ICE sparks fury for reportedly detaining pastors — then threatening to take their kids

Faith leaders are calling on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately free a pair of pastors who advocates say were wrongfully detained by ICE agents in Texas on Thursday while traveling to a religious retreat.Pastor Nepthalí Zozaya Saucedo and his wife, pastor Cinthia Saraí Cardona Otero, were detained by federal immigration enforcers after arriving at McAllen International Airport.According to the couple and their church leaders, the longtime pastors at the Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel Assemblies of God congregation in Edinburg, Texas were on their way to a marriage retreat in North Carolina organized by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association when they were detained and taken to a US Border Patrol processing center in McAllen.At a Friday press conference hosted by leaders from the Assemblies of God and the Latino Christian National Network, LCN board member Sandy Ovalle said that the couple has valid R-1 religious worker visas.“We are calling for their immediate release, the protection of their due process rights, and an urgent oversight into ICE’s conduct,” Ovalle said. “No one should be pressured to give up their rights under the threat of losing their children.”A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Religion News Service that the pastors are “illegal aliens” who overstayed their visas.Addressing the conference by phone from the detention center, Nepthalí said that the couple was threatened with separation from their US citizen children if they did not sign papers authorizing their “voluntary” deportation.“They spoke with us about separation—to be separated from our children and even as married people,” he said, according to Religion News Service. “They spoke about how much time that we could end up spending here.”Speaking during the press conference, Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel senior pastor Sarai Martinez Luna said, “I think it’s very cruel that somebody that had no status for deportation be pressured to sign a voluntary deportation based on the separation of their children.”Friday’s news conference followed a Wednesday press briefing by faith leaders at the Texas Capitol in Austin to condemn the killings of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán in Florida, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.“This is not of God. This is no peace that we want a part of because let’s be honest, this isn’t a peacekeeping initiative. This is a terror campaign with the mission of traumatizing our neighbors until they self-deport,” said Dan De Leon, senior pastor at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. “We don’t need terror. We need peace.”Elyse Rosenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women and Temple Beth Shalom in Austin said during the press conference that “throughout our history, we have repeatedly seen first-hand the consequences of governments exercising unchecked power on vulnerable populations.”Friday’s event also preceded nationwide vigils in more than 300 communities across the nation on Saturday to demand justice for the dozens of people who have been killed by federal enforcers or died in ICE custody during President Donald Trump’s second term.“We refuse to grieve quietly. We refuse to accept this terror and violence as inevitable," Crystal Cron, executive director of Presente! Maine, said ahead of the vigils. “Johan Sebastián should still be here with his wife and daughter—and instead, his name joins a growing list of people killed by an institution that treats our communities as disposable.”“This is bigger than one shooting,” Cron added. “We will not stop fighting until there is justice for the Durán Guerrero family and a total dismantling of this lawless, criminal agency that took him from them.”

12-year-old killed, two men wounded in NYC shooting

Three people were shot-- including a 12-year-old boy who died -- when bullets flew in the Bronx Saturday, cops said.

Leftist Judges Again Block Trump’s Efforts to Stop Cheating in Elections

EXCLUSIVE: ICE removes former NFL player Daniel Ogama Adongo after visa overstay, criminal record

Daniel Ogama Adongo, a former Indianapolis Colts linebacker from Kenya, had overstayed his visa and faced multiple arrests including a criminal conviction.

Will Trump’s DOJ Regret Urging Appeals Court to Disclose Biden Tapes?

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has been suppressing Biden special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the Mar-a-Lago probe.

Troy Jackson picked to challenge Collins in Maine after Platner's exit

Democrats selected former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson on Saturday to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall after Graham Platner's embattled campaign ended.Why it matters: Jackson's selection is another win for the left flank of the Democratic party, which lined up behind another progressive candidate as their best shot at flipping one of the most important seats to win back Senate control.Driving the news: Delegates to a special nominating convention selected Jackson Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported. Jackson all but locked up the nomination last weekend after Democrats across the state overwhelmingly selected his preferred delegate slate."We're well on our way to getting the government that we fucking deserve," Jackson said in a video to supporters at the time. Top contenders in the crowded race subsequently ended their campaigns. Jackson replaces the scandal-plagued Platner, who was accused of sexual assault — an allegation he denies.Catch up quick: Jackson, whose campaign describes him as a fifth-generation logger and "lifelong fighter for workers' rights," finished third in June's Democratic primary for governor.His campaign priorities include passing Medicare for all, cutting off tax dollars to Israel's military, abolishing ICE and passing a federal right to abortion.Progressive kingmaker Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed Jackson in the gubernatorial race.What to watch: Jackson may have glided through his party's nomination process, but Republicans have been preparing for a massive ad blitz against whoever ended up as Platner's replacement.Go deeper: The Trump effect: Why Dems embraced a Platner time bomb

'Appalling hit': Absolute fury hits Trump as CNN honchos react to Kaitlan Collins attack

CNN pushed back furiously after President Donald Trump turned Friday's White House Correspondents' Dinner into a mocking fest for reporter Kaitlan Collins — including a jab likening her to a transgender influencer.Trump set his sights on Collins roughly 10 minutes into his remarks at the rescheduled gathering, held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, according to The Daily Beast. Collins had just accepted the WHCA's Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for her reporting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's February 2025 Oval Office blowup with Trump — a prize the president promptly dismissed as "fake.""She's a young, attractive woman," Trump told the crowd. "She never smiles. I said, 'Kaitlan do you ever smile? Smile!' You have a nice position; you're at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan! Just smile."He then teased that Collins had landed a major sponsorship, before delivering the punchline that it was actually transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on the Bud Light can, a reference to the 2023 conservative boycott of the beer brand. The riff was met with near silence."That was an appalling hit at our colleague Kaitlan Collins," responded CNN's Betsy Klein.Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter flagged that a rebuttal from Collins' team was already circulating before Trump had wrapped up his remarks. "And the fact that CNN had a statement supporting Kaitlan ready to go... in advance... tells you everything about this media moment," he wrote.Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny zeroed in on the contradiction of a commander-in-chief who routinely denounces the press nevertheless spending an entire evening at a dinner devoted to them. "For a president who complains so bitterly about the press, there's never been anyone in the history of the modern presidency who spends as much time talking to reporters," Zeleny wrote.CNN's Kristen Holmes delivered the sharpest jab of the night. "In addition to how much he speaks to the press, he is also one of the most unreliable sources at the White House," she said.The smile jab was not new. Trump has publicly hectored Collins about her facial expressions for months, telling her in June she had "hatred in her eyes" and calling her a "corrupt reporter."Friday's dinner was Trump's first as president. Originally scheduled for April, it was postponed after a gunman breached security outside the ballroom. The scaled-back redo drew about 700 guests, roughly a quarter of the original crowd. The 80-year-old president was also seen repeatedly closing his eyes for extended stretches as awards were handed out earlier in the evening.

Kaitlan Collins fires back at Trump after being singled out at WHCD

CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins responded Saturday after President Donald Trump mocked her looks and demeanor during his White House Correspondents Dinner speech, posting a pointed message paired with an Eleanor Roosevelt quote on social media.Trump told the crowd, "I wanna personally congratulate CNN's Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award; was all about me, it's a fake, she shouldn't get the award." He then added that Collins is "a young, attractive woman" who "never smiles," telling the audience, "I said, 'Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position. You're at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. Just smile, Kaitlan.'" Trump then compared Collins to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, joking that he'd mistakenly thought she'd landed "a major new sponsorship" before realizing "it wasn't her on the Bud Light can."It wasn't the first time Trump has told Collins she doesn't smile enough, having made a similar remark earlier this year after she pressed him on what he would say to Jeffrey Epstein survivors. Collins won her WHCA award for her coverage of the 2025 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.In response, Collins shared an image on Instagram Saturday featuring an Eleanor Roosevelt quote: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."Alongside the image, Collins wrote that the second-best part of the night was receiving her award from "my friend and mentor," CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. The first, she said, was "reminding everyone why the First Amendment – and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don't like – matters." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins)