Welcome back to the Morning Brief——brought to you by one of America’s largest independent newspapers—The Epoch Times.
It’s Friday October 9th, and I’m Keegan Billings.
Let’s jump right in.
Good morning! It’s Friday. Here are today’s top stories.
• border czar, Tom Homan, weighs in on record arrests, attacks on ICE, and what comes next, during an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times.
• The Trump administration will suspend Adobe and Microsoft from a program that allows its foreign workers to apply for green cards and become permanent residents, citing alleged fraud.
• Health Secretary RFK Jr. and other officials have opened a new clinic to treat patients with vaccine injuries.
• Next following the death of a worker at a plague research lab in Siberia, Russia’s health regulator says reports of a second person falling ill are not true,
• And last Arthroscopic knee surgery is a minimally invasive procedure that treats a range of knee problems, we’ll get into that procedure for our health section.
NOW, BACK TO OUR TOP STORY:
Trump’s Border Czar on Record Arrests, Attacks on ICE, and What Comes Next
A chance encounter with a little girl along the border, raped while trying to cross into the United States, shaped Tom Homan long before he became the president’s border czar.
That experience was a defining moment of his 40-year law enforcement career and helps explain why Homan came out of retirement to oversee the retightening of border policies.
Homan talking to host Jan Jekielek on an episode of EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” said
“I never forgot about her,”
“That little girl’s never going to be the same again,” he said. “There are a lot of things that stuck in my mind over 40 years that make me who I am today, and why I fight so hard.”
In an exclusive interview with us, Homan discussed his time in the Trump administration. He also explained how he built “the most secure border in history” while setting records for illegal immigrant arrests and deportations despite legal and political pushback.
Homan said some people choose to believe that crossing the border illegally into the United States is a victimless crime, but it’s not.
Homan said that under the Biden administration, 4,000 illegal immigrants died trying to cross the border and 250,000 Americans died from fentanyl poisoning.
He said Because drug and smuggling operations are run by criminals, women and children are particularly vulnerable to cruelty.
Homan noted statistics showing that up to 31 percent of women are sexually assaulted on the journey to cross into the U.S.
In addition, there are the “lost children,” unaccompanied minors who were released into the United States and then unaccounted for under the Biden administration.
When President Donald Trump asked Homan to return to the federal government under his second administration, locating the missing children was one of the top priorities. (More)
Homan said “He asked me to do three things: secure the border, run deportation operations, and find these kids,”
Homan said about half a million children were smuggled into the United States during the Biden administration.
Of those, about 157,000 children who crossed the border as unaccompanied minors have been found since the start of the Trump administration, Homan said.
Many caretakers of the unaccompanied minors didn’t respond to welfare check-ins, which caused the government to lose track of nearly 300,000 children.
He said tracking down minors isn’t as easy as locating adults who have digital footprints, homes, and cars.
To make matters worse, investigators had to rely on incorrect information from sponsors, such as false names or wrong addresses, some of which turned out to be supermarkets, churches, or parking lots.
The government found most children safe with family, but Homan said “too many” were found in forced labor or sex trafficking situations.
Some sponsors had as many as 22 children. Homan said Sponsors tied to trafficking or forced labor are being prosecuted. Another 140,000 children are still missing, and many of them are now 18 or 19.
Homan said no illegal immigrants caught on the southwest border by Border Patrol have been released into the country in the past 17 months.
However, gotaways, those who sneak across the border without getting caught, are down but not at zero,
he said. That number has dropped from thousands per day to fewer than 100, and border checkpoints have been reopened to help catch them,
Meanwhile, Homan said (ICE) is setting arrest and deportation records.
NOW, OVER TO POLITICS:
• The Trump administration will suspend Adobe and Microsoft from a program that allows its foreign workers to apply for green cards and become permanent residents, citing alleged fraud.
in a press conference on Oct. 8. Vance said
“Microsoft laid off last year 6,000 American workers. At the same time, the company benefited from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.”
according to the vice president Foreign worker visa programs were intended to supply high-level talent to fulfill demand where domestic supply was short, but companies are abusing the system to undercut American workers with lower-paid foreign employees,.
New actions taken by the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force place a freeze on the process for certain outsourcing and technology firms, as well as an investigation into nine universities. Pitt, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, and MIT.
The vice president acknowledged Department of Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, who oversaw investigations that uncovered $22 billion in fraud and secured more than 200 convictions over the past five months.”
Speaking at the press conference, Sonderling said that other IT service companies would also be suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification Program, those include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.
According to Sonderling The companies collectively applied for approximately 3 million foreign-worker requests, resulting in more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and more than 100,000 certifications for permanent residency since 2009,
Sonderling criticizing this said “hundreds of thousands of jobs were taken from American workers.”
• Health Secretary RFK Jr. and other officials have opened a new clinic to treat patients with vaccine injuries.
The (NIH) clinic is located on the agency’s campus in Bethesda, Maryland. It was opened on Oct. 5.
The Make America Healthy Again Commission, led by Kennedy, recommended in 2025 starting a new vaccine injury research program at the NIH as part of an effort to investigate vaccine injuries with better data collection and analysis.
in an Oct. 8 video statement NIH director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said
“[The clinic is] dedicated to developing the science of preventing vaccine injuries, making vaccines safer, and most important of all, listening to the voices of people who have suffered vaccine injury,”
NIH doctors and researchers will use the clinic to evaluate patients, identify potential causes of health problems, and try to figure out the best treatments.
Some NIH researchers studied patients with alleged or confirmed COVID-19 vaccine injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they received pushback from NIH leadership. Patients said they were later abandoned by the researchers.
Kennedy, who attended the opening of the clinic, he posted a video on Oct. 8 saying that parents of children who suffered injuries from vaccines and other individuals with vaccine injuries “have been marginalized, vilified, demonized, and gaslighted, he said they have not received the medical attention they need, and we have not done the studies that need to be done to understand who’s vulnerable to those kind of injuries.”
he said That’s changing with the Trump administration,
• Russia’s health regulator says reports of a second person falling ill following the death of a worker at a plague research lab in Siberia are not true.
It said it had completed checks on all the contacts of the dead woman, adding: “No health issues related to an infectious disease were detected, and the results of nearly 5,000 laboratory tests showed no dangerous pathogenic microorganisms.”
According to Russian officials the worker died on Oct. 2. And The cause of death was an unknown form of pneumonia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had suggested on Oct. 7 that reports of a second death were false.
The WHO earlier in the week requested verification from Russia of reports of a second anti-plague institute worker dying.
A WHO spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
Officials made the request after seeing two reports, one from the UK’s The Mirror newspaper and another from a Serbian outlet.
Asked by a reporter at the White House about whether a “bioweapon” was involved, Trump responded: “Well, we don’t think so. We’re going to find out soon enough, but we don’t think so.”
AND MORE ON POLITICS:
• The Environmental Protection Agency will be proposing the abolition of a Biden-era rule on methane leaks from oil and gas wells, which it said would save $45 billion.
The move is the latest initiative by the Trump administration to cut regulations that it says burden U.S. businesses seeking to access the nation’s coal, oil, and gas resources.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made the announcement at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Zeldin said
“Americans must be able to afford to heat their homes in the winter and fill up their car and drive to work,”. “They can’t do that when the people producing the energy are weighed down by unnecessary burdens. The Trump EPA is committed to fixing this so the U.S. can reach its full energy potential.”
This would be the fourth time an administration has changed the law on methane emissions in the last 10 years.
In May 2016, the Obama administration first announced it was introducing federal regulations, forcing the oil and gas industry to reduce methane emissions.
The first Trump administration removed the regulations in August 2020, but in July 2021 under President Joe Biden, Congress, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), reversed the Trump administration’s changes to regulations on methane from production wells and pipelines, and Biden signed it into law.
Now the second Trump administration has indicated it will remove methane regulations, which it said burden oil and gas companies with costly restrictions, with the costs passed on to customers.
• Four residents from Philadelphia have been charged with voting illegally in the 2024 elections while being noncitizens.
in an Oct. 5 statement the DOJ said
“The defendants, despite knowing that they were not United States citizens, knowingly voted in an election held in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, and Presidential elector,”
Only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in Pennsylvania under both federal and state laws.
Jamil Ahmad, 50, one of the accused, is a Pakistani citizen and a lawful U.S. permanent resident at the time of his vote, the DOJ said. The second person, Nighat Jamil, 47, is also a Pakistani citizen, while the third individual, Paulo Silva, 54, is a citizen of Portugal, both lawful permanent residents of the United States. The fourth defendant, Hacina Saadi, 48, is a French citizen and an illegal immigrant.
According to Title 18 of the U.S. Code Section 611, it is generally unlawful for an immigrant to vote in an election held to select a candidate for the office of president, vice president, presidential elector, member of the Senate or House of Representatives, delegate from the District of Columbia, or resident commissioner.
Under Pennsylvania law, only an individual who has been a U.S. citizen for at least a month can vote in the state.
If convicted, the defendants face up to a year in prison, fines, or both, the department said.
In another case, according to the DOJ, a lawful permanent resident from Cuba was arrested this week and charged with two counts of voting illegally in the November 2022 and November 2024 federal elections,
The individual was granted lawful permanent residency in 2009. However, before receiving residency, the person allegedly registered to vote in 2004 in Missouri. Over the past 20 years, the Cuban national allegedly voted in at least 15 elections, of which at least 13 were federal elections.
The Trump administration is facing legal challenges as it takes action against noncitizens illegally casting votes.
On Oct. 1, U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz in Florida dismissed a case against a Jamaican woman who had voted in a federal election despite being a noncitizen.
In the opinion Judge Leibowitz wrote “Except for very specific constitutional provisions … Congress has no power to say who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections—that foundational power is reserved for the States, and limits Congress.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said members of the general public will be able to see the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, he was convicted on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.
in an interview on Real America’s Voice with host Jack Posobiec on Oct. .Hegseth said
“We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,”
Hasan was born in the United States and held the rank of major in the U.S. Army on the date of the Fort Hood shooting on Nov. 5, 2009.
Those killed in the 2009 shooting were 12 U.S. soldiers, a civilian physician, and an unborn child. Thirty-two others sustained wounds during the attack.
Following a 2013 military court-martial proceeding, a military jury convicted Hasan on all 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and recommended he be sentenced to death. He has remained on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, ever since.
Hasan, who is of Muslim faith, represented himself in the 2013 proceedings, during which he identified himself as the shooter, described himself as a jihadist, and indicated he regretted his service in the U.S. military and had changed his allegiance.
The Pentagon announced Hasan is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3, at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood.
• President Trump said. The United States will not launch new strikes against Iran before the November elections, because of ongoing discussions between his administration and the Islamic regime,
Fighting between the United States and Iran has mostly stalled in recent weeks; the U.S. military launched its most recent strikes against the country in early September. A naval blockade that was reimposed in July is ongoing.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social,
“We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” adding that he wants “to make it clear to everybody that, while Iran is in very bad condition” because of a U.S. pressure campaign against the country.”
Trump, as he was campaigning for Republican candidates this week, has suggested that he is confident that an end to the war could come in the days around the midterms. He also has signaled that his administration is open to renewing strikes against Iran.
The blockade of Iranian ports “will remain in full force and effect,” Trump wrote in his post, and he said that 22 million barrels of oil passed through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway on the evening of Oct. 7 “with not one barrel coming from, or going to, Iran.”
Trump has also often said he expects oil prices to drop sharply after the elections, but elevated gas prices have weighed heavily on Republican candidates before November’s contests.
• The U.S. government imposed new sanctions targeting most of the remaining tankers in Iran’s so-called shadow fleet as Washington continues to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
Announcing the sanctions on Thursday, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 17 shadow fleet ships responsible for the transportation of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemical products to markets in South Asia and East Asia.
The sanctions, which the Treasury Department said will target and effectively neutralize the “vast majority” of the regime’s remaining shadow fleet, mark the latest expansion of the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Outcast.
• The United States seized 90 biodiesel shipments worth more than $2.8 million that were part of an attempt to illegally export fuel to Cuba.
Last month, (CBP) identified biodiesel shipments being exported from the country, specifically from Port Everglades in Florida and the Port of Houston in Texas, to ENETEC S.A., a Cuban wholesaler engaged in trading fuel. Law enforcement agencies sought to have the shipments detained.
In total, 71 shipments of around 496,000 gallons of biodiesel were seized at Port Everglades, and 19 shipments of roughly 119,000 gallons were detained at the Port of Houston, (ICE) said in a statement on Oct. 7.
The Cuban wholesaler ENETEC was one of the state-owned entities sanctioned by the United States in July over allegations of funneling revenues to the Cuban regime.
The seizure was requested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) over suspected violations of federal export laws, including the Export Administration Regulations and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to ICE.
In an Oct. 7 statement, the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector’s office said the federal government has not identified publicly the U.S. exporters involved in the illegal fuel shipment.
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What to Know About One of the Most Common Knee Surgeries
Hi It’s Helen Billings here and to finish off the week I’ll be talking about Arthroscopic Are-throw-scopic knee surgery for today’s health section.
So Arthroscopic knee surgery has long been one of the most common orthopedic procedures in the U.S.
The procedure is minimally invasive and treats a range of knee problems. Those problems include meniscus tears, damaged ligaments, and loose fragments.
Now recent findings have reshaped how doctors approach it, especially for conditions like knee osteoarthritis, where the procedure is used more selectively than in the past.
So before the surgery begins, a member of the anesthesia team will discuss the available options with you. They might just numb the knee, or numb you from below the waist, or they might even put you to sleep.
Once you are in the operating room and the anesthesia takes effect, the skin around the knee is cleaned to reduce the risk of infection. The leg is then covered with sterile surgical drapes, leaving the prepared area exposed. They might use a positioning device to stabilize and properly position the leg during the procedure.
Now let’s use arthroscopic meniscus repair as an example. During the procedure, an orthopedic surgeon first inserts an arthroscope, which is a thin, camera-equipped instrument- through a small incision in the knee.
The arthroscope provides a magnified, real-time view of the inside of the knee joint, which is displayed on a video monitor. This allows the surgical team to carefully inspect the structures within the joint and assess the extent of the meniscus tear.
The surgeon may make several additional small incisions, called “portals,” around the knee to allow specialized surgical instruments to enter the joint.
The surgeon can use these instruments to probe, trim, or otherwise repair tissue as needed. When a meniscus requires repair, the damaged cartilage may be repositioned and secured with sutures or specialized anchors.
If the patient also has an ACL tear or another associated knee injury, the surgeon may address it during the same arthroscopic procedure when appropriate.
Throughout the procedure, sterile saline is continuously pumped into the joint to gently expand the knee and rinse away blood and cloudy fluid. This keeps the surgical field clear and allows the surgeon to continuously see the joint structures on the monitor.
The fluid is drained as the procedure progresses and removed when the surgery is complete. The instruments are then withdrawn, the small incisions are closed, and the knee is dressed for recovery.
If a repair or reconstruction was performed, a knee brace may provide additional protection while the knee heals.
Ok now What Actually Predicts a Good Recovery?
According to Dr. Nolan Horner, an orthopedic surgeon, the type of procedure is one of the most important factors. He also points to the condition of the knee before surgery, the patient’s overall health, and how closely they follow their rehabilitation plan as important factors in recovery.
Another orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jorge Chahla, told us that the two factors that can be easy to overlook are the strength of your quadriceps and psychological readiness.
So, good quadriceps strength gives the knee a stronger starting point for recovery, since surgery, pain, and swelling can temporarily weaken the muscle and make it harder to control the knee. Being psychologically prepared can also matter because recovery often requires consistent participation in rehabilitation.
For example, fear of movement or reinjury, low confidence, or unrealistic expectations may make it harder to stay active and follow the rehabilitation plan, while realistic expectations and confidence can help patients engage with their recovery.
Ok now I want to thank you for listening, and I hope you might never need to have knee surgery yourself, but if you do I wish you a speedy recovery. Alright, I hope you have a healthy weekend.
And before we leave, here are some words of wisdom to start the day…Today’s quote was written by Saint Francis of Assisi,
He said…
“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.”
—Francis of Assisi
Thanks for listening to the Epoch Times Morning Brief.
Just a final reminder, if you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a 5 star review on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/morningbrief, link in show notes. This was Keegan, I’ll see you tomorrow / on Monday.
This was Keegan, I’ll see you tomorrow / on Monday.
