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Trump administration pauses contentious border project
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration said Monday it is temporarily pausing construction of a contentious border construction project in Texas’ Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits to do an "on-the-ground evaluation."
The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say it is marring the area’s pristine environment. They argue the region's rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers. Border crossings in the area have historically been lower than other regions and have dropped even further over the past two years.
"CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation," Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, said on X. Scott said over the next couple of days, he was going to "listen to local leadership, community members and stakeholders" to address what he said were "real" national security threats while protecting the park.
While it isn't clear whether the brief suspension portended a more permanent halt to the construction in the area, it reflected the intensity of the bipartisan opposition and was a rare concession from the administration on a signature promise of the president's that it has raced to complete.
Congress gave the Trump administration $46 billion last summer to build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and the administration has been charging ahead and waiving numerous regulations in an effort to swiftly build the wall.
ICE pitches legal insurance to help shield local officers
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct.
The agency is proposing to subsidize liability insurance for state and local officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws, according to a planning document published Friday.
ICE's partnerships with local departments have soared since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year and may get an additional boost with liability insurance by removing a hurdle that has made some local police departments reluctant to join. The Associated Press is the first to report on this insurance proposal.
Under the plan, officers would purchase insurance covering up to $500,000 in personal liability, which typically funds legal fees, settlements and judgments. Officers would be reimbursed up to $250 annually -- roughly what the insurance is expected to cost.
One prominent critic of ICE's immigration crackdown said the program would be yet another way for officers to avoid personal accountability for misconduct.
One-time child star Panettiere dies at 36
Hayden Panettiere, a onetime child star who soared to fame in the TV shows "Heroes" and "Nashville" while enduring struggles with alcohol addiction and depression, has died. She was 36.
Police said Panettiere was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. Lifesaving measures were performed but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
No cause of death has been determined and Panettiere’s death remains under investigation. An autopsy found no signs of trauma and police said officers saw no signs of foul play.
The television and film performer, who would have turned 37 on Friday, had been open about her private battles and wrote at length about them in the memoir, "This Is Me," which came out in May. She described lifelong scars from her early fame, and acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and enduring postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden," her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement provided to ABC. "She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her -- and to the millions who watched her onscreen."