2 service members killed near US-Mexico border in vehicle accident: NORTHCOM
(SAINT TERESA, NM) — Two service members were killed and another is in serious condition following a vehicle accident earlier Tuesday in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, the United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) said in a statement.
Shortly before 9 a.m. “Three service members deployed in support of Joint Task Force Southern Border were involved in a vehicle accident,” NORTHCOM said.
Tuesday’s accident are the first fatalities associated with the United States military’s mission along the border with Mexico that have been disclosed.
More than 10,000 active duty service members have been authorized for the border mission.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, officials said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is prioritizing revoking citizenship from some naturalized Americans who commit certain crimes, according to a DOJ memo posted online.
In the memo dated June 11, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate is giving U.S. attorneys wide discretion to decide when to pursue the denaturalization process in order to “advance the Administration’s policy objectives” as the Trump administration pursues its ongoing immigration crackdown.
While attorneys are urged to prioritize cases involving individuals who “pose a potential danger to national security,” the memo also states that they can seek out “any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.”
“The Civil Division shall prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence,” Shumate wrote.
Some of the cases U.S. attorneys should pursue are those against individuals who have engaged in torture, war crimes, human trafficking, and human rights violations, the memo says.
While the denaturalization process and requirements are codified into law, immigration attorney Rosanna Berardi says the memo changes how aggressively the Department of Justice plans to pursue these cases.
“The memo clearly signals that DOJ is going to pursue more of these cases, and not just against terrorists or war criminals, even cases involving undisclosed criminal records or procedural errors during naturalization are now on the radar,” Berardi told ABC News. “In the past 28 years of my practice, the government has generally left naturalized U.S. citizens alone. This is a departure from that mentality.”
According to a report conducted by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in 2020, the government pursued denaturalization cases at a very low rate, averaging only 11 cases per year from 1990-2017.
But those cases skyrocketed under Trump’s first administration. In 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it intended to refer 1,600 cases to DOJ for persecution, the report says.
The DOJ memo also lays out four other priorities for the department, which include “ending antisemitism” and taking legal action against sanctuary states and jurisdictions.
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — A 15-year-old has been arrested and charged for fatally shooting a Lyft driver in North Carolina, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
The teen was arrested on Friday in connection to the death of Carlos Leiva, 25, a Lyft driver who was fatally shot last year in Charlotte, police said in a statement on Monday.
On Oct. 23, officers responding to the scene found a man — later identified as Leiva — with an “apparent gunshot wound,” police said.
The Charlotte Fire Department and emergency medical services responded to the area, but Leiva was pronounced dead on the scene.
The teen was charged with murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and conveyance, police said. The circumstances surrounding the shooting have not been released.
After their arrest, the teen was interviewed by detectives and then transferred to the custody of the Stonewall Jackson Juvenile Development Center, police said.
The name of the teenager was not released by police due to their age.
Leiva’s brother, Daniel Davila, told Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC the suspect’s arrest gives the family “a little bit more peace now.”
Officials said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
(BOSTON) — A Harvard graduate student has described a “devastating” atmosphere of uncertainty on campus as the Trump administration appears to intensify its efforts to restrict international students at the prestigious university.
“It’s definitely been a roller-coaster ride,” said Fangzhou Jiang, who has one semester remaining in his master’s program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “Over the last week, everybody was really panicking about whether they should stay in the United States or depart immediately.”
A federal judge in Boston announced Thursday she would issue a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempts to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students.
The ruling marks a temporary victory for the university in its ongoing confrontation with the White House, which has launched multiple actions against the institution.
The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a letter Thursday giving the school 30 days to challenge the administration’s revocation of the certification to enroll international students.
The Trump administration has already frozen more than $3 billion in federal funding to Harvard and plans to cancel remaining federal contracts worth an estimated $100 million. President Donald Trump has also expressed interest in revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.
Tensions escalated further Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced officials would begin to “aggressively revoke” the visas of some Chinese students, sparking fresh concerns among the international student community.
“Everybody is wondering about the plan for next year—whether we should take a leave of absence, whether we should go back home and finish our semester online, or wait for more guidance,” Jiang said, who serves as vice president of student government on family affairs.
For Harvard, where international students comprise more than a quarter of the student body, according to the university, the impact could be significant. Jiang emphasized that international students play crucial roles on campus, from conducting academic research to facilitating cultural exchanges.
“Removing international students from Harvard will really not make Harvard the Harvard it has been for the last 400 years,” Jiang said. “It’s going to impact the amount of perspectives Harvard has. It will definitely weaken Harvard’s international influence and reputation. It is definitely not in the best interest of American higher education or the United States as a nation.”
Jiang said that while the university has committed to protecting international students through legal actions and other means, specific guidance for the upcoming academic year is unclear. Based on experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jiang remains optimistic that online learning options could provide a solution if necessary.
“The school has committed to protecting international students in whatever capacity,” Jiang said. “I remain confident that the university will be able to provide measures to help us finish our education at Harvard.”
Harvard University did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
