FBI plans to shift agents from immigration enforcement to counterterrorism: Sources
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(WASHINGTON) — The FBI is planning to reallocate potentially thousands of agents away from immigration enforcement to focus on cyber threats and counterterrorism efforts, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News Tuesday.
The shift in resources was prompted in part by the U.S. strikes in Iran over the weekend, the sources said.
The FBI has discussed shifting at least a couple thousand agents away from immigration work to help protect against threats from foreign adversaries, especially Iran, said the sources.
“The FBI does not comment on specific operational adjustments or personnel decisions,” an FBI official told ABC News. “However, we continuously assess and realign our resources to respond to the most pressing threats to our national security and to ensure the safety of the American people.”
Since the FBI started assigning agents to work on immigration enforcement in support of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, agents in the field had been expressing concerns that fewer resources were being dedicated to counterterrorism and cyber threats, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
ABC News previously reported that several months ago, the FBI directed agents from around the country — many of whom were working on counterterrorism and cyber issues — to focus instead on helping the Department of Homeland Security conduct immigration enforcement operations.
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(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — The flooding danger isn’t over in the wake of four days of deadly storms that devastated the central U.S. with catastrophic rainfall and destructive tornadoes.
For Andy Beshear, governor of hard-hit Kentucky, the biggest concern is people driving through water and around barricades.
“We need people to wait this out,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.
Twenty-three people have died since Wednesday from the storms, with the fatalities spanning Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and Indiana.
Four of the deaths were in Kentucky, including a 27-year-old man, Lee Chandler, who was reported missing after being swept away by floodwaters in McCracken County. His body has since been recovered, police said on Monday.
The rainfall from these storms was historic. More than 15 inches of rain deluged Benton, Kentucky — the most rain on record in a four-day period for the western part of the state — and over 14 inches of rain inundated Arkansas and Tennessee.
Flood alerts remain in effect on Tuesday in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Twenty-one river gauges are currently in major flood stage and more than 40 locations could reach major flood stage this week.
In hard-hit Frankfort, Kentucky, the Kentucky River crested near record levels on Sunday night, more than 17 feet above flood stage — the highest the river has been in decades at this location. The river is now slowly receding, but still in major flood stage.
Beshear said rivers have crested in many places and flooding should soon be going down.
He said he hopes people forced to evacuate can return to their homes on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced a new website, Floodsmart.gov, to help people directly access flood insurance quotes.
“It’s quick and easy and takes just a few minutes. Insured survivors recover faster,” Cameron Hamilton, senior official performing the duties of FEMA administrator, said in a statement. “With spring flooding and hurricane season both approaching fast, it’s important to take this first step so you can better protect the life you’ve built.”
ABC News’ Melissa Griffin, Max Golembo and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A National Park Service webpage about the Underground Railroad has been restored to its original state months after it was changed to remove abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman from the top of the page.
The “What is the Underground Railroad?” page featured a photo of and quote from Tubman as leading elements on the page, followed by text explaining the significance of the Underground Railroad in transporting enslaved people to freedom and out of the South. The page was altered to remove Tubman in early February, per data from the Wayback Machine, replacing the image with a collage of Postal Service Underground Railroad commemorative stamps highlighting “Black/White Cooperation.”
The change also altered the text to market the Underground Railroad as a bridge for “the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality” rather than “resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.”
Mentions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 were also deleted before the restoration, along with historical cards of enslaved peoples fighting to reach freedom and a mural of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first Black regiment made up of those raised in the North. All of these elements have since been added back in their original states.
“Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content,” the NPS said in a Tuesday statement to ABC News.
The NPS is a bureau of the Department of the Interior, and two anonymous NPS employees told the Washington Post that Interior Department political appointees directed senior career officials to identify webpages to change, which were then sent to management for consideration amid the Trump administration’s push against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. However, the employees told the Washington Post that they didn’t know whether the recommendations were the direct reason for any webpage removals.
“The removal of Harriet Tubman’s image and quote from the National Park Service’s ‘Underground Railroad’ webpage is concerning,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted on X while Tubman was still scrubbed from the page. “Tubman’s legacy and the resistance of enslaved people must never be diminished. We must stand in the truth of our history!”
Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., argued the removal was “an attack on truth, an attempt to erase history that would help us improve society today, a refusal to be uncomfortable and engaged in changing harmful policies and practices.”
The Washington Post investigation published on Friday pointed out these changes and others from the NPS. Its analysis of thousands of NPS webpages found several changes in language to rebrand racially charged moments in American history or remove references to slavery entirely.
A page on Benjamin Franklin’s views on slavery was taken down, and some mentions of prominent figures such as Thomas Stone owning enslaved people were omitted.
This comes amid a larger effort from the Trump administration to purge DEI from government webpages.
Last month, the Department of Defense said it “mistakenly removed” Jackie Robinson’s Army service as well as other content, including a page that honored the 60th anniversary of U.S. troops, in its effort to remove DEI from its sites.
Actress Viola Davis, who is set to play Tubman in an untitled HBO biopic, took to Instagram on Monday to share comment on the situation, saying the edits were “downplaying Harriet Tubman and slavery.”
“Really?!! Harriet Tubman?!!” she wrote in the caption. “Elevating this icon of American History is being diminished?!!! Erased?! Man…..Lord….give us STRENGTH!!!!”
(LOS ANGELES) — Hannah Kobayashi, who made national headlines when she disappeared in 2024, is speaking publicly after months of silence. In a recent Instagram story, the Hawaii woman thanked those who searched for her and addressed the controversy surrounding her disappearance.
“In my statement, I expressed my deepest gratitude for everyone who supported me with love and compassion,” Kobayashi wrote. “Anything I say would be scrutinized and picked apart, so I chose to keep it simple, truthful, and from my heart.”
In November 2024, Kobayashi disappeared after flying from Maui to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). She was scheduled to continue to New York, but never boarded her connecting flight. Police later said they believed she missed the flight intentionally. Weeks later, the LAPD said she was safe in Mexico and her family said she returned safely to the U.S. in December.
The disappearance took a tragic turn when Ryan Kobayashi — Hannah’s father — was discovered dead in a parking lot near LAX after traveling to Los Angeles to help find his daughter. The medical examiner determined that he had died by suicide.
The case sparked intense public debate, with some people questioning Kobayashi’s actions. One Instagram user, Jina_eastmeetswest, commented under Kobayashi’s recent post.
“Seek help,” they said. “Your selfish and immature behavior cost your dad’s life, put your family through immense suffering, and cost public resources. Not once did you take any sort of accountability.”
She did not reply to this comment.
Another user asked Kobayashi why she didn’t attend her father’s funeral.
“We feel like we were fighting for nothing,” they wrote.
Kobayashi expressed gratitude in her response, but didn’t address their question.
“Fighting for something you believe in is never for nothing,” Kobayashi said on Instagram. “Thank you for everything, truly and sincerely.
Kobayashi also told the San Francisco Gate that she plans to share more details about her disappearance soon, saying she wants to address the criticism she’s received.
Kobayashi didn’t respond to ABC News’ request for comment. As of Tuesday, Kobayashi has not answered questions about her father’s death publicly.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
