 

by Thaddeus G. McCotter

History shows regimes can turn mere survival into victory; America must ensure Iran cannot repeat Mao’s Korean War playbook.

 

 

In the continuing Iran conflict, voices on both sides of the American political spectrum have made the claim that the mullahs can score a strategic victory by merely surviving, especially if they can do so while retaining a semblance of control over the Strait of Hormuz. If these observers are right that Iran’s victory would not be “military” but “strategic,” one need not look far back in American history to find a precedent. At the start of the Korean War in June 1950, North Korean communists under the control of Kim Il-Sung crossed the 38th Parallel and attacked South Korea. Armed and encouraged by the Soviet Union, the North Koreans swiftly decimated South Korea’s defenders.

Prior to the invasion, the Truman administration had earlier denied South Korea’s request for armor, heavy artillery, and anti-tank weapons due to a concern that its leader, Syngman Rhee, would invade the north. Then, duly alarmed by North Korea’s rapid advance, President Truman made the decision to authorize $12 billion and deploy American troops—and ultimately the troops of 15 member nations of the UN—under the command of General Douglas MacArthur to stem the communist tide and save South Korea.

By October, MacArthur and his troops had not only stemmed the tide but had also pushed the North Koreans all the way back to the 38th Parallel. But, ignoring both President Truman’s order not to expand the war and the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) strategic interests, MacArthur decided to press on to the Yalu River. He believed the PRC would never enter the war and fight against America.

MacArthur was not alone in thinking it would be madness for the PRC to enter the war. There was dissension within the PRC’s inner circle. Only Mao, with the tepid support of Zhou Enlai, argued for attacking the Americans. In fact, Mao had already committed troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to fight in support of North Korea.

As Frank Dikötter related in The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945–1957, Mao’s reasoning was as follows:

Mao took a huge gamble. He hoped that America would not expand the war to China for fear of provoking the Soviets. He was also convinced that the Americans had no stomach for a prolonged war and would be no match for the millions of soldiers he was prepared to throw into the conflict. He believed that he would have to fight the Americans at some point, all the more so since Truman had sent the Seventh Fleet to protect Taiwan at the start of the Korean War. Fighting the imperialists in Korea would be easier than launching an amphibious assault on fortress Taiwan. Most of all, a hostile Korea on the Manchurian frontier would represent a serious security threat to the People’s Republic.

. . . Mao was ready to march in from Manchuria, reverse the rout and assume the leadership of the communist camp in Asia.

Claiming to be “volunteers,” hundreds of thousands of these troops began infiltrating North Korea. On November 25, they crossed the Yalu River and attacked, beginning the process of driving American and UN troops back down the peninsula.

By early 1951, General Matthew Ridgway had slowly, painfully regrouped the allied troops and once more turned the tide, driving the North Korean and Chinese troops back northward. By the summer, armistice talks began. It took two more bloody years, but the talks ultimately led to an armistice resulting in a ceasefire which remains in effect to this day, as does a legal state of war.

Neither Korean nation could claim victory. But there was a winner, as Dikötter assessed: “Despite the terrible human cost, Korea was Mao’s personal victory. He had pushed for war when his colleagues had wavered. His gamble paid off. China had brought the most powerful nation on earth to a standstill. China had stood up.”

It should also be mentioned that Mao’s gamble also solidified his control over the Chinese people. If Mao and his Communist Party and its PLA could fight the American military to a standstill, what could—and would—the regime do to unarmed Chinese dissidents?

True, there are differences between the Korean War and the present Iran conflict. Nonetheless, the possibility that, despite American military might, a regime might survive with key strategic interests preserved—if not advanced—and later thrive, while improbable, is not impossible. Indeed, it regrettably happened with the PRC during the Truman administration.

Today, in the instance of the Iran conflict, it is the duty of the Trump administration to ensure that this becomes not merely improbable, but impossible, lest the missteps of the Yalu River run through the Strait of Hormuz.

* * *

Photo: A photo illustration taken in Nicosia on May 4, 2026, shows a person in front of a large screen displaying vessel movements in the Strait of Hormuz on a ship-tracking website. Iran's navy fired 'warning shots' at US warships in the Strait of Hormuz on May 4, state media said, after the American military sent cruisers into the Gulf as part of a plan to help trapped commercial vessels leave. Earlier, US President Donald Trump had announced a plan to guide ships from neutral countries out of the Gulf, saying it was a humanitarian effort to help their stranded crews. (Photo by AFP) 

An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a cohost of The John Batchelor Show, among sundry media appearances. 

Thaddeus G. McCotter

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/09/will-the-yalu-river-run-through-the-strait-of-hormuz/

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London men charged over TikTok harassment filming of Jews - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The defendants, Adam Bedoui and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, are from Hillingdon in west London.

 

A giant menorah, lit for Chanukah, in Trafalgar Square, London, on Dec. 11, 2023. Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images.

The U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service charged two men in connection with filming antisemitic TikTok videos in a predominately Jewish area in north London, the prosecution said in a statement on Saturday.

Adam Bedoui, 20, from West Drayton, Hillingdon, and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, 21, also from the London borough of Hillingdon, appeared at Thames Magistrate’s Court later in the day.

“The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to charge [the two defendants] with religiously aggravated intentional harassment and intentional harassment following an incident where Jewish people in Stamford Hill were being approached, harassed and filmed,” said Huw Rogers, chief crown prosecutor for CPS Direct.

“We have worked closely with the Metropolitan Police as it has carried out its investigation,” Rogers added in the statement.

The CPS statement did not specify when the antisemitic incident occurred.

Last week, Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Metropolitan Police, said British Jews are caught at the center of a “ghastly Venn diagram of hate,” requesting an additional 300 officers to defend the community.

In an interview with The Times on May 1, Rowley warned that British Jews are facing their greatest threat ever. He blamed social media for driving an “epidemic” of antisemitism.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/news/antisemitism/london-men-charged-over-tiktok-harassment-filming-of-jews

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The IDF's new anti-drone weapon - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

IDF sources confirm distribution of SMASH Handheld systems to soldiers in Lebanon.

 

Explosive drone (illustrative )                                                                   צילום: ללא    

Hezbollah’s drone threat: The IDF has recently introduced hundreds of SMASH Handheld devices into Lebanon for use on personal weapons, in an effort to improve soldiers’ ability to shoot down drones in southern Lebanon, IDF Ground Forces officials confirmed to Kan News.

The devices are not new, but until now they were distributed mainly to infantry units. The IDF is now deploying them more broadly following additional procurement.

The system is an electro-optical sight that includes a digital camera, shooter display, fire control system, and ballistic computer, significantly improving shooting accuracy, especially against moving targets and during nighttime operations. The sight can lock onto a target, signal the soldier when to fire, and assist in hitting the target accurately.

Earlier Saturday, a reserve soldier was seriously wounded and two additional reservists, including an officer, were moderately injured in a Hezbollah explosive drone strike near the community of Shlomi in northern Israel. 

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/426794

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Report: Washington's demands for Iranian nuclear program - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

U.S. officials told the The Wall Street Journal that Washington has presented Iran with a series of strict conditions as part of ongoing negotiations over a potential nuclear agreement.

 

Iran nuclear program, illustration                                                        iStock

U.S. officials told the The Wall Street Journal that Washington has presented Iran with a series of strict conditions as part of ongoing negotiations over a potential nuclear agreement.

According to the report, the United States is demanding a complete ban on Iranian uranium enrichment for a period of 20 years, alongside the transfer of all existing enriched uranium stockpiles out of Iranian control. American officials also reportedly require Tehran to formally declare that it does not seek to obtain nuclear weapons.

The proposed framework further calls for the dismantling of nuclear facilities in Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, Natanz Nuclear Facility and Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, as well as a prohibition on underground nuclear activity.

In addition, Washington is seeking immediate on-demand inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and automatic penalties for any violations of the agreement.

“These are our red lines," U.S. officials said, according to the report.

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/426709

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DNI Gabbard spurs probe into evidence Congress, Trump were misled on election security, memos show - John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy

 

by John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy

The evidence continues to stack up that the U.S. intel community sought to downplay China's actions in 2020 as Trump sought reelection, perhaps at the cost of legal or ethical rules. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that there was a “false impression that Russia sought to influence the election, but China did not.”

 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has spurred an investigation into evidence that spy agencies tried to conceal U.S. election vulnerabilities, including whistle-blower claims that a CIA officer was asked to alter evidence of China meddling and that President Donald Trump and Congress were intentionally kept in the dark about concerns involving China and Venezuela, according to unclassified memos reviewed by Just the News.

The memos indicate Gabbard's team first learned about the evidence — much of it yet classified — last year as part of a review conducted by her now-disbanded Director's Initiative Group (DIG) and recently referred it to the new Intelligence Community (IC) Inspector General Christopher Fox, a move that could eventually lead to the public gaining access to declassified versions of some of the evidence.

Foreign interference efforts by China were de-emphasized as far back as 2020

The wide-ranging approach taken by the FBI in response to now-debunked claims of Trump-Russia collusion in 2016 stands in stark contrast to how the U.S. intelligence community sought to bury evidence of Chinese government efforts to undermine Trump’s candidacy in 2020.

The National Intelligence Council concluded in 2020 that China had hacked or gained access to several state voter registration databases, but that information was hidden from the American public, state election officials, and Congress. The new memos reviewed by Just the News cite evidence that China may have gained access to between 12 and 18 states' voter registration databases in 2020 alone, an infiltration far larger than previously acknowledged.

They also chronicle efforts to suppress the extent of China's malicious election activities despite whistle-blower complaints from Christopher Porter — the now-former national intelligence officer for cyber — trying to bring attention to it. Just the News recently reported that Fox, the current intel community watchdog, is reviewing Porter’s whistle-blower concerns anew, including evidence of possible retaliation during the Biden years.

The ODNI is currently in possession of allegations made by one or more intelligence officers arguing that foreign interference efforts by China were de-emphasized or omitted entirely from final analytic assessments, kept out of the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, or hidden from congressional oversight, according to documents reviewed by Just the News. 

These actions within the IC were taken in an alleged effort to undercut Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and resist his China-related policies, according to the memos reviewed by Just the News.

One email in the possession of ODNI allegedly states that an intelligence agency planned to massage one particular presidential briefing document meant for Trump to dodge the mention of election influence concerns despite raw intelligence reporting on the subject.

The memos also point to emails showing alleged attempts by certain CIA officials to cover up election influence efforts by China and to push a CIA analyst to change a federal record about an agency meeting where CIA officials purportedly hinted that China-related evidence was being held back to avoid helping Trump in the 2020 race.

The memos also chronicle concerns about the handling of congressional briefings on foreign interference and Chinese interference attempts in 2020. The warnings raised and then purportedly suppressed inside the IC in 2020 also included concerns about vulnerabilities tied to Venezuela-linked election infrastructure, the documents state.

Months before the 2020 presidential election, U.S. intelligence issued a secret but stark warning that foreign adversaries had the capability to “compromise” America's voting infrastructure and raised specific concerns about the vulnerability of voter registration databases that later would be penetrated by China and Iran, a recently declassified memo obtained by Just the News also showed.

The National Intelligence Council's concerns were so extensive that officials personally briefed Trump at the White House in February 2020, according to photos obtained by Just the News showing top CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security officials joining with NIC analysts to inform the president.

But the American public was never fully alerted, even after evidence emerged that China had gained access to voter registration data in multiple states. 

"We judge that U.S. adversaries, including, at a minimum, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise US election infrastructure for the 2020 presidential election," the NIC wrote in the memo dated Jan. 15, 2020. Until Gabbard last month declassified and Just the News reported it, that assessment never saw the light of day.

That document did not mention Venezuela, but the new memos make clear that some concerns about Venezuela emerged in 2020 and have yet to be made public. An intelligence community inspector found in an early January 2021 report that U.S. intelligence analysts appeared to hold back information on Chinese meddling efforts because they disagreed with the Trump administration’s policies. The Iranian regime’s efforts to harm Trump’s 2020 candidacy were also downplayed by some Democratic opponents of Trump ahead of his face-off with Joe Biden.

It was revealed last year that a confidential human source told FBI counterintelligence in the summer of 2020 that China’s communist government was seeking to meddle in the impending election in an effort to help then-candidate Joe Biden, according to a raw intelligence report distributed to federal agencies that was made public.

Warned about being an easy target, report ordered "recalled"

Though officials say an ongoing second Trump administration investigation has found no evidence yet that vote-counting machines themselves were directly compromised in the 2020 election, the memo also shows how such machines could be vulnerable to intrusions in the future and made clear that the voter registration databases that were breached by China and Iran were easy targets. 

The ODNI had released a March 2021 assessment in which agencies unanimously agreed Russia sought to hurt then-candidate Biden while Iran worked to harm then-President Trump in 2020 — but the agencies did not reach unanimity on China. The majority argued China didn’t try to influence the election against Trump, while a minority dissent contended that’s exactly what Beijing did.

Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who is now Trump’s CIA director, revealed in early January 2021 that he had found evidence about the politicization of China election influence analysis inside the IC and of undue pressure being brought to bear against the analysts who had assessed that China had worked to stop Trump from being reelected.

The intelligence report was titled “Chinese Government Production and Export of Fraudulent US Driver's Licenses to Chinese Sympathizers in the United States, in Order to Create Tens of Thousands of Fraudulent Mail-in Votes for US Presidential Candidate Joe Biden, in late August 2020.” That report was soon recalled in 2020, with spy agencies told to delete the information before they had a chance to properly investigate its claims.

Bombshell revelations about alleged Chinese election meddling — and the politicized suppression of analyses pointing to Beijing trying to hurt Trump in 2020 — were made public on January 7, 2021.

Barry Zulauf, an analytic ombudsman and longtime intelligence official, issued a report to the Senate Intelligence Committee where he noted, among many things, that some analysts appeared to hold back information on Chinese efforts because they disagreed with the Trump administration’s policies.

“Given analytic differences in the way Russia and China analysts examined their targets, China analysts appeared hesitant to assess Chinese actions as undue influence or interference. The analysts appeared reluctant to have their analysis on China brought forward because they tend to disagree with the administration’s policies, saying in effect, I don’t want our intelligence used to support those policies,” Zulauf wrote.

China analysts balk at “that vulgarian in the Oval Office”

Just the News reported that Zulauf later revealed that analysts said they didn’t want their intel used by “that vulgarian in the Oval Office” to pursue policies toward China they personally disagreed with.

Ratcliffe signed an unclassified letter in January 2021 contending that “from my unique vantage point as the individual who consumes all of the U.S. government’s most sensitive intelligence on the People’s Republic of China, I do not believe the majority view expressed by the Intelligence Community analysts fully and accurately reflects the scope of the Chinese government’s efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. federal elections.”

The ombudsman's report, Ratcliffe contended, “includes concerning revelations about the politicization of China election influence reporting and of undue pressure being brought to bear on analysts who offered an alternative view based on the intelligence.”

Zulauf said that “due to varying collection and insight into hostile state actors’ leadership intentions on domestic influence campaigns, the definitional use of the terms ‘influence’ and ‘interference’ and associated confidence levels are applied differently by the China and Russia analytic communities.” In his January 2021 letter, Ratcliffe said that “similar actions by Russia and China are assessed and communicated to policymakers differently, potentially leading to the false impression that Russia sought to influence the election, but China did not.”

The ombudsman also revealed two national intelligence officers wrote an “NIC alternative analysis memo” in October 2020 “which expressed alternative views on potential Chinese election influence activities.” Zulauf said that “these alternative views met with considerable organizational counter pressure.”

“I am adding my voice in support of the stated minority view — based on all available sources of intelligence, with definitions consistently applied, and reached independent of political considerations or undue pressure — that the People’s Republic of China sought to influence the 2020 U.S. federal elections,” Ratcliffe said in January 2021. 

John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/dni-gabbard-uncovered-evidence-congress-and-trump-misled-china-and

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New Trump counterterrorism strategy elevates threats from leftist groups like Antifa - Kevin Killough

 

by Kevin Killough

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, the White House counterterrorism chief who crafted the 16-page strategy, told Just the News that a major addition are anti-propaganda tools and follow-the-money penalties designed to neuter political violence inspired by overseas leftists.

 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled the most significant update to the U.S. counterterrorism strategy since 9/11, creating new tools to fight growing leftist extremists like Antifa that are radicalizing Americans with a unique blend of Islamist and Marxist ideologies.

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, the White House counterterrorism chief who crafted the 16-page strategy, told Just the News that major additions include anti-propaganda tools and follow-the-money penalties designed to neuter political violence inspired by overseas leftists. 

"The left has normalized violence or made it a permissible thing to do," Gorka said. "We're going to identify and neutralize the left-wing radicals like Antifa, like the anarchists who took the life of my good friend Charlie Kirk, that have tried on multiple occasions to kill President Trump. We will not permit you to use violence against your fellow Americans for political purposes."

In addition to left-wing terror groups, Gorka said that the strategy will also target cartels and the "global jihadi movement." It contains tools to go after terror groups' funding, which he said would "strangle the lifeblood" out of the movements. Other tools would counter the terrorists' propaganda campaigns. 

"You can kill terrorists till the cows come home, but at the end of the day, you have to demoralize and delegitimize the message of global jihad, and that requires very aggressive counter propaganda operations, Information Operations, by the Department of War and by the intelligence community," Gorka said.  

Kevin Killough

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/security/new-trump-counterterrorism-strategy-elevates-threats-leftists-group-antifa

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Blanche says crackdown on immigrants who obtained citizenship fraudulently will escalate - Kevin Killough

 

by Kevin Killough

The Trump administration is currently pursuing more denaturalization cases than have been done in the last nine years, Blanche said

 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration's efforts to revoke the citizenship of immigrants who obtained it through fraud "should be worried." 

Blanche told CBS News on Wednesday the administration is pursuing more denaturalization cases than have been done in the last nine years. 

Blanche said the crackdown is broad and not limited to "anybody in particular," but he declined to provide any numbers. 

"I think you're going to hear more about this in the coming days and weeks. There are a lot of individuals who are citizens who shouldn't be," Blanche said. 

While the Department of Homeland Security oversees most aspects of the U.S. immigration system, the Justice Department is tasked with revoking citizenship of naturalized citizens. Last year, the Justice Department directed officials to prioritize a broad category of people for denaturalization, including those accused of financial fraud. 

Kevin Killough

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/blanche-says-crackdown-immigrants-who-obtained-citizenship-fraudulently

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Blue state gerrymanderers in legal crosshairs for violating civil rights, must comply, Dhillon says - Amanda Head

 

by Amanda Head

If congressional maps are redrawn in blue states to comply with the legal precedent established in Louisiana v. Callais, Republicans will likely pick up multiple seats in areas previously represented by Democrats. Ass't. A.G. Harmeet Dhillon predicts considerable legal brawling.

 

Following the Supreme Court's decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, other states that have used race as a predominant factor in gerrymandering are now under the microscope of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and will possibly be vulnerable to lawsuits and future redistricting mandates before the midterm elections in November. 

"This is the law of the land now, and eventually every jurisdiction in the United States is going to have to comply with race-free line-drawing," Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet K. Dhillon told Just The News.

The nation's highest court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that the state was not required under the Voting Rights Act to create a second majority-Black district and that compliance with the law could not justify the race-based drawing of lines, a decision that is expected to make it harder for other states to draw similar majority-minority districts in future redistricting. 

Dhillon signaled that the DOJ already anticipates legal action: "Some states have race in their constitutions as a requirement in districting. That's now illegal, so the field is ripe for legal challenges, not just by the Department of Justice, but by private plaintiffs, candidates and others." 

Ten states currently use race as a basis for districting

Ten states have enacted their own Voting Rights Acts (often called state VRAs or SVRAs) that explicitly prohibit racial vote dilution and allow (or effectively require) race to be considered in determining whether minority groups (defined as protected classes based on race, color, or language minority status) have been denied a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.

The states which have enacted these SVRAs and are therefore subject to legal action following Callais are California (enacted in 2002 and amended in 2015), Colorado (2025), Connecticut (2023), Illinois (2011), Maryland (2026), Minnesota (2024), New York (2022, amended in 2024), Oregon (2019), Virginia (2021, amended in 2026), and Washington. (2018, amended in 2023 and 2026). 

These states' laws parallel or expand on Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and typically prohibit election practices, systems, or districting that result in, or are intended to cause, vote dilution for protected classes. The practice therefore inherently uses race as a predominant factor in determining districts. 

The state laws variously require or consider evidence of racially polarized voting (where minority voters and the majority vote differently) plus other factors like a history of discrimination, unequal access to the political process, or effects of discrimination in areas such as education, employment or health.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its effects

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, was a landmark civil rights law designed to overcome state and local barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment.

Sparked by attacks on marchers in Selma, Alabama, the act banned literacy tests and other discriminatory Jim Crow-era practices, and required federal pre-clearance for voting changes in jurisdictions with histories of discrimination. It dramatically increased Black voter registration and turnout.

Congress renewed and expanded the law in 1970, 1975, 1982, and 2006. The Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision invalidated the pre-clearance coverage formula, shifting enforcement dynamics while core protections remain.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

History of gerrymandering  

Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing electoral district lines for partisan advantage, dates to the early days of the U.S. republic but earned its name in 1812. Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry, a Democratic-Republican, signed a redistricting plan that favored his party. Contemporaneous political cartoons depicted one oddly shaped district as a salamander, dubbing it the “Gerry-mander.”

The tactic — packing opponents into few districts or spreading them thinly — persisted through the 19th century, intensifying after Congress required single-member districts in 1842. Courts later addressed one-person, one-vote standards and racial gerrymandering, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that partisan claims are political questions beyond federal review.  

Amanda Head

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/blue-state-gerrymanderers-legal-crosshairs-doj-violating-federal-civil-rights

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