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Trump touts border security successes in address before Congress | National

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-04 22:28:00

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump touted a list of border security measures he’s implemented in his first month in office before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

“Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history – and we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossers ever recorded,” he said.

In February, illegal border crossings were the lowest in recorded U.S. history, The Center Square reported.

This was after Trump issued multiple executive orders to secure U.S. borders, including declaring an invasion, a national emergency at both the southwest and northern borders, and directed the U.S. military to assist with apprehensions and deportations, The Center Square reported.

“Twenty-one million people poured into the United States” under the Biden administration, Trump said. “Many of them were murderers, human traffickers, gang members and other criminals from the streets of dangerous cities all throughout the world.” They illegally entered the U.S. “because of Joe Biden’s insane and very dangerous open border policies. They are now totally embedded in our country, but we are getting them out and getting them out fast.”

In Trump’s first month in office, more than 20,000 illegal foreign nationals were arrested, a 627% increase in monthly arrests compared to 33,000 at large arrests in all of last year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. Overall, total removals of illegal foreign nationals exceeds 50,000, including some of the most violent offenders, according to DHS.

Trump cited examples of violent criminal illegal border crossers killing Americans, including University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, and 12-year-old Houstonian, Jocelyn Nungaray, whose angel mothers were in attendance.

Trump also countered a narrative of the previous administration that “we needed new legislation to secure the border. It turned out that all we really needed was a new president,” he said. The bill Democrats touted would have codified existing Biden administration policies, worsening the border crisis, The Center Square reported.

Trump also criticized the Biden administration for opening the U.S. borders by flying illegal foreign nationals into the country “to overwhelm our schools, hospitals and communities … like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio, which buckled under the weight of the migrant occupation and corruption like nobody’s ever seen before. Beautiful towns destroyed.”

By implementing a mass deportation effort, he said his administration was undergoing “the great liberation of America.”

Trump also highlighted his decision to designate drug cartels and violent transnational criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, saying, “They are now officially in the same category as ISIS. Countless thousands of these terrorists were welcomed into the U.S. by the Biden administration but now every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country, or if they’re too dangerous, put in jails standing trial in this country. Because we don’t want them to come back, ever.”

He also praised former Border Patrol agent Roberto Ortiz, who was fired upon by cartel members in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, saying, “he leapt into action, returning fire and providing crucial seconds for his fellow agent to seek safe safety.”

The U.S.-Mexico border, which was dominated by Mexican cartels under the Biden administration, “pose a grave threat to our national security … and are waging war in America,” he said. “It’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing.”

Trump also highlighted Mexican authorities transferring 29 cartel leaders to the U.S. “That has never happened before,” he said. However, Mexican and Canadian officials can “do much more,” he said, to stop fentanyl and drugs from pouring into the U.S., which is why he was holding steadfast on imposing tariffs.

Trump said he submitted a detailed border security funding request to Congress. It lays out “exactly how we will eliminate these threats to protect our homeland and complete the largest deportation operation in American history,” he said, calling on Congress to pass it so he can sign it into law.

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News from the South - Texas News Feed

Texas House sends bill to replace STAAR test to Gov. Abbott

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www.kxan.com – John Thomas – 2025-09-03 23:39:00

SUMMARY: Texas House lawmakers approved House Bill 8 to eliminate the STAAR test, replacing it with three shorter, adaptive exams administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year starting in 2027-2028. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will create the tests, which provide results within 48 hours and measure student progress more frequently. The bill bans additional benchmark testing and establishes an Accountability Advisory Committee to advise TEA. Passed 79-47 along party lines, Republicans argue the new system reduces stress and improves assessment, while Democrats worry about increased testing burden. The bill now awaits Governor Greg Abbott’s approval.

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News from the South - Texas News Feed

Epstein accusers in D.C demand release of Epstein files

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www.youtube.com – FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth – 2025-09-03 17:35:52

SUMMARY: Victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex crimes gathered in Washington, D.C., demanding the full release of Justice Department files on Epstein and his associates. Ten survivors, some sharing their stories publicly for the first time, called for transparency and justice, supported by bipartisan lawmakers. They vowed to create their own list of abusers and refused to stay silent. While Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie pushed for a vote requiring all lawmakers to state their stance on file release, GOP leaders argued the House Oversight Committee’s subpoenaed investigations were sufficient. The committee recently released some files, though much is already public, and further DOJ disclosures remain uncertain.

10 of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims coming together Wednesday to demand the release of all of the justice department’s Epstein files. Some of them even speaking out about their abuse for the first time.

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University of Texas system students sue, say new law could ban prayers, reporting, music on campus

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www.kxan.com – Cora Neas – 2025-09-03 13:06:00

SUMMARY: Student groups from UT Austin and UT Dallas, supported by FIRE, sued university leaders over Texas Senate Bill 2972, which bans First Amendment-protected speech on public university campuses between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., and restricts amplified sound, percussion, and invited speakers during finals. The law, linked to recent campus protests, is criticized for infringing constitutional rights and potentially punishing activities like prayer, journalism, music, and political expression. Plaintiffs include Christian, journalistic, musical, and conservative groups, who argue the law threatens free speech and campus support systems. The UT System has yet to respond to the lawsuit.

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