
ICE races to build migrant tent camps after $45 billion GOP funding boost, WSJ reports
The agency is prioritizing large-scale tent facilities at military bases and ICE jails, including a 5,000-bed site at Fort Bliss in Texas and others in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey, the report added, citing documents seen by WSJ.
Top U.S. officials at Homeland Security, including U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have expressed a preference for detention centers run by Republican states and local governments rather than private prison companies, the report said.
The White House and ICE did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Noem said last week that she was in talks with five Republican-led states to build other detention sites inspired by the "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in Florida.
"We've had several other states that are actually using Alligator Alcatraz as a model for how they can partner with us," Noem told a press conference in Florida without naming any of the states.

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The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
RFK Jr. looks to boot panel that decided which HIV and cancer screenings would be free: report
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly planning to remove all the members of an influential health task force that helps determine what preventative care services insurers must cover for free, after removing all members of a vaccine advisory board last month. Kennedy wants to clean house at U.S. Preventative Services Task Force next because he believes its 16 members have become too 'woke,' The Wall Street Journal reports. Under 2010's Affordable Care Act, the task force makes evidence-based, public recommendations on a variety of treatments, ranging HIV prevention to prenatal care to mental health, that insurers must cover at no cost to patients. Health and Human Services has said the secretary hasn't made a final decision regarding the task force. The Independent has contacted the agency for comment. Kennedy's reported dissatisfaction with the group comes after the American Conservative magazine accused the task force of being a 'festering corner of woke bureaucracy' in an article earlier this month. 'The task force is packed with Biden administration appointees devoted to the ideological capture of medicine,' the author argued, pointing to 'sinister' recent task force actions committing to removing racial inequities in health care and using more inclusive language around gender. Earlier this month, a July meeting of the task force was postponed. At the time, a letter from over 100 health organizations warned about the politicization of the task force's work. 'The loss of trustworthiness in the rigorous and nonpartisan work of the Task Force would devastate patients, hospital systems, and payers as misinformation creates barriers to accessing lifesaving and cost effective care,' the letter reads. 'When something works well and helps inform doctors about how to take care of their patients, to postpone the task force's work just doesn't make any sense,' Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, president of the American Medical Association, told The New York Times after the meeting was postponed. 'This flies in the face of what is good for the country's health.' In June, the Supreme Court upheld the task force's ability to recommend free coverage for preventative services, in the face of a challenge from individuals and businesses objecting to the body's recommendation regarding HIV prevention medication. Concern over the fate of the task force comes after Kennedy removed all the members of a vaccine advisory board, replacing them with some members who share the secretary's vaccine skepticism.


Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Woman in Union Jack dress was turned away from Wetherspoons during anti-migrants protest
A woman wearing a Union Jack dress was turned away from a Wetherspoons so as 'not to increase tensions' after an anti-migrant protest in the area. Tanya Ostolski, 54, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, says she was knocked back from The Picture House last night, despite being a regular in the pub. Dozens of protestors had gathered in the town centre from around 4.30pm after Reform MP Lee Anderson went against police advice to make an unverified claim that a local man charged with rape was an asylum seeker. It followed similar anti-migrant demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, near Essex, and the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf in central London, in recent weeks. Last night's protests in Sutton-in-Ashfield had ended at around 7pm when protestors made their way back to the where the gathering began, around 50 metres from the pub. Many of those who took to the streets were waving Union flags or were wrapped in the St George's Cross flag and had sought to get into the pub after the demonstrations were over. But clashes with bouncers outside the pub quickly ensued when they were denied access due to a 'no-flag' policy deployed by Wetherspoons in their establishments. Ms Ostolski says she was holding a St George's Cross flag when she was first refused entry by bouncers on the door, before putting it in her bag in the hope that would allow her access. But the 54-year-old said she was 'absolutely disgusted' when she was told by those on the doors that she still wasn't allowed in because of her dress. She said: 'I go in there all the time and they refused entry. They didn't let me in with my flag, the flag is the English flag, so why shouldn't I be allowed to have an English flag? 'It's our flag, it's our nation's flag. I wasn't being aggressive or anything I didn't get lairy or anything. I put the flag back in my bag, and they said I can't come in because of my dress. 'They kept refusing me. I'm probably going to get barred now. They just said Tanya, you're not coming in. I feel absolutely disgusted, why should I be refused entry for wearing a dress or a flag?' The spokesman for Wetherspoons, Eddie Gershon, said the decision was made to ensure calm in the area and 'as a matter of common sense'. He said: 'Pub managers have a duty under the licensing laws, and as a matter of common sense, to judge every situation on its particular circumstances. 'In this case, the pub manager felt that it was important not to increase tensions. Therefore, on this occasion the manager asked customers not to enter with flags or any placards.' Ms Ostolski's knockback comes just days after a schoolgirl was put into isolation for wearing a similar Union Jack dress to celebrate being British at her school's culture day. 'Straight A' student Courtney Wright, 12, wore a Spice Girls-esque dress and wrote a speech about history and traditions as part of the celebrations on July 11. But the Year 7 pupil was told the dress was 'unacceptable' before being hauled out of lessons and made to sit in reception until her father collected her. Downing Street would go on to condemn that decision, with a spokesperson for the Prime Minister saying: 'The PM has always been clear that being British is something to be celebrated. 'You can see that from everything this government has done. We are a tolerant, diverse, open country, proud of being British.'


The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump bids to release Epstein grand jury files – what secrets might they hold?
As Donald Trump reels from political fallout related to his justice department's handling of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, the US president has directed his loyal attorney general, Pam Bondi, to 'release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to court approval'. It is an effort at damage control for a White House now engulfed in endless speculation – especially among Trump's previously devoted Maga base – about the extent of Trump's relationship with the late, disgraced sex trafficker and wealthy financier who killed himself in jail in 2019. Justice department attorneys quickly filed paperwork in Manhattan and south Florida federal courts requesting unsealing of grand jury testimony for Epstein. Justice department officials have also asked a New York judge to release grand jury transcripts for Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein's sometimes girlfriend and longtime confidante who in 2021 was convicted of sex trafficking for luring teenage girls into his orbit. A grand jury is a panel that decides whether evidence presented by prosecutors shows 'probable cause' that someone committed a crime, and whether they should be tried. Should the grand jury, which is not the trial jury, find that there is sufficient evidence, an indictment will be issued. But veteran US attorneys, including those who have represented Epstein victims, told the Guardian that any release of grand jury transcripts around Epstein and Maxwell might not provide much insight into Epstein's crimes and whether others were involved in abusing minors – or in covering up his years of predation of young girls and women. The lawyers, however, insist that meaningful information does exist in yet-to-be released Epstein files held by federal law enforcement authorities from multiple investigations into Epstein. Whether the political will – and legal ability – exists to release any or all of those files remains to be seen. 'Grand juries serve two functions: to indict and to investigate. The transcripts may contain testimony of victims or cooperating witnesses if the grand jury was investigating Epstein,' Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, and a former federal prosecutor, said of grand jury processes. The grand jury transcripts could include graphic and explicit evidence, but they could also include more pro forma information about the actions of Epstein and Maxwell, who is serving jail time in Florida. 'If they were indicting Epstein, we can expect to see law enforcement witnesses summarizing the evidence of probable cause to support the charges. That would probably be less interesting, and similar to the factual allegations in the Epstein indictment,' Rahmani said. He added: 'There is likely much more salacious evidence out there than the grand jury transcripts. 'The FBI interview summaries and internal Department of Justice memoranda probably contain the juiciest details. The grand jury transcripts are just a small part of the picture. If Bondi was serious about transparency, she would make public the complete Epstein files, subject to redactions to protect the privacy rights of the victims.' Top lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented multiple Epstein victims, said government files should be made public with several exceptions, such as redaction of victims' names and identifying information, attorney-client communications and material depicting abuse. 'I think there is information that the government could release, such as texts, emails and other electronic communications of Jeffrey Epstein and anyone with whom he communicated. In addition, any communications on behalf of Mr Epstein made by his employees who may have played a part in recruiting or dealing with victims at the request of Mr Epstein and/or Ms Maxwell could be released,' Allred said. 'All evidence in the file of the United States attorney for the southern district of New York which was gathered for the prosecution of Mr Epstein, with the exceptions which I have listed previously, could be released.' Allred believes 'all files, both federal and state that reflect the investigation and potential prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein in Florida should also be made public'. Thorough investigations of Epstein were conducted in New York and Florida, Allred pointed out, and those investigations would be in those files. Spencer T Kuvin, chief legal officer of GoldLaw and an attorney for Epstein victims, voiced similar sentiments. 'The real documents that the public needs to see are the documents maintained by the FBI and Department of Justice. They have thousands of hours of videotapes and investigative memos and documents regarding the data that was seized at his homes,' he said. Kuvin said that unsealing grand jury testimony was a 'good first step' but limits information to four victims over whom Epstein was charged in New York. 'I am aware that the FBI had interviewed over 40 girls during their investigations. Where are those interviews, where are those reports? 'The abusers should be disclosed to the public so that we may all know who they are,' Kuvin also said, insisting that victims' privacy must be protected in such a process. He called on Trump to act. 'This administration could end the dispute tomorrow by the president signing an executive order demanding the release of all the material in the custody of the FBI and DoJ,' Kuvin said. 'Either Trump has the power to do this, or he must admit that he is not as powerful as he has professed to be to the public and his Maga followers.' Trump's current political woes stem from his backtracking on previous vows to release the Epstein files. On the campaign trail, he vowed to declassify the files, but then attracted scathing criticism when his justice department released a memo claiming that there was no 'incriminating' client list within the tranche of documents related to Epstein. The justice department's claim that they did not find evidence implicating third parties has further fanned the flames of suspicion, especially as last week the Wall Street Journal reported that Bondi had warned Trump that his name appears in the files. A smattering of reports highlighting Trump's friendship with Epstein several decades ago – which reportedly ended following a real estate dispute, several years before the late financier admitted to a state-level charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida – has proved yet another political minefield. Even if federal authorities and Trump drag their feet in releasing these documents, it is possible that new civil litigation could eventually force them to do so raising the prospect of yet more political scandals heading Trump's way. Maria Farmer, an Epstein survivor who in 1996 told authorities he and Maxwell were abusing minors including her sister, is suing the federal government over their handling of these claims. Farmer's suit alleges that the FBI 'chose to do absolutely nothing'. Farmer also claims that the FBI agent taking her call 'hung up on her, and no one at the FBI attempted to follow up with her or pursue her valid and serious allegations, most of which continued for many years, if not decades, with wide-ranging tragic consequences.' If this litigation progresses, both sides would exchange evidence related to the claims in a process called discovery. While discovery is typically subject to a confidentiality agreement, and solidified by a court order, information from this exchange could come up in subsequent court papers that are public. 'What this lawsuit could reveal is what the FBI and the department did and did not do, what they failed to do – they failed to do their job,' Farmer's attorney, Jennifer Freeman, special counsel at Marsh Law Firm, told the Guardian. Freeman noted, for example, that she has a redacted set of pages from what appears to be a 2006 field interview with Farmer, during which an FBI agent went to her home and spoke with her. Freeman said she had some 20 pages of handwritten notes, 'many of which are redacted'. She said: 'That's the kind of information we need. It's redacted. I've been trying to get this information for years now, through Foia [Freedom of Information Act] requests, but we've been stymied every time.' Neither the White House nor Department of Justice commented.