Texas land commissioner offers 1,402 acres to Trump for ‘deportation facilities’
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(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is offering the incoming Trump administration 1,402 acres it purchased along the Texas-Mexico border to be used in a mass deportation operation.
In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, Buckingham said she’s offering the land “to be used to construct deportation facilities.”
The Texas General Land Office purchased the plot of land from a farmer in October to facilitate Texas’ efforts to build a wall.
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” Buckingham wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live on Monday that she would not use state police or the National Guard to help with mass deportation.
“We will not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities,” she said.
Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission, and pledged to get started on the mass deportations as soon as he enters office.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition team said the president-elect will “marshal every lever of power” to launch his mass deportation plans.
“Local and state officials on the frontlines of the Harris-Biden border invasion have been suffering for four years and are eager for President Trump to return to the Oval Office. On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history,” Karoline Leavitt said.
In an interview with Fox News, which first reported the news of the Texas General Land Office’s offer, Buckingham reiterated she is “100% on board” with the incoming administration’s promise to deport criminals.
The plot of land is in Starr County, about 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas.
“Now it’s essentially farmland, so it’s flat, it’s easy to build on. We can very easily put a detention center on there — a holding place as we get these criminals out of our country,” she told Fox News.
(MADISON, WI) — Police are investigating the online footprint of 15-year-old Abundant Life Christian School shooting suspect Natalie Rupnow — who went by Samantha — as they piece together the course of events that left three people dead, Rupnow among them.
Meanwhile, numerous schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District “were targeted by false threats often known as swatting” Tuesday, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters at a news conference.
Police are investigating, Barnes said, and he noted authorities do not believe there are any current threats. “Making false threats is a crime, and we are working with the district attorney,” he said.
Barnes said police are still working to establish a motive for Monday’s deadly shooting, suggesting there were multiple factors.
Police are talking to students to determine if bullying was one, he said. “Everyone was targeted in this incident and everyone was put in equal danger,” Barnes added.
Barnes said police are also investigating Rupnow’s online activity. The police chief urged anyone who knew her or had insights into her feelings to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
One teacher and one student were killed in the Monday morning shooting, which took place inside a classroom during a study hall “full of students from multiple grade levels.”
Two other students remain in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. Three students and a teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Rupnow died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before law enforcement arrived, police said. Officers did not fire their weapons.
Rupnow’s parents are cooperating with the investigation, Barnes told ABC News on Tuesday.
“They were cooperative. Despite this tragedy, they still lost a child. They still lost a member of their family,” Barnes said.
“It is certain that they have probably more questions than anyone because they knew her,” he said. “They lived with her and so we wanted to get an account from them of what kind of child she was.”
Her father is being questioned by investigators, Barnes said. He said he didn’t know whether the mother had been questioned, noting that she’s been out of town.
A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night at the state capitol for the victims of the shooting.
“Yesterday, the Madison community experienced a terrible and traumatic event,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at the vigil. “We will never be the same, but we will get through this. And we will get through this together by relying on each other and taking care of each other.”
The victims have not been publicly identified. Rhodes-Conway told reporters during the news conference that they are respecting the privacy of the victims’ families and will “share what we can when we can and not before that.”
“Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal,” she said.
Students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend the Christian school.
“I was in the hallway, and I was changing from my shoes to my boots to go to lunch because I have recess after, but then I heard the shooting and screams,” a girl in second-grade told Chicago ABC station WLS.
James Smith told ABC News his 17-year-old daughter was in physics class at the time gunshots rang out two classrooms away. She wasn’t hurt.
Smith said Abundant Life Christian School welcomes students who may have been bullied or had a tough time at other schools.
“We, as a school, desire to help those who are having troubles, to be able to provide a safe space for them to grow, at the same time balance across a safe space for the rest of our student body,” he said.
Smith also said the school’s population grew dramatically post-pandemic as many parents sought an alternative to public schools.
In the wake of Monday’s shooting, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are urging elected officials to combat gun violence.
Biden in a statement called the shooting “shocking and unconscionable,” and he mentioned his administration’s efforts to combat the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., including the implementation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Biden asked Congress to pass “commonsense” gun safety laws, including universal background checks, a national red flag law and a ban on both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence,” Biden said, adding, “We cannot continue to accept it as normal.”
“It’s another school shooting, another community being torn about and torn apart by gun violence,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in remarks Tuesday. “And of course, our nation mourns for those who were killed, and we pray for the recovery of those who are injured and for the entire community.”
Harris, who played a role in the Biden administration’s efforts to combat gun violence, stressed, “We as a nation must renew our commitment to end the horror of gun violence, both mass shootings and everyday gun violence that touches so many communities in our nation.”
“We must end it, and we must be committed to have the courage to know that solutions are in hand, but we need elected leaders to have the courage to step up and do the right thing,” she said.
ABC News’ Alex Perez, Briana Stewart and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Once millions of Americans living in the Northern U.S. have had their fill of turkey, sides and pie, they could be treated with a dazzling event that could light up the night’s sky.
A geomagnetic storm watch has been issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, meaning the northern lights — or aurora borealis — could be visible from parts of the U.S. over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
A G1, or minor, geomagnetic storm watch was issued for Thursday, while a G2, or moderate, geomagnetic storm watch was issued for Friday. NOAA’s space weather predictors calculated the timing of a coronal mass ejection associated with a filament eruption that took place on Sunday. A five-level scale is used to measure geomagnetic storms.
A coronal mass ejection is a burst of plasma and magnetic field that erupts from the sun’s corona — essentially a huge cloud of charged particles ejected into space at high speeds.
This event could also be brighter because the geomagnetic activity has a Kp index of 5, according to NOAA.
The geomagnetic storm could also have minor impacts on radios, satellites, GPS and power grids, according to NOAA.
What are the northern lights
The term northern lights refers to the natural display of pink and green hues in the sky that occurs when charged particles from a coronal mass ejection interact with Earth’s magnetic field — resulting in a geometric storm.
The auroras are normally seen closer to the North Pole but can be seen closer to the equator depending on the strength of the geomagnetic storm. However, the farther south you go, the more red the lights will appear rather than the usual green curtains because the curvature of the Earth causes the particles to interact higher in the atmosphere, where oxygen is less plentiful, resulting in a more reddish hue, according to the National Park Service.
Where the northern lights could be visible
Northern and upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho could be treated to the northern lights, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center’s experimental aurora view line, which predicts the intensity and location of the aurora borealis in North America.
States like Washington, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine could see potential auroras as well.
The geomagnetic storm could bring an encore display of the northern lights to New York City, where auroras were visible last month.
In some cities, the aurora may be visible low on the horizon, according to the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
How to see the northern lights
The hours before and after midnight, when the night sky is the darkest, are the best time to see the auroras, according to NOAA.
Taking a picture with a smartphone camera may also reveal hints of the aurora that are not visible to the naked eye, Shawn Dahl, coordinator for NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, told ABC News last month.
Getting away from light pollution, and even the bright light of a full moon, will also enhance the viewing experience
Dahl also reminded star-gazers to keep their eyes dark-adapted and avoid constant interactions with the bright screens of their cell phones.
In addition, a citizen science platform called Aurorasaurus allows people to sign up for alerts that an aurora may be visible in their area
Why northern lights events will be more common over the next year
For the next year or more, the likelihood of seeing the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, will increase as Earth remains in the solar maximum of Solar Cycle 25.
The peak of the current solar cycle occurs one every 11 years, when more sunspots with the intense magnetic activity are expected, according to NOAA.
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith is in active talks with senior leadership at the Justice Department evaluating ways he can end his prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The decision is based on longstanding Department of Justice policy that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution while in office, sources said.
It is unclear as of today how Smith’s prosecutors will approach dismissing both the federal election subversion case in Washington, D.C., and their ongoing appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents case.
Trump has vowed to fire Smith “within two seconds.”
“We got immunity at the Supreme Court. It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” Trump said on a call into the “Hugh Hewitt Show” on Oct. 24.
But due to Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a president, a firing is unneeded.
Smith was appointed to his position by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as Trump’s alleged unlawful possession of highly classified documents he took from his time in the White House.
On June 8, 2023, Smith indicted Trump on charges he unlawfully retained classified documents and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal court in Florida.
On Aug. 1, 2023, Trump was indicted on four felony counts related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump also pleaded not guilty in federal court to those charges.
Both cases were thrown into disarray by the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer giving presidents partial immunity against prosecution.
The Jan. 6 case was sent back to a lower court, while Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed the classified documents case, ruling Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.
ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
