Southeast
Trump's ICE crackdown could get boost in Florida with DeSantis' plan to deputize state patrol
Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed an agreement that could soon deputize Florida Highway Patrol officers to perform the functions of federal immigration officers, and the head of a union representing the majority of troopers has concerns about the decision.
DeSantis held a series of discussions with law enforcement officials and Floridians affected by illegal immigration Jan. 29 about new legislation needed in the state to assist the Trump administration in countering illegal immigration, the governor’s office said in a statement.
He signed a memorandum between the Florida Highway Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), giving troopers the authority to exercise immigration power.
“Governor DeSantis understands the role of law enforcement and wants to provide the strongest immigration law possible, empowering law enforcement to get to work and deport illegal aliens residing in the state,” Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner said in a statement with DeSantis’ announcement.
DESANTIS SIGNALS VETO OF IMMIGRATION BILL PASSED BY FLORIDA GOP LAWMAKERS: ‘FAILS TO MEET THE MOMENT’
A Florida Highway Patrol vehicle (Sam Navarro/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Troopers are going to do what they’re told to do. … We’re going to become the tip of the spear,” William Smith, president of the Florida Highway Patrol chapter of Florida’s Police Benevolent Association, told Fox News Digital. “But it would be nice to know that … we have additional funding.”
The latest memorandum comes as DeSantis also criticized a new immigration reform bill passed by the Florida Legislature.
“The bill the Florida Legislature passed … fails to honor our promises to voters, fails to meet the moment and would actually weaken state immigration enforcement,” the governor said at a press conference.
“We must have the strongest law in the nation on immigration enforcement that will guarantee state and local deportation assistance, end catch and release, eliminate magnets such as remittances and adopt supporting policies that will protect Floridians.”
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS IN FLORIDA DEFY DESANTIS, SCRAPPING HIS SPECIAL SESSION AND CALLING THEIR OWN
DeSantis wants to mandate that counties and cities participate in the federal deportation program and pushed for the authority to suspend officials who do not comply. He also wanted to make it a state crime to enter the U.S. illegally and require that people show identification and their immigration status before sending money back home.
The legislature’s immigration priorities have included a mandatory death penalty for an illegal immigrant convicted of a capital offense, enhancing sentences for illegal immigrant gang members, expanding shared intelligence among law enforcement agencies, strengthening enforcement of public officials’ compliance with state law banning sanctuary jurisdictions and financial incentives for training law enforcement officers who help ICE task forces.
Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and DeSantis’ office for comment.
CHINESE MIGRANTS FLOOD SOUTH FLORIDA VIA BOAT AS AUTHORITIES SEEK HELP WITH CUBAN SMUGGLERS
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit July 17, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“What’s going on with the Legislature and the governor right now … we’re almost caught in the middle,” Smith said. “There’s no additional funding to pay for those additional duties. … You know, it’s easy to sign a piece of paper and say, ‘we’re going to have troopers do that now.’ OK, well, are you going to pay me more money?”
Smith, who has served as a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol for 41 years, stands by a need for immigration reform, but he believes the agency has already been underfunded for years and does not have enough money to operate.
“Our concern moving forward is we need to increase our pay. … The troopers and the folks that do the job every day … they need to know that they can still put food on the table and be able to buy a house and raise some kids and things of that nature,” he said. “Because, right now, a trooper at starting pay is a permanent apartment dweller.”
In the upcoming 2025-2026 budget, Smith said, the department is asking the Legislature for $12.9 million to raise pay and hire more troopers, whose starting pay is about $54,000. He explained that for the agency to be fully funded, it will need about $27 million.
SENATE DEMS TO JOIN REPUBLICANS TO ADVANCE ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL NAMED AFTER LAKEN RILEY
Migrants walk into Mexico after being deported from the U.S. at El Chaparral pedestrian border bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 21, 2025. (Felix Marquez/AP)
After DeSantis signed the memorandum, Smith disclosed that he was left with “more questions than answers.”
“There hasn’t been any guidance … from the governor’s office about what our role will be, what the training will be,” he said. “How many troopers does he want to assign to this?”
DOZENS OF ILLEGALS ARRESTED IN TRUMP’S HOME COUNTY IN FLORIDA
Smith said there are nearly 150 trooper vacancies on the highway patrol right now and that the governor wants to cut 25 trooper positions.
“It’s like taking a step forward and two steps back,” Smith added.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Charlotte residents say they feel less safe as city faces second transit stabbing
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Two in three Charlotte, North Carolina, residents say they feel less safe today than they did a year ago, according to a recent survey, as the city reels from two train stabbings.
More than 930 people responded to a survey that the Queen City recently completed before hiring its new police chief, Stella Patterson. Residents overwhelmingly said they want a proactive police force, not a reactive one, with 66% saying they feel less safe.
The results come as Charlotte contends with another stabbing on its light rail system, months after the stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
On Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to a call regarding assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived, they found the victim, identified as Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, with a stab wound, according to warrants.
Oscar Solorzano, 33, was arrested in connection to a stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS FALL SILENT AFTER ICE ARRESTS DOZENS WITH VIOLENT RECORDS
Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, 33, of Honduras, was arrested after the stabbing and charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to multiple Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources and arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital.
On Monday morning, Solorzano appeared in court, where he was denied bond. The 33-year-old appeared via Zoom in an orange jumpsuit where he was charged. Authorities revealed that Solorzano, prior to the Dec. 5 attack, was banned by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
The victim told WRAL News that he saw Solorzano yelling at an older woman before Solorzano handed his bike to another passenger and said: “I’m about to show you who I really am.”
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
Dobie said he jumped up and told Solorzano to leave everyone alone. He said Solarzano then grabbed his hands and stabbed him as he tried to grab him back.
Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man from Honduras with critically injuring another person in a stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train, just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee was murdered. (WJZY)
According to court documents, reviewed by Fox News Digital, Solorzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife.
While intoxicated, he challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” according to court documents.
He was booted from the country by the Trump administration in March 2018 on a deportation order and reentered illegally during the Biden administration at the Texas border in March 2021, DHS sources said.
WATCH: Migrant who was deported twice accused of Charlotte light rail stabbing
CHARLOTTE MAN CHARGED WITH IRYNA ZARUTSKA’S KILLING COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY
Solorzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Solorzano has a prior conviction for robbery in the U.S. and prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and false ID, DHS sources said.
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solorzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr., on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the White House, Sept. 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The stabbing attack comes months after Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work from a local pizzeria shop.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who is accused of killing Zarutska, was charged with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law.
Brown had a history of violent crime, including assaults and robberies, and had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet he was still free and walking the streets.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the city of Charlotte and the CMPD for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexander Koch and Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Chelsea Torres contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Murdaugh trial court clerk pleads guilty to showing sealed crime scene photos to photographer
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A former South Carolina court clerk pleaded guilty Monday in connection with showing sealed court exhibits related to the murder trial of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh to a photographer and lying about it in court.
Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, who served as the court clerk in Colleton County, pleaded guilty to four charges — obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and then lying about it, plus two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting a book she wrote on the trial through her public office.
“There is no excuse for the mistakes I made. I’m ashamed of them and will carry that shame the rest of my life,” Hill said in a statement read to the court.
She was sentenced to three years of probation.
ALEX MURDAUGH’S MONEY MAN PAYS THE PRICE AFTER ADMITTING ROLE IN MILLION-DOLLAR CRIME SCHEME
Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill is sworn in before taking the stand to testify during the Alex Murdaugh jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP)
Her sentence would have been much harsher had evidence surfaced that she tampered with the murder trial, Judge Heath Taylor told Hill.
During Murdaugjh’s murder trial, Hill was responsible for taking care of the jury, overseeing exhibits and assisting the judge. Murdaugh was eventually convicted of murdering his wife and son after a six-week trial, which drew nationwide attention.
Murdaugh’s lawyers said Hill tried to influence jurors to vote guilty and that she was biased against Murdaugh because of her book.
ALEX MURDAUGH SLAMS NEW TRUE CRIME SERIES DEPICTING FAMILY’S DOUBLE-MURDER: ‘MISLEADING PORTRAYALS’
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill smiles after pleading guilty on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in St. Matthews, S.C. Hill pleaded guilty Monday to showing sealed exhibits from Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and other charges. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Solicitor Rick Hubbard told the judge that a journalist informed investigators that Hill showed graphic crime scene photos to several media members.
He did not name the journalist.
The photos were posted online, and the metadata from the images matched a time when Hill’s courthouse key card indicated she was inside the locked room where the photos were kept, Hubbard said.
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill is sworn in during a court hearing on Monday in St. Matthews, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Hill resigned in March 2024. One of the charges against her stemmed from money prosecutors said she took for herself. She brought a check to court on Monday to repay nearly $10,000.
Journalist Neil Gordon who worked with Hill on “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” and previously accused her of plagiarism, commented on Hill’s plea to Fox News Digital.
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill pleaded guilty Monday to showing sealed exhibits from disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and other charges. (Fox Nation/ Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)
“I appreciate seeing Becky step up and take responsibility for her actions, including the charge of misconduct in office, as it was directly related to the book I co-authored with her,” he said in a statement. “The specific instance was her decision to arrange a “Facebook Live” from her clerk’s office with the Colleton County Chamber of Commerce solely to promote our book.”
“The fact that it occurred during the workday showed boldness, poor judgement, and frankly ignorance of the oath she took as an elected official.,” he added. “Sadly, poor judgement around our book had been a pattern for Becky, as we later learned she plagiarized its preface.”
Meanwhile, Murdaugh is also serving a prison sentence for stealing money from his family’s law firm and client settlements.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital has reached out to Murdaugh’s attorney.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Florida designates Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations, DeSantis says
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Florida is designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.
The move mirrors a similar action taken by Texas in which Gov. Greg Abbott designated the CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.
“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis wrote on X.
TRUMP MOVES AGAINST MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS ISLAMIST GROUP SPREADS IN WEST
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantissaid CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
The governor’s order said the Muslim Brotherhood has long engaged in and supported violence, political assassinations and terror attacks on civilians with the intent of establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate.
It also said the group, as well as Hamas have active fundraising arms in the United States.
SCATHING REPORT CALLS ON US TO LABEL ISLAMIST GROUP INFILTRATING ALL ASPECTS OF AMERICAN LIFE AS TERRORIST ORG
The order said CAIR, which was created to challenge stereotypes against Islam and Muslims, has had individuals associated with it that have been convicted of providing and aspiring to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.
In a post on X, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said: “Great news! Thanks for this important Executive Order, Governor. We are ready to support!”
A joint statement by CAIR and its Florida chapter said the DeSantis administration has prioritized serving their interest of the Israeli government over the people of the state.
“He diverted millions in Florida taxpayer dollars to the Israeli government’s bonds. He threatened to shut down every Florida college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, only to back off when CAIR sued him in federal court,” the statement said. “Like Greg Abbott in Texas, Ron DeSantis is an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, especially American Muslims, critical of U.S. support for Israel’s war crimes. Governor DeSantis knows full well that CAIR-Florida is an American civil rights organization that has spent decades advancing free speech, religious freedom, and justice for all, including for the Palestinian people. That’s precisely why Governor DeSantis is targeting our civil rights group with this unconstitutional and defamatory proclamation.
“We look forward to defeating Governor DeSantis’ latest Israel First stunt in a court of law, where facts matter and conspiracy theories have no weight,” the groups added. “In the meantime, we encourage all Floridians and all Americans to speak up against this latest attempt to shred the Constitution for the benefit of a foreign government.”
Florida’s designation is at the state level. It doesn’t carry the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing, which only the U.S. State Department can issue.
In Texas, Muslim and interfaith leaders have demanded that Abott reverse his proclamation regarding CAIR. In a lawsuit against Texas over the governor’s declaration, CAIR argued that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law.
Texas Gov. Greg Abott designated CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, as a foreign terrorist organization. (Getty Images)
The order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections, CAIR said, arguing that the state overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.
Read the full article from Here
-
Iowa3 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Washington1 week agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa4 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Maine1 day agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
World1 week ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
-
Maryland3 days agoFrigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
-
Technology6 days agoThe Game Awards are losing their luster
-
South Dakota3 days agoNature: Snow in South Dakota