Trump 2nd term: ICE arrests 956 undocumented immigrants on Sunday

As part of a dedicated, increased effort from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials since President Donald Trump took office, ICE reported 956 arrests on Sunday.

ICE reported this figure, along with 554 detainees temporarily lodged with other agencies, in a post on X.

Operations spanned from Atlanta, Georgia, to Los Angeles, California – including major metropolitan areas like Chicago, Illinois, but also affecting smaller cities like Omaha, Nebraska.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

The White House claimed victory in a showdown with Colombia over accepting flights of deported migrants from the U.S. on Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump threatened steep tariffs on imports and other sanctions on the longtime U.S. partner.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a late Sunday statement that the “Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”

Leavitt said the tariff orders – which would have put in place 25% tariffs on all Colombian incoming goods, and then raised to 50% in one week – will be “held in reserve, and not signed.” But Leavitt said Trump would maintain visa restrictions on Colombian officials and enhanced customs inspections of goods from the country, “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”

There was no immediate reaction from the Colombian government.

Trump boasted his executive orders ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion requirements within the federal government claiming he “got rid of the woke crap.”

The president claimed that no companies wanted to impose those policies.

“I don’t think they believed it,” he claimed.

Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom talked Sunday about the release of Israeli-British national Emily Damari from Hamas and how to promote a “fair bilateral economic relationship” between the two countries, according to the White House.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer paid tribute to Trump’s role in securing the ceasefire and hostages deal in Gaza and “They also discussed trade and the economy, with the Prime Minister setting out how we are deregulating to boost growth.

“President Trump opened by sending his condolences to the Prime Minister on the loss of his brother. The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his kind words and congratulated him on his inauguration,” the spokesperson said.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Rashid Haddou

In a post on X thus morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Belarus “just unilaterally released an innocent American, ANASTASSIA Nuhfer, who was taken under JOE BIDEN!”

Rubio credited Trump and Chris Welby Smith, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Eastern Europe, for the release.

Nuhfer was detained in early December 2024 and visited by a consular officer about three weeks ago, a State Department spokesperson said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, the top Trump appointee in the Justice Department, is currently in Chicago to “personally observe DHS immigration enforcement operations and support the efforts of FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, and federal prosecutors who are assisting DHS in this critical mission,” a DOJ spokesperson told ABC News.

The department declined to provide any additional details about Bove’s precise location or the planned “enforcement operations” he will be overseeing.

His presence on the ground, however, further highlights how the Trump administration plans to involve the highest level officials at DOJ as part of its broader show of force on immigration enforcement.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Sunday that it, “along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.”

-ABC News’ Alexander Mallin

The Coast Guard said it’s helping transport migrants who are in the country illegally and who are in locations where there aren’t Defense Department assets.

In a Saturday news release, the Coast Guard said it is conducting flights between Texas and California to get migrants to DOD bases to be removed from the country.

“Border czar” Tom Homan said the Trump administration is planning to use military aircraft every day to help carry out large-scale deportations.

For the first time ever, the U.S. government is using military aircraft to transport migrants out of the U.S., Homan said.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Trump spoke to a crowd at the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to tout his “no tax on tips” proposal and other economic policies.

The president spent the early parts of the rally repeating his claims from the campaign trail and on inauguration day that the U.S. was in decline and prices were too high.

He also boasted many of his executive orders including having the U.S. leave the Paris Climate Agreement.

“Wasn’t the environment supposed to eat us up like in 12 years? But that was like 13 years ago. What happened? We’re still here,” said Trump, who spent Friday visiting areas of North Carolina and California ravaged by recent natural disasters.

Just days after Trump commuted his 18-year sentence for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was on stage for Trump’s Saturday speech at a Las Vegas casino.

Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for helping to organize the riot, has VIP seating on the stage where Trump is about to take the stage to promote his “no tax on tips” proposal.

Several Trump supporters at this event told ABC News they believe Trump has been carrying out his campaign promises, pointing out that he pardoned the Jan. 6 rioters.

-ABC News’ Selina Wang and Kelsey Walsh

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the firebrand who gained a national spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic, was confirmed by the Senate on Saturday.

The vote was 59-34.

During her confirmation hearing, Noem said the southern border is “not secure” and that she will help to fix it.

“President Trump needs to achieve this mission because two-thirds of Americans support his immigration and border policies, including the majority of Hispanic Americans,” Noem said in her opening statement. “I was the first governor to send National Guard troops to our southern border when Texas asked for help and when they were being overwhelmed by an unprecedented border crisis. If confirmed as secretary, I’ll ensure that our exceptional, extraordinary Border Patrol agents have all the tools and resources and support that they need to carry out their mission.”

The Department of Homeland Security already shut down the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to make appointments at the border to claim asylum — something Noem promised the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee she’d do.

Noem will oversee 22 agencies with more than 260,000 employees who work on issues ranging from the border to federal disaster management to the Secret Service.

“As secretary, I will oversee the Secret Service, an agency that is in serious need of reforms. We all saw the threats to President-elect Trump last year and the consequences of failure,” Noem said. “Now, that should never happen again, and I’ve worked closely with my own gubernatorial protective detail, and I’m familiar with what works and what doesn’t work, and I’ll bring that experience towards strengthening the Secret Service.”

The incoming secretary said she will follow the law and implement reforms with no political bias, including with regard to disaster relief.

She added that “if given the chance to be secretary of homeland security, that I will deliver the programs according to the law and that it will be done with no political bias.”

Pete Hegseth was sworn in to lead the Defense Department at the White House on Saturday morning during a ceremony officiated by Vice President JD Vance, who offered the tie-breaking vote on Friday evening to seal his nomination.

Vance offered words of appreciation for the president and Senate before acknowledging the close vote.

Hegseth was joined by his wife and kids as he put his hand on the Bible taking the oath of office. He then praised to God and thanked his wife.

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa said in a statement Saturday that Congress was not given the mandatory 30-day notice over the termination of over a dozen independent inspectors generals.

“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump,” the senator said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

In floor remarks Saturday morning, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer ripped into the Trump administration for dismissing 17 independent inspectors general.

“It’s a preview of the lawless approach that Donald Trump and his administration are taking far too often as he is becoming president,” Schumer said.

The senator noted that the dismissals are a possible violation of federal law requiring Congress be given 30-day notice of such a firing.

Schumer said Trump could “well regret” his action.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

In a late-night Friday move, President Donald Trump fired at least 17 independent watchdogs — known as inspectors general — at multiple federal agencies, sources familiar with the move told ABC News.

While inspectors general can be fired by the president – it can only happen after communicating with Congress 30 days in advance and in 2022 Congress strengthened the law requiring administrations to give a detailed reasoning for the firing of an IG.

At least one high-profile watchdog – Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz – did not receive notice that he was fired as of yesterday evening.

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Benjamin Siegel and Alexander Mallin

Joe Kasper, the new chief of staff for the Department of Defense, issued a memo to senior leadership Friday on suspending the department’s social media accounts “at all levels” for 10 days, beginning Saturday, to give time to reorient content to have greater focus on national security, military lethality “and fighting and winning wars.”

Notably, the memo includes an exception to the social media pause for posts relating to the southern border mission.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied allegations by Chicago’s Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova that agents showed up at an elementary school Friday morning.

“This was not an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement encounter,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The U.S. Secret Service told WLS News that its agents were investigating a threat and went to a student’s home.

MORE | US Secret Service approached South Side school, not ICE agents: officials

US Secret Service approached Hamline Elementary School in Back of the Yards, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials tell the I-Team.

That student wasn’t home, so the agents went to the school, where they turned away by school officials, according to the Secret Service, which did not provide any more details. No Secret Service agents entered the school, according to the agency.

Just hours after a judge barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and other Oath Keepers members who were granted clemency by Trump from entering the Capitol, the acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. filed a motion to remove those orders

Acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin – a “Stop the Steal” promoter who was outside of the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot – argued in his motion that district judge Amit Mehta did not have authority to implement probation restrictions on Rhodes or his co-defendants after their sentences were commuted.

When asked about how the president’s executive order on DEI will affect the military, a Defense Department official told ABC News that the department “will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President.”

The latest National Defense Authorization Act already placed some restrictions on DEI roles within DOD, instituting a hiring freeze and capping pay grades, which put the department ahead of other government agencies when it comes to drawing down these offices.

Chicago Public Schools’ Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova claimed ICE agents showed up at Hamline Elementary School Friday morning, but were denied entry.

“We will not allow ICE agents access to CPS facilities, unless they produce a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge,” she said.

MORE | ICE agents denied entry to South Side elementary school, Chicago Public Schools claims

CPS and CTU officials claim ICE agents were denied entry to a school Friday.

The Hamline Elementary School principal said ICE agents arrived at the Back of the Yards school about 11:15 a.m., according to sister station WLS.

The principal said they followed protocols, and did not allow the agents inside.

All students and staff are safe, officials said.

“CPS will continue to protect our students and their families in alignment with the Illinois TRUST Act and Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance,” one school official said.