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Southern border migrant encounters decrease slightly but gotaways still surge under Biden

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Southern border migrant encounters decrease slightly but gotaways still surge under Biden

The U.S. Border Patrol recorded ar decline in migrant encounters in April, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a news release Wednesday.

In April, the Border Patrol recorded 128,900 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border. The figure was 30% lower than in April 2023, and 6% lower than in March.

“CBP continues to surge resources and personnel to impacted sectors along the border to ensure the safe, swift, and orderly processing of individuals to maximize expedited removals,” Troy Miller, a senior official performing the duties of the commissioner, said in a statement.

DHS’ FAILURE TO FILE PAPERWORK HAS LED TO 200K IMMIGRATION COURT CASES TOSSED UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: TRAC

A group of over 100 migrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally rush a border wall on March 21. Migrant encounters at the southern border declined slightly in April, border officials said. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

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Despite the decline, separate figures obtained by Fox News revealed there were 1.6 million known gotaways from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2023. In the decade of FY 2010 through FY 2020, under former Presidents Obama and Trump, authorities recorded more than 1.4 million known gotaways.

Known gotaways are illegal immigrants seen or detected via cameras, sensors, footings, etc., but are never apprehended.

“If a person is willing to put themselves into harm’s way crossing through very remote, very dangerous conditions to evade capture, you have to ask yourself why. What makes them willing to take that risk?” Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens asked a House committee in May 2023. 

BORDER PATROL OFFICIALS SAY THREAT POSED BY ‘GOTAWAYS’ AT SOUTHERN BORDER ‘KEEPS US UP AT NIGHT’

President Biden has recently touted the decline in illegal border crossings. Border authorities on Wednesday said the number of migrant encounters declined in April. (Getty Images)

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“That’s of concern to me. What’s also of concern to me is I don’t know who that individual is,” he added. “I don’t know where they came from. I don’t know what their intention is. I don’t know what they brought with them. That unknown represents a risk, a threat. It’s of great concern to anybody that wears this uniform.”

In April, CBP processed 41,400 people through appointments at ports of entry submitted on the CBP One app, authorities said. Since the app was introduced in January 2023, more than 591,000 people have scheduled appointments to present at ports of entry, CBP said. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been heavily criticized for the record numbers of migrants entering the U.S., has previously noted changes in migration flow in correspondence with Congress.

“Before 2013, the majority of individuals attempting to cross the border entered without being caught,” he said in a letter in January to the House Homeland Security Committee. “Under this administration, the estimated annual apprehension rate has averaged 78%, the same average rate of apprehension as in the prior administration.”

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Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report. 

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OpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT

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OpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT

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A new report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that employees at Open AI, the artificial intelligence company known for creating ChatGPT, raised alarm about transgender Canadian mass shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar’s interactions with its chatbot but did not alert authorities. 

Around a dozen employees reportedly were aware of the concerning interactions months before Van Rootselaar killed multiple family members and school-aged kids in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The interactions, first flagged by an automated review system, included violent scenarios involving gun violence over the course of multiple days, people familiar with the matter indicated to the Wall Street Journal. 

OpenAI’s policy is only to alert law enforcement if there is an imminent threat of real-world harm or violence, and some of the employees reportedly wanted to go to the police. But, in the end, the company opted not to contact authorities.

AI COMPANIONS ARE RESHAPING TEEN EMOTIONAL BONDS 

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A photo shows a smartphone and a laptop displaying the logos of the artificial intelligence OpenAI research company and ChatGPT chatbot. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

On Feb. 10, Van Rootselaar, 18, gunned down his mother and step-brother at their home in British Columbia, before heading to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where the deranged teen shot and killed five students and a teacher before turning the gun on himself. Twenty-five others were reportedly injured.

Authorities later revealed Van Rootselaar, who had dropped out of the school he attacked, was biological male who had been identifying as female since he was 6.

Police were aware of Van Rootselaar’s mental health struggles, as they had reportedly made visits to his house on multiple occasions in the past due to various incidents.

FAMILY SPEAKS OF ‘PROFOUND PAIN’ AFTER TRANS DAD GUNS DOWN EX-WIFE, SON AT HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY GAME

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Police tape surrounds the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and other buildings in Tumbler Ridge, Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday, a day after a mass shooting there. (Jesse Boily /The Canadian Press via AP)

The teen killer was found to have had an obsession with death, being an avid poster on a website that hosts videos of people being murdered, according to the New York Post. Van Rootselaar’s social media footprint included images of him with firearms and content about hallucinogenic drugs. Van Rootselaar’s mother expressed alarm at his actions in a Facebook parent’s group in 2015, the New York Post also reported.  

A spokesperson for the company told Fox News Digital that the company banned Van Rootselaar’s account in June 2025 for violating its usage policies, but determined the activity did not rise to the level where it needed to be alerted to law enforcement. They noted that the company is compelled to weigh privacy concerns, adding that being too trigger-happy with police referrals can create unintended harm.

OpenAI’s chatbot model is made to discourage real-world harm when it senses dangerous situations, Fox News Digital was told.    

A screengrab from a video shows students exiting the Tumbler Ridge school after deadly shootings, in British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Jordon Kosik via AP)

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The company reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) after the incident, and is supporting their investigation with information on Van Rootselaar’s chatbot activity, the spokesperson indicated. 

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy,” the company said in a statement following the incident. “We proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT, and we’ll continue to support their investigation.”

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Column: The slur ‘woke’ highlights what Trump fears most

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Column: The slur ‘woke’ highlights what Trump fears most

The most prestigious board ever put together.

That is how the president of the United States, a man convicted of fraud, described his new team focused on international relations. A team that does not include representatives from our closest neighbors — Mexico and Canada — but did save room for leaders accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Now, we do not know whether President Trump created his “Board of Peace,” which this week held its first meeting, specifically to undermine the authority of the United Nations. But we do know that the president has pledged $10 billion in tax dollars to the board’s mission while still owing the U.N. half that amount in back payments. We do not know whether Trump, who is indefinitely the leader of this peace board, intends to relinquish that power after he leaves the White House. But we do know he is still trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Whether the “Board of Peace” is the most prestigious panel ever assembled is debatable. What is not debatable is that it was conceived by an adjudicated sexual abuser who is referenced in the released Epstein files some 38,000 times.

That is not my take.

That is simply what is happening.

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Which is why the president encourages his supporters to ban books and reject journalism. He doesn’t want voters to pay attention. He doesn’t want voters to understand his actions.

Ten years ago this month — after his Nevada caucus victory speech — Trump said, “I love the poorly educated.” And his reliance on this base is why, over the past decade, he and other conservatives have purposely misconstrued the term “woke” as a catch-all slur toward progressive and far-left policies. It used to mean “aware” and “informed.” The term was not born out of modern politics but rather the need to understand the history of the social economic systems we all are living in. The alternative is to be blindly led by an unscrupulous leader most concerned with his own well being.

Being “woke” is why the Boston Tea Party happened in 1773; it is why Thomas Paine published “Common Sense” in 1776; it is why Republicans formed the Wide Awakes to help get Abraham Lincoln elected in 1860. When voters understand the context in which decisions are made, we are better equipped to address shortcomings at the ballot box and in our daily lives.

Trump’s self-proclaimed love for the poorly educated has nothing to do with progressive policies or college degrees and everything to do with whom he can convince to believe him. And by making “woke” an insult, Trump and other conservatives have politicized the very tool necessary to help the country fulfill its promise: information.

This threat is the reason his administration attacks, and even arrests, journalists; the reason he refers to reports he doesn’t like as “fake news”; the reason he fired the labor statistics chief after an unflattering jobs report last year. He’s waging a war on information.

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The reason 2025 marked the worst nonrecession year for job growth since 2003 isn’t that the country was “woke.” It’s because of shortcomings in leadership.

When Trump returned to the White House, he made lowering the U.S. trade deficit a key component to his economic policy. In 2024, the deficit was $903.5 billion. In 2025, it was $901.5 billion — and America’s families paid $230 billion more for goods because of his yo-yo tariff policies.

He told his supporters that other nations would be paying for the tariffs he enacted — obvious nonsense to anyone who attended a day of Econ 101. And we know that as a result of his reckless and ignorant policies, farmers in particular suffered. It’s not clear whether that financial burden was a consideration when the Supreme Court on Friday declared the president’s sweeping tariffs to be illegal. What we do know is before Trump entered politics, his businesses filed for bankruptcy six times — so perhaps he was never the economic savant he claimed to be.

Just as the saga of the Epstein files reveals he is not the protector of women and young girls that he claimed to be.

Just as his recent attacks on the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 14th Amendments show he was never the defender of the Constitution he took an oath to be.

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Acknowledging the laundry list of untruths tied to his promises and presidency is not political or a symptom of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” It’s simply having information: the one thing that helps voters understand why things are the way they are. The one thing the president hopes his supporters never wake up to see for themselves.

YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow

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Ideas expressed in the piece

  • The Board of Peace, while described by the president as the most prestigious ever assembled, excludes the country’s closest neighbors in Mexico and Canada while creating space for leaders accused of war crimes by the International Court[2][3].

  • The administration is pledging $10 billion in tax dollars to the board’s mission while the United States still owes the United Nations $5 billion in back payments, raising questions about priorities and institutional commitment.

  • The board represents a potential threat to the UN’s authority and the multilateral international order, with the president positioned to lead indefinitely without a clear succession mechanism independent of his personal tenure.

  • The use of the term “woke” as a political slur by the president and conservatives serves to discourage informed and critically aware voters from engaging with factual information and journalism, undermining democratic participation.

  • The administration’s economic policies have demonstrably failed, including tariff strategies that burdened American families with $230 billion in additional costs while the trade deficit marginally decreased from $903.5 billion to $901.5 billion, a result inconsistent with promised outcomes.

  • The president’s record of attacks on the press, dismissal of unfavorable reporting as “fake news,” and removal of officials for releasing unflattering data represents a broader assault on the free flow of information essential to accountability.

Different views on the topic

  • The Board of Peace represents a vital step in implementing the president’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which was endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and initially received broad international support from Western democracies[1][3].

  • More than two dozen nations have signed on as founding members of the board, with member countries pledging $5 billion toward Gaza’s reconstruction, demonstrating substantial international engagement with the initiative[2].

  • The Executive Board comprises leaders with expertise across diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy, positioning the mechanism to provide strategic oversight and mobilize international resources for Gaza’s stabilization[1].

  • The board functions as an overarching body designed to implement demilitarization and reconstruction efforts through subsidiary mechanisms including the Gaza Executive Board and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, with operational structures intended to deliver governance and development outcomes[1][3].

  • The initiative was conceived as a focused mechanism to support stabilization and reconstruction in Gaza within the framework of the UN-endorsed 20-point plan, anchoring its original purpose in internationally recognized diplomatic processes[3].

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Campus Radicals Newsletter: Teacher who lost job over 2-word post breaks silence, Chicago ‘racial segregation’

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Campus Radicals Newsletter: Teacher who lost job over 2-word post breaks silence, Chicago ‘racial segregation’

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DEI EXPOSED: Illinois district where faculty celebrated Charlie Kirk’s death exposed over racial ‘segregation’ plan

ART AXED: University of North Texas cancels exhibit featuring anti-ICE art

CAMPUS CAUTION: Illinois university moves classes online after learning ICE is operating in the same building

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Early morning fog surrounds a pond on a cold, snowy day on the Virginia Tech campus. (L) Photo of Virginia Tech professor Onwubiko Agozino taken on an unknown date.  (istock; Virginia Tech)

ALLEGATIONS DISMISSED: White teens cleared of hate crime allegations levied by Black Virginia Tech professor

BOOK BATTLE: Nashville teacher allegedly threatened with termination for refusing to read LGBTQ book to first graders

DEPORTATION DENIED: Palestinian activist accused of expressing desire to ‘kill Jews’ wins deportation case

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FACULTY REVOLT: Columbia pulls promotion for DHS career expo after faculty claims university is aiding ‘authoritarianism’

Harvard University is offering an “Immigrant Justice Lab” history course that allows undergraduates to earn credit by conducting research and writing for asylum applicants in partnership with a nonprofit legal group. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

HARVARD ACTIVISM: Harvard students earn course credit helping asylum seekers as critics calls school ‘bastion of woke activism’

CAREER DERAILED: Chicago-area teacher breaks silence after losing job over 2-word Facebook post supporting ICE: ‘Devastating’

TPUSA CONTROVERSY: Maryland woman says TPUSA high school event raised ‘serious concerns,’ says Child Protective Services notified

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