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Trump administration's Texas flood disaster response 'fundamentally different' from Biden's approach: Noem

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Trump administration's Texas flood disaster response 'fundamentally different' from Biden's approach: Noem

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Saturday that the federal response to the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country last weekend was a good indication of the improved disaster response the Trump administration is committed to providing.

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Devastating floods on the Fourth of July claimed at least 119 lives, and more than 150 others are missing. Among those killed were 27 girls attending Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.

“What you saw from our response in Texas is going to be a lot of how President [Donald] Trump envisions what [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] (FEMA) would look like in the future,” Noem said during a news conference Saturday. 

“We did things in Texas, in response, very different than Joe Biden.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Gov. Greg Abbott discuss ongoing efforts with recent flooding along the Guadalupe River during a news conference in Ingram, Texas, July 5. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

PRESIDENT TRUMP, FIRST LADY HEAD TO VISIT KERRVILLE, TEXAS FOLLOWING FATAL FLOODS

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In response to the 2023 Ohio train derailment in East Palestine, the Biden administration said the chemical disaster did not meet legal requirements for a FEMA disaster declaration, waiting two weeks to deploy a team to assist.

In the 2023 Maui fires, more than 100 people were killed, and historic Lahaina was reduced to rubble. Survivors were left without food, water and shelter.

At the time, FEMA Administrator Michael Brown called President Joe Biden’s response to the deadly fires “an abject failure.”

Displaced residents Caroline Anthony and Lori Brodeur pause while searching for personal items in the rubble of a wildfire that destroyed their home Oct. 5, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Slow responses and inadequate aid were also widely reported after Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina in late 2024. 

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“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump said in January while visiting North Carolina. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”

DEADLY TEXAS FLOOD EXPOSES ‘NEGLECTED’ WEATHER ALERT SYSTEM TRUMP AIMS TO MODERNIZE

Search and rescue teams work in Kerrville, Texas, July 9. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Noem noted that, during the most recent disaster, federal assistance was on the ground in Texas as soon as the flooding hit.

“We deployed our Coast Guard, helicopters, [aircraft] and swift water rescue teams out of Customs and Border Protection,” she said. “Our [Border Patrol Tactical Unit] (BORTAC) teams, which I like to call the Department of Homeland Security’s ninjas, are specifically trained for situations like that, where the unprecedented is happening.”

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After the floods, Noem said she immediately met with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and spoke with him about getting a major disaster declaration signed.

Within an hour or two of the request, she said, it was approved by the White House.

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott meet with local emergency services personnel as they survey flood damage along the Guadalupe River Friday in Kerrville, Texas. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“We pre-deployed dollars right to Texas so that they can make the best decisions responding to their people,” Noem said. “FEMA has never done that before — pre-deployed dollars to a state so that they could use that to save their people, so they could use that to go out and save lives.”

Noem said the president wants the states to be empowered during emergencies.

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GOV. ABBOTT DEMANDS COMPREHENSIVE OVERHAUL OF TEXAS FLOOD WARNING SYSTEMS AS DEATH TOLL RISES

“Emergencies are locally executed,” she said. “They are state-managed and then the federal government comes in and supports you. [No one] ever wants to sit back and wait for someone from the federal government to show up and rescue you out of your house because that, in the past, has not served people well under the Biden administration.

Under President Trump, Noem said, federal officials were there immediately to help local and state officials manage the response.

Multiple Texas flood victims have been confirmed dead by families, including some of the girls who went missing from Camp Mystic when the Guadalupe River flooded July 4. (Fox News)

She added her belief that FEMA “will cease to exist the way that it is today.”

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“We are fundamentally reforming that agency,” Noem said. “President Trump may want to, in his prerogative, as he likes to do, rename things. He may come up with a new name for this agency that reflects the fundamental change that’s going to happen there. But this agency will no longer be the bureaucratic agency where people have to wait 20 years for their claim to be paid. 

“It will be an agency that immediately says to that state, and to that local emergency management director, ‘What do you need? How can we support you?’ And then trains them to have the skill set that they need to be serving their people immediately, because they’re always there faster. They’re right there on the streets.”

It is unclear what the new agency name might be.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump listen during a roundtable discussion with first responders and local officials at the Hill Country Youth Event Center in Kerrville, Texas, after observing flood damage Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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When asked about reports of calls to FEMA from Texas residents going unanswered, Noem said she was “throwing the bull—- flag,” claiming she did not think that was true.

“I will get rid of any contract that doesn’t respond to people because they know they are empowered to do it,” she said.

FEMA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Illegal immigrant wanted for brutal bathtub murder arrested in Texas after crossing southern border again

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Illegal immigrant wanted for brutal bathtub murder arrested in Texas after crossing southern border again

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U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Texas on Monday arrested a wanted Mexican national accused of viciously murdering a woman years after he was deported.

Hernan Perez Juarez, also known as “Patricio Perez,” 41, is charged with murder in connection to the May 8, 2020, killing of a woman who was found dead in her Georgetown, Texas, bathtub with a deep cut in her lower abdomen.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Perez Juarez was deported in 2018 for an immigration violation and had no legal status in the U.S.

U.S. Marshals arrest Hernan Perez Juarez. (U.S. Marshals)

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ICE NABS 3-TIME DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER: ‘GOOD RIDDANCE’

He allegedly reentered the country before the crime, and authorities later found his vehicle abandoned in Laredo, near the international border of Mexico, according to the U.S. Marshals.

In March 2022, the Georgetown Police Department (GPD) obtained an arrest warrant for Perez Juarez, though the case stalled due to his unknown whereabouts.

Hernan Perez Juarez was photographed in 2018 before disappearing. (U.S. Marshals)

VENEZUELAN MAN WANTED FOR RUSSIAN ROULETTE TORTURE ATTACK CAPTURED BY ICE AGENTS IN NORTH TEXAS

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Earlier this month, an Austin-based task force learned Perez Juarez returned to the U.S. illegally, according to the U.S. Marshals. 

He was arrested in Temple, Texas on Monday and taken to the Williamson County Jail awaiting further judicial proceedings.

It is unclear when Perez Juarez allegedly reentered the country. (John Moore/Getty Images)

ICE has filed an immigration detainer on Perez Juarez following the judicial process in Williamson County, according to the U.S. Marshals.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Texas father dies in accidental shooting on hunting trip, daughter says family is ‘heartbroken’

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Texas father dies in accidental shooting on hunting trip, daughter says family is ‘heartbroken’

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A Texas family is mourning the sudden loss of a husband and father who, according to state officials, accidentally shot and killed himself during a weekend hunting trip. 

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) game wardens responded just after midnight Saturday to a hunting accident in northeast Texas that claimed the life of Jose Ramirez, 45, of Grapevine, the agency said.

Ramirez, a father of three, was identified in a GoFundMe campaign created by one of his daughters. 

“My father, Jose Ramirez, passed away unexpectedly, and our family is heartbroken. My dad meant the world to me,” the GoFundMe reads.

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YOUNG HUNTERS IN COLORADO DIED IN ‘INSTANT,’ CORONER REVEALS

Jose Ramirez, 45, died on Saturday after he was accidentally shot while removing his gun from a vehicle during a hunting trip in northeast Texas. (GoFundMe)

Ramirez was removing his firearm from a vehicle when it discharged, local outlet KLTV reported, citing TPWD. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful.

His daughter described him as “the pillar of our home, the provider for our family, and the one who always made sure we were taken care of.” She added that the “light of his life” was his infant granddaughter.

“He taught me the most important lessons in life — to never give up, to work hard for what you want, and to always do what makes you happy, no matter how small it may seem,” she wrote of her father. “He believed that true success comes from loving what you do and living with a happy heart.”

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Jose Ramirez, 45, leaves behind his wife, three children and one grandchild. (GoFundMe)

ILLINOIS HUNTER DEAD AFTER BEING SHOT IN FACE, IOWA’S SECOND FATAL HUNTING ACCIDENT THIS FALL

Ramirez grew up in Grapevine and was active in the community, working at many restaurants in the Dallas suburb over the years, according to the Facebook page “Grapevine Edit.”

“Most recently, he worked at Son of a Butcher, Silver Lake Marina’s Rockin’ S Express Bar & Grill, and spent over a decade at Kirby’s Steakhouse,” the page wrote in a post honoring Ramirez’s life. “His family wants the community to know of his passing because they know how many coworkers, customers, and locals cared about him and would want to know.”

The TPWD said game wardens are trained to investigate hunting-related incidents, but “always wish a tragedy like this could have been avoided.”

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The agency encouraged all hunters to “take safety seriously” and added a few reminders for handling firearms in a Facebook post.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department urged hunters to “take safety seriously” in the wake of Jose Ramirez’s death, adding that all firearms should be handled as if they are loaded. (iStock)

“Always handle all firearms as if they are loaded, keep muzzles pointed in a safe direction and take time to unload your firearm before placing or removing it from a vehicle,” the agency wrote before extending condolences to Ramirez’s loved ones.

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Texas’ general rifle season for white-tail deer began on Nov. 1 and ends on different dates in January depending on the location.

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Holiday crime fears grow as ‘jugging’ thieves target shoppers carrying cash and gifts: ‘Only a matter of time’

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Holiday crime fears grow as ‘jugging’ thieves target shoppers carrying cash and gifts: ‘Only a matter of time’

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Authorities throughout the country are warning shoppers to remain vigilant ahead of their holiday errands as thieves are turning to a popular crime trend to make off with quick cash. 

The trend – nicknamed “jugging” – involves criminals following victims from ATMs, banks or stores in an effort to steal their cash or new purchases, according to the FBI. Law enforcement officers typically see a rise in incidents around the holiday season, with shoppers often walking around with large sums of cash or high-cost gifts. 

“Jugging is just, in my opinion, a slang term for crimes of opportunity,” retired NYPD officer Bill Stanton told Fox News Digital. “Think of predators, where there are crocodiles or water creatures that hang out by the watering hole, right? And in this case, it’s an ATM or an ATM-type machine.” 

Numerous instances of individuals falling victim to the trend have made national headlines, with the most recent incident striking a Texas man earlier this month.

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ATM ‘JACKPOTTING’ CRIME WAVE GROWS AFTER THIEVES WALK AWAY WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN CASH 

Surveillance video shows the moment two men allegedly broke the windows of an empty pickup truck and stole a cash envelope after following the victim from an ATM to a gas station in Houston, Texas, on April 28, 2025. (Houston Police Department)

On Nov. 10, a 70-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint as he was visiting an ATM in a Walmart parking lot in Houston, according to FOX26. 

Police said the suspect forced the victim to withdraw cash from the machine, then shot the man after he handed over the money. The unnamed man was transported to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition. 

A similar incident unfolded on April 29, when police say a Houston man was followed from a Wells Fargo Bank ATM to a car wash, where an unidentified male suspect brandished a firearm in an attempt to rob the victim, according to the Houston Police Department. The suspect then fled the area on foot, before entering a white SUV and driving off, police said. 

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One day earlier, a man was followed from a Chase Bank in Houston, where surveillance video captured two suspects pulling up next to his vehicle on each side while the man entered a gas station convenience store, according to police. Video then captured the two suspects – who are believed to be the same individuals involved in the robbery on the following day – breaking both front windows of the victim’s vehicle before removing a cash envelope from the center console. 

BLUE CITY POLICE BLASTED FOR ‘EMBARRASSING’ TIPS TO ROBBERY VICTIMS AS CRIME SPIKES, VETERAN OFFICER SAYS

Johnny Juwan Clark pleaded guilty earlier this year to the “jugging” robbery of an ATM technician in Houston, Texas, on July 3, 2024. Surveillance video captured Clark forcing the technician to the ground while two codefendants allegedly stole nearly $250,000 in cash from the machine, according to the Department of Justice. (The Department of Justice)

Earlier this year, a Houston man was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to the “jugging” robbery of an ATM technician, according to the Department of Justice.

According to prosecutors, 33-year-old Johnny Juwan Clark was out on supervised release for a separate robbery incident when he, along with three others, forced an ATM technician to the ground and forcibly removed hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from the machine in Midlothian, Texas.  

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The group was working within a Houston-based criminal organization called the “Hiram Clarke Money Team” when Clark admitted following the technician to multiple stops, before approaching the victim from behind and forcing him to the ground in front of a Chase Bank ATM, according to the DOJ. 

Clark kept his fist to the back of the technician’s head as two alleged accomplices stole approximately $248,000 in cash from the machine, prosecutors said. The group then allegedly fled the scene and met at a nearby apartment complex, where the stolen money was loaded into the back of a Range Rover and driven back to Houston.

BANK ROBBERS TURN BLUE STATE INTO HOT SPOT FOR HEISTS AS BANDITS GROW BOLDER, INDUSTRY LEADER WARNS

Johnny Juwan Clark pleaded guilty earlier this year to stealing nearly $250,000 from an ATM in Houston, Texas on July 3, 2024, according to the Department of Justice. (The Department of Justice)

Once the cash was transported, Clark and another codefendant used a portion of the money to purchase an S-Class Mercedes-Benz and jewelry, according to prosecutors. 

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Clark’s attorney and the Houston Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

“It’s more of a want issue,” Stanton said. “And if the economy isn’t going in their favor, it’s more of a motivating factor – that, and the holidays.” 

According to Stanton, criminals often seek out victims that look as though they are not paying attention to their surroundings when in a public place.

GHOST-TAPPING SCAM TARGETS TAP-TO-PAY USERS

“If you give the impression that you are prey, that you are lunch or dinner by way of giving up your money, it’s only a matter of time,” Stanton told Fox News Digital. “It’s not a matter of if, but when. Just because it’s never happened before, doesn’t mean that you’re untouchable – it means that you’re lucky.” 

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Stanton urges shoppers to take precautionary measures to protect themselves, especially during the holiday season. 

He, along with the FBI, suggest shoppers should look around for anyone who may appear suspicious before approaching an ATM or exiting their vehicle in a parking lot.

ROBBER’S FAKE LIMP VANISHES DURING BANK HEIST CAUGHT ON CAMERA, POLICE SAY

Additionally, the FBI urges individuals to vary their banking habits and stay away from a traceable routine, while also concealing their cash when leaving an ATM or store. 

“Don’t make it easy for them,” Stanton said. “Take the money, put it deep in your pocket and go right to the car. Don’t be fanning the money, counting it out while you’re on the phone.” 

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Stanton also implores shoppers who may find themselves in a dangerous situation to simply hand over the money if they are approached by a criminal. 

“If you’re in the middle of it, give it up,” he said. “Whether the money is from the ATM, that can be replaced – not your life. Toss the money and run the other way if you’re able to.”

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As Americans are taking to the stores to get a jump start on their holiday shopping, Stanton urges buyers to keep personal safety at the forefront of their minds as they buy their gifts for the season. 

“While you’re doing your holiday shopping, so are the bad guys,” Stanton said. “While you’re looking for that deal or to buy that expensive item, they’re watching you and are like, ‘Oh, I like that person’s taste. That’s what their gift is, and it’s going to be my possession.’ You know, put that in your mind, and it makes you a little bit more aware.”

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