McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) -- Freshman U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz says House Speaker Mike Johnson is scheduled to visit McAllen on Monday for a sit-down on the border, and to help with her Republican re-election campaign to represent this South Texas district, Border Report has learned. U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, is a first-time congresswoman representing Texas Congressional District 15. (De La Cruz Photo) "Right now we have the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson coming down to McAllen, Texas. We're going to sit and talk about the border being, obviously, the number one issue on ..read more

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Republican from Colorado and a Democrat from New Mexico have filed a bill to educate American high school and middle school students about the dangers of getting involved in drug and human smuggling. H.R. 8058 is prompted by several documented instances of U.S. teens dying while driving cars loaded with undocumented migrants at high speed and cases involving minors attempting to transport drugs from border cities to larger cities like Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cartels take to social media to aggressively recruit teen smugglers in the U.S., Border Patrol says ..read more

Watch Ed Lenderman's report on the ballot measure for KUSI in the video player above. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A coalition backed by retailers like Walmart and Target announced Thursday it has collected enough signatures to put a ballot measure before California voters this November to enhance criminal penalties for shoplifting and drug dealing. Californians for Safer Communities, a bipartisan group made up of law enforcement, elected officials and businesses, said it has collected more than 900,000 signatures in support of the measure to roll back parts of Proposition 47. The progressive bal ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and U.K. on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran as concern grows that Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East. The sanctions are meant to hold Iran accountable for its weekend attack and to deter further such activity. But the practical impact is likely to be limited because many of the targeted companies already were subject to U.S. sanctions and the individuals singled out for new sanctions are unlikely to have assets in U.S. jurisdictions. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted 16 people and two ..read more

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York, and the court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors. The rapid progress Thursday afternoon propelled the case closer to opening statements and weeks of testimony in a case charging the Republican ex-president with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life in the final days of the 2016 election. The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers. The case centers on $130,000 Trump’s lawyer and f ..read more

(The Hill) -- Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) daughter Isra Hirsi announced Thursday she had been suspended from college after taking part in an unauthorized pro-Palestine protest on campus.   “i’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” said Hirsi on X.   “i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” she added.   Columbia noted that Hirsi is a student at Barnard College, which is connected t ..read more

(The Hill) - The Kennedy family is set to endorse President Biden in his reelection campaign on Thursday during an event in Philadelphia, a strong rebuke of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent White House bid. The Biden campaign is expecting 15 members of the Kennedy clan to attend Thursday’s event alongside the president. Kerry Kennedy, the younger sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will deliver remarks outlining her family’s support for Biden. “President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncles stood for,” Kerry Kennedy will say, according to excerpts ..read more

(The Hill) - In a town typically light on fashion and heavy on partisan friction, what one high-profile figure wore to a swanky White House affair has ignited a ferocious debate seemingly just as polarizing as politics in Washington. Lauren Sánchez, the former TV host-turned-philanthropist and fiancee of Amazon founder and The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, turned heads at the White House last week when she sported a ruby red dress at the state dinner for Japan. The $2,300 corset gown by Rosario featured low cut, off-the-shoulder lace and a cinched waist.  The ..read more

(The Hill) - Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes is declining to weigh in on this year's presidential race, urging voters in a new interview to do their own research before the election. “I don’t want to pressure anyone to vote for a certain president,” Mahomes said in an interview with Time magazine published Tuesday. “I want people to use their voice, whoever they believe in. I want them to do the research.” Time interviewed the three-time Super Bowl champion as part of its 100 Most Influential People of 2024 series. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes warms up on ..read more

Democrats are hopeful that President Biden's freedom to hit the campaign trail while former President Trump is stuck in a New York courtroom for weeks, maybe months, gives his reelection campaign a jolt. The president is spending several days this week covering crucial ground in Pennsylvania, including a visit to his hometown, while Trump sits through what’s expected to be a monotonous jury selection process. Trump’s court battles so far have boosted him by giving him free publicity and rallying his supporters around the idea that he is a martyr facing a corrupt system. But Democrats are optim ..read more