News briefs

Tribune News Service on Feb 21, 2025

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Illegal border crossings down 94%, Border Patrol chief says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to ramp up action, and much of the impact of the new Trump administration can be seen at the southern border.

ICE agents are working to apprehend people who are in the country illegally — enforcement efforts that are in line with President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to initiate mass deportations.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, in a Thursday interview with CBS News, detailed how Trump’s crackdown is already having a major impact on illegal immigration. Illegal border crossings are down 94% compared with the same period last year, he said.

Banks said Trump’s executive orders have led to the drop, with agents apprehending 285 migrants per day in the last week compared with 4,800 a day at the same time in 2024. He also credited the Texas National Guard soldiers working as immigration officers.

—Baltimore Sun

Luigi Mangione slated to appear at NYC court hearing for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson murder case

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione is slated to appear in court Friday for the first time since pleading not guilty to murder and terror charges stemming from the high-profile killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro is set to receive updates on discovery matters and other basic aspects of the case at the routine pretrial proceeding at 2:15 a.m.

Mangione, currently behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, will be temporarily transferred from federal to city custody to attend the hearing.

The 26-year-old Maryland man has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism, and nine related offenses. He could face a maximum term of life without parole if convicted in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.

—New York Daily News

Guilty verdict for man accused of attacking British writer Salman Rushdie

NEW YORK — Two and a half years after the attack on Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie, a U.S. jury has found the attacker guilty.

The 12 jury members of the court in Chautauqua district in western New York state found it proven that 27-year-old U.S. national Hadi Matar is guilty of attempted murder, media reports said on Friday.

Matar stabbed Rushdie more than a dozen times during an event in Chautauqua in August 2022.

The assailant could face up to 32 years in prison. Sentencing has been set for April 23, the reports said.

—dpa

Israel to step up West Bank operations after bus explosions

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to intensify security operations in the West Bank following non-fatal bus bombings on Thursday night.

Three buses exploded near Tel Aviv, without harming anyone. Devices in two other buses failed to detonate, Israeli police said.

Netanyahu said it was an attempt at “a chain of mass bus bombings” and said the Israel Defense Forces must “carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism” in the West Bank.

Netanyahu also said Hamas would pay “the full price” after a body it released on Thursday from Gaza was not that of Shiri Bibas, a mother taken hostage in October 2023, as the militant group said it would be.

—Bloomberg News