FAA halts El Paso flights for 10 days, citing ‘special security reasons’
A sign at the El Paso International Airport (ELP) on December 25, 2025 in El Paso, Texas. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
(EL PASO, Texas) — The Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions over El Paso, Texas, and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, prohibiting all flight operations there for the next 10 days for “special security reasons,” according to a notice.
The notice said no flights could operate beginning early Wednesday within a 10 nautical mile radius of El Paso Airport, including from the ground up to 17,999 feet. The restrictions will remain in effect until Feb. 21, the notice said. This excludes the Mexican airspace.
El Paso Airport authorities told ABC News in a statement, “The FAA, on short notice, issued a temporary flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso and our neighboring community, Santa Teresa, NM. The restriction prohibits all aircraft operations (including commercial, cargo and general aviation) and is effective from February 10 at 11:30 PM (MST) to February 20 at 11:30PM (MST). Airport staff has reached out to the FAA, and we are pending additional guidance.”
The airport says airlines have been advised of the restrictions, and travelers are encouraged to check with their airlines on the latest flight information.
The airspace has been defined as “national defense airspace,” according to the FAA. Pilots who violate these restrictions could be intercepted or detained for questioning by law enforcement.
Failure to comply with these restrictions could result in the FAA imposing a civil penalty or revoking the pilot’s license. The federal government can also pursue criminal charges or even use “deadly force” against an aircraft if it poses an imminent security threat, according to the notice.
ABC News has reached out to the FAA for additional information behind these restrictions as well as to airlines about disruptions to their operations.
El Paso is home to one of the largest cargo facilities near the border, so these restrictions could have a significant impact on shipments as well. ABC News has also contacted air cargo carriers for any information.
In this June 25, 2018, file photo, an entrance to Fort Bliss is shown, in Fort Bliss, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE)
(EL PASO, Texas) — Several detainees at a Texas immigration detention facility claim in sworn court declarations that they heard a Cuban immigrant, whose death was later ruled a homicide, pleading for medication shortly before hearing what sounded like guards slamming him to the ground.
Geraldo Lunas Campos died in ICE custody on Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He is the third detainee to die at the detention center since it opened last year as a tent facility on the grounds of the Fort Bliss Army base outside El Paso.
In an autopsy report released last week, the El Paso County deputy medical examiner determined that Campos died from “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”
Attorneys for the Campos family filed an emergency petition last week to prevent alleged witnesses from being deported. The petition, which was granted by a federal judge, cites reports alleging that guards at the facility choked and asphyxiated Campos.
Some of those witnesses submitted sworn declarations this week alleging that they heard Campos ask guards for his asthma medication on the day he died.
“The guard then said, ‘Shut up or we’re going to make you faint,'” wrote Henry Bolano, a detainee, in English and Spanish. “The last thing I heard was Geraldo speak in a voice that sounded like he couldn’t breathe. He said, ‘Let go of me. You’re asphyxiating me.'”
“Then there was silence,” Bolano wrote.
Santo Jesus Flores, another detainee, said he heard a “struggle ensue” that sounded like “the slamming of a person’s body against the floor or the wall” after Campos asked for his medication.
“I heard Geraldo scream that he could not breathe,” Flores said. “I could hear them trying to revive him, but they could not keep him alive.”
A DHS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News regarding the detainees’ sworn declarations.
According to DHS, Campos was detained in July during an immigration enforcement action in New York. He had prior convictions including sexual contact with a minor and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the DHS and court records.
In a statement released following his death, a DHS spokesperson said Campos was pronounced dead after “experiencing medical distress.”
“Lunas became disruptive while in line for medication and refused to return to his assigned dorm,” the statement said. “He was subsequently placed in segregation. While in segregation, staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance.”
(SAUKVILLE, Wis.) — Tom Uttech has lived on his 52-acre property in Saukville, Wisconsin, for nearly 40 years.
From outside Uttech’s home art studio, the landscape is filled with rolling hills, topped with wildflowers that build to the highest point in the township, where rows of evergreens that Uttech says he planted by hand in 1988 have since grown into mature trees.
“That kind of scares me because I didn’t think I was that old,” Uttech said of the trees that he’s watched grow over the decades.
The 83-year-old renowned landscape painter, whose work has been displayed at museums across the country, has spent hundreds of hours and years of work over the last few decades maintaining and curating his land into a sweeping prairie that has come to serve as the inspiration for his work and his livelihood.
It’s a lifetime of work that Uttech now says has come under threat after receiving a letter in the mail from his utility company informing him that a massive power line would need to be built through his property, undoing years of work and stripping away the muse for his art.
“I couldn’t believe it, and I still don’t,” Uttech told ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Schulze when asked what his initial reaction was to the news. “They’d be putting power lines that are 300 or something feet tall, taller than apparently the Statue of Liberty.”
Uttech later learned that the transmission line would be used to help power a massive $15 billion data center campus that’s set to be built on over 500 football fields’ worth of farmland in nearby in Port Washington — a signature part of the Trump administration’s $500 billion Stargate partnership with OpenAI and Oracle, which President Donald Trump hopes will help supercharge the artificial intelligence revolution.
Uttech is facing what other residents in his town — and others around the country — are facing more and more: the risk of losing parts of his land to eminent domain, the government’s legal authority to seize private property for public use, in support of the growing expansion of AI data centers as the demand to power them continues to grow.
The threat, in some ways, is a physical manifestation of what many people like Uttech fear the artificial intelligence boom could mean for their work.
Across the United States there currently more than 3,000 data centers, and that number will soon grow by 1,200 more now under construction, according to Data Center Map, an industry service that tracks data center development.
”These facilities are so energy-intensive,” Ari Peskoe, who directs the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard University, told ABC News. “A single sort of warehouse can use as much electricity as a large U.S. city. The amount of new infrastructure that has to be built to power that facility is unlike anything we’ve seen in generations.”
The Trump administration has pushed to rapidly build and deploy AI with urgency, arguing it will be vital to stay ahead of rivals like China and protect national security.
“I’m going to help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built,” Trump said at a White House event announcing the Stargate initiative last January. “So they have to produce a lot of electricity. And we’ll make it possible for them to get this production done easily, at their own plants if they want.”
‘It’s going to transform our community’ In nearby Port Washington, Mayor Ted Neitzke wants to make sure that investment is made right in his town, which he says is desperate for it.
“It’s exciting because it’s going to transform our community, it’s going to create a tax base and jobs and secondary and tertiary workforce and opportunities that we have not even envisioned, and it’s going to lead us into a real renaissance,” said Neitzke, who told ABC News the project would bring thousands of new jobs and much needed tax revenue.
“In a few years when the financing and everything is all done and the deal solidifies, they will pay the overwhelming majority of property taxes for the citizens of the city of Port Washington,” he said.
A representative for the industry group Data Center Coalition, when asked about the Port Washington project, told ABC News that the industry is making “multi-billion-dollar investments across the nation, including Wisconsin, to advance the digital economy, and in the process, provide significant benefits to local communities.”
“These include creating hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs, providing billions of dollars in economic investment, and generating significant local, state, and federal tax revenue that helps fund schools, transportation, public safety, tax relief for residents and small businesses, and other community priorities,” the group said.
On top of outcries from the community over growing eminent domain concerns, the project has ignited backlash from some residents who are fearful that, as has been the case in some other communities around the country, the data center’s potential stress on the current electrical grid could lead to higher electric bills.
Nationwide, electricity prices jumped 6.9% in 2025 — more than double the inflation rate of 2.9% — according to new analysis by Goldman Sachs economists, who said they “expect data centers to boost electricity demand significantly, accounting for about 40% of total power demand growth over the next five years.”
In response, activists in Wisconsin, led by the community group Great Lakes Neighbors, have organized protests including a rally at the state capitol earlier this month. The tensions in the city were on full display last December when multiple anti-AI data center protesters were arrested, and one was dragged out of the city council meeting after chanting “Recall, recall, recall,” directed at Mayor Neitzke, after her allotted time had ended.
“I did go to the council meeting purely intending to speak. I had a speech prepared. Again, I had spoken earlier in other council meetings,” Christine LeJeune, the protester who was forcibly removed from the council meeting, told ABC News about the incident, adding that from her perspective, “the message was if you speak out, then this is what will happen to you.”
Pressed on the arrests at the recent council meeting, Neitzke, who faced a failed recall attempt over his support for the data center project, defended law enforcement when asked about the incident, while adding that incidents like that are “not the norm here.”
“I stand right next to our police department,” Neitzke said. “I thought they were very kind. They were very cordial, multiple warnings. Please, please, please.”
The mayor told ABC News that amid the backlash over the project, he’s been on the receiving end of threats to him and his family.
“I can play you the voicemails of the threats I receive from all over the country to my family’s safety,” he said. “What I did not see coming was that our officers following the law and enforcing the law would lead to people threatening our physical safety. That’s not OK.”
Paying their own way With the construction of the data center already underway, local activists around Port Washington are hoping to push for commitments from companies to cover increases to their bills and not pass any increases on to customers.
Both OpenAI and Oracle said in statements to ABC News that they were committed to paying their own way and said they would mitigate the impact of these data centers on customers and their electricity bills by pledging to build out renewable energy sources to create more power.
“In Wisconsin, and across all of our U.S. Stargate sites, we are committed to paying our own way on energy so that our operations do not increase local electricity prices,” OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice said in a statement. “Our Port Washington site will help support AI services used by millions of people and businesses across the country — the majority of whom use it for free — and it will bring jobs and long-term investment to the region.”
In a statement to ABC News, Oracle said, “In partnership with WE Energies, we’re paying our own way on energy so ratepayers’ bills and electric grid reliability are never impacted by our data center. Seventy percent of the energy used for the Port Washington campus will come from zero-emission sources, including wind, solar, and batteries. The project will add about 2,000 MW of new zero-emission power to Wisconsin’s grid, which means more reliable, affordable energy will be available to local families and businesses. Oracle — not ratepayers — will fund these electrical infrastructure upgrades.”
The fate of Uttech’s land rests with whether the American Transmission Company (ATC) moves forward with what the company has called either the “preferred route” for the new transmission lines — or the “preferred alternative route,” the latter of which follows existing transmission lines. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, the state agency that regulates utilities, will review ATC’s project application for the data center, including the proposed route options, and will select the final route.
Vantage, the data center operator, told ABC News in a statement that it supports the alternative route and that they are “committed to being a good neighbor” and are “prioritizing investing in sustainable energy, minimizing local impact and partnering closely with the community to be an economic driver for the state while enhancing the daily lives of residents.”
“Residents and businesses in Port Washington will not see an increase in their electric bills due to this project,” the Vantage statement said.
A representative from ATC told ABC News that they consider “several factors such as cost to ratepayers, landowner impacts, environmental sensitivities, and engineering considerations when studying power line routes and locations for supporting infrastructure” and that “The route designated as ‘preferred’ offers a lower cost to ratepayers and maximizes the use of existing corridors.”
“We understand that others may favor the alternative route for different considerations,” the ATC representative said.
‘I’m not going to just roll over’ Uttech, who at 83 still regularly jumps on a four-wheeler to traverse his sprawling property in search of inspiration, is working with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative law firm, to take on the data center that could cost him his land.
“The use of eminent domain power must be the absolute last resort … This is not such a case,” the firm wrote in a letter to ATC. “We will do all we can to protect the Uttech family’s private property rights.”
“Building the power lines on their land would cause irreparable damage to the natural beauty and wildlife the Uttech family has spent decades developing, and which Tom enjoys as inspiration for his work,” WILL deputy council Lucas Vebber said.
While Uttech says he understands that AI is a growing billion-dollar industry that is already in motion and can’t be stopped, he is vowing to continue his fight.
“They brought the fight to me and I’m not going to just roll over,” he told ABC News, saying he plans to fight “right to the end.”
Caution tape near the front entrance of Temple Israel a day after an active shooter incident on March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Authorities say a suspect who rammed a vehicle into the synagogue and opened fire was killed after an exchange of gunfire with security, and the incident is being investigated as a targeted act of violence. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
(WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich.) — The man armed with fireworks who rammed his truck into a West Bloomfield, Michigan, synagogue was carrying out “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan,” the FBI said.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was “motivated and inspired by Hezbollah’s militant ideology” for his March 12 attack at Temple Israel, Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said at a news conference on Monday.
Ghazali — who wanted to kill as many people as possible, Runyan said — died at the scene. Dozens of law enforcement officers were hurt in the incident but nobody inside the synagogue was injured, authorities said.
On March 9, three days before the attack, Ghazali, 41, started looking at web pages for local synagogues, Runyan said.
He tried to buy a gun from two different people. After they said no, he bought an AR-style rifle at a gun store, along with 10 rifle magazines and approximately 300 rounds of ammunition, she said.
Ghazali searched online for phrases including “largest gathering of Israelis in Michigan” and “Israelis near me,” and tried to delete his search history, Runyan said.
He also practiced using his gun at a shooting range and purchased more than $2,200 worth of fireworks, she said.
On March 11, he began adding photos to a Facebook photo album that he called “vengeance,” Runyan said. He posted images that included Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, she said.
On March 12, the morning of the attack, Ghazali posted numerous photos of his deceased family members to Facebook, and he wrote online, “We will seek retribution for his sacred blood,” according to Runyan.
Ghazali’s two brothers and several other relatives were killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 5, a town official in Mashghara, Lebanon, told ABC News earlier this month.
On March 12, while sitting in the synagogue parking lot, Ghazali sent his sister “19 videos, photos and messages that reiterated his intent to commit a mass terrorist attack, as well as affirming his Hezbollah-inspired ideology,” Runyan said.
Ghazali also exchanged several short phone calls with his ex-wife shortly before the attack, Runyan said. The ex-wife called local police requesting a welfare check, she said.
On the afternoon of March 12, Ghazali plowed his truck into the synagogue and struck a security guard, authorities said. When Ghazali’s truck jammed in a hallway, he opened fire, authorities said, and security guards returned fire.
The synagogue became engulfed in fire. Runyan said Ghazali used approximately 35 gallons of gasoline.
Ghazali died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during an exchange of gunfire with security guards, officials said.
Dozens of law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said, but nobody inside the synagogue was hurt, including all 140 students at the building’s preschool. The security guard hit by the suspect’s truck was expected to be OK, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
Runyan said she couldn’t say whether Ghazali was inspired by the strikes in Iran but did say he was “engaging in that ideology” before his relatives’ deaths. She said the FBI has not been able to verify if Ghazali — a U.S. citizen with no criminal history — was in Hezbollah.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Jerome Gorgon said at Monday’s news conference, “Had this man lived, I’m convinced that my office would prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he committed the federal crime of providing material support to Hezbollah.”
Ghazali “acted under Hezbollah’s direct and control,” Gorgon said. “Terrorist propaganda is designed to activate the so-called ‘lone wolf’ to act on behalf of the terrorist organization.”
