(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for U.S. Secret Service communications records related to Code Pink protesters who disrupted a dinner held by President Donald Trump at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2025 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-04408)).

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Secret Service, a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, failed to respond to a September 10, 2025, FOIA request for:

1. All internal emails and text messages among USSS officials in the Presidential Protective Division regarding the presence of Code Pink protestors appearing at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab restaurant in Washington, D.C. on the evening of September 9, 2025, while President Trump and other administration officials dined there.
2. All emails sent between USSS [U.S. Secret Service] officials and any email account ending in @codepink.org.

On the evening of September 9, 2025, during President Trump’s dinner with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other officials, a group of Code Pink activists began a protest in the restaurant by chanting slogans and waving Palestinian flags.

“The Secret Service has a tarnished record when it comes to protecting President Donald Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The American people deserve accountability from the agencies that are entrusted with the duty of guarding their president.”

In July 2025, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Justice for all records regarding Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Trump on July 13, 2024, (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02216)).

In March 2025, Judicial Watch sued Homeland Security for records related to security provided for the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, PA, during which there was an assassination attempt on Trump (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00704)).

In September 2024, following up on reports that the Biden Secret Service denied Trump’s requests for additional Secret Service protection, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit for Secret Service and other records regarding potential increased protective services to Trump’s security detail prior to the attempt on his life at his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-02495)).

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(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records on migrants who entered the United States from 2020 – 2025, using arrest warrants and removal orders as proof of identification (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-04414)).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Distrcit Court for the District of Columbia after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of Homeland Security, failed to comply with a February 26, 2025, FOIA request for:

Data reflecting the number of persons entering the United States from 2020 through 2025 who used any of the following documents as proof of identification, with the data broken out by category:

• • Warrant for Arrest of Alien,
  • Warrant of Removal/Deportation,
  • Order of Removal on Recognizance,
  • Order of Supervision,
  • Notice to Appear,
  • Arrival and Departure Form,
  • and/or Alien Booking Record.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement forwarded Judicial Watch’s request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which forwarded it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but no records have been forthcoming. Judicial Watch filed an identical FOIA request with the Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA), which has also failed to comply.

In January 2022, the Biden administration admitted that the Transportation and Safety Administration was allowing illegal immigrants to use arrest warrants as an alternative form of identification to board commercial airplanes. 

In a January 31, 2022, letter to Transportation and Safety Administration Administrator David Pekoske, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) stated, “The point of an arrest warrant is for police to actively seek out and apprehend criminals. However, you have now confirmed that illegal aliens may present arrest warrants to federal officials to board commercial aircrafts.” 

“The Biden administration compounded the dangers of their open-border lawlessness by allowing the very warrants that should have gotten criminal aliens detained or deported to be used as ID to board commercial aircraft,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  

In November 2025, Judicial Watch sued Evanston, IL, Mayor Daniel Biss for records related to obstruction of federal immigration enforcement, as well as Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs for records regarding her office reportedly ordering state police and the National Guard to withhold cooperation from federal immigration enforcement authorities.

 Judicial Watch recently pointed out that in just two states with “sanctuary” policies, nearly 9,000 criminal aliens were released from jails and prisons since January 20, defying Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers to deport them.

In October 2025, Judicial Watch reported on a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), established by President Trump on the day of his inauguration to tackle a pandemic of transnational organized crime created by the Biden administration’s “disgraceful” open border policies, had made thousands of arrests and seized over 1,000 illegal firearms, 91 tons of drugs and $3 million in currency.

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The post Judicial Watch Sues Homeland Security for Records on Criminal Aliens Using Arrest Warrants, Removal Orders as Legal ID appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Form New York Post:

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, a friend of Trump’s, said the Epstein Files Transparency Act had “loopholes big enough for a plane with Bill Clinton to fly to Epstein’s island” and that the group is hopeful it will receive a different, potentially less censored set of information.

The FOIA process requires officials to specify why each bit of information is being withheld and allows for judicial review. Fitton said he believes alleged Epstein co-conspirators could be named.

“The big issue is privacy. Privacy is not an automatic exemption. You weigh the public interest in understanding what the information and learning what the information is versus the privacy interest of the individual involved,” Fitton said.

“I think… the public interest is high enough to outweigh the privacy interest of the men who appear.”

Read more here…

The post Thomas Massie teases ‘back up plan’ to out Jeffrey Epstein accomplices appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Spearheaded by a woman who identifies as “non-binary,” a group of federal employees who worked in specially created government Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments under the Biden administration are suing President Trump for ending the wasteful and exclusionary programs and firing them. The former government workers claim they were unlawfully dismissed because the president violated employment protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by disproportionately impacting and targeting black, women and non-binary federal employees as well as people of color and those perceived of advocating for legally protected racial and gender groups, including LGBTQ people. “While neutral on their face, these policies had an unlawful disparate impact on women and non-binary employees, and/or people of color,” reads the lawsuit filed this month in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint acknowledges that, while changes in presidential priorities are normal during an administration change, the broad DEI cuts were targeted actions intended to punish perceived political enemies like the plaintiffs in this case.

The governmentwide DEI cuts have impacted an unknown number of federal employees, but could potentially be in the thousands, according to the lawsuit. It identifies at least 40 women or non-binary individuals, and more than 40 people of color who lost their DEI government jobs under Trump. Among them is Mahri Stainnak, a non-binary (does not identify as a man or woman and uses “they” pronoun) biological woman who served as DEI deputy director in the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) human resources office under Biden. Stainnak was fired for advancing initiatives for LGBTQ workers, the lawsuit says, and a fellow plaintiff for advocating for protected racial and gender groups at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Others include an air traffic control manager who facilitated inclusivity, a public health advisor who promoted outreach to LGBTQ communities, a DHS worker who ensured language competency at the border, and a forestry employee who ensured equitable access to federal lands. The anti-DEI directives reveal that people targeted for termination include substantially more women and/or non-binary workers and an over-selection of people of color with a substantial over-selection of black employees, the complaint states.

For example, the lawsuit says, at least 97 female and 37 male employees were cut from a DHS civil rights office characterized by DOGE as corrupted by DEI. “When compared to the number of women in the federal workforce (approximately 918,127) vs. men in the federal workforce (approximately 1,122,155) or even compared within DHS (69,019 vs.130,616), the adverse impact is stark and disproportionate,” the complaint states, adding that “the impact on employees of color is similarly evident.” To back this up the lawsuit reveals that 41 black employees and 71 white employees were fired from the same unit with approximately 383,573 black employees and around 1,213,968 white employees, constituting what the plaintiffs allege is a “disparate impact.” As a result of the Trump administration’s discriminatory patterns and practices, women and people of color have been systematically harmed, the complaint states, alleging that the former DEI workers were “targeted due to their protected race and/or gender status.”

The governmentwide DEI fiasco was created when Biden strong armed all federal agencies to implement plans to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities with a 2021 executive order. The order included a mandate for all government agencies to establish an equity team and proactive engagement with members of underserved communities through culturally and linguistically appropriate listening sessions. Biden also established a White House Steering Committee on Equity composed of senior officials who coordinated the government’s sweeping efforts to promote his leftist agenda. The Treasury Department named its first ever racial equity chief, a veteran La Raza official who spent a decade at the nation’s most influential open borders group. The Department of Defense (DOD) used outrageous anti-bias materials that indoctrinated troops with anti-American and racially inflammatory training on diversity topics. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created an equity commission to address longstanding inequities in agriculture. The nation’s medical research agency launched a special minority health and health disparities division that issued a study declaring COVID-19 exacerbated preexisting resentment against racial/ethnic minorities and marginalized communities.

On the day of his inauguration President Trump signed an executive order terminating all government DEI and environmental justice offices and positions, calling them “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” that resulted in “immense public waste.” The fired DEI government employees accuse the president of having disdain for DEI and associating it with political ideologies he disfavors, such as Marxism or the radical left as well as people of color from the Democratic party such as Kamala Harris.

The post Led by Non-Binary Fed Worker Lawsuit Accuses Trump of Discrimination for Ending Govt. DEI Programs appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Violent Criminal Aliens Released in Two States Since January
Stemming Toxic Waste from Mexico
Merry Christmas!

Violent Criminal Aliens Released in Two States Since January

Sanctuary policies not only unlawfully interfere with federal immigration enforcement, but they are also a clear and present danger to the public safety. Our Corruption Chronicles blog points out some of the more recent, egregious sanctuary policy failures.

The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has made great strides in a short time, but over a dozen states are making the effort more difficult by offering illegal aliens—even those convicted of serious crimes—sanctuary. Just two of those states, New York and Illinois, have released nearly 9,000 criminal aliens from jails and prisons since January 20, defying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers to deport them. Among the offenders protected by the sanctuary policies are murderers, terrorists, sexual predators and kidnappers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirms this month. Almost 7,000 criminal aliensflagged by ICE were released from custody in the state of New York during the roughly 10-month period examined by DHS. Illinois released more than 1,700 criminal aliens from jails and prisons throughout the state rather than turn them over to federal authorities for removal. The failure to honor ICE detainers has led to “numerous illegal alien murderers, rapists, and pedophiles being released” back into sanctuary communities, Homeland Security officials have established.

In New York, the crimes committed by illegal aliens released since the end of January include 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses. Among those freed is a Turkish Known or Suspected Terrorist (KST) named Selman Cevik who was let go after being jailed for first degree menacing and harassment, a rapist, Huseyin Aslan, also charged with assault and criminal contempt, and two gang members with convictions or charges for assault, criminal possession of a weapon and robbery. The list is extensive and, alarmingly, the released criminal aliens have been replaced with new ones, according to DHS, which reveals that currently there are 7,113 criminal aliens in custody in New York jails with an active ICE detainer. Their crimes include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses. New York Attorney General Letitia James and her fellow “sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin.

The same thing is going on in Illinois where Governor JB Pritzker’s statewide sanctuary policies have released 1,768 criminal illegal aliens since January 20 rather than turn them over to ICE for removal. The crimes of these aliens include five homicides, 141 assaults, 23 burglaries, 4 robberies, 24 dangerous drugs offenses, 15 weapons offenses, and 10 sexual predatory offenses. Among them is Mexican Victor Manuel Mendoza-Garcia convicted of three counts of aggravated kidnapping/ransom and sentenced to 18 years by a Cook County Court, Mexican Amilcar Waldo Gonzalez-Jimenez, convicted of driving under the influence, domestic battery and criminal sexual assault and Mexican Jaime Mandujano-Nunez sentenced to 17 years imprisonment after a 2012 conviction for predatory criminal sex assault of a child in Cook County. DHS reveals that there are currently 4,015 illegal immigrants in the custody of an Illinois jurisdiction with an active ICE detainer. The crimes of these aliens include 51 homicides, 1,134 assaults, 107 burglaries, 36 robberies, 275 dangerous drugs offenses, 120 weapons offenses, and 813 sexual predatory offenses. “We are calling on Governor Pritzker and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 4,000 criminal illegal aliens in Illinois’ custody,” said McLaughlin, pointing out that criminal illegal aliens should not be released back into our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.

Like New York and Illinois, dozens of local governments throughout the U.S. shield illegal immigrants by offering sanctuary. Earlier this year the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a list of states, cities, and counties identified as having policies, laws, or regulations that impede enforcement of federal immigration laws. An analysis conducted by the Washington D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals that from October 1, 2022, to February 6, 2025, more than 25,000 criminal aliens were released from jails and prisons around the country. California was by far the biggest offender, releasing more than half (13,025) of the alien criminals by declining ICE detainers, the CIS probe found.

Stemming Toxic Waste from Mexico

For decades, hundreds of billions of gallons of trash, toxic sewage and unmanaged stormwater have flooded into the U.S. from Mexico, and the latest plan to remedy this relies heavily on the source, as our Corruption Chronicles blog reports.

Just a few years after the U.S. government wasted $630 million on a failed plan to stop the constant flow of toxic waste and raw sewage that gushes in from Mexico, the Trump administration is celebrating a new project it guarantees will finally solve the problem though it seems too good to be true. The new initiative, disclosed this week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), is called Minute 333 and is being hailed as a “historic new agreement between the United States and Mexico” that will “permanently end the decades-long Tijuana River sewage crisis.” The project relies heavily on Mexico and does not obligate any additional U.S. taxpayer funding, raising serious doubts about its potential to succeed despite the EPA’s claims that it is a historic milestone toward implementing 100% solution to the Tijuana River sewage crisis that contaminates California beaches with high levels of fecal bacteria that pose serious health risks and negatively impact marine life.

Hundreds of billions of gallons of trash, toxic sewage and unmanaged stormwater have flooded into the U.S. from Mexico for years and Americans have paid exorbitant sums to clean it up. The government refers to it as transboundary flow and it contains a combination of treated wastewater, untreated wastewater, and stormwater. Around 50 million gallons of mostly raw sewage flows into the Pacific Ocean from the San Antonio de los Buenos Creek in Tijuana, Mexico, not far from the California border, according to the EPA. Northward currents carry the discharge up the coast to the U.S. causing marine transboundary flows, the agency confirms. During wet-weather events an average of 109 million gallons per day flow into the Pacific Ocean via the Tijuana River. The contaminated water includes raw sewage, trash from Tijuana’s famously polluted urban area and eroded soil from the canyons and upstream of the Tijuana River. The contaminated flows create significant negative impacts to water quality, public health, and the environment.

This has been going on for decades and the U.S. has paid handsomely to mitigate the mess though it has barely put a dent on controlling the damage. The constant stream of pollutants has taken a huge toll, including negatively impacting public health and beach water quality as well as threats to wildlife and U.S. government activities. The untreated wastewater contains harmful pathogens that pose risks to human health, the EPA disclosed long ago. Sediment, trash, and polluted wastewater hurt aquatic and terrestrial wildlife and degrades the marine and estuarian habitats that wildlife rely on to thrive. The pollution has also made U.S. Military and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel quite sick. A few years ago a national news outlet visited the region and published a troubling piece that includes a detailed list of the contaminants in the Tijuana River water; “fecal coliforms, drug-resistant bacteria, benzene, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium medical waste, and DDT, which has been banned for years in the United States.”

No one can blame the Trump administration for celebrating a proposed project to finally stop Mexico’s trash and sewage from seeping into the U.S., but some of the details are likely to ignite skepticism. For starters, Minute 333 was born out of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and his Mexican counterpart, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, in Mexico City over the summer. The MOU says Mexico will seek funding to initiate the construction of a mechanism to divert treated effluent entering the Tijuana River to an upstream site, initiate engineering and financial feasibility of installing an ocean outfall in Tijuana and construct and maintain the sediment basin at Matadero Canyon before the upcoming rainy season. Also known as Smuggler’s Gulch, Matadero Canyon is the U.S.-Mexico border area near San Diego and Tijuana well known for illegal crossings and wastewater pollution. The commissioner of Mexico’s IBWC says the project reiterates her country’s commitments to resolve the border sanitation problem pursuant to the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty. That means it has taken eight decades for Mexico to keep its end of the deal if in fact Minute 333 goes as planned.

Merry Christmas!

Throughout the year, Judicial Watch engages the government in court to expose its never-ending efforts to operate behind closed doors. Thanks to our supporters, we are wrapping up one of the most impactful years in our 31-year history.

Together, let us celebrate on December 25 the birth of Christ, which occurred amid the ruthless imposition of government authority. In his desire to eliminate any contest to the throne, Caesar Augustus mandated a census to identify anyone who might challenge him. A census was also a first step in taxing the people.

And so, despite Mary being in her ninth month of pregnancy, she and Joseph travelled to his home, Bethlehem, a week-long journey of perhaps 90 miles through treacherous landscape, and it was there that Jesus was born.

Herod, who ruled over Judea, had been given the title “King of the Jews” by Rome, so when the Wise Men from the East used that title for the Christ child they came to worship, Herod was inflamed. He demanded that the travelers reveal the location of Jesus, but they refused.

This infuriated him even more. It took little effort for him to order the national massacre of all boys under two years old. Warned of this in a dream, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safekeeping, and they didn’t return until Herod was dead.

But once again a despotic ruler would influence the Christmas story. When he heard that Herod’s son Archelaus, who had massacred thousands of Jews, had assumed control of Judea, Joseph resettled his family in Nazareth outside of Archelaus’ power.

These tempestuous events echo loudly in our time. We can take from them the realization that the kings of this earth have no power over the Truth, and, despite the tribulations of our age, we can genuinely be of good cheer.

Thank you for your continued support. All of us at Judicial Watch pause from our labors in this season to wish you a Merry Christmas! Our thoughts are also with those celebrating Hanukkah!

Until next week,

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