ICE carries out raid in Colorado, arrests over 100 members of Venezuelan gang: Officials
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(AURORA, Colo.) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 100 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua during an early morning raid at an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, on Wednesday.
Dozens of federal agents were seen going door to door and speaking to residents in their apartments.
ICE was supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Customs and Border Protection and the FBI, the agency said.
Volunteers with the Colorado Rapid Response Network, an immigrant rights group, were also seen using megaphones to advise residents to not speak or open their doors.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration sent its first flight of migrants to Guantanamo Bay, alleging the 10 individuals were members of Tren de Aragua.
President Donald Trump has railed against criminal gangs, specifically Tren de Aragua, in Aurora since his time on the campaign trail.
“We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country. We will defend our territory,” Trump said during a visit to Aurora in October 2024. “We will not be conquered. We will reclaim our sovereignty. And Colorado will vote for Trump as a protest and signal to the world that we are not going to take it anymore.”
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris ended up winning in Colorado by about 350,000 votes.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The college financial aid application used by millions of American families is now officially open for the 2025-2026 school year — 10 days ahead of schedule.
Top officials from the Department of Education said on a call with reporters Thursday they’re “confident” in this year’s FAFSA form after the botched rollout of a new form last year led to delays and glitches for students seeking financial aid.
What do I need to know about applying for financial aid?
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form is the main gateway for students and their families to qualify for financial aid through the federal government. It helps determine access to aid packages from colleges and universities, Pell grants and other loans.
The first step is for students and their parents to create an FSA ID, which can take several days to be approved. The application itself should then take about 15 minutes to complete, Department of Education officials estimated to ABC News. Though last year officials were overly optimistic about the timeline to fill out the form.
Most of the information required on the application are basic questions like your name, address and schools you are interested in attending, officials said.
The FAFSA must be completed every year students are enrolled in school.
Why was last year’s FAFSA rollout such a disaster?
In 2023, the Department of Education overhauled the form for the first time in 40 years. It was part of a mandate from Congress to streamline the application, making it simpler and faster to fill out.
Changes to the FAFSA formula also allowed more students to qualify for Pell grants — awards from the federal government that do not need to be repaid.
But the rollout was plagued by constant errors and delays, ultimately resulting in fewer students applying for financial aid.
About 430,000 fewer students — mainly from low and middle-income families — took advantage of the FAFSA last year because of the Department of Education’s failures, according to a September report by the Government Accountability Office.
The report also found that nearly three out of every four calls to the Department of Education’s call center went unanswered during the first five months of the rollout due to understaffing.
Responding to the new FAFSA rollout Thursday, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx, one of the Biden Education Department’s loudest critics, said she was glad the form was out, but “the Education Department now needs to ensure that the processing of applications is accurate, that missing capabilities are implemented quickly, and that future applicants never have to deal with this sort of botched rollout.”
How will the financial aid process be better this year?
This year’s form already went through four rounds of “beta testing,” with about 167,000 students submitting their applications.
“Simply put: the 2025-2026 FAFSA form is ready for prime time and is available both online and on paper,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters Thursday.
The Department of Education said it has boosted staffing at its call centers by nearly 80% compared to last year. It added more than 700 agents since January — with an additional 255 agents coming on board over the next few weeks as applications ramp up.
Starting Friday, it will also expand the opening hours for call centers for families seeking help with their FAFSA forms — from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET on weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. ET on Saturdays.
Officials said they expect to see a “surge of users today” after the announcement that the form is live, which could result in delayed wait times.
(NEW YORK) — A woman who died after being set on fire on a New York City subway train this month has been identified, according to police.
The woman was identified as 61-year-old Debrina Kawam of Toms River, New Jersey, according to the New York Police Department.
Kawam was sleeping on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on the morning of Dec. 22 when she was set on fire allegedly by a 33-year-old Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, according to police.
The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, has been charged with first-degree and second-degree murder and first-degree arson, according to police. He has yet to enter a plea.
“The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement released shortly after the homicide occurred. “This gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences.”
The suspect allegedly “approached and lit the victim on fire” with a lighter, police said.
Police officers in the area at the time smelled smoke and went to the train to investigate, where they found the woman standing inside the car “fully engulfed in flames.” She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Images of the suspect were captured on officers’ body cameras, as that person stayed on the scene after the incident, sitting on a nearby bench.
Those images were released as police requested the public’s assistance in identifying the man, who fled the train.
Three high school students recognized him and contacted police.
The suspect was taken into custody in a subway car at Herald Square within hours of the incident, according to police. When he was captured, the suspect had a lighter in his pocket.
A motive for the crime remains under investigation.
Zapeta was initially removed from the U.S. back to Guatemala in June 2018 after U.S. Border Patrol encountered him in Sonoita, Arizona, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said. He unlawfully reentered the U.S. at an unknown time and location, the spokesperson said.
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations will lodge an immigration detainer with the NYPD location where Zapeta is being held, an agency spokesperson said.
During a news conference on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Kawam briefly stayed in a city homeless shelter. He said authorities have been in contact with her next of kin, but he released no additional information about her.
“Our hearts go out to the family,” Adams said, calling the homicide a “horrific incident to have to live through.”
He said such high-profile “random acts of violence” have overshadowed the success police have achieved in bringing crime down in the subway system. NYPD crime statistic show that as of Sunday, overall crime in the subway system is down 5.4% compared to last year.
“It was just a bad incident and it impacts on how New Yorkers feel,” said Adams. “But it really reinforces what I’ve been saying: People should not be living on our subway system. They should be in a place of care. And no matter where she lived, that should not have happened.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump will order a “national energy emergency” and issue a “presidential memorandum on inflation” as part of a slew of executive actions meant to boost the U.S. economy on his first day in office, incoming White House officials told reporters Monday morning.
As part of these actions, which are expected to be signed “as soon as possible,” the officials said, Trump will “put an end to the [Biden administration’s] electric vehicle mandate.” Another order will focus solely on Alaska, which officials said has “an incredible abundance of natural resources.”
Officials said these moves were not only intended to spur the economy and bring down costs, but also “strengthen our nation’s national security,” citing the impending “AI race with China.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
