70RDAD23Q00000050 (ROPL-23-00018) A4 - Exhibit B - DHS Morning Briefing Sample - 20230414.pdf

DHS MORNING BRIEFING

Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mobile User Copy

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

TO: Homeland Security Secretary & Staff

DATE: Friday, April 14, 2023 6:00 AM ET

Top News

Biden administration to widen Medicaid and ACA health coverage to ‘Dreamers’ as DACA program remains in limbo amid legal battles

Air Guardsman Arrested in Connection With Leaked Documents; Investigators Have Yet to Clarify the Motive and Means for the Security Breach

Pentagon tightening access to classified information following damaging leaks, reviewing distribution lists and temporarily limiting briefings

US Urges Social Media to Not Share Leaked Docs in Damage Control

UN warns of ‘worrying’ rise in migrants crossing Darien Gap, one of the most dangerous portions of the long route to the U.S. borders

The Biden administration slows down the expediting of asylum applications at the border

DHS inspector general’s lawsuit takes aim at oversight of the IG’s

Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Introduced to Expand Mental Health Support for DHS Law Enforcement

[FL] Gay, immigrant groups issue travel advisories against Florida

[MI] Soo hospital receives threat, locks down

[TX] About 18,000 Cattle Are Killed in Fire at Dairy Farm in Texas; The cause of the fire is under investigation

[CO] Denver’s costly migrant response changes course

[Mexico] US, Mexico agree to ramp up fight against fentanyl and arms trafficking

[Mexico] Mexico’s immigration chief called to court over deadly fire

[Mexico] Mexico’s Deadly Fire a Sign to Rethink Migrant Detention Centers, Red Cross Says

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Do you have pending immigration matters? ICE activates change of address tool

[CA] ICE deported him to Afghanistan, then flew him back to L.A

Citizenship and Immigration Services

They helped the CIA in Afghanistan.

Now they’re suffering in America

[CA] $725 and free classes, that’s what the California state program offers to obtain citizenship. Here’s how to apply

Customs and Border Protection

Over 99% of migrants who have sought Title 42 exception via CBP One app were approved

[NY] Suspect arrested at JFK for attempting to smuggle fentanyl concealed in candles

[TX] More than 1,500 migrants turned themselves in through gate 36 at the border wall

[TX] Bridge of Americas Lot Closed ... 17

[TX] Socorro police find sex trafficking signs during migrant stash house raid 17

[TX] Vigilante’ border bill draws crowd of over 250 to Austin, where they wait all day to blast it

[AZ] CBP releases body camera video for fatal Border Patrol shooting in Arizona

[CA] Migrants say Border Patrol is keeping them between the border walls for days without food or shelter

Transportation Security Administration

FAA referred 250 unruly passenger cases to FBI during pandemic; Cases have decreased since the end of the mask mandate

[MA] Long Lines at Logan International Airport

Federal Emergency Management Agency

FEMA agency picks Sacramento and Boise to announce strategies for wildfire prevention

Snowmelt spurs flooding from Southwest to Rockies, 2 rescues

[FL] Torrential rain closes airport, schools in South Florida

[IN] Crews continue to fight major Indiana scrap plastics fire

[CA] Oakland struggling with $7 million in road damage from winter storms, report says

Secret Service

[MA] 13 Arrested in Connection with Large Scale, $2 Million a Year, Drug Operation that Included Sale of Drugs Containing Dangerous Tranquilizer, Xylazine

[NY] Trump Is Back in New York for Fresh Deposition in State AG Fraud Suit

[NJ] Member and Associate of Newark Street Gang Charged with Unlawful Possession of Machinegun used in Shooting of Three People

[MD] Three Nigerian Nationals Facing Federal Charges Related to a Fraud Scheme With Losses of More Than $6 Million

[AL] Priceville Police arrest man found with meth, fake cash, stolen IDs

[FL] Man nabbed after using counterfeit $100 bill at thrift store in Marion County

[FL] Middle District Of Florida Task Force Continues To Combat COVID-19 Fraud

[LA] LSU partners with U.S. secret service to support cybersecurity in Louisiana

[IN] IMPD adds downtown patrols for NRA conference

[IL] Granite City man who teaches in St.

Louis elementary school faces child porn charges

[IL] Urbana police seeking help identifying suspect using counterfeit money

[UT] Woods Cross gymnastics coach charged in federal court after being accused of filming minors with hidden camera

Coast Guard

[WA] U.S. Coast Guard Crew Rescues 3 Kayakers from Elk River

CISA/Cybersecurity

U.S. launches secure software push with new guidelines, urge ‘revamp’ of certain software to take cybersecurity burden off customers

Ron Wyden: Phone network for military and first responders potentially vulnerable to foreign hackers

Terrorism Investigations

[NH] Man arrested after posting video threatening to shoot school

[TX] Collin College, Texas Wesleyan hit by apparent ‘hoax’ active shooter reports

National Security News

Schumer unveils groundwork for AI regulation, “Time is of the essence” ... 30

Pentagon goes on AI hiring spree to bring machine learning capabilities to the battlefield

[MT] Montana close to becoming 1st state to completely ban TikTok

[Ecuador] U.S. courts Ecuador president even as Latin American country’s democracy deteriorates

[Norway] Norway expels 15 Russian ‘intelligence officers’ from embassy ... 32

[Afghanistan] Russia, China FM Attend High-Level Conference on Afghanistan

[Ukraine] Russia’s commando units gutted by Ukraine war, U.S. leak shows

[Ukraine] Leaked Pentagon docs show rift between U.S. and U.N. over Ukraine

[Russia] Leaked Pentagon documents suggest Russian government infighting over Ukraine

[Russia] Russia may discuss swap for WSJ reporter

[Russia] Russia names Ukrainian suspect in blast that killed pro-war blogger

[Russia] Russia says China agreed to secretly provide weapons, leaked documents show

[China] The most shocking intel leak reveals new Chinese military advances

[China] US ‘disappointed’ by Chinese court’s decision to uphold death sentence for American citizen

[China] China faults ‘negative impact’ of US military drills for Korean Peninsula tensions

[North Korea] North Korea claims new missile is a ‘breakthrough’ in weapons program, warns of ‘extreme’ horror

Top News

Biden administration to widen Medicaid and ACA health coverage to ‘Dreamers’ as DACA program remains in limbo amid legal battles The Washington Post [4/13/2023 7:06 PM, Amy Goldstein, 6902K, Neutral] reports that the Biden administration is proposing rules that would allow immigrants covered by DACA — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — to qualify for health insurance through Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the White House announced Thursday. The plan, which the White House says would benefit up to 580,000 people brought to the United States as children, would broaden the definition of who qualifies for those two insurance programs and one other. The expansion would rely on a regulatory change the Health and Human Services Department proposed Thursday that turns on two words: who has “lawful presence” in the country for purposes of being eligible for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and ACA marketplaces. It widens that umbrella to include DACA participants. Such changes in federal regulations often take considerable time, with months-long periods for public comments. But a statement from the White House says: “We recognize that every day counts, and we expect to get the proposed rule done by the end of the month.” The effort to make health coverage more accessible to this group of immigrants is part of a sharp reversal on immigration policy between the Biden administration and its predecessor. “We’re not done fighting for their pathway to citizenship, but we’re getting them the opportunities they deserve in the meantime,” Biden said in a tweet Thursday. Until now, ACA insurance marketplaces have been closed to DACA participants. Those marketplaces are designed for consumers who do not have access to affordable health benefits through a job, and they provide federal subsidies to most of the 16 million people who have private health plans through these insurance exchanges.

Medicaid is the nation’s largest public insurance program, run jointly by the federal government and states. It provides coverage to about 85 million low-income people. It has not included DACA participants, but several states have used their own money to permit similar coverage to such people. In addition, 18 states have adopted an option, available for about two decades, to provide prenatal care to people regardless of their immigration status, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-policy organization.

CHIP has existed since the late 1990s as a form of public insurance for children of the working poor, with nearly 10 million youngsters currently enrolled. Health insurance has been a particular sore spot for immigrants of all kinds, lawful and undocumented. As of 2021, the most recent data available, one-fourth of legal immigrants and nearly half of undocumented immigrants were uninsured, compared with about 1 in 10 U.S. citizens. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said about one-third of the 580,000 people participating in DACA do not have health insurance coverage. “Today’s rule would change that,” he said in a statement. DACA recipients were brought to the United States as children but do not have permanent legal status. Under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling, they are eligible for a public school education until they graduate from high school, but, until President Barack Obama announced the DACA program, they were unable to work legally and lived in constant fear of being deported. As many as 800,000 people have enrolled in the program, but fewer than 600,000 remain active in the program. The future of DACA is pending in a federal court in Texas. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ruled in 2021 that the DACA program was unlawful, agreeing with Republican plaintiffs that Obama had lacked the authority to create the program without an act of Congress. Hanen barred the government from accepting new applicants but has allowed existing participants to renew their work permits for now. The https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/04/13/aca-daca-biden-expansion/?itid=mr_health_1

Biden administration issued a rule last year in an effort to preserve DACA, but Republican states have asked Hanen to also declare that unlawful and to gradually bring the program to an end. FOX News [4/13/2023 11:12 AM, Timothy Nerozzi, 8967K, Neutral] reports that nine states asked a Texas federal judge in February to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a controversial immigration policy that was first enacted by former President Barack Obama and was renewed last year Biden. In the legal filing, the states - Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, and Mississippi - argue that Biden overstepped his constitutional authorities in unilaterally renewing the immigration policy without approval from Congress. Univision Austin [4/13/2023 8:15 AM, Staff, 598K, Neutral] reports that currently, court orders prevent the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from processing new applications. The DACA program has been mired in legal challenges for years, while Congress has been unable to reach consensus on broader immigration reforms. DACA recipients can work legally and pay taxes, but they have no legal status and are denied many benefits available to U.S.

citizens and foreigners living in the United States. The US News & World Report [4/13/2023 1:16 PM, Cara Murez, 33671K, Neutral] reports "Today, my administration is announcing our plan to expand health coverage for Dreamers, the thousands of young people brought to the U.S. as kids," Biden said in a Tweet announcing the change. "We’re not done fighting for their pathway to citizenship, but we’re getting them the opportunities they deserve in the meantime." The Hill [4/13/2023 12:16 PM, Rafael Bernal, 1592K, Neutral] reports “President Biden believes that DACA recipients strengthen our economy and enrich our workplaces, our schools and communities, and our country as a whole,” the White House said in a statement on Thursday. “That’s why on his first day in office, he called on Congress to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship and he has repeated that call every State of the Union address since. While Congress has failed to act, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken significant measures to protect Dreamers.” The measure will be a significant expansion for the DACA program, which allows some Dreamers — immigrants who arrived in the country as minors — to live and work in the United States. “Dreamers come from every corner of this planet, but the United States is their home. They are students, teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses, and more importantly, they are Americans,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “But, of the nearly 580,000 Dreamers who arrived in this country as children and currently have DACA protections, an estimated 34 percent do not have health insurance coverage. Today’s rule would change that.”

Reported similarly:

NPR [4/13/2023 3:56 PM, Kaitlyn Radde, Joel Rose, 5347K, Neutral] CBS News [4/13/2023 10:07 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 76K, Neutral] USA Today [4/13/2023 2:48 PM, Erin Mansfield, 4261K, Positive] Washington Times [4/13/2023 11:24 AM, Stephen Dinan, 261K, Neutral]

Air Guardsman Arrested in Connection With Leaked Documents; Investigators Have Yet to Clarify the Motive and Means for the Security Breach The Wall Street Journal [4/13/2023 6:29 PM, Sadie Gurman, Nancy A Youssef, John Kamp] reports the FBI arrested a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman in connection with a leak of what appear to be highly classified intelligence documents, a security breach that posed a threat to U.S. ties to some allies and efforts to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Federal agents took Jack Douglas Teixeira into custody in Dighton, Mass., on Thursday afternoon. Television footage showed armed agents leading a male wearing red shorts and an olive green T-shirt with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed Mr. Teixeira’s arrest in connection with the https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-allow-daca-migrants-access-government-health-care-plans-report https://www.univision.com/noticias/politica/biden-anuncio-cobertura-dreamers-daca-medicaid-seguros-medicos-obamacare https://www.univision.com/noticias/politica/biden-anuncio-cobertura-dreamers-daca-medicaid-seguros-medicos-obamacare https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-04-13/biden-to-expand-access-to-health-care-for-immigrants-brought-illegally-to-u-s-as-children https://thehill.com/latino/3948523-biden-to-announce-medicaid-obamacare-access-for-daca-recipients/ https://www.npr.org/2023/04/13/1169723830/daca-recipients-health-care-access-insurance-government-funded-medicaid https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/biden-daca-health-care-access-medicaid-affordable-care-act/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/13/biden-daca-medicaid-immigration/11656669002/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/13/biden-grants-obamacare-access-daca-dreamers/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/leak-documents-likely-came-from-air-national-guardsman-at-fort-bragg-official-says-dbf48c0a

“investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information.” Mr. Garland declined to elaborate, citing the probe. Mr.

Teixeira was expected to appear Friday in federal court in Massachusetts. An attorney for Mr. Teixeira couldn’t be immediately identified, and members of his family couldn’t be reached for comment. The arrest caps a fast-moving probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pentagon and others to pinpoint the source of a leak of documents that appear to have exposed details of U.S. surveillance of adversaries and allies, touching off multiple diplomatic storms and raising worries about undermining Kyiv’s fight against Russia. Mr. Teixeira has been in the Air National Guard since 2019 and is based at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, according to his service record. Defense officials said he was a member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing. The wing’s website says its mission is to “provide worldwide precision intelligence and command and control.” Mr. Teixeira has a rank of airman first class and is a junior Air Force communications specialist, according to his service record. It wasn’t immediately clear why somebody with his job title—cyber transport systems journeyman—would have access to the types of files that have surfaced.

The bulk of the more than 60 documents that have been made public so far appear to originate from the Central Intelligence Agency’s Operations Center and the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The documents appear to have first been posted online in January by a member of a small group on Discord, a social-media outlet popularized by videogame enthusiasts. The documents stayed within that small group, seemingly unnoticed by the outside world, until early March, when another member reposted several of them to a larger Discord group, where the material began circulating more widely. In early April, a Russian propaganda account on the Telegram social-media platform posted a crudely doctored version of one of the documents, alongside a few unedited ones, drawing the attention of the media and the U.S. government. The unauthorized disclosure of classified documents points to the challenge of safeguarding government secrets when that information is distributed widely among different military and intelligence personnel. Pentagon officials are now reviewing how that classified information is disseminated. Rep. Mike Turner (R., Ohio), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, called for more scrutiny of how government secrets are handled. “The House Intelligence Committee will examine why this happened, why it went unnoticed for weeks, and how to prevent future leaks,” Mr. Turner said in a statement. President Biden, when asked for an update on the leak investigation Thursday during a trip to Dublin, said he was concerned that the leak happened, but “there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequence.” On Wednesday, all service members and Defense Department employees received a message reinforcing how they are expected to handle classified information, a U.S. official said. Defense officials said a service member’s access to classified information is based on that person’s job and not necessarily seniority or age. Someone holding Mr.

Teixeira’s job title may have received access to classified material that others don’t because his specific job demanded it, defense officials said. He also may not have been authorized to access those documents, they said, or he could have been performing a function beyond his official title, which happens in the U.S. military. The Hill [4/13/2023 2:34 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 1592K, Neutral] reports Teixeira, 21, enlisted in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard and in July was promoted to Airman First Class. Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed the arrest in a brief public statement, indicating Teixeira could face charges under the Espionage Act. “Today the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information,” Garland said.

[Editorial note: consult video at source link] Reuters [4/14/2023 1:53 AM, Sarah N. Lynch and Idrees Ali, 5239K, Negative] reports Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters https://thehill.com/homenews/3949087-suspected-us-intelligence-leaker-arrested-in-massachusetts-reports/ https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-intel-leak/fbi-arrests-21-year-old-national-guardsman-for-criminal-us-intelligence-leaks-idUSKBN2WA1IL

Teixeira was wanted "in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information." The FBI said its agents had conducted "authorized law enforcement activity at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts." Aerial news video showed Teixeira with his hands laced behind his head, walking backward toward the armored car with one officer watching from the turret. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of the vehicle. Garland said he was taken into custody "without incident." Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement a Pentagon task force had been "working around the clock to assess and mitigate any damage." Teixeira was expected to appear in court on Friday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said. A police road block on the way to the house where Teixeira was arrested kept neighbors away from their homes. One was Dick Treacy, who said he saw officers arriving as he left to go shopping in the early afternoon. "There were about six to eight army guys with rifles walking around," Treacy said. "This is a very quiet area." Eddy Souza, 22, said he grew up nearby and that he knew Jack Teixeira when both attended Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School several years ago. Souza said Teixeira had expressed no extremist sentiments when they were last in touch several years ago. CBS News [4/13/2023 3:17 PM, Caitlin Yilek, Andres Triay, Pat Milton, Robert Legare, 76K, Neutral] Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, called the disclosures "a deliberate criminal act" but declined to comment further at a briefing on Thursday. "This is a law enforcement matter, and it would be inappropriate for me or any other DoD official to comment at this time," he said. The New York Times [4/13/2023 3:00 PM, Haley Willis, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Aric Toler, Christiaan Triebert, et al.] reports Airman First Class Jack Douglas Teixeira was taken into custody to face charges of leaking classified documents after federal authorities said he had posted batches of sensitive intelligence to an online gaming chat group, called Thug Shaker Central. As reporters from The New York Times gathered near the house on Thursday afternoon, about a half-dozen F.B.I. agents pushed into the home of Airman Teixeira’s mother in North Dighton, with a twin-engine government surveillance plane keeping watch overhead. Some of the agents arrived heavily armed. Law enforcement officials learned before the search that Airman Teixeira was in possession of multiple weapons, according to a person familiar with the investigation, and the F.B.I. found guns at the house. Not long after, cameras caught a handcuffed Airman Teixeira, wearing red shorts and boots, being led away from the home by two heavily armed men. In Washington, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, in a brief statement, announced the arrest and said Airman Teixeira would be arraigned at the Federal District Court in Massachusetts. Mr.

Garland said he was arrested in connection with the “unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information,” a reference to the Espionage Act, which is used to prosecute the mishandling and theft of sensitive intelligence. A motive in the case for now remains elusive. But, according to people who knew him online, Airman Teixeira was no whistle-blower. Unlike previous huge leaks of information, from the Pentagon Papers to WikiLeaks to Edward Snowden’s disclosures, outrage about wrongdoing or government policies does not appear to have been a factor. Indeed, the disclosures were potentially damaging to all parties in the Ukraine war as well as future intelligence collection. While some officials, including President Biden, have downplayed the damage from the leak, it will take months to learn whether U.S. intelligence loses access to important methods of collection because of the disclosures. The F.B.I. had been zeroing in on Airman Teixeira for several days, tracking its own investigative clues as well as some of the same information that The Times and The Washington Post had developed about the Discord group where he had shared the documents, officials said. Still, as reporters uncovered more information, law enforcement officials had to speed up their investigation.

While federal investigators believed that Airman Teixeira could pose a danger to agents https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jack-teixeira-leaked-documents-pentagon-suspect/ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/world/documents-leak-leaker-identity.html conducting the search, his online friends knew him as a sometimes hectoring leader of their small community. Several months ago, a user of Thug Shaker Central known as O.G.

began uploading hundreds of pages of intelligence briefings into the small chat group. The group also discussed guns and military equipment, as well as the original subject of their group, video games. While the members of the chat group would not identify the group’s leader by name, a trail of digital evidence compiled by The Times led to Airman Teixeira.

American officials have confirmed that they believe he uploaded the information taken improperly from U.S. military computers. As he posted the material, O.G. lectured the group’s members, who had bonded during the isolation of the pandemic, on the importance of staying abreast of world events. Airman Teixeira was trained as a cyber transport systems specialist, a job that could entail a variety of duties, such as keeping his unit’s communication networks running. He was assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, part of Joint Base Cape Cod, according to an Air Force spokeswoman. The 102nd Intelligence Wing’s official Facebook page congratulated Airman Teixeira and colleagues on their promotion to airmen first class in July. The New York Times [4/13/2023 4:00 PM, John Ismay and Jenna Russell] reports Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Airman First Class in the Massachusetts Air National Guard who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the intelligence breach, was trained as what the military calls a “Cyber Transport Systems Journeyman.” The service’s career website says cybertransport systems specialists are responsible for keeping the force’s communication networks running. Airman Teixeira is assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing, headquartered on Otis Air National Guard Base on Joint Base Cape Cod in Eastern Massachusetts. The job mandates that applicants complete what the military calls a single-scope background investigation, which is required before being granted a top-secret security clearance. It is not clear what security clearances Airman Teixeira might have had, or how he might have gotten access to the materials that were posted online. Those questions are sure to be at the heart of the continuing investigation and any political fallout from the security breach.

Reported similarly:

Washington Post [4/13/2023 7:22 PM, Shane Harris, Samuel Oakford, Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, 6902K, Neutral] The Hill [4/13/2023 10:47 AM, Jared Gans, 1592K, Neutral] AP [4/12/2023 8:00 PM, Eric Tucker, Tara Copp, and Michael Balsamo, 27K, Neutral] AP [4/13/2023 3:34 PM, Nomaan Merchant, 6902K, Neutral] CBS News [4/13/2023 5:53 PM, Caitlin Yilek, Andres Triay, at al., 76K, Neutral] CNN [4/13/2023 3:18 PM, Evan Perez, Jeremy Herb, et al., 6098K, Neutral] FOX News [4/13/2023 6:19 PM, Maria Lencki, 8967K, Negative] US News & World Report [4/13/2023 3:43 PM, Paul D. Shinkman, 33671K, Neutral] USA Today [4/13/2023 3:10 PM, Tom Vanden Brook, Kevin Johnson, et al., 4261K, Negative]

Pentagon tightening access to classified information following damaging leaks, reviewing distribution lists and temporarily limiting briefings The Washington Times [4/13/2023 12:31 PM, Mike Glenn, 261K, Neutral] reports the Pentagon is tightening the scope of who has access to classified information following the embarrassing leaking of military intelligence documents on an online chat platform that has sparked problems with allies and adversaries around the globe in recent days. A Defense Department spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation into the leaks but said Pentagon officials are taking the matter “very seriously.” Brig. General Pat Ryder told reporters they are working around the clock to confirm the scale and impact of https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/us/leaked-documents-massachusetts-air-national-guard.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/us/leaked-documents-massachusetts-air-national-guard.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/13/suspect-pentagon-documents-leak/?itid=mr_national%20security_4 https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3948598-friend-says-documents-leaker-was-military-base-employee-washington-post/ https://apnews.com/article/leaked-documents-pentagon-justice-department-russia-war-d3272b34702d564fe07a480598bcd174 https://apnews.com/article/leaked-documents-pentagon-justice-department-suspect-teixeira-3e1a40c7013da229c17d668b9be5f3de https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/jack-teixeira-leaked-documents-pentagon-suspect/ https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/13/politics/us-government-intel-leak/index.html https://www.foxnews.com/media/arrest-classified-documents-leak-suspect-jack-teixeira-met-outrage-incompetence-stunning https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2023-04-13/fbi-arrests-massachusetts-air-guardsman-in-connection-with-documents-leak https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/13/u-s-airman-named-suspect-online-leak-top-secret-documents/11657403002/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/13/pentagon-tightening-access-classified-information-/ the leaks. A junior Massachusetts Air National Guard member was arrested Thursday in connection with the leaks, raising immediate questions of how someone so low on the chain of command had access to sensitive intelligence on such topics as the war in Ukraine, private discussions of U.S. allies and pending military arms deals. The Hill [4/13/2023 3:38 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 1592K, Neutral] reports Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder on Thursday called the leak of a cache of classified documents online a “deliberate criminal act,” prompting the Defense Department to reassess how it allocates such information. “We continue to review a variety of factors as it relates to safeguarding classified materials — this includes examining and updating distribution lists, assessing how and where intelligence products are shared and a variety of other steps,” Ryder told reporters. “I would say, though, that it is important to understand that we do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information. This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines,” he added. CNN [4/13/2023 8:07 AM, Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Alex Marquardt and Evan Perez, 6098K, Neutral] reports some US officials who used to receive the briefing materials daily have stopped receiving it in recent days, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, as the Pentagon’s Joint Staff continues to whittle down its distribution lists. The Joint Staff, which comprises the Defense Department’s most senior uniformed leadership that advises the president, began examining its distribution lists immediately after learning of the trove of leaked classified documents – many of which had markings indicating that they had been produced by the Joint Staff’s intelligence arm, known as the J2. All the email lists have been reviewed, a senior defense official said, and some restrictions may only be temporary.

Everyone on the lists had proper clearance, but not everyone needs to receive that information daily, the official added. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder in a interview with News Nation on Wednesday said the Pentagon is looking at “mitigation measures in terms of what we can do to prevent potential additional unauthorized leaks.”

The leaked documents have exposed what officials say are lingering vulnerabilities in the management of government secrets, even after agencies overhauled their computer systems following the 2013 Edward Snowden leak, which exposed the scope of the National Security Agency’s intelligence gathering apparatus.

US Urges Social Media to Not Share Leaked Docs in Damage Control Bloomberg [4/13/2023 7:07 AM, Jennifer Jacobs and Josh Wingrove, 5543K, Positive] reports the White House urged social media companies to prevent the circulation of information that could hurt national security as it works to clean up an intelligence leak that exposed US spy assessments on Ukraine’s defenses and other sensitive topics. “We do believe that social media companies have a responsibility to their users, and to the country, to manage the private-sector infrastructure that they create and now operate,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday during a press briefing in Dublin during President Joe Biden’s trip in Ireland. Highly classified military documents, written in February and March, have appeared on social media sites in recent weeks revealing US assessments on the Russian war in Ukraine, as well as US intelligence gathering on allies, including Egypt, South Korea and Israel. The leak has triggered investigations by the departments of Justice and Defense, and raised worldwide concerns about US handling of classified materials. “We are certainly reviewing the national security implications of the disclosure and the mitigation of the impact release of these documents could have on US national security and also our partners and allies,” Jean-Pierre said. The Washington Post reported that the man who allegedly shared the documents on Discord, a website popular with gamers, was part of an invitation-only group with a mutual interest in guns, military gear and God. He was referred to by his friends as “OG” and according to the report indicated to https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3949221-pentagon-leaking-of-classified-information-was-deliberate-criminal-act/ https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/13/politics/pentagon-leaks-limit-access-military-secrets/index.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-13/us-urges-social-media-to-not-share-leaked-docs-in-damage-control friends that he worked on a military base.

Reported similarly:

The Hill [4/13/2023 10:06 AM, Brett Samuels, 1592K, Neutral]

UN warns of ‘worrying’ rise in migrants crossing Darien Gap, one of the most dangerous portions of the long route to the U.S. borders Yahoo! News [4/13/2023 10:37 PM, Staff, 13914K, Negative] reports UN agencies on Thursday warned of a "worrying" spike in migrants crossing the dangerous Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia, saying already this year more than 100,000 had made the journey. The Darien jungle has become a corridor for migrants trying to reach the United States, despite being fraught with dangers such as raging rivers, wild animals and criminal gangs. "The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warn of the worrying increase of people crossing the Darien jungle," the two said in a joint statement. "A record number of more than 100,000 people have crossed the Darien, six times more than those who arrived in the same period in 2022," they added. In 2022, an already record number of nearly 250,000 migrants crossed the Darien. The majority were Venezuelans, Haitians and Ecuadorans, although Asians, mainly from China and India, and Africans, mainly from Cameroon and Somalia, also made the journey. "Panama is facing one of the most challenging crises of mixed movements in the last decade, as part of an unprecedented displacement across the Americas," the agencies warned. "The dangers and levels of violence faced by people crossing the Darien are highly worrying," said Philippa Candler, the UNHCR representative in Panama in the statement. This week, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met in Panama with the foreign ministers of Panama and Colombia to seek solutions to the migration crisis. The AP [4/13/2023 9:25 PM, Staff, 22K, Neutral] reports that migrants and international human rights groups have denounced sexual assaults, robberies and killings in the remote jungle. That’s in addition to the natural dangers posed by venomous snakes and rushing rivers. U.S. forces could assist in targeting smugglers for arrest and locating “stash houses” where smugglers hold migrants, the official said, without specifying whether the U.S. forces involved would be military or civilian law enforcement. The United States, Panama and Colombia had announced Tuesday an ambitious 60-day campaign to shut down the Darien Gap route.

The Biden administration slows down the expediting of asylum applications at the border Telemundo51 [4/13/2023 3:47 PM, Eduardo Orbea, 22K, Neutral] reports the government of President Joe Biden paralyzed a measure designed to expedite asylum applications at the border in the face of the imminent end of Title 42, according to reports by the Los Angeles Times, citing sources from the Department of Homeland Security, as well as ABC News.

The paused measure had been announced in March 2022 and gave immigration agents the power to decide within 90 days whether or not a migrant should be deported instead of leaving them in the hands of an immigration court. These sources indicated that the stoppage would only be temporary, to give federal agencies time to prepare for the end of Title 42 on May 11.

DHS inspector general’s lawsuit takes aim at oversight of the IG’s Federal News Network [4/13/2023 5:38 PM, Justin Doubleday, 27K, Neutral] reports Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, is suing the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency over what his lawyers call “baseless https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3948542-white-house-says-social-media-companies-have-responsibility-to-manage-platforms-amid-leaked-document-fallout/ https://news.yahoo.com/un-warns-worrying-rise-migrants-023750576.html https://apnews.com/article/panama-darien-gap-migrants-c937f88260fb88f4c3d3e5e6041b8fa6 https://www.telemundo51.com/noticias/inmigracion/gobierno-estados-unidos-frena-agilizacion-solicitudes-asilo-frontera-inmigracion/2415624/ https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2023/04/dhs-inspector-generals-lawsuit-takes-aim-at-oversight-of-the-igs/ inquiries” into his conduct. And court documents show the Integrity Committee has been probing Cuffari’s actions around the deleted Secret Service texts from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The complaint, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges a “campaign of distraction and harassment” against Cuffari since he assumed the DHS IG position in July 2019. The lawsuit alleges many of the complaints investigated by the CIGIE’s Integrity Committee stem from Cuffari’s efforts to reform a DHS OIG that was rife with problems prior to his tenure.

Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Introduced to Expand Mental Health Support for DHS Law Enforcement HS Today [4/13/2023 6:39 PM, Staff, 10K, Positive] reports U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D- MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced bipartisan legislation to increase mental health resources for law enforcement personnel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The legislation would create the DHS Law Enforcement Mental Health and Resiliency Program to oversee and streamline the delivery of enhanced mental health and wellness services for DHS law enforcement officers and agents. U.S Representatives Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-02), Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Andrew Garbarino (R- NY-02) have also introduced companion legislation in the House. “Dedicated law enforcement officers and agents at the Department of Homeland Security carry out our country’s toughest national security missions, and they deserve more federal resources to support their wellbeing,” said Senator Peters. “This commonsense, bipartisan bill will expand needed mental health resources for these dedicated professionals who put their lives on the line every day to protect our nation.” It is beyond tragic that CBP has seen a record number of officers and agents lost to suicide in recent years. That’s why I am sponsoring this much-needed bipartisan legislation to address this clear health care crisis among DHS’s law enforcement workforce, which includes CBP,” said Representative Thompson. “We need a program at DHS that can not only provide mental health support, development, and resources, but ensure that the workforce can access those resources without risking their careers. I thank Senator Peters, Congressman Garbarino, and Senator Hawley for helping lead this effort.” Law enforcement officers and agents at DHS frequently conduct dangerous and traumatizing missions to safeguard communities. The legislation would provide DHS with a comprehensive and targeted approach to support the mental health and wellness of law enforcement personnel at this critical agency.

[FL] Gay, immigrant groups issue travel advisories against Florida Washington Times [4/13/2023 7:58 AM, Vaughn Cockayne, 261K, Neutral] reports Florida advocacy groups issued travel advisories for the state on Wednesday in the wake of legislation pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Equality Florida, the largest LGBTQ organization in the state, urged people not to travel to the state due to what it sees as a dangerous environment. “As an organization that has spent decades working to improve Florida’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive place to live work and visit, it is with great sadness that we must respond to those asking if it is safe to travel to Florida or remain in the state as the laws strip away basic rights and freedoms,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said in a statement. The advisory comes after Florida state representative Webster Barnaby called transgender people “demons” and “mutants” during a discussion on a bill that, if passed, would require Floridians to use public bathrooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Despite discouraging people from traveling to the state, Equality Florida wants those who choose to live in the state to fight against what it calls https://www.hstoday.us/federal-pages/dhs/bipartisan-bicameral-bill-introduced-to-expand-mental-health-support-for-dhs-law-enforcement/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/13/gay-immigrant-groups-issue-travel-advisories-again/ discriminatory policies. Florida Immigrant Coalition also weighed in Wednesday.

Representing more than 65 immigrant groups, it stressed the danger of the state’s immigration policies. The group’s travel advisory is in part a response to two pieces of legislation pushed by Mr. DeSantis. They seek to increase state power over businesses suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, letting authorities conduct random audits. State identification laws would be beefed up as well. State IDs issued to noncitizens in neighboring states would not be valid in Florida.

[MI] Soo hospital receives threat, locks down Public Radio 90 WNMU-FM [4/13/2023 10:20 AM, Nicole Walton, 1K, Neutral] reports that the MyMichigan Medical Center in Sault Ste. Marie went on lockdown Tuesday, after someone made threats against it. Around 1:30 p.m., Chippewa County Central Dispatch received information someone had made a threat of violence with a firearm toward the hospital. The Sault Ste. Marie Police and Fire Departments responded and provided security. Investigation revealed the suspect who made the alleged threats was on Sugar Island. No arrests were made, and officials say there was no threat to public safety. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department.

The Michigan State Police, Border Patrol, and Sault Tribe Police Department assisted at the scene.

[TX] About 18,000 Cattle Are Killed in Fire at Dairy Farm in Texas; The cause of the fire is under investigation The New York Times [4/13/2023 8:57 PM, Livia Albeck-Ripka, 19998K, Negative] reports the 911 calls came in rapid succession, with reports of an explosion and fire on Monday that officials would later say had trapped one female employee and thousands of cattle inside a milking parlor at a dairy farm in Dimmitt, Texas. As emergency responders approached after 7 p.m., they witnessed the thick plume of smoke, mushrooming over the plains. The worker, whose name the authorities have not released, was rushed by helicopter to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, where she was still being treated as of Thursday, officials said. “While devastating, I’m grateful that there were no further injuries,” Sid Miller, the Texas agricultural commissioner, said in a statement. As for the cattle, he noted, around 18,000 had died.

“This was the deadliest barn fire for cattle in Texas history,” Mr. Miller added. “The investigation and cleanup may take some time.” The episode appears to be the largest mass death of cattle in a single fire, not only in Texas, but also across the United States, in at least two decades, according to data from the Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit that has been tracking barn fires since 2013. During that period, more than six million animals have been killed in barn fires — which the organization says are often caused by electrical malfunctions — but less than 1 percent of the animal casualties have been cattle. Reuters [4/14/2023 5:16 PM, Andrew Hay, 5239K, Neutral] reports the cause of the fire was under investigation and it was not immediately possible to contact members of the family who own the farm in one of Texas’ biggest milk production counties. The blaze prompted calls from the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), among the oldest U.S. animal protection groups, for federal laws to prevent barn fires which kill hundreds of thousands of farm animals each year. There are no federal regulations protecting animals from the fires and only a few states, Texas not among them, have adopted fire protection codes for such buildings, according to an AWI statement. CBS News [4/14/2023 12:45 AM, Khristopher J. Brooks, 76K, Neutral] reports that each cow was worth about $2,000, and the 18,000 who were killed made up 90% of the farm’s total herd, according to the outlet. Texas is the nation’s fourth-largest milk producer, behind Idaho, Wisconsin and California, according to the U.S.

https://www.wnmufm.org/crime/2023-04-13/soo-hospital-receives-threat-locks-down https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/us/dairy-farm-fire-explosion-texas-cows.html https://www.reuters.com/world/us/over-18000-cows-die-texas-dairy-farm-blaze-2023-04-13/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-fork-dairy-fire-18000-cows-dead-texas/

Department of Agriculture. The Lone Star State pumps out more than 7 million tons of milk per year. The fire, which is still under investigation, started in a different part of the farm property, then spread to a holding pen where the cows wait to be milked, according to KFDA, a CBS affiliate in Amarillo, Texas.

[CO] Denver’s costly migrant response changes course Axios [4/13/2023 8:20 AM, Esteban L. Hernandez, 1011K, Neutral] reports Denver wants to change the way it pays for services for migrants who continue arriving here. Denver’s Chief Financial Officer Margaret Danuser tells us the city is spending roughly $800,000 a week in migrant services — an amount projected to cost the city up to $20 million for resources provided from December through June of this year. Services include housing, meals, and bus or airline tickets to take people elsewhere. The city will need to use money from its $32.5 million contingency fund to pay for the estimated spending. The new strategy was unveiled recently during a briefing led by the city’s human services department, which is primarily overseeing services. Danuser said the contingency money differs from the city’s rainy day fund, which primarily covers emergencies like revenue shortfalls. As of Tuesday, the city has served more than 6,300 migrants, city human services department spokesperson Victoria Aguilar told us. The migrants, who are primarily from Venezuela, started arriving in large numbers in early December. At least 762 people were getting city services as of Tuesday. The city monitors arrivals and departures daily. "This is an issue that takes place thousands of miles from Denver, but has impacted the city greatly," Danuser told Denver City Council last week. The city has spent $9.9 million on migrant sheltering efforts since December 2022.

[Mexico] US, Mexico agree to ramp up fight against fentanyl and arms trafficking Reuters [4/13/2023 10:52 PM, Lizbeth Diaz, 5239K, Neutral] reports Mexico and the United States on Thursday agreed to ramp up the fight against fentanyl trafficking, as well as Mexico’s Sinaloa and CJNG drug cartels and their supply chains, in joint bid to reduce consumption of the powerful opioid. The deal came after a meeting of officials from both countries in Washington. Both countries have in recent weeks asked China to help curb the shipment of precursor chemicals coming from the Asian country, in order to prevent production of the synthetic drug responsible for thousands of deaths in the United States.

"That’s our goal," said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard in a video released by his office, without mentioning the origin of these chemicals.