National Populist Newsletter

January 26th- February 2nd

United States

• Immigration

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been directed by Trump officials to aggressively ramp up the number of people they arrest, from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500. ICE officials were told that each of the agency’s field offices should make 75 arrests per day and managers would be held accountable for missing those targets. (The Washington Post)

The Trump Administration is set to fully terminate the legal status for the 530,000 Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezualans, and Cubans that President Biden flew into the country under the CHNV program. The 530,000 people were here on a temporary parole status, while they persued applying for asylum. It was basically Biden’s way of making sure migrants didn’t surge across the border by instead flying them in the country. Those whose parole classification is revoked, and who lack another immigration status, would become ineligible to work in the U.S. lawfully. They would also receive notices to appear in immigration court, the first step in the deportation process, according to the internal documents. (CBS News)

President Trump announced that he’s preparing to create a detention center for up to 30,000 illegal immigrants in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Axios)

Florida is in the midst of a Republican civil war between the legislature and Governor DeSantis over a bill called the TRUMP Act. The bill, authored by Trump-ally Sen. Joe Gruters and Speaker Daniel Perez. The bill would allow local law enforcement to help the federal government enforce immigration law but moves enforcement from the governor’s office to the agriculture commissioner. Congressmen closely aligned with the president, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Byron Donalds have slammed the bill for moving enforcement to the agriculture commissioner. While it passed the legislature, it did not do so with a veto-proof majority and at least one other Republican says he now supports DeSantis’ position. At the heart of this is Trump and his chief of staff Susie Wiles, who has feuded with DeSantis since he fired her and accused her of leaking to the media, something she denied. Many people think this is Wiles chance at getting back at DeSantis by stripping him of power and having allies fight him in the media as being weak on immigration. I have no opinion or knowledge on whether any of this is true, but if it is true, it’s very important to see where the key players in Trump world focus their energies now that he’s back in the White House. (Florida Politics)

The acting U.S. deputy attorney general called for an investigation of an upstate New York sheriff who had released an illegal immigrant from custody. Sheriff Derek R. Osborne failed to honor a federal warrant for Jesus Romero-Hernandez who pleaded guilty to assault in the third degree. Osborne is in a sanctuary jurisdiction which Trump promised to combat upon taking office. (The New York Times)

• Economy

President Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico, Canada, and China in retalitation for none of the countries doing enough to combat the fentantly crisis. Canada immediately retaliated with a 25 percent tariff on American goods while China said they would file a case against the United States in the World Trade Organization. (The New York Times)

• Trump Administration

The Trump Administration fired a career civil servant in the U.S. Treasury named David Lebryk who opposed Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team access to the government’s vast payment system. Lebryk was well known, even by Trump officials for working during the Trump 45 term, and he had strong credentials. He opposed DOGE receiving access because it included highly sensitive personal information about American citizens. After Lebryk’s firing, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave representatives from DOGE access to the federal payment system. DOGE officials say that they needed access to the federal government’s payment system because they had not rejected more payments as fraudulent or improper. The Musk allies who have been granted access to the payment system were made Treasury employees, passed government background checks and obtained the necessary security clearances. Similar DOGE teams have begun demanding access to data and systems at other federal agencies. (The New York Times)

Critics of Musk, including many prominent members of the Democratic Party, are saying this move is dangerous because it can break the flow of money to people on Social Security and Medicare, but the bigger problem is access to government data. Elon has not divested from any of his companies, including those with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Musk has made a majority of his money from companies with government subsidies and contracts and is looking to expand his business into generative artificial intelligence. There are very little safe guards around Musk and the data component is concerning.

Trump’s Administration is in a class action lawsuit allegeding that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is collecting data on federal employees and steering it to people who still work for Elon Musk in violation of federal law. It states that data is being directed towards a woman Amanda Scales, who doesn’t actually work for the government and actually works for Elon Musk. (Newsweek)

The website for USAID went dark as President Trump put a freeze on U.S.-funded foreign aid and development worldwide. Trump said he’s exploring moving USAID under the State Department, which would functionally end the program. Democrats say he doesn’t have the authority but USAID was created under executive order by President Kennedy. It’ll likely go to a lawsuit if he ends it. (PBS)