Immigrant detention centers are at capacity, Trump officials say
The Department of Homeland Security says its immigrant detention centers are at capacity, housing about 47,600 individuals.
Speaking to reporters today on background, DHS officials said they are working with the Marshals Service, the Defense Department and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to increase bed space as they ask Congress for more funding.
Arrested people are also being released from detention case by case using Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Alternatives to Detention program based on medical or humanitarian concerns, they said.
The senior DHS and ICE officials also provided new arrest data cataloging Trump’s first 50 days back in office. According to DHS data, from Jan. 20 to March 10, ICE arrested 32,809 people.
Officials said 14,111 of them are convicted criminals, 9,980 have pending criminal charges and 8,718 have only immigration-related violations.
House Democratic leaders tell Senate Democrats to 'vote no' on GOP funding bill
House Democratic leaders today urged Senate Democrats to vote down what they called the "partisan" Republican funding bill, even though a potential government shutdown is right around the corner.
The six-month funding bill cleared the House yesterday on a largely party-line vote, with all but one Democrat voting against it.
Kicking off a three-day policy retreat just up the Potomac River from Washington, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., urged Democratic senators to join their House colleagues in rejecting the GOP bill and instead take up a one-month stopgap bill to buy negotiators more time to cut a longer-term appropriations deal.
The two top Democratic appropriators in Congress — Rep. Rosa DeLauro, of Connecticut, and Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington — recently introduced the short-term bill.
“There is an alternative for the senators, Democrats and Republicans, to consider: It’s a four-week, clean continuing resolution that gives both the House and the Senate Democrats and Republicans the ability to try to reach an agreement that actually meets the needs of the country and does not hurt everyday Americans,” Jeffries said at the opening news conference in Leesburg, Virginia.
He said he’s having ongoing conservations with Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, and other key members. “The House Democratic position is crystal clear,” Jeffries continued, “as evidenced by the strong vote of opposition that we took yesterday on the House floor, opposing the Trump-Musk-Johnson reckless Republican spending bill.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, offered stronger instructions to senators.
"House Democrats are very clear: We’re asking Senate Democrats to vote no on this continuing resolution, which is not clean, and it makes cuts across the board," he said. "And it’s going to be one of those things where people are going to look at this vote and every bad thing that now happens with DOGE and Donald Trump, Elon Musk, you can go back to this vote."
Where Senate Democrats stand on shutdown negotiations
After nearly two hours, Senate Democrats have yet to reveal how they plan to vote on a House-passed Republican bill that would avoid a government shutdown starting this weekend.
Senators emerged from a lunch meeting and largely ignored questions from reporters, though some gave insight into the debate that unfolded behind closed doors. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said Democrats “are unified in not wanting to shut down the government, and what we need to do is vote on the short-term CR.”
The short-term CR Smith referred to is a 30-day continuing resolution put forward by the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, Patty Murray, of Washington.
Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, endorsed the 30-day CR — as did a handful of others, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota — but claimed no decisions were made in the room on the House-passed GOP bill that would fund the government through September.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters to “stay tuned." Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, of Illinois, said Schumer would speak on the Senate floor after the current vote series.
Most Senate Democrats, in an attempt to stay on message, told reporters they would not comment or simply ignored questions.
But Sen. Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland, said: “At least for now, I don’t see the votes. Based on my reading of the end of the meeting, I don’t see the votes there right now for passing the House Republican CR.”
Judge appears likely to grant request to reinstate thousands of fired probationary workers
A federal judge in Maryland suggested he might direct that thousands of fired federal workers get their jobs back, at least temporarily, after he heard arguments that their layoffs were unlawful.
“This case isn’t about whether or not the government can terminate people. It’s about if they decide to terminate people, how they must do it,” U.S. District Judge James Bredar said at the hearing today on the abrupt firings of thousands of probationary employees. The government has let go roughly 200,000 probationary employees — workers who are either recent hires or had taken new positions.
“Move fast and break things,” said Bredar, referring to a seminal quote from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg that has been used to describe Elon Musk’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce. “Move fast, fine. Break things? If that involves breaking the law, then that becomes problematic.”
Trump says no one will expel Palestinians
Trump said in remarks in the Oval Office that Palestinians won't be expelled from Gaza.
A reporter asked about Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza.
"Nobody is expelling any Palestinians. Who are you with?" Trump asked the reporter. She said she was with Voice of America, an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government, and the president said, "Oh, no wonder."
Last month, the president said that Palestinians wouldn't be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip as part of his plan for the U.S. to take control of the territory.
Immigrant detention centers are at capacity, Homeland Security officials say
The Department of Homeland Security says its immigrant detention centers are at capacity, holding nearly 50,000 people, and it has reached out to other agencies to find more space.
The department is working with the Marshals Service, the Department of Defense and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to increase the number of beds as they seek more congressional funding, senior DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told reporters.
Some detainees are being released using an alternative ICE tracking program on a case-by-case basis while they make their way through immigration proceedings, the officials said.
In the first 50 days of the new Trump administration, immigration enforcement officials have arrested nearly 33,000 people, the official said. More than 14,000 of those arrested were convicted criminals, nearly 10,000 have pending criminal charges, and nearly 9,000 have immigration-related violations. The arrests include 1,155 suspected gang members and 39 known or suspected terrorists, they said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not provide a figure on how many undocumented immigrants have been deported.
Trump tells Ireland's prime minister he's 'better off' not knowing Rosie O'Donnell
Trump said during remarks in the Oval Office that Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin is "better off" not knowing actor Rosie O'Donnell.
A reporter asked Martin why he would let her move to his country.
“Did you know you have Rosie O’Donnell? Do you know who she is?" said Trump, who's feuded with the actor and comedian for years.
Martin didn't respond and Trump said, “You’re better off not knowing.”
O'Donnell announced on TikTok yesterday that she moved to Ireland and is trying to become a citizen there because of Trump's presidency.
Trump admin aims to get undocumented immigrants to self-deport with new messaging campaign
With a mobile app and an expansive ad campaign, the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up its efforts to convince immigrants who don’t have legal status to self-deport.
The efforts come as the number of deportations is lower than what Trump expected in his first couple of months in office after making the issue a key campaign promise.
Trump says he'll impose more retaliatory tariffs on the European Union
Trump threatened to impose more retaliatory tariffs on the European Union after the bloc said it would implement tariffs on the U.S. next month in response to tariffs on steel and aluminum by the Trump administration.
"The European Union treats us very badly. They have for years," Trump said in remarks to reporters while sitting in the Oval Office with Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin. "I had it out with them in my first term. ... The European Union has been very tough, and it’s our turn, too. You know, we get a turn at that also, but they have not been fair. They sue our companies and win massive amounts of money."
Trump said that it creates "ill will" and said: "We’re going to be doing reciprocal tariffs. So whatever they charge us, we’re charging them. Nobody can complain about that. Whatever it is, it doesn’t even matter what it is — if they charge us, if they charge us 25 or 20%, or 10%, or 2%, or 200%, then that’s what we’re charging them. And so I don’t know why people get upset about that because there’s nothing more fair than that."
The E.U. said today that it would impose tariffs on more than $28 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to the 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from the E.U.
Trump said that the E.U. was “set up in order to take advantage of the United States,” which he said Ireland has done because U.S. pharmaceutical companies have moved to the European country.
From troublemakers to team players: House Freedom Caucus softens as Trump transforms GOP
WASHINGTON — In the span of two weeks, the House Freedom Caucus made two moves long seen as unimaginable for a band of far-right rebels formed to pressure Republican leaders to shrink the federal government.
First, they all unanimously supported a budget blueprint for President Donald Trump’s agenda that contained a $4 trillion debt limit increase.
Then, they unified to support a six-month government funding bill that largely continued the spending status quo established under President Joe Biden, with modest changes to expand military spending and reduce domestic funding.
The shift was illustrated by the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., appearing alongside Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his leadership team at a news conference Tuesday before the government funding vote to show solidarity. He drew smiles as he made a joke about how unusual it is to be a Freedom Caucus leader in that setting.
“We want to be Trump’s greatest asset, because we’re so aligned,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., a Freedom Caucus member, told NBC News. “We want to be the engine that helps his team. We actually agree with Trump and the things that he campaigned on almost universally.”