The White House News

Los Angeles city lawmakers voted Tuesday to formally adopt a sanctuary city ordinance, weeks after President-elect Trump’s victory, amid promises to carry out mass deportation raids.  

The 13-0 vote will prohibit Los Angeles from providing any city resources or personnel to be used to help federal enforcement of immigration laws.

City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, along with Mayor Karen Bass, released the draft ordinance last week that was written with help from immigration groups.

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Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Monica Rodriguez, who chair the council’s Civil Rights and Public Safety committees, respectively, waived the matter from their jurisdictions to expedite a vote on the matter. 

California has been a sanctuary state since 2017 with the passage of SB 54, which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest people for immigration violations.

During a debate Tuesday, many public speakers pushed for the sanctuary ordinance, saying immigrant communities should be protected from “unimaginable cruelty” of raids that could separate families and target migrants who come to the U.S. to work. 

Others raised concerns about the depletion of resources given to help illegal immigrants, given that the city is contending with mass homelessness and a housing crisis. 

Sanctuary cities typically don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities, refusing to honor detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which are used to take custody of criminal illegal immigrants for deportation. 

Many times, such jurisdictions will release the suspects back onto the street without informing ICE. Some have gone on to reoffend, sometimes violently, before being apprehended again. 

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The vote will come two weeks after President-elect Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, following a campaign in which he promised to tighten the southern border and carry out mass deportations of millions of illegal immigrants, targeting criminals who’ve committed a variety of crimes after illegally entering the United States. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump representatives. 

Tom Homan, who previously served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has been tapped by Trump to serve as his “border czar,” previously suggested mass deportations are necessary in the wake of the “historic illegal immigration crisis.”

“President Trump has made it clear we will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first. And that’s what the focus should be,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity last week.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive directive in 2019 that offered protections to immigrants. Los Angeles has followed sanctuary city guidelines but an ordinance was never codified into law. Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department mandates that its officers not inquire about immigration status or make arrests related to a migrant’s legal status.

Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell has said the department won’t participate in immigration enforcement. 

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The Los Angeles County Republican Party criticized the ordinance, saying sanctuary protection would shield criminals who have entered the United States illegally. 

“A country without secure borders isn’t a country at all. So-called ‘sanctuary’ cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protections they offer aren’t for abuelas (grandmothers) getting ice cream, they’re for people who’ve entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes,” LACGOP Communications Director Rozanne Hodge told Fox News Digital. “Whether drunk driving, robbery, sexual violence, assault or murder, none of those should go unpunished. Perpetrators should definitely not be protected by the largesse taken from hard-working taxpayers.”

If the City of Los Angeles would like to have thriving, safe, clean streets and businesses in time for the Olympics, maybe they could accept the will of the people who just tossed George Gascon out on his ear and focus on public safety for everyone,” she added. 

Trump’s victory has spurred officials in various parts of the country to vow to push back on deportations. 

On Sunday, Boston’s Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu said her city won’t cooperate with any deportation operation from ther incoming Trump administration, despite her region seeing a number of illegal immigrants being charged with crimes and released back onto the streets. 

Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said her state, which voted for Trump, will not be aiding the incoming administration with its “misguided” plan to launch a mass deportation operation.

Following California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration.

“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” he said. 

A prominent economist trying to influence the incoming Trump administration’s economic policies is facing criticism from conservative groups over his organization’s liberal donors and past criticism of President-elect Trump’s agenda.

Oren Cass, who previously worked on both of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns, is the founder and chief economist of American Compass, a conservative think tank that has made inroads with multiple prominent Republican lawmakers in Congress.

Over the past year, Cass’ philosophy has reportedly gained traction in some pro-Trump circles, but several conservatives have taken issue with his increased influence and worry his policies will undermine the Trump agenda based on his past anti-Trump comments. During a May 2021 interview, Cass likened Trump to “an earthquake” because he believed Trump was a “disaster in many ways.”

“Self-proclaimed ‘conservative’ Oren Cass and his American Compass is not, and will never be, viewed as a legitimate voice in Republican policy circles. CNBC’s Joe Kernen got it right when he called them ‘bonkers, walking quacking uniparty progressivism.’ And their funding only proves that,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital.

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“As American Compass continues to stay in business thanks to generous donations from radical left-wing organizations like the Hewlett Foundation and the Omidyar Network, Club for Growth is proud to stand with President Trump and the overwhelming majority of Republican voters who support actual conservative policies, like the proposals described in our Foundation’s recent “Freedom Forward Policy Handbook,” including: tax cuts, spending cuts to reduce the deficit, deregulation to boost American manufacturing, American-first energy policies, school choice and worker freedom,” he continued.

A significant chunk of American Compass’ funding comes from a handful of foundations tied to liberal causes, including almost $2 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Omidyar Network, which has provided 11% of American Compass’ funding and is led by a founder described as “notable for funding liberal-in-conservative clothing groups that target former president Donald Trump and his supporters.”

American Compass is also associated with the “Reimagining Capitalism Partners” fund, which includes the Center for American Progress, Sixteen Thirty Fund-linked Groundwork Action, Progressive Caucus Action Fund, Tides Advocacy and Demos, a socialist think tank.

TRUMP NAMING CABINET OFFICIALS AT ‘WARP SPEED,’ FAR HEAD OF FIRST TERM PACE

Cass’ group has also received over $200,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, a multibillion-dollar foundation that has bankrolled several left-wing causes, including radical environmental groups and “Imagining America,” a “coalition of colleges engaged in left-wing curriculum development,” according to the Capital Research Center. 

The San Francisco Foundation, which has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to far-left groups, gave $100,000 to American Compass.

When Fox News Digital pressed Cass on his organization’s funding and criticism from rival conservative groups, he blasted the “anti-tax zealots” criticizing his organization.

“American Compass advocates for limited government and a commitment to paying for the government that we have rather than leaving the bill to our children,” Cass told Fox News Digital. “Anti-tax zealots can lobby for larger deficits if they want, but conservatives are under no obligation to follow them into the fiscal ditch.” 

In addition to the money that American Compass has received from left-wing groups, its advisory board includes multiple Democrats, including Ganesh Sitaraman, who served as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and has been a longtime adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., dating back to her 2012 Senate campaign. 

Matt Stoller, the research director at the American Economic Liberties Project, which received at least $500,000 from George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society and at least $230,000 from the Omidyar Network Fund, is also on the advisory board and has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats.

Tom Hebert, the director of competition and regulatory policy at Americans for Tax Reform, blasted Cass as an “anti-Trump activist” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The American people returned Donald Trump to the White House with a strong economic mandate: cut taxes, slash job-killing regulations and promote worker freedom. Oren Cass founded American Compass as a ‘post-Trump’ organization and opposes the Trump economic agenda at every level, even calling the landmark Trump tax cuts an ‘expensive failure,’” Hebert said. 

“Cass is not a conservative. He’s an anti-Trump activist that MSNBC has on speed dial to undermine Trump’s second-term agenda.”

In addition to Hebert’s quote, Americans for Tax Reform published a piece in July with the headline, “Who Said It, Oren or Warren?” The piece pointed to the tax plans of Sen. Warren and Cass’ American Compass, which were both published a month earlier and include multiple quotes from Warren and Cass, asking readers to identify the source of each quote.

“Warren’s plan calls on Democrats to reject extending the Trump tax cuts,” the piece says. “The proposed budget released by Oren Cass’ American Compass, which describes itself as ‘the flagship for a healthier and more responsive post-Trump conservative movement,’ calls for the full expiration of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, would increase the corporate rate to the Biden-preferred level of 28%, and backs Warren’s call for a financial transaction tax.”

Americans for Tax Reform went on to call American Compass “left-wing” and said Cass was the “leader of the tax-hiking American Compass” in a separate post from earlier this year due to his opposition to Trump’s tax cuts.

Cass was mocked earlier this year after he went on CNBC and suggested that lowering taxes and the corporate tax rate is not “conservative,” adding, “There is nothing conservative about that … absolute radical nonsensical notion.” 

The clip prompted Richard Stern, who serves as the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, to sound off on Cass, saying, “[Cass on] CNBC this morning defending the uniparty’s attempt to steal your money and put it in their hands — and to stop capital from flowing to new and small businesses. With ‘friends’ like this, who needs socialists.”

During a C-SPAN interview over the weekend, Cass praised some aspects of Trump’s first administration, saying the United States “made a tremendous amount of progress” by implementing a “much more aggressive trade policy and confronting China.” He also praised the incoming Trump-Vance administration on some of its Cabinet picks, including calling Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., an “excellent” State Department pick because of his work sounding the alarm about China being our “main adversary.” 

He added he hopes the administration will have a “labor policy that is much more focused on the interests of workers,” pointing to Vice President-elect JD Vance’s past comments and saying commerce and labor are the “heart of our economic policy.”

Despite Cass offering some praise of Trump, he has been a longtime critic of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, calling them an “expensive failure” and saying Trumpism is facing an “inevitable expiration” and adding in September 2020 that Trump is “building no intellectual foundation, no institutional infrastructure and no policy agenda.”

After Trump’s 2024 election victory, Cass continued to signal opposition to Trump’s tax policy. 

“Well, I think we have today a politics where both candidates go around talking about how they`re just going to cut everybody`s taxes,” Cass told PBS Nov. 10. “And, of course, everybody likes a tax cut. But I don`t think those are the things that are going to turn our economy in a much better direction.”

During another interview from earlier this year, Cass said one of the things he thought was “most encouraging” was that there aren’t “mini Trumps” and that he is “extremely encouraged” by the post-Trump era Republican leaders he is seeing.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

– GOP lawmaker launches caucus to help Elon Musk take on ‘Crazytown’

– Massive groups of illegal immigrants caught at border amid fears of pre-Trump border surge

– Size of slim Republican House majority hangs on 5 uncalled races

New York prosecutors are requesting a stay until at least 2029 in New York v. Trump, as the president’s defense attorneys prepare to move to dismiss the case entirely.  

Prosecutors wrote a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday, who agreed last week to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the conviction proceedings against Trump in the final months before he takes office. 

Merchan granted the request, which issues a stay on all deadlines, including the Nov. 26 sentencing date, to consider the effect of his election as president.

Prosecutors had asked for the pause in proceedings, which they said would allow them to better evaluate the impact of Trump’s new status as president-elect…Read more

DEFYING DEATH: Pro-Trump prison warden asks Biden to commute all death sentences before leaving…Read more

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‘BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE’: Biden Interior Dept puts together handbook to apply ‘indigenous knowledge’ into agency practices…Read more

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QUICKER CABINET: Trump naming Cabinet officials at ‘warp speed,’ far head of first term pace…Read more

LOYALTY MATTERS: Why Trump is sticking with Gaetz, Hegseth despite new accusations – and his ‘Morning Joe’ meeting…Read more

REPORT CARD: House Ethics Committee to meet Wednesday after postponing Gaetz investigation meeting…Read more

FACT CHECK: Are Pete Hegseth’s tattoos symbols of ‘Christian nationalism’?…Read more

‘UNFINISHED BUSINESS’: Former Trump education secretary lays out ‘unfinished business’ for new admin on school reforms…Read more

BUREAU STONEWALLING: Trump assassination attempt task force subpoenas 2 ATF employees, alleging stonewalling…Read more

WON’T BACK DOWN: Mace faces backlash over resolution to keep new transgender member of Congress out of women’s bathrooms…Read more

NOT ENOUGH: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants men banned from women’s spaces in ‘all taxpayer-funded facilities’…Read more

SENATE PROTEST: Anti-Israel protesters arrested in Senate office building…Read more

EYE OF THE STORM: House Republicans eye FEMA fund overhaul ahead of high-stakes hearing on Helene recovery…Read more

SENATE STAND OFF: Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes…Read more

FISCAL FIGHT: Speaker Johnson’s government funding play hits the rocks within House GOP…Read more

DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: Growing field in race to chair the DNC…Read more

‘RULE OF LAW MATTERS’: Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro side with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots…Read more

HEALTH CARE DECISIONS: Wyoming judge strikes down state abortion laws, ruling them unconstitutional…Read more

HOMELESS RIGHTS: Washington state Democrat pushes to make homelessness a civil right…Read more

SQUATTERS BEWARE: Squatters meet resistance with red state push to protect homeowners…Read more

TO FREE OR NOT TO FREE: Gov. Newsom announces decision in Menendez brothers case…Read more

WINDY CITY WORRY: Proposed Chicago police resource cuts could land city in court, top officials warn…Read more

‘NO MORALS’: College plan to use ‘creative ideas’ to pay undocumented students blasted by GOP leader…Read more

BORDER BATTLE: Border state governor vows to defy Trump’s ‘misguided’ mass deportation push…Read more

HOME INSPECTION: FEMA director vows to request IG investigation into order to avoid Trump supporters’ houses…Read more

‘CANADIAN PROMISE’: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada ‘could have acted quicker’ on reining in immigration…Read more

END FAVORED NATION STATUS: Bipartisan panel urges Congress to toss out decades of trade policy they say China has been exploiting…Read more

1,000 DAYS: Ukraine war hits milestone as tensions rise over potential Russian escalation…Read more

‘GO IT ALONE’: Netanyahu says he ignored Biden’s war counsel — and threats that Israel would be ‘left alone’ without US help…Read more

MISSILE BARRAGE: Ukraine fires first barrage of US-made long-range missiles into Russia, Kremlin says…Read more

RUSSIA’S ‘HYBRID’ WARFARE?: US allies accuse Russia of ‘escalating hybrid activities’ against NATO, EU nations after data cables severed…Read more

Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers passed legislation in the House to bolster geothermal energy production by increasing the frequency of lease sales.

The Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act (CLEAN) passed in the House Tuesday and will amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to require the Department of Interior (DOI) to hold lease sales every year, rather than every two years.

Additionally, the bill seeks to speed up the permit process for lease sales by setting a 30-day deadline for the DOI to notify an applicant if a permit has been approved. 

The bill also requires the DOI hold a replacement sale if a lease sale is canceled or missed.

LEAVE THE OIL TO ME: TRUMP VOWS TO UNLEASH US ENERGY, UNDO KEY BIDEN RULES IN 2ND TERM

Democrats arguing against the bill claimed a 30-day deadline to approve leases did not give the Department of Interior enough time to conduct thorough analysis of the projects.

BIDEN ADMIN TOUTS JOB WELL DONE REPLENISHING OIL RESERVES DESPITE DEPLETING THEM BY HALF OVER LAST 4 YEARS

The bill was approved by a bipartisan vote, securing the support of 213 Republicans and 31 Democrats.

“Geothermal energy has tremendous potential to provide reliable, clean energy for millions of Americans,” Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, who introduced the bill, said in a statement. 

“As nearly 90% of our nation’s geothermal resources are located on federally managed lands, I introduced the CLEAN Act to unleash these critical resources by cutting red tape and increasing lease opportunities on federal lands. This legislation will hold the Department of Interior accountable and is key to bolstering domestic energy production, reducing our reliance on foreign adversaries and meeting America’s growing energy demands.” 

The Western Caucus also praised the bill’s passage.

“Geothermal is an important component of our all of the above energy strategy,” said Western Caucus Chairman Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. “I was very pleased to see the passage of the CLEAN Act out of the U.S. House earlier today to help unlock the full potential of geothermal and boost energy production on federal lands across the west. I applaud Congressman Fulcher’s leadership and work on this important issue.”

Delaware set off a firestorm this month after it elected the first transgender woman to Congress, leading some Republicans to demand the new lawmaker be barred from women’s bathrooms.

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, currently a Democrat state senator for President Biden’s hometown of Claymont, Delaware, defeated retired Delaware State Trooper John Whalen III, 58%-42%. McBride succeeds Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, D-Del., who won the retiring Tom Carper’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., led the charge against allowing McBride from using the women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. McBride is a biological male who identifies and presents as a woman. Mace said Tuesday she is now receiving death threats, adding that she is the one being “unfairly targeted.”

Mace drafted resolution H.R. 1579 on Monday which would prohibit members, officers and employees of the House from using facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.

MACE FACES BACKLASH OVER EFFORT TO BAN TRANSGENDER MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM WOMEN’S BATHROOMS

As of Tuesday afternoon, it had been referred to the House Administration Committee currently chaired by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., but did not appear to have come to a vote yet.

The bill would direct House Sergeant-at-Arms William McFarland to enforce the new provision.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told reporters she supports Mace’s resolution and called McBride “mentally ill.”

“Sarah McBride, as he calls himself, formerly Tim McBride, is a biological man, and he should not be using any of our restrooms in the Capitol and those in our office buildings,” Greene said.

“Nancy Mace’s resolution doesn’t go far enough. Her resolution is just a statement by Congress saying that Congress disagrees with something. We need something more binding.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R–La., a noted social conservative, said he’s “not going to get into this.”

“We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people. I believe it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect, that we will. And I’m not going to engage in silly debates about this.”

Johnson added that the issue of gender identity in locker rooms and bathrooms is not something Congress has had to address before and thus deserves honest deliberation and “member consensus.”

“And we will accommodate the needs of every single person,” the speaker added.

Greene said the situation reminds her of how student-athletes were forced to compete against biological males who are physiologically stronger as a baseline.

“There is a volleyball player that has brain damage today because of a biological male spiking a ball into her head.”

In that regard, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who was forced to compete against a transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer, slammed McBride’s pointed response to criticisms.

“And even after his temper tantrum, he’s still a man,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Gaines is an OutKick.com contributor and the host of the “Gaines for Girls” podcast.

In a 2015 story in American’s college magazine, McBride said, “My father said to me that he was not losing a son but gaining a daughter. That was one of the most profound moments in my transition. It was a major relief when it was clear that both my parents saw me as who I am.”

In earlier comments about her resolution, Mace said she is a rape survivor and still has PTSD from her abuse at the hands of a man.

Later Tuesday, Mace said the issue is protecting women and girls and making sure Congress acts in accordance.

“[McBride] doesn’t get a say. This is about real women and women’s rights and the far-left radical left. They want to erase women and women’s rights, and I’m not going to let them,” she said. 

“Here’s the deal: Biological men shouldn’t be in women’s private spaces, period, end of story,” she said.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., defended McBride on Tuesday, telling reporters he was “sick to his stomach” by Mace’s resolution.

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In a statement, McBride called the situation “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.”

“Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Fox News Digital reached out to McBride’s campaign and Dover office for additional comment on the new criticisms and was provided with an initial statement.

Fox News’ Daniel Scully, Tyler Olson and Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., took aim at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), arguing that its recent response to multiple deadly storms shows the agency needs to be “completely revamped.”

“The No. 1 thing that hurts FEMA’s reputation is the fact that so many citizens are denied when they apply the first time they come through the FEMA portal. And if they have to go through congressional offices to get help… if that is going to be the protocol for our citizens to get help, from the emergency management agency, then it needs to be completely revamped,” Donalds said during a House Oversight Committee hearing on FEMA Tuesday.

Donalds’ comments came during questioning of FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who was peppered by Republican members of the Oversight Committee to provide answers on FEMA’s response to recent storms and accusations that the agency discriminated against supporters of President-elect Trump.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS EYE FEMA FUND OVERHAUL AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES HEARING ON HELENE RECOVERY

FEMA has been under fire over the agency’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which earlier this year made landfall in the southeastern U.S. and caused widespread destruction across multiple states.

While the agency’s overall performance during the response to the two storms has been the center of controversy, members of the Oversight Committee repeatedly asked Criswell to answer to potential “systemic bias” against Trump supporters in its response.

The questions come after now-fired FEMA employee Marn’i Washington told relief workers to skip houses that had signs supporting Trump during the agency’s cleanup and recovery effort after Hurricane Milton, an incident Criswell insisted was isolated in multiple responses during the hearing.

FEMA OFFICIAL SAID TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS: ‘TO SAY I WAS SURPRISED WOULD BE A LIE’

“There is nothing in any of our policies, our training, or our information sent out to field workers, to avoid any home for whatever reason, especially not because of a political affiliation,” Criswell said in response to questioning from Donalds. “The actions of this one individual are not representative of the work that we do at FEMA.”

But Donalds, whose district was hit hard by Milton, said he had “an issue” with the answer, pointing to a New York Post report that featured an anonymous FEMA employee who claimed that such discrimination on the basis of political affiliation is an “open secret” at FEMA.

Criswell argued that the incident in question was investigated by FEMA and that an investigation into if such issues are more widespread is still ongoing, prompting even more fierce pushback from Donalds.

“You told me at the beginning of this questioning that there is nothing in your policies that would dictate that this is to occur, yet you have one official who was fired, who said it does occur. You have another official under your purview… talking to the press, that it does occur, but you can’t verify to this committee that these practices do or do not occur,” Donalds said.

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

EXCLUSIVE: Texas is offering the incoming Trump administration a tract of more than 1,400 acres on which to stage its mass deportation operation when it enters office in January, as the transition team begins to make preparations for the ambitious project.

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has written to President-elect Donald Trump offering him the land in Starr County, which the state purchased from a ranch owner in October. The 1,402 acres are in the Rio Grande Valley sector near the border.

Her letter to Trump, obtained by Fox News Digital, says her office is “fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history.”

‘SHUT IT DOWN’: RED STATE MAKES MASSIVE LAND BUY TO RAMP UP BORDER WALL EFFORTS AMID MIGRANT SURGE

“What I care about is that we have safe communities, and there is no doubt that we are losing too many of our children to these violent criminals that are coming across the border,” Buckingham told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday. “I am 100% on board with the Trump administration’s pledge to get these criminals out of our country, and we are more than happy to offer our resources to facilitate those deportations of these violent criminals.”

The Texas General Land Office purchased the land in October to facilitate the construction of additional border wall, a project that the Biden administration stopped. The area, which was a ranch before Texas bought it, had seen drug smuggling and human trafficking, officials said.

BATTLEGROUND STATE RANCHER ‘OUTRAGED’ BY BIDEN STOPPING WALL CONSTRUCTION AS MIGRANTS POUR INTO US

In light of Trump’s election victory this month, Buckingham said she was brainstorming with her team and decided to make the offer to the incoming administration.

“Right now, it’s essentially farmland, so it’s flat, it’s easy to build on. We could very easily put a detention center on there, a holding place as we get these criminals out of our country,” she said. “It’s accessible to international airports as well as a major crossing over the river. And so we’re just happy to get help, do anything we can to get these violent criminals off of our soil.”

‘SANCTUARY’ CITY MAYOR VOWS SHE WILL DEFY TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PUSH: ‘CAUSING WIDESPREAD FEAR’

Trump repeatedly promised throughout his 2024 presidential campaign to launch a historic mass deportation operation. In the days since the election, those plans have been put into motion, with officials looking at where they could build additional detention space.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Buckingham said the election proves that Trump’s approach to border security and illegal immigration is the one backed by the American people and that the Biden administration’s approach had been rejected.

“This election was a resounding referendum on the fact that Americans want safe communities. We want people to immigrate legally and legally only and that the administration’s policies over the last four years have failed every American citizen,” she said.

The Trump plan is likely to face opposition in other states, including Arizona, Illinois and Massachusetts, where governors have indicated they will oppose deportation efforts by the Trump administration. But that is unlikely to stop the incoming administration from conducting its operation.
 
Fox News’ Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.

After responding to Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, former-Israeli Defense Forces soldier Max Long went to the U.S. to attend DePaul University where he was later assaulted while holding a sign that read, “Come talk about Israel with an IDF Soldier.” Now, Long is working to sue the school so that something like that never happens again.

Long was a leading advocate for Israel on DePaul’s Chicago-area campus, where he held discussions about Jewish civil rights and Israel’s work to defend itself from Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7. That day, Long was deployed by the IDF, as he was serving as a reservist with the Israeli military.

As a result, Long said he became the target of disgruntled protesters who harassed him and launched threats against his physical safety. Eventually, Long was beaten unconscious by an anti-Israel agitator on campus, leading to a concussion and other injuries.   

Now, roughly two weeks later, a top Jewish civil rights law firm, The Lawfare Project, indicated Tuesday that Long had retained them to assist him in defending his civil rights and explore potential legal challenges against the school, including but not limited to Title VI, contract and tort claims. They will hold a press conference Thursday afternoon at DePaul’s student center. 

The firm also defended a Jewish student at Columbia University earlier this year in a Title VI suit, and shortly after they took legal action, Columbia amended its policies related to campus protesting. That case is still ongoing.

VETERANS DAY SUPPORTERS COMBAT IVY LEAGUE PROTESTERS WHINING ABOUT ‘ISRAEL-US WAR MACHINE’

“Colleges and universities across the United States are turning into literal battlegrounds where Jewish students are being singled out, discriminated against and beaten for their identity,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of The Lawfare Project. “No student — let alone one like Max who served in the IDF and went on the frontlines to destroy Hamas terrorists — should be subjected to physical, verbal or mental abuse for expressing their Jewish identity. DePaul failed Max and needs to be held accountable for its abject failure to protect Jewish students.” 

Meanwhile, Long added that he “will never apologize” for standing up for his Jewish identity and hopes no one at DePaul falls victim to the same sort of violence he experienced.

“I am in incredible pain with bruises all over my face, but I am grateful for the support I have received from the Jewish community at large and The Lawfare Project, specifically, and will continue to work to enforce my civil rights and against the hatred that has consumed American campuses,” Long said Tuesday. 

CHICAGO JEWISH MOTHER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST RESPONSE TO ALLEGED HATE CRIME: ‘TERRORISM ON MY PROPERTY’

Anti-Israel campus protests that began last year at Columbia University and spread to campuses across the country have continued this year, with Long’s assault being one of the latest examples.

The assault against Long came when he and fellow Jewish student Michael Kaminsky stood on a sidewalk near DePaul’s student union holding a sign that read, “Come talk about Israel with an IDF soldier.”

At a certain point, Long began engaging in a conversation with an individual. During the slightly contentious, yet calm back-and-forth, a masked accomplice came from behind and knocked out Long. Kaminsky, who broke his wrist, helped fend off the attack before both suspects fled.

ATTACKED JEWISH STUDENTS IN CHICAGO SPEAK OUT ABOUT ‘WAR ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES’

Chicago police ultimately responded and determined what occurred was a hate crime. The suspects remain at-large, however. 

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In addition to threatening the school with legal action, the Lawfare Project said that it will also work to ensure Long’s attackers are brought to justice and penalized appropriately to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.  

DePaul University spokesperson Russell Dorn said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the school’s president, Robert L. Manuel, is “outraged this hate crime occurred.”

“The university condemns in the strongest possible terms the antisemitic targeting of these two Jewish students, and the lasting fear and anger that the act has inflicted on our Jewish and broader communities,” Dorn added. “First and foremost, our concerns are for the two victims in this situation.”

Dorn indicated that DePaul had reached out to Long and Kaminsky “to offer care and resources” and are actively working with Chicago police to help identify their perpetrators.