Four federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raided a Washington state food products manufacturer, arresting 17, including 16 allegedly undocumented immigrants.
A video on Facebook shared by immigration attorney and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, Luis Cortes-Romero, showed what appeared to be federal agents removing nine men and seven women from Eagle Beverage Products in Kent. The handcuffed detainees were loaded into a white, unmarked bus. It is unclear if the 17th person arrested was an undocumented migrant or an employee of the company.
Through a statement, an ICE spokesperson told Seattle-area PBS station KUOW that the “arrested workers ‘had fraudulently represented their immigration status and submitted fraudulent documents and/or information to seek employment.’” The statement added that officers executed a federal search warrant as part of a broader “criminal investigation into the unlawful employment of aliens.”
Because the Trump administration is facing multiple lawsuits over its immigration practices, including illegal detentions and deportations, raids by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Investigations are under intense scrutiny. Tuesday’s raid at Eagle Beverage Products was a rare enforcement action, but in this single case, it appears the government dotted all the “i’s” and crossed all the “t’s.”
Raids for Form I-9 fraud are rare, and convictions are even rarer
Formal Form I-9 inspections by ICE are rare, raids are rarer, and arrests of employers are almost unprecedented.
An April 15 report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), authored by Daniel Costa, revealed that the number of I-9 inspections carried out by ICE has fluctuated through four administrations. The Obama administration steadily increased the number of inspections through 2013, peaking at 3,127, before falling to around 1,250 a year.
During the first Trump administration, ICE carried out 1,360 inspections in 2017, before surging to 6,456 in 2019. No inspections were conducted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a temporary policy loosening I-9 verification requirements was implemented the same year. That program didn’t end until July 31, 2023.
The only year the Biden administration was not impacted by the pandemic and eased ICE policies was 2024. According to the EPI, only 264 inspections were carried out, in part because the administration prioritized “labor exploitation.”
Even at the 2019 peak, the number of annual inspections was tiny, with 17.77 million companies in the U.S., according to the NAICS.
The IRS, DHS, and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) provide very little information about criminal enforcement against employers. The most recent data is from April 2018 to March 2019, during the period of heightened enforcement by the Trump administration. A study from the University of Syracuse using Freedom of Information requests and data compiled from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) found that only 11 people and no employers were criminally prosecuted for I-9 fraud or related charges. A search of federal records found that no one was sentenced to jail time.
e-Verify is an online portal that enables employers to gain an additional layer of verification that the documents provided by a worker are authentic. The U.S. government e-Verify portal shows that Eagle Beverage Products (dba as Eagle Beverage & Accessory Prod.) opted into the program on December 14, 2015, and opted out on June 12, 2024. A second record shows the company opted into eVerify on March 1, 2010, and opted out on January 1, 2017. The overlap in dates may have been caused by the company changing its Application Tracking Systems (ATS) or introducing a new online employee onboarding software system with e-Verify integration.
It is important to note that none of the federal agencies involved in yesterday’s raid has provided specific information about the alleged employment eligibility fraud, and Eagle Beverage Products has not released a formal statement.
A Brief History of Form I-9 and e-Verify
Anyone who has held a job in the U.S. in the last 40 years has completed Form I-9. Introduced in November 1986 as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the law requires all companies to verify the legal status of their workers by reviewing and holding copies of documents that provide proof of eligibility.
Over the last 39 years, Form I-9 and the list of acceptable documents have changed little. Workers can provide a single document from List A, such as a U.S. Passport, Passport Card, or Permanent Resident Alien Card. Or, they can provide one document each from List B and List C, such as a Social Security card, certified birth certificate, driver’s license, military ID, or Native American tribal document. Employers are required to make copies of the provided documents and keep them with the signed Form I-9.
A problem that arose after the new law was implemented was that companies had no way to verify whether the provided documents were authentic. Some undocumented migrants provide fake or stolen identity information, while some employers willingly use forged documents to circumvent the law.
In November 1997, a program called Basic Pilot was rolled out in five states to provide an additional layer of electronic verification. In 2007, that program became known as e-Verify.
e-Verify is a government portal where employers upload the information provided by the employee. The document numbers and expiration dates are verified as authentic, and the employer is shown a photo of the person, typically using their driver’s license picture, based on the information provided. The employer is required to verify that the photo in the database matches their new employee.
When e-Verify cannot authenticate a document, and a manual government review by the Social Security Administration or the Department of Homeland Security can’t resolve the problem, it is called a Tentative Nonconfirmation. The employer has ten working days to notify the employee, and then the employee has ten working days to tell their new employer if they intend to fix the issue. Then, they have eight more working days to resolve the problem with their documentation. During that time, they are still eligible to work.
There are many reasons that e-Verify could flag a person who is legally eligible to work in the U.S. with a Tentative Nonconfirmation. However, if the issue is not resolved, the employer is required to fire the worker.
For some workers, I-9 verification isn’t a one-and-done process. Employees who are legally working by holding visas or work permits must have their information reverified before the documents expire.
The biggest problem created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act is that enforcement action almost exclusively targets the undocumented worker and not the employers who hire them. For large employers, the biggest risk after a raid is fines and increased scrutiny by ICE, which isn’t enough of a barrier to resolve the root cause.
Full Disclosure: The author of this story was the Director of Product Marketing at TalentWise, an employee screening and new employee onboarding solutions company originally based in Bothell, Washington. The company offered its customers an integrated e-Verify solution. In January 2016, TalentWise was acquired by SterlingBackcheck (now SterlingONE).
[WBHG News] – Fifteen days after a Russian drone struck the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, fires continue to burn in the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure.
“Ukrainian firefighters are still trying to extinguish smoldering fires within the large structure built over the reactor destroyed in the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
On 14 February, a Russian drone struck the NSC, which encases the remains of Reactor 4. The reactor exploded in April 1986 due to design flaws and operator negligence, causing the worst nuclear accident in world history. The drone created a six-meter-wide hole and ignited fires on the roof and within the confinement facility. The NSC, completed in 2016, was built to prevent the future release of radioactive material into the atmosphere and further protect the original shelter built over Reactor 4, which was decaying.
Radiation monitoring carried out by Ukraine and independent measurements done by the IAEA show radiational levels remain at normal levels inside and outside of Chornobyl.
Efforts by more than 400 firefighters, engineers, and technicians to put out the fire and start repairs are hampered by the normal background radiation left from the 1986 accident and repeated Russian attacks near Chornobyl. Onsite IAEA inspectors reported “multiple air raid alarms during the past week, at times forcing the suspension of the activities to extinguish the fires.”
The most serious incident included a Russian drone flying directly over a radioactive spent fuel storage facility at the Chornobyl site, according to the IAEA.
“The firefighters and other responders are working very hard in difficult circumstances to manage the impact and consequences of the drone strike. It was clearly a serious incident in terms of nuclear safety, even though it could have been much worse. As I have stated repeatedly during this devastating war, attacking a nuclear facility must never happen,” Director General Grossi said.
IAEA Confirms Drone was a Shahed-136
Photo of debris from the Shahed-136 drone that struck the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant found inside the NSC building by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on 14 February 2025.
Experts with the IAEA, who have been given unrestricted access to the ongoing investigation, reviewed the collected drone debris in Kyiv on Thursday. “The team observed drone parts that they assessed are consistent with a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle,” an IAEA spokesperson said.
However, the nuclear watchdog refused to provide “any further assessment” on who launched the Russian-built drone at Chornobyl. While the IAEA has never assessed blame for any attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, this was the first time the organization positively identified a weapon used in the attack.
Article 56 of International Humanitarian Law forbids all attacks on “nuclear electrical generating stations” without exception.
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of the attack, and the strike occurred during a larger drone attack in the region. Our team reviewed photos of the drone debris and concluded they were consistent with a Shahed-136.
[WGBH NEWS] – The Trump administration’s 13.5% arbitrary job cuts at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) did not hit the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), despite both not relying on federal funds to pay their workers.
Last week, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) warned that cuts of between 450 to 600 workers “are literally the people who help keep the lights on.”
“Between employees who were fired, those whose job offers were rescinded, and those who took the ‘Fork in the Road offer,’ we estimate that BPA is losing between 450 and 600 skilled workers,” said Murray. “This includes everyone from electricians and engineers to dispatchers, lineworkers, cybersecurity experts, and so many other people who help keep the lights on in the Northwest.”
After last week’s job cuts, BPA is attempting to rehire approximately 30 probationary workers, those who had been in their jobs for less than two years, after being deemed critical staff.
The workers who left were paid by ratepayers—the BPA’s customers—and not by federal funds. “Staff reductions…will not create reductions in the federal deficit,” said Randy Hardy and Steve Wright, former BPA administrators who wrote an open letter about the job cuts.
On Monday, Scott Simms, the executive director of the Public Power Council, said “more than 400” of BPA’s employees had been let go. About 125 staffers took a deferred resignation option, the so-called “Fork in the Road” e-mail offered last month, another 105 accepted early retirement, and 90 recent job offers had been rescinded. According to Simms, another 125 to 200 probationary workers were terminated.
Many of the 230 workers who voluntarily left were in specialized jobs, including linemen, system engineers, power dispatchers, and substation operators. The Southeast Lineman Training Center tells students it takes up to 4 years and 8,000 hours of training to become a journeyman lineman with an associates degree.
The BPA is responsible for over 15,000 circuit miles of transmission lines and 261 electrical substations in nine states, including all of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. Almost 90% of the 11,680 megawatts of power transmitted through BPA infrastructure comes from 31 hydroelectric plants under its management, including the Grand Coulee, Chief Joseph, John Day, The Dalles, and Bonneville Dams.
According to Hardy and Wright, the network “supplies one-third of Northwest electricity and owns/manages 75 percent of the region’s high voltage transmission system, which ensures reliable delivery of regional power to Northwest residents.”
Despite the small recall of 30 employees, Senator Murray condemned the expanding arbitrary federal job cuts, calling billionaire Elon Musk the “co-president.”
“Right now, President Trump, and his co-President Elon Musk are breaking American government. They are firing workers left and right—with no plan, no strategy, and no concern for who gets hurt,” said Murray.
Liz Krumpp, a former BPA employee with 15 years of experience, said the layoffs and hiring freeze “will make it increasingly harder for the remaining employees to do their jobs,” adding, “Customers are asking Bonneville to expand its transmission system, not shrink it.”
Did Musk and Trump Punish the Pacific Northwest – Tennessee Valley Authority Jobs Protected
Unlike the BPA, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was protected from job cuts by the White House and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Just as the BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to expand electrical service to rural areas during the Great Depression, the TVA was created in 1933. It is also federally owned and receives no taxpayer funding. Today, the TVA provides power to seven states, including all of Tennessee.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel quoted TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks, who wrote in an e-mail, “TVA and its employees did not receive this communication, and this deferred resignation offer does not apply to TVA employees.”
When asked about potential arbitrary job cuts, TVA CEO Jeff Lash said, “They won’t do that because why would they, right? The government does not fund TVA at all.”
TVA leaders touted budget and job cuts made in 2015 that contributed to their insulation from the so-called DOGE and Trump. Public records show that in 2018, BPA had 2,900 employees, which grew to 3,100 before the arbitrary job cuts. However, unlike the increasing need for electricity in the Pacific Northwest, a 2018 report from the TVA projected that electrical demand within its network would drop by 13% over the next decade.
In 2020, Trump blasted TVA CEO Lash for a plan to outsource IT jobs to overseas companies. Signing an executive order that prevented federal agencies from outsourcing labor, Trump told reporters, “Let this serve as a warning to any federally appointed board. If you betray American workers, then you will hear two simple words: ‘You’re fired.'”
The TVA and the BPA did not respond to our requests for comment.
[WBHG NEWS] – Delta Airlines Flight DL4819 crashed during a landing attempt in Toronto, Canada.
The fuselage remained intact, with the wings, stabilizer, and rudder torn off, and the plane turned over on its back. Canadian officials reported that everyone was expected to survive.
The American Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 departed Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 11:34 AM after a 64-minute delay, and was supposed to land in Toronto at 2:11 PM.
This is the third commercial airline crash involving a U.S. airline in less than a month. On January 29, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter conducting an annual pilot check flight. All three crewmembers on the Blackhawk and the 64 crewmembers and passengers on the Bombardier CRJ700 flying from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., were killed. A Cessna 208 Caravan operated by Bering Air crashed near Nome, Alaska, on February 6, killing all nine passengers and the pilot.
[WBHG NEWS] – On Friday, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired approximately 400 employees from the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), which is part of the Department of Energy (DOE).
The layoffs included almost 30% of the staff at the Pantex Nuclear Weapons Facility in Texas, security and maintenance experts, and foreign-based monitors meant to prevent nuclear proliferation. Included in the terminations were Ukrainian monitors meant to ensure the war-torn country doesn’t restart a nuclear weapons program in compliance with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
Also fired was most of the team responsible for producing and protecting replacement plutonium cores for the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. This action was taken despite a mandate by the first Trump administration to expand the production of cores, also known as pits, by 2030, which is part of an ongoing U.S. nuclear weapons modernization program.
Less than 24 hours later, the damage to national security had become clear, and the DOE was scrambling to rehire more than 300 employees.
It is a misconception that the DOE focuses on conservation, green energy, car electrification, and LED light bulbs. Since its creation, the main function of the DOE has been to regulate, protect, produce, and maintain the U.S. nuclear energy and weapons programs. Conservation and alternative energy research and development programs were expanded in the 1970s. The charter was further expanded by the George W. Bush Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the DOE were mandated to increase pit production from 30 per year to 80 by the end of the decade. In 2018, the NNSA submitted a plan to produce 30 pits at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and 50 more at the Savannah River Lab in South Carolina. Congress received an update in 2020, which concluded that the $350 billion project was at least two years behind schedule. Congressional reports in 2021, 2023, and 2024 show that little progress has been made to speed up production.
During the Cold War, the U.S. was capable of producing up to 1,000 pits per year, ending large-scale production in 1989. The almost complete stop occurred during an era of detente with the Soviet Union and ongoing nuclear disarmament. The same GAO report about expanding modern production noted that only a limited number of pits have been produced since 1989, and the last war reserve pits were built in 2012.
The U.S. uses Plutonium-239 to make nuclear cores, which have a half-life of 24,110 years. Despite the millennia-long decay rate, it is estimated that after 30 to 35 years, there is enough decay to impact explosive yield. It is not suggested that the U.S. nuclear arsenal would not work, just that the explosive power could be different from what is expected. In 2023, the NNSA asked Congress for $1 billion to conduct additional research on the decay rate to determine exactly when the pits need to be replaced.
Nations that started their nuclear weapons program prior to 1980 have similar challenges. The United Kingdom, France, Russia, and India also have aging nuclear arsenals, with Pakistan not far behind. While China tested its first nuclear bomb in 1964, it recently started expanding its arsenal, with a goal of having 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. That would make China a near-peer of Russia and the United States with the most modern warheads on the planet.
In 2021, the U.S. allocated $64 billion to maintain its existing nuclear stockpile, equivalent to the entire published military budget of the Russian Federation. While the NNSA’s annual report to Congress on pit production is publicly available, Moscow keeps its production data classified. Most experts believe that Russian nuclear readiness is in worse condition than the U.S., France, and the U.K.
Over the weekend, government officials said they were having a hard time tracking down the terminated employees, lacking active e-mail addresses and phone numbers in their records. Some of the fired workers didn’t find out they were released until they tried to show up to work or access secured online systems.
The DOE can trace its roots to the Atomic Energy Commission, which was formed in 1946 after the success of the Manhattan Project and the end of World War II. In 1977, the Carter Administration combined several government commissions and agencies, as well as the U.S. nuclear research labs, into the DOE. The agency also received the added charter of formulating policies for energy security and conservation, partially in response to the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Despite the expanding role of U.S. energy policy, the core function of the DOE remains nuclear-focused.
[WBHG News] – The security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is rapidly deteriorating as Chinese and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels claim they have captured the regional capital of Goma.
On Saturday, 13 peacekeepers, including nine South African soldiers, were killed and another 11 wounded as fighting raged between M23 and the Congolese Army. Three soldiers attached to the U.N. mission in Congo from Mali and one from Uruguay were among the dead.
Regional leaders in Congo reported over 200 civilians have been killed in the last week, with “hundreds” in hospital.
By Sunday night, M23 rebels, supported by the Rwandan army, had reached the Munigi United Nations Camp on the N2 Highway, just 9 kilometers from the center of Goma and 4 kilometers from the international airport. Their leaders vowed they would have full control of the city within the next 48 hours and issued an ultimatum to the Congolese Army to lay down their arms.
Hours later, M23 leaders claimed they had captured the city, with videos showing M23 militants or Rwandan soldiers marching through empty streets. The Uruguayan National Army released photos of Congolese soldiers lined up to surrender their weapons to U.N. peacekeeping forces.
Earlier in the day, panicked residents of the Kanyaruchinya Refugee Camp were fleeing south on foot deeper into Goma. The sound of gunfire and artillery could be heard within the city, with the United Nations declaring there was a “mass panic.”
Diplomatic Efforts
On Saturday, the DRC severed all diplomatic ties with Rwanda and recalled its entire diplomatic staff “with immediate effect.”
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, told the Associated Press that Kinshasa made a unilateral decision “that was even published on social media before being sent to our embassy.”
In an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, the DRC ambassador to the U.N. accused Rwanda of sending their forces over the border, calling it equal to a “declaration of war” and demanded sanctions be placed. Rwanda did not deny the claim.
Rwanda’s ambassador to the U.N., Ernest Rwamucyo, accused the body of using its peacekeepers in the conflict and plotting to force “regime change” in Rwanda.
Last year, Kigali confirmed that it had troops and air defense systems in eastern Congo as a “safeguard” for its security, citing a provocative build-up by the Congolese Army. The U.N. estimates that there are 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, equal to a brigade, in the Congo.
The U.N. announced it was “temporarily relocating non-essential staff from Goma” but would continue its mission. During the Security Council session, the U.N. Special Representative for Congo said the staff was now trapped. The International Airport has been closed, and the city is cut off from all sides, with Lake Kivu to the south and Rwandan and M23 forces to the east and north.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Rwandan forces to withdraw and for Rwanda to end its support of M23 rebels. Gueterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said through a statement that the Secretary-General “reiterates his strongest condemnation of the M23 armed group’s ongoing offensive and advances towards Goma in North Kivu with the support of the Rwanda Defence Forces.”
The Security Council showed extremely rare unity, with Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian permanent ambassador to the U.N., calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities, and [I] urge Rwanda and the DRC to return to the negotiating table under Angolan mediation.”
Nebenzia also condemned the DRC’s support of the ethnic Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel faction that includes perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide within its leadership.
China, however, was muted in its response.
South Africa’s U.N. ambassador, Mathu Joyini, condemned the death of nine of their peacekeepers and blamed M23. “Nine of these fallen peacekeepers are South Africans who showed immense bravery amidst relentless attacks from the M23,” Joyini told the council. “These attacks from the M23 are in violation of the ceasefire that was brokered through the Luanda Process…We deplore these unwarranted attacks against [U.N. peacekeepers] and the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).”
The acting U.S. Ambassador warned Rwanda that Washington would “consider all tools at its disposal” to hold those responsible for continuing the conflict. French officials also appealed for Rwanda to withdraw its forces immediately and end its support of M23.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Ankara, said he was prepared to serve as a mediator to end the conflict. Kagame praised Erdoğan, citing his “mediating role in various conflicts, bringing Somalia and Ethiopia together.”
Over the last 25 years, Türkiye has significantly expanded its sphere of influence in Africa, with major economic, diplomatic, and military support activities in Libya, Algeria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and Rwanda. Additionally, Türkiye almost tripled its diplomatic presence on the continent, opening 32 new embassies since 2002, and established its largest overseas military base in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Historical Context
War, genocide, violence, natural disasters, and food insecurity have ravaged Rwanda and the DRC for over 30 years. Last year, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reported over 25 million people in the DRC, “approximately one-quarter of the population, are facing conflict, violence, and disasters” due to 25 years of unrest. An estimated 6 million people have died from non-natural causes during the same period.
Local U.N. representatives estimate over 400,000 people have been internally displaced in the Goma region since January 1.
The current conflict in the eastern DRC is partially rooted in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when the Hutu majority, led by Théoneste Bagosora, killed up to one million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu supporters in just 100 days. Another 250,000 to 500,000 Tutsi women were sexually assaulted.
Since 2009, Rwanda and elements within the DRC have used the genocide as an excuse to back ethnic Tutsi forces, claiming that the threat from ethnic Hutus remains. Within Rwanda, ethnic Tutsi rebels with the FDLR are backed by Congo as a destabilizing force. The group is small and has little political power.
Tutsis are more integrated into political power structures in the DRC and, to a lesser extent, Uganda. Regional experts estimate that M23 only has 5,000 fighters.
M23 was formed in 2012 and took control of Goma in June of the same year. The non-governmental rebels withdrew after significant international pressure was placed on Rwanda, but fighting between almost 100 different factions has never stopped.
In July 2024, Rwanda and the DRC signed a formal ceasefire, which was to take effect in August. Fighting only stopped briefly and continued to escalate through the fall. On December 15, Kigali and Kinshasa canceled plans to renew talks.
Military Support and International Presence
Rwanda’s military is backed by the BRICS nations of Brazil, China, and India and receives additional weapons and ammunition support from Serbia and Türkiye. Despite the oppositional position of the Russian Federation in the U.N. Security Council, Rwanda also receives support from several African nations in the Sahel, including the Central African Republic and Mali.
Open-source intelligence shows that China is arming M23, with Rwanda serving as the intermediary. Beijing and Kigali have repeatedly denied the claims, but pictures and videos of M23 forces show they are well-equipped with Chinese kit and weapons.
Egypt, Brazil, China, France, and Türkiye support the DRC’s military, although most heavy weapons were purchased before 2010. Up until 2014, Ukraine was the largest arms supplier to the Congo, selling mostly second-hand Soviet-era tanks and armored vehicles. The DRC also received limited support from several European nations, including Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.
Up to 1,000 Russian mercenaries, including elements of the Rosgvardiya Afrika Corps (formerly PMC Wagner Group), are stationed in the DRC. However, there is no evidence that they are engaged in direct fighting against M23 and their Rwandan Army backers.
The U.N. Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has an estimated 16,000 foreign peacekeepers on the ground and another 2,500 administrative and support personnel.
The Southern African Development Community formed SAMIDRC in December 2023 in support of the U.N. Currently, a regional force of 2,900 peacekeepers from Malawi, South Africa, and the United Republic of Tanzania are deployed.
The Humanitarian Crisis
The DRC is roughly the size of Western Europe and is one of the most mineral-rich nations on the planet. Despite being in the Sub-Sahara, it has significant forests, water, and hydropower resources. The nation has direct access to the Atlantic Ocean, and its main port is located in Banana.
Despite the material wealth and water resources, the DRC is the third poorest nation in Africa by GDP Purchasing Power Parity, only ahead of the Central African Republic and Burundi. In 2022, the U.N. reported that 60% of the population lives on less than $1.90 per day.
According to the IPC, over 3 million Congolese, mostly in refugee camps in the east, are on the brink of famine, and the entire population of almost 100 million suffers from some degree of food insecurity.
M23 and their Rwandan military backers and the Congolese Army have both been accused of human rights violations and atrocities since fighting erupted in 2012. International Humanitarian Law violations have included looting, sexual violence, extrajudicial executions, the intentional targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, forced conscription, and the use of child soldiers.
A Proxy War for the Largest Cobalt Deposits in the World
Congo’s mineral wealth includes large deposits of tantalum, gold, and high-grade copper ore. The country also has commercially viable deposits of lithium and diamonds and proven oil reserves of 180 million barrels. However, the most valuable resource within the DRC is cobalt, where almost half of the known global reserves are located.
Cobalt is a critical element for the production of many common items, including polish, dyes, alloys, and car airbags. However, over the past 15 years, demand has exploded due to its importance in the production of rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries used by electric vehicles, electronics, and cell phones. According to public records compiled by the U.N., in 2024, Rwanda exported more cobalt ore than it produced.
Some have accused the European Union of complicity in the conflict after Brussels signed a “Memorandum of Understanding of Sustainable Raw Material Value Chains” with Rwanda in February 2024. Beyond cobalt, the agreement declared that Rwanda “is a major player in [sic] the world’s tantalum extraction” and that “a tantalum refinery will soon be operational.”
The document added that the partnership would “contribute to ensuring a sustainable supply of…especially critical raw materials, as an essential prerequisite for delivering on green and clean energy objectives.”
Tantalum is a critical mineral for the production of small capacitors, which are found in many electronic devices, including computers and cell phones.
Across the border in the DRC, China controls almost all of the cobalt mining interests. In a 2024 report for the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, Farrell Gregory and Paul J. Milas concluded, “The DRC produces 80% of the world’s cobalt, and Chinese state-owned enterprises and policy banks control 80% of the total output.”
Nine of the ten largest cobalt mines in the world are in the DRC, and five of them are owned by Chinese companies.
Today, almost 80% of the world’s refined cobalt is used to produce rechargeable batteries. China consumes about one-third of the global supply, with Tesla and Volkswagen Group among the largest customers. North America (Canada, United States, Mexico) is in second place, using approximately 23%, followed by Europe, which consumes approximately 18% of global production.
With M23 and Rwanda now in control of Goma, Africa’s longest continuous conflict has no end in sight.
[WBHG NEWS – Chelan, WA] – The Chelan County Sheriff identified Zachary A. Soltis of Texas as the person who vandalized the Leavenworth, Washington Christmas display on 22-23 December. He is facing multiple criminal charges.
The sheriff alleges it was Soltis behind the wheel of a silver 2024 Toyota Tundra pickup truck that did donuts on the sledding hill and other areas in downtown Leavenworth, sending at least two pedestrians scrambling. During his 15 minutes of Internet fame, Soltis even drove the truck up on the sidewalk and parked in front of the gazebo in the city park, providing police with a clear view of him in the driver’s seat and the truck’s license plate.
Thanks to the Patrol Deputies’ tireless efforts, and with help from our citizens and visitors, the suspect has been identified as Zachary Soltis, who resides in Texas. There is probable cause for his arrest for Malicious Mischief 2nd Degree and Reckless Driving.
Chelan County Sheriff
After he was identified on Friday, Soltis purged his social media accounts. According to public information, he lives in Carrollton, Texas. His deleted LinkedIn page listed Toyota of North America in Carrollton, Texas, as his employer, and prior to that, he claimed he was in the United States Marine Corps as an Aviation Ordnance Specialist. It is unclear if he was driving his personal vehicle or a company vehicle at the time of the vandalism.
The Sheriff’s Office identified Soltis at the end of the day Friday, so charges are pending. Officials are working with the Chelan County prosecutor, with the sheriff’s department recommending charges of 2nd Degree Malicious Mischief, a Class C Felony, and Reckless Driving.
Former United States President Jimmy Carter passed away in his Georgia home surrounded by family. He was 100 years old. He is survived by his four children: Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. His wife passed in November 2023 due to complications from dementia.
Carter was the 39th President, serving from January 1977 to January 1981 during a turbulent time in U.S. history. He is best known for the 1978 Camp David Accords, which settled decades of dispute between Israel and Egypt, including the return of the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had occupied after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He also negotiated the Salt II Nuclear Arms Treaty in June 1979 but asked Congress to suspend ratification after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
James Earl Carter Junior was born on 1 October 1924 in Plains, Georgia, and was the first American President to be born in a hospital. He graduated high school in 1941 and studied at Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where he joined the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps. In 1943, he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy, a lifelong goal, and graduated in 1946. He met with his wife while at the Academy, and they married shortly after his graduation.
Carter served as a Navy officer from 1946 to 1953. In 1951, he was assigned to the submarine USS K-1 and eventually became its executive officer. In 1952, he was transferred to the command of Captain Hyman Rickover, who led the U.S. Navy’s new nuclear submarine program.
On 12 December 1952, an accident at the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada’s Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown, flooding the basement area with radioactive water and debris. Carter was ordered to the facility and led a team of soldiers with other members of the U.S. and Canadian military to clean up the accident and decommission the reactor. Carter and his subordinates were lowered into the radioactive areas for 90-second periods to carry out complex tasks and help drain the contaminated water.
In 1953, Carter was supposed to be transferred to the USS Seawolf, the second nuclear power submarine in the U.S. Navy. However, his father died in the same year, and he received a discharge so he could take over the family’s peanut farm.
He entered politics a decade later and was a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967. Carter attempted to run for governor in 1966 and was defeated in the primary. In 1970, he won a bitter election in the post-Equal Rights Amendment South to become Georgia’s 76th governor from 1971 to 1975.
In 1976, he was elected as the 39th President against incumbent Gerald Ford, who became President on 9 August 1974 when then President Richard M. Nixon resigned due to the Watergate Scandal. He won with just 50.1% of the popular vote, taking 297 electoral votes, receiving virtually no support west of the Mississippi River.
After his Presidency, Carter remained extremely active in international diplomacy, working toward conflict resolution in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
In 1984, Carter and his wife formed the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project to support the charity now known as Habitat for Humanity. On their 40th wedding anniversary in 1986, they assisted in renovating four Chicago-area homes. Over the next 40 years, Carter’s foundation would help build over 4,350 homes, and as recently as 2019, he was still swinging a hammer.
In 1986, the Carter Center started the Guinea Worm Eradication Program. In the 1980s, almost four million people in 21 countries were infected by a parasitic roundworm that would enter the body during its larval stage. Growing up to a meter long, they would slowly emerge through the skin, causing excruciating pain. The parasite is on the brink of elimination, with only 16 probable cases reported in 2023.
In 2015, Carter was diagnosed with cancer of the liver and underwent surgery. Doctors found he had melanoma, a type of skin cancer, that had also spread to his brain. Carter had hip replacement surgery in 2019, followed by a brain bleed due to a fall and then a series of hospitalizations. In early 2023, he ended his medical treatment and moved to in-home hospice.
With 44 years of hindsight, most historians consider Carter a “below average” President but one of the most effective past presidents in U.S. history due to his diplomatic, humanitarian, and peacekeeping efforts.
[WBHG News – Kirkland, WA] Puget Sound Energy reported almost 39,000 customers were without power after a late morning windstorm moved through Puget Sound. Whidbey Island was the hardest hit, with scattered outages reported in Kirkland, Bellevue, Sammamish, Mercer Island, and Bainbridge Island.
Sustained winds at Paine Field in Everett reached 30 MPH with gusts to 56 MPH. At Seatac International Airport, a gust of 47 MPH was recorded. At the storm’s peak, over 64,000 homes and businesses were without power. Trees weakened by the November 19 windstorm, which knocked out power in some areas for a week, were toppled across the region.
December 14, 2024 – Downed trees tore down powerlines and damaged electrical infrastructure in Kirkland, Washington. Photo credit – David Obelcz
In Kirkland, NE 112th Street was blocked by a down tree, which damaged utility poles, power lines, and Internet cables. Kirkland police had blocked off the area. At the time of publication, Puget Sound Energy’s outage map indicated that many ongoing outages should have been resolved between 1 PM and 5 PM but did not have crews assigned.
Over the last 12 months, over 1,100 unrecorded charter flights have arrived in Managua, Nicaragua, carrying more than 80,000 people from North Africa, the Middle East, India, and China, with hopes of reaching the United States. Border incidents spiked in early 2024 as Russian state media, propagandists, and their proxies amplified stories about the southwestern border crisis.
A months-long investigation, including interviewing victims, uncovered a complex web of propagandists, government officials, charter flight executives, and human traffickers selling hope of a better life in the United States via Nicaragua. What many find on their road to the southwest border is crippling debt to human smugglers, a dangerous journey through Guatemala and Mexico, and no guarantee of entry or asylum when they reach the United States.
Nicaragua’s involvement started in 2021, but in the spring of 2023, French language immigration ads targeting the citizens of Africa’s coup belt in the Sahel exploded, promising easy access to the United States. Some of the ads are financially backed by self-described Stalinist Luc Michel and his Rossosphere network and other Russian and pro-Russian sources. The social media influence campaign worked, fueling a 500% increase in United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encounters with African nationals in 2023 that continues today.
According to CBP data, through June 2024, 54.5% of all encounters at the southwest land border of the United States were with citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In 2014, it was 96.2%. Some of the shift is due to a sharp increase in the number of Haitians and Cubans attempting to cross the border, who are also part of the Nicaraguan pipeline.
Lost in the CBP 2023 data, an estimated 60,000 people from African nations were arrested at the southwest border, a 500% increase from 2022. Over one-third of those arrested from July to December 2023 were from Senegal.
US: Large numbers of single adult men from all over the world are crossing illegally into Border Patrol’s Tucson, AZ sector.
Our team shot this video in Lukeville, AZ, where men from Africa have been crossing daily, Bill Melugin reports.
A shadowy network of travel agents, tour companies, and charter airlines, supported by advertising on WhatsApp and Telegram and social media influencers on TikTok and Twitter (also known as X), charge migrants $10,000 to $100,000 for transport to Nicaragua, then a taxi ride to Honduras, and overland travel by handlers to the United States-Mexico border.
Changes in Nicaraguan visa laws and the selling of special immigration visas by the Daniel Ortega regime have turned Mangua into what some activists call a hub for human trafficking.
Russia and its alliance of nations have weaponized immigration in Europe, with Poland and Finland bearing the brunt of attempted border crossings. Moscow has learned that anti-immigration sentiment is a hot-button issue for pro-Russian isolationists and uses information warfare to amplify fear and misinformation, with increasingly violent results. In 2023, investigators in Europe found that Moscow went further and was directly involved in funneling migrants from Northern Africa and the Middle East to the Polish border through Belarus and the Finnish border.
Nicaragua’s Weaponization of U.S. Immigration is Profitable
Passports from African nations are among the weakest in the world, requiring travelers from a majority of countries to apply for visas before arrival. In late 2021, Nicaraguan Dictator Daniel Ortega loosened visa requirements for Cubans, Haitians, and several African nations and made further changes in early 2023. Despite the formal immigration policies, a program was created to sell visas at Nicaragua’s points of entry to immigrants arriving on charter flights. Their information is undocumented, and they don’t receive a passport stamp.
May 2024 – Irregular migrants from Africa outside the main airport terminal at Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport in Managua, Nicaragua, awaiting transport to the Honduras border – photo credit AriosMedios, photographer name withheld for their protection
Called irregular migrants, upon arrival, they pay between $150 and $250 in cash to Nicaragua’s General Directorate of Migration and Immigration (GDMI). The funds are classified as “other service fees” and “fines” by the Ortega regime and netted $43.5 million in 2023, almost 65% of the income collected by the GDMI. Reviewing public records from 2021 and 2022, the revenue from “other service fees” grew by 62% in 2023.
Migrants have been instructed to hire a taxi driver, who will charge around $50 for the 5-hour drive to the Honduras border or are met by handlers. The drivers who wait for the migrants are authorized to access the airport and use the same taxi stands for tourist and business travelers. They gather as the charter flights arrive, with some walking outside the airport, holding up the pictures and names of the irregular migrants they’ve been pre-hired to transport.
People from Africa and the Middle East pay agencies between $5,000 and $10,000 for charter flights from Dakar, Dubai, Madrid, and Casablanca and another $3,000 to $5,000 for the journey to the U.S. border. Citizens of India and China, which make up a much smaller percentage of immigrants, are charged as much as $96,000 while receiving a “white glove” experience. The common experience between them all is the charter flight to Managua.
The human trade isn’t limited to the Middle East and Africa. Through October 2023, charter flight operators flew over 35,000 people out of Haiti and up to 20,000 from Cuba, charging $3,000 to $5,000 for the short flight to Managua. On October 31, 2023, the Port-au-Prince government banned all charter flights to Nicaragua, leaving thousands stranded and in debt. Before the ban, 60% of Haitians arriving at the Southwest border connected through Nicaragua.
In June, the U.S. government accused Ortega and his wife of putting in place “migration policies that have introduced opportunities for migrant smuggling and trafficking networks to exploit migrants for economic gain and fuel dangerous, irregular travel towards the U.S. southwest border.”
Fear Sells Plane Tickets and Funds Human Smugglers
The cheaper route for migration to the United States is via flights to Brazil, Columbia, and Venezuela. However, this route requires a 130-kilometer crossing of the Darien Gap. The region divides Panama and Columbia and is made up of mosquito-infested swamps, rainforests, and steep mountains. Less than 9,000 people live in the region, which has no infrastructure, not even primitive roads. The terrain isn’t the only danger. Human traffickers, cartels, kidnappers, and robbers operate throughout the gap, targeting people moving north.
In May 2023, the migrant route through Managua became so popular that the Nicaraguan government hired a Dubai-based company to train Nicaragua’s civil aviation officials to create and manage immigration procedures for the charter flights.
El Salvador was also a growing port of entry for migrants seeking access to the United States. In October 2023, the country added a $1,130 per person tax on travelers arriving from 57 countries, mostly in Africa, to deter irregular immigration.
Russia’s 40-Year History with Dictator Daniel Ortega and a Renewed Relationship
Ortega has opposed the United States since the 1980s when he led the Soviet-backed Sandinistas against the United States-backed Contra rebels. He and his wife, Rosario Murillo, have ruled Nicaragua as dictators since 2007 and embraced Russia in 2015. In 2016, Moscow donated 50 T-72 main battle tanks, with Nicaragua’s neighbors expressing concern over the import of heavy weapons. In 2017, Russia built a GLONASS satellite navigation ground station and, in 2022, established a small permanent military base.
Also, in 2022, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on three Nicaraguan entities for “repressive actions” and a failure to decrease human smuggling through the country. One of the sanctioned companies is a Russian training center operating in Managua since October 2017 that enables anti-democratic behavior and repression. A press release from the Treasury Department said Russia was one of Nicaragua’s “main partners” and accused Russia of providing specialized courts for the Nicaraguan National Police. Moscow backs “a repressive state apparatus, carrying out extrajudicial killings, using live ammunition against peaceful protests, and even participating in death squads.”
Highlighting the strength of the relationship between Managua and Moscow, on October 12, 2022, Nicaragua was one of only four countries in the United Nations that voted against condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, joining The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and Syria.
Honduras Supports the Nicaraguan Route by Creating a Legal Path
In response to the growing tension along the Nicaragua border and the increasing number of undocumented migrants reaching Honduras, the government created a program that permits undocumented migrants to pass through the country if they exit within five days. In 2023, Honduras also waived fines normally levied on irregular migrants trying to buy bus tickets, as it left thousands stranded.
When taxi drivers drop off the irregular migrants on the border, they are greeted by handlers who provide one-night lodging with a meal and assistance on their journey through Honduras. The agencies and handlers complete the government paperwork and give the migrants a bright yellow bracelet. The bracelet identifies them as “legal travelers” through Honduras, so the police do not stop them. They travel in groups of 20 to 100 and connect with new handlers in Guatemala.
These programs have turned Honduras into a sort of rest area before the harder and more dangerous journey through Guatemala and Mexico.
Nicaragua is Working with Russia to Influence U.S. Politics and Elections
Speaking with El Pais, Manuel Orozco, a migration expert and analyst at The Inter-American Dialogue, said that Ortega’s ultimate goal is to provoke the United States. “Ortega said that they were going to send migrants to the United States. So, the motivation is fundamentally political and ideological due to the hatred that Ortega has for the U.S.”
Russia has run similar hybrid warfare campaigns across Europe with mixed results. Illegal immigration, particularly from the Sahel and Northern Africa, was front and center during recent elections in The Netherlands, Germany, and France.
In November 2023, Finland closed its border crossing with Russia due to the weaponization of immigration and Moscow’s direct involvement.
The situation on Poland’s border with Belarus is worse. Middle East agencies have created videos mocking Polish border guards, openly showing that Russia and Belarus are directly involved in their transit. In May, a Polish soldier was stabbed to death by a migrant attempting to cross the Belarus-Polish border. On July 13, the Polish Seym approved a law that authorizes border guards and soldiers to fire live ammunition at migrants for “self-defense” and in a “preventative manner.”
Russian and Iranian Anti-immigration Disinformation Campaigns Fueled Riots in the United Kingdom
A shocking demonstration of how powerful Russia’s hybrid warfare campaigns have become played out in the United Kingdom. On July 29, 17-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a British citizen born in Cardiff, entered a studio in Southport, stabbed three children to death, and seriously injured eight more and two adults. The victims were attending a summer Taylor Swift-themed dance lesson, and the injured adults tried to stop the attack. A Russian disinformation campaign amplified by far-right parties in the U.K. led to two days of riots, dozens injured, and shops, cars, homes, and a mosque vandalized and burned.
On July 29, while emergency services were still removing the injured, a Russian disinformation campaign started. It was quickly picked up and amplified by the targeted audience. Posts on social media, especially Twitter (also known as X), alleged the attacker was a 20-year-old Islamic extremist who arrived illegally in the U.K. by crossing the English Channel in a boat. They claimed he was a political refugee seeking asylum despite being on a terrorist watch list, and the stabbings were an act of Islamic-motivated terrorism. Those claims were picked up by fake news sites with legitimating sound names and amplified by British tabloids and even ITV, better known as Channel 3.
The false claims spread on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and Instagram and were viewed over 18 million times and amplified by large accounts, including Tommy Robinson, accused rapist Andrew Tate, and British politician Nigel Farage.
On extreme right-wing social media channels, white nationalists and isolations planned protests, which quickly devolved into riots. In an attempt to quell the unrest, British officials made the unusual step of providing as much information about the suspect within the law as British born with immigrant parents. It did nothing to quell the unrest, which left Southport shattered and local residents feeling they were attacked for a second time.
On August 1, the British court took the extraordinary step of releasing the juvenile attacker’s name and providing press access to his first hearing. Rudakubana didn’t arrive by boat, wasn’t on a terrorist watch list, and isn’t an Islamic extremist.
Prosecutors told the court that he was diagnosed with autism and had been “unwilling to leave the house and communicate with family for a period of time.” The British tabloid The Mirror interviewed neighbors, who described the teen as shy but happy, a lover of singing and music, actively involved with the local church, and, from outward appearances, having supportive parents.
In the aftermath of the disinformation-fueled violence, new U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed that the far-right rioters would face the “full force of the law.” He added that the “criminal disorder” was “clearly driven by far-right hatred” and issued a warning to social media firms. “Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them. Violent disorder clearly whipped up online: that is also a crime. It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
Hours later, Twitter’s billionaire owner, Elon Musk, responded with exclamation points to a tweet by Tommy Robinson, condemning Starmer for calling the rioters “thugs” and for giving “police more power to prevent further protests.” While a small act, Musk alleges to have over 190 million followers, wielding massive global influence.
The protests are far from over, with up to 30 right-wing and anti-immigration organizations planning to descend on Southport this weekend. A new disinformation campaign is spreading on Twitter, accusing a Muslim extremist of being arrested for having a knife near the damaged mosque in Southport. The man arrested was Jordan Davies, 32, a known British white supremacist.
Weaponized immigration also brought unrest to the United States. In February 2024, hundreds of protesters descended on Eagle Pass, Texas, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency and blocked federal officials from accessing a small area of the United States-Mexico border. Those protests were fueled in part by a surge in immigration fueled by the actions of Nicaragua and amplified on social media platforms.
Russian disinformation campaigns made wild claims and actively encouraged the decades-long Texas Secession movement. The right-wing protesters who arrived at Eagle Pass discovered that undocumented migrants arrived in a steady stream of small groups, and along nearby areas on the border, only desert could be found. Others were surprised to find few Latin Americans crossing the border.
The Biden Administration and Other Nations are Quietly Fighting Back
The Biden Administration has quietly taken steps to stem the flow. Sanctions announced on May 15 included over 250 members of the Nicaraguan government, including “select non-government actors for their roles in supporting the Ortega-Murillo regime in its attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms, repression of civil society organizations and profiting off of vulnerable migrants.”
On June 13, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on an unnamed executive of a “charter flight transport company” for facilitating irregular migration to the United States via Nicaragua from outside the Western Hemisphere.” Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the State Department, said the unnamed individual preys “on vulnerable migrants by operating services designed primarily to facilitate irregular migration to the United States. At the same time, the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua continues to financially benefit from the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.”
Two days later, it was announced that more sanctions had been imposed. Visa restrictions were added to additional “owners, executives, and senior officials of companies providing transportation by land, sea, or charter air designed for use primarily by persons intending to migrate irregularly to the United States…for knowingly facilitating the travel of irregular migrants to the U.S. southwest border.”
On July 3, an agreement was reached with Panama to cover the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally through the Darien Gap. Last year, over 500,000 people made the dangerous journey.
Two weeks later, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced security forces had closed some unofficial access points and started installing barbed wire fencing to funnel migrants to a single checkpoint.
In May 2024, according to the State Department, an Egyptian court initiated the trial of 16 people accused of smuggling migrants to the United States and have been charged with acts of organized crime and human smuggling. According to Egyptian officials, the group arranged air transportation of migrants and placed them in “dangerous, degrading, and inhuman circumstances throughout the smuggling process.”
Also in May, authorities in Jamaica refused landing rights to a charter plane carrying irregular migrants.
In June, the number of migrants trying to cross the U.S. border dropped to the lowest level since 2019. Most Americans have forgotten about Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Operation Lonestar, and the standoff between federal officials and the Texas National Guard.
That’s probably set to change. Less than 12 hours after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection, the Associated Press reported that a caravan of 2,000 migrants from over a dozen countries, waiting in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, had started their journey to the U.S. border.
The city sits on the border with Guatemala, and some of the irregular migrants told reporters they had waited for weeks for travel permits, which were unexpectedly approved shortly after Biden’s announcement.
Journalists, activists, and researchers defending the First Amendment
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