9m ago 12.18 BST US immigration officials push for increased detentions, including ‘collateral’ arrests José Olivares Senior US immigration officials over the weekend instructed rank-and-file officers to “turn the creative knob up to 11” when it comes to enforcement, including by interviewing and potentially arresting people they called “collaterals”, according to internal agency emails viewed by the Guardian. Officers were also urged to increase apprehensions and think up tactics to “push the envelope” one email said, with staff encouraged to come up with new ways of increasing arrests and suggesting them to superiors. “If it involves handcuffs on wrists, it’s probably worth pursuing,” another message said. The instructions not only mark a further harshening of attitude and language by the Trump administration in its efforts to fulfill election promises of “mass deportation” but also indicate another escalation in efforts, by being on the lookout for undocumented people whom officials may happen to encounter – here termed “collaterals” – while serving arrest warrants for others. The emails, sent by two top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials this past Saturday, instructed officers around the country to increase arrest numbers over the weekend. This followed the Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, and the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, pressing immigration officials last month to jack up immigration-related arrests to at least 3,000 people per day. US immigration officials push for increased detentions, including ‘collateral’ arrests Read more Share

33m ago 11.54 BST Dani Anguiano US immigration authorities have taken into custody the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the man who allegedly used a flamethrower to attack a Colorado rally for Israeli hostages, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday. Twelve people were wounded in Boulder on Sunday when the 45-year-old allegedly used incendiary devices to attack people demonstrating for the release of hostages in Gaza in what the FBI has deemed an “act of terrorism”. During the attack, Soliman allegedly targeted Zionists and shouted “Free Palestine”. The Trump administration quickly seized on Soliman’s immigration status to push its mass deportation agenda. Soliman, who was born in Egypt, was in the US on an expired tourist visa after entering the country in 2022. He applied for asylum that year and received work authorization that later expired, Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary said. Donald Trump has blamed the attack on his predecessor, arguing it was the result of Joe Biden’s “ridiculous Open Border Policy”. Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, announced on Tuesday that immigration agents were taking Soliman’s wife and five children into custody, and that federal officials are investigating whether his family knew about his plans. Soliman has said he acted alone, and told police “no one knew about his plans”, according to a state arrest affidavit. Family of suspect in Colorado fire attack taken into custody of US immigration Read more Share

48m ago 11.39 BST Michael Savage The BBC has defended its reporting on the war in Gaza and accused the White House of misrepresenting its journalism after Donald Trump’s administration criticised its coverage of a fatal attack near a US-backed aid distribution site. Senior BBC journalists said the White House was political point-scoring after Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, accused the corporation of taking “the word of Hamas with total truth”. She also falsely claimed that the BBC had removed a story about the incident. Leavitt launched her attack on the BBC after being asked about reports that Israeli forces opened fire near an aid distribution centre in Rafah. Brandishing a print-out of images taken from the BBC’s website, she accused the corporation of having to “correct and take down” its story about the fatalities and injuries involved in the attack. The Hamas-run health ministry had said at least 31 people were killed in the gunfire. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) later said at least 21 Palestinians were killed by IDF troops. In a briefing on Tuesday, Leavitt said: “The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas with total truth. We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC. “And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying: ‘We reviewed the footage and couldn’t find any evidence of anything.’” The BBC swiftly issued a robust statement. It said that casualty numbers were updated throughout the day from multiple sources, as is the case of any incident of the kind in a chaotic war zone. It also clarified that the accusation from Leavitt that the BBC had removed a story was false. “The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong,” it said. “We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism. BBC accuses White House of misrepresenting fatal Gaza attack report Read more Share

1h ago 11.09 BST Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is tough and “extremely hard to make a deal with,” days after the US president accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. “I like President Xi of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said on Monday that Trump would speak with Xi this week as the two leaders seek to iron out differences on last month’s tariff agreement in Geneva, among larger trade issues. Share