Category: Latin America

MIL-OSI Security: Honduran National Pleads Guilty To Illegally Possessing A Firearm While Intoxicated During A Domestic Incident

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Tampa, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Walner Josue Alvarado-Sabonje (27, Honduras) today pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. Alvarado faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court records, Alvarado illegally entered the United States near Hidalgo, Texas in April 2019, and is subject to a final order of removal. On June 16, 2024, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to multiple callers who reported hearing gunshots from the back of Alvarado’s home. The deputies received permission to search the backyard and found nine 9mm shell casings in the backyard.

In the afternoon of September 22, 2024, sheriff’s deputies responded to a call from Alvarado’s wife, who told the dispatcher that Alvarado was intoxicated on the front porch of their home and acting recklessly with a gun. Deputies arrived approximately five minutes later, but Alvarado had left the home. A red Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle registered to Alvarado was no longer parked at the house, so deputies determined that he had driven it elsewhere.

Minutes later, a deputy located Alvarado alone in the driver’s seat of his SUV parked at a 7-Eleven approximately one mile away from Alvarado’s home. Alvarado had two open beer cans in the center console and smelled like alcohol. After arresting Alvarado for driving under the influence of alcohol, the deputies found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol in the center console. The pistol and ammunition are traceable to the offense and subject to forfeiture.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam W. McCall.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2024 Article IV Consultation with Nicaragua

Source: International Monetary Fund

February 7, 2025

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation[1] with Nicaragua.

Nicaragua’s economic performance remains robust, underpinned by prudent macroeconomic policies and very strong remittance flows. The economy continues to be open and resilient, on a backdrop of transfers of private property to the state, international sanctions, and a reorientation of official financing. Real GDP growth accelerated to around 4½ percent in 2023 and the first half of 2024, from about 3.8 percent in 2022, on the back of robust domestic demand, while inflation declined. Twin fiscal and external account surpluses are leading to a decline in the public debt-to-GDP ratio and the accumulation of strong buffers.

Real GDP growth is projected to moderate to 4 percent in the near term and to 3.5 percent in the medium-term, amid a slower pace of remittances growth, limited labor contribution to growth due to recent emigration, and cautious private sector investment decisions. International reserves are expected to grow at a slower pace than in the recent period, with narrowing of fiscal and current account surpluses as the authorities’ increase public investment.

Risks to the outlook are broadly balanced in the short-term and to the downside in the medium term. Upside risks include stronger domestic demand, while downside risks include lower global growth, a deterioration in the terms of trade, natural disasters, stricter and wider international sanctions, and a change in immigration policies in the U.S. In addition, going forward, domestic and international political developments, and deterioration of the rule of law may also impact economic performance by potentially increasing the cost of doing business.

Executive Board Assessment[2]

Executive Directors agreed with the thrust of the staff appraisal. They welcomed Nicaragua’s robust growth, declining inflation and public debt, and fiscal sector and current account surpluses, supported by prudent macroeconomic policies and high remittances. While noting the positive outlook, Directors stressed that risks are to the downside, including from natural disasters, international sanctions, and U.S. immigration policies. They underscored the importance of continued efforts to safeguard macroeconomic stability, strengthen buffers, and support higher and more inclusive growth.

Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to preserving fiscal sustainability, while supporting growth. Efforts to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization, enhance spending efficiency, and support higher capital and social spending are important. Noting the limited availability of concessional financing, Directors highlighted the importance of prudent debt management to safeguard debt sustainability. They underscored the need to mitigate fiscal risks by strengthening fiscal transparency, enhancing oversight of state owned enterprises, and reforming the pension system.

Directors agreed that monetary policy should remain focused on supporting price stability and the exchange rate regime and highlighted the criticality of policy coordination. They recommended that the Central Bank of Nicaragua adjust monetary and exchange rate policies, as needed, enhance communication, and strengthen monetary policy transmission. Directors encouraged steadfast implementation of the 2021 safeguard assessment recommendations.

Directors welcomed the commitment to maintaining financial stability. Noting the vulnerabilities, they encouraged proactive provisioning of distressed assets, close monitoring of consumer credit growth, enhanced foreign exchange risk monitoring, and aligning the crisis preparedness framework with international best practice. Measures to increase financial inclusion and deepening, including developing local bond and capital markets, would support medium term growth.

Directors stressed the need for efforts to promote higher medium term growth and enhance climate resilience. Important measures include increasing human capital investment, targeted social spending, and promoting labor force participation, particularly for women. Directors also called for efforts to enhance the business climate and strengthen government institutions and frameworks to support increased private investment.

Directors noted the steps taken to enhance governance, anti corruption, and AML/CFT frameworks, and emphasized that further efforts are needed to ensure their effective and appropriate application. They stressed the need to significantly improve the rule of law and safeguard judicial independence. Publishing asset declarations of politically exposed persons and supporting property rights are important. Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to enhancing the quality and consistency of statistics.

It is expected that the next Article IV consultation with Nicaragua will be held on the standard 12 month cycle.

Table 1. Nicaragua: Selected Social and Economic Indicators, 2023-25

I. Social and Demographic Indicators
GDP per capita (current US$, 2023)	2,606	Income share held by the richest 10 percent (2014)		37.2
GNI per capita (Atlas method, current US$, 2023)	2,270	Unemployment (percent of labor force, 2023)		3.4
GINI Index (2014)	46.2	Poverty rate ($3.65/day line, 2017 PPP, percent, World Bank, 2023)		12.5
Population (millions, 2023)	6.8	Adult literacy rate (percent, 2015)		82.6
Life expectancy at birth in years (2022)	74.6	Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births, 2022)		14.0
II. Economic Indicators
	2023		2024	2025
			Projections
Output	(Annual percentage change; unless otherwise specified)
GDP growth	4.6		4.0	4.0
GDP (nominal, US$ million)	17,843		19,204	20,771
Prices
Consumer price inflation (period average)	8.4		4.0	4.0
	(Percent of GDP)
Gross domestic investment	23.0		25.0	26.5
Private sector	15.1		15.8	15.5
Public sector	7.9		9.2	11.0
Gross national savings	30.8		31.8	32.9
Private sector	21.5		22.5	22.9
Public sector	9.3		9.3	10.0
Exchange rate
Period average (Córdobas per US$)	36.4		36.6	…

Fiscal sector	(Percent of GDP)
Consolidated public sector balance^1/	2.8		1.8	1.1
Revenue (including grants)	32.9		33.2	33.1
Expenditure	30.1		31.4	32.0
of which: Central Government overall balance^2/	2.6		2.1	1.3
Revenue	21.7		21.6	21.6
Expenditure	19.1		19.5	20.3
Cash payments for operating activities	14.6		14.5	13.8
Net cash outflow: investments in NFAs	4.5		5.0	6.5
Money and financial	(Annual percentage change)
Broad money	11.9		12.2	11.2
Credit to the private sector	18.1		18.3	11.2
Net domestic assets of the banking system	-8.0		5.8	1.3
Non-performing loans to total loans (ratio)^3/	1.2		1.7	…
Regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets (ratio)^3/	19.1		19.2	…
External sector	(Percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)
Current account	7.7		6.7	6.4
Remittances	26.1		27.2	26.1
Capital and financial account	4.1		2.5	3.0
Gross international reserves (US$ million)^4/	5,190		5,907	6,729
In months of imports excl. maquila	7.0		7.4	7.7
Net international reserves (US$ million)^5/	4,249		4,979	5,724
In months of imports excl. maquila	5.7		6.3	6.7
Non-financial public sector debt^6/	49.6		46.9	44.9
Domestic public debt	10.3		8.0	6-9
External public debt	39.3		38.9	38.0
Private sector external debt	31.0		28.6	26.2
Sources: National authorities; World Bank; and IMF staff calculations.
1/ The consolidated public sector comprises the central government, the municipality of Managua, the state-owned enterprises, social security system (INSS) and the central bank.
2/ Include transfers to cover the INSS deficit for 2023-25, 0.5 percent of GDP per year, and payment for historical debt (0.7 percent of GDP in 2023).
3/ 2024 data is as of September 2024.
4/ Excludes resources from the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Financial Institutions (FOGADE).
5/ Excludes FOGADE and reserve requirements for FX deposits.
6/ Assumes that HIPC-equivalent terms were applied to the outstanding debt to non-Paris Club bilaterals. Does not include SDR allocation.

[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

[2] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Brian Walker

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

MIL OSI Economics –

February 8, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta in New Court Filing: Trump Administration Not Complying with Court Order to Unfreeze Certain Federal Funding
Source: US State of California

In light of evidence of Trump Administration continuing to block state funding under the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act, states file motion to enforce existing court order

Preliminary injunction motion highlights the significant threats posed by the Trump Administration’s funding freeze, affecting access to food, healthcare, and crucial services that states provide

More than $100 billion in Medicaid funding, tens of billions in infrastructure and climate funding, among the funding at risk in just California

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today led a coalition of 23 attorneys general in filing a motion to enforce and a motion for preliminary injunction in NY v. Trump, the ongoing lawsuit challenging actions by President Trump, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and federal agencies attempting to pause nearly $3 trillion in federal assistance funding allocated to the states that support critical programs and services that benefit the American people. The coalition today seeks to preliminarily enjoin the Trump Administration’s actions to impose a funding freeze, emphasizing the widespread and irreparable harm to states, which rely on billions of dollars of critical federal assistance for public services that ensure access to education, clean air and water, and health care and that support essential infrastructure projects.

The motion further highlights the harm states face if funds under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) are not allocated as required by statute. IRA and IIJA funding strengthens domestic energy security, reduces energy costs, diversifies our domestic energy resources, rebuilds our domestic manufacturing economy, bolsters and modernizes critical infrastructure, and creates well-paying jobs while simultaneously reducing harmful pollution. Citing evidence of ongoing disruptions impacting disbursements to states, and federal funds that remain blocked under the IRA and IIJA despite the court’s Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), which remains in place, the coalition also seeks to enforce the TRO to require the Trump Administration to disperse these funds.

“Let’s be crystal clear: the power of the purse belongs to Congress, not the President,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The Trump Administration’s dangerous and unconstitutional actions have created chaos and confusion across this country, and caused significant harm to states across the country and the millions of Americans who rely on federal funding, from children to the elderly. In yet another unlawful move, we have evidence that despite the Temporary Restraining Order we secured, the Trump Administration has continued to block funds needed for our domestic energy security, transportation, and infrastructure provided under the IRA and IIJA. We’re asking the court to enforce its order and ensure that the Trump Administration reinstates access to this critical funding. No one is above the law, and at the California Department of Justice, we will not waver in our commitment to uphold the law and ensure that necessary funding for critical programs and services in states across our country can continue.”

In just this fiscal year, California is expected to receive $168 billion in federal funds – 34% of the state’s budget – not including funding for the state’s public college and university system. This includes $107.5 billion in funding for California’s Medicaid programs, which serve approximately 14.5 million Californians, including 5 million children and 2.3 million seniors and people with disabilities. Additionally, over 9,000 full-time equivalent state employee positions are federally funded. As detailed in the preliminary injunction motion, without access to federal financial assistance, many states could face immediate cash shortfalls, making it difficult to administer basic programs like funding for healthcare and food for children and to address their most pressing needs.

Additionally, as of January 2025, California has been awarded $63 billion from the IIJA and nearly $5 billion from the IRA, not including funds going to California cities, air and water districts, or other political subdivisions. Due to ongoing disruptions impacting disbursements to states despite the court’s TRO, efforts that bolster clean energy investments, transportation, and infrastructure have been put at risk, including:
- The Home Electrification and Appliances Rebates Program, for which the IRA appropriates $4.5 billion to the Department of Energy. The rebate program, administered by state energy offices under final federal grants, subsidizes low- and moderate-income households’ purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters, electric heat pump space heating and cooling systems, and other home electrification projects. Thousands of California homeowners have signed up for these programs, received approvals, and even started installation in reliance on these rebates, and are stuck paying their contractors an extra $8,000 if our state energy offices cannot draw down funds. As of February 5, that remained the case: the home rebate grants were being held “for agency review.”
- The Solar for All program, administered by EPA and funded by the IRA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, awarded $7 billion to 60 grantees to install rooftop and community solar energy projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities. These awards—all subject to final grant agreements—support the construction of cheap, resilient power in underserved neighborhoods, and provide particular protection to communities in which wildfire risk regularly causes utilities to de-energize transmission lines. As of February 5, numerous states in the coalition were unable to access their Solar For All grant accounts.
- The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, administered by EPA and funded by a $5 billion IRA appropriation, supports states, tribes, and local governments in planning and implementing greenhouse-gas reduction measures. For example, the regional air district covering Los Angeles received a $500 million award, subject to a final grant agreement, to clean up the highly polluting goods movement corridor between the Imperial Valley’s logistics hubs and warehouses to the Port of Los Angeles. As of February 5, this grant and other Climate Pollution Reduction Grants remained inaccessible.
- The national air monitoring network and research program under Clean Air Act sections 103 to 105, which has been administered by EPA for the last sixty years to protect communities from dangerous pollution. The IRA appropriated $117.5 million to fund air monitoring grants under this program to increase states’ abilities to detect dangerous pollution like particulate matter (soot) and air toxics, especially in disadvantaged communities. These pollutants create a particular public health emergency in areas recovering from wildfires. As of February 5, air monitoring grants remained inaccessible.
Amid evidence that the Trump Administration has continued to block these critical funds, in violation of the court’s order, the attorneys general filed a motion to enforce to ensure that the funds are swiftly dispersed so that states can put them to use to protect for the health and well-being of their residents.

Attorney General Bonta, along with the attorneys general of New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Illinois, led the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the motions.

The motion to enforce and motion for a preliminary injunction is available here.

MIL OSI USA News –
February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Luján, Colleagues Launch Probe Into DOGE’s Interference with Department of Education, Access to Federal Student Loan Data

US Senate News:

Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján

Musk’s Team May Have Obtained Access to Personal Information of Millions of Borrowers; Raises Concerns About Violations of the Law, Failure to Protect Sensitive Information

“The millions of families who rely on the Department of Education to help them achieve the American Dream deserve answers about reports that an unelected billionaire and his team now have access to some of their most sensitive personal information.”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined U.S Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and a group of their colleagues in sending a letter to Acting Secretary of the Department of Education, Denise Carter, launching a probe into recent reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has infiltrated the Department of Education (ED) and that “DOGE staffers have gained access to federal student loan data, which includes personal information for millions of borrowers.”

There are over 40 million federal student loan borrowers in the United States. ED’s student loan database contains millions of borrowers’ highly sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, marital status, and income data.

“This deeply troubling report raises questions about potential exposures of Americans’ private data, the abuse of this data by the Trump Administration, and whether officials who have access to the data may have violated the law or the federal government’s procedures for handling sensitive information,” wrote the senators.

According to public reporting, “a handful of 19-to-24-year-old engineers linked to Musk’s companies, with unclear titles, could be bypassing regular security protocols” during DOGE’s infiltration of federal agencies. The senators also raised concerns that the access provided to DOGE-affiliated staff by the Department may violate the Privacy Act, which generally prohibits the disclosure of such information.

“We are especially troubled by this reporting given President Trump’s stated pledge to abolish the Department,” concluded the lawmakers. “The millions of families who rely on ED to help them achieve the American Dream deserve answers about reports that an unelected billionaire and his team now have access to some of their most sensitive personal information.”

Additional reporting suggests that DOGE has “fed sensitive data from across the Education Department into artificial intelligence software to probe the agency’s programs and spending.” The 16 senators requested answers from Acting Secretary Carter about DOGE’s access to federal student loan data and any other sensitive databases by February 13, 2025.

In addition to Luján, Warren, and Schumer, the letter was joined by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The full text of the letter is available here.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Heinrich, Luján Demand VA Secretary Collins Step Up and Defend Veterans’ Private Information from Elon Musk

US Senate News:

Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined 25 Senate Democrats to urge Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins to immediately secure veterans’ personal information provided by the VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). This call follows Musk’s takeover of the U.S. Treasury’s payment system, which includes private information of veterans and their families, and reports of DOGE employees accessing VA computer systems at the Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In a letter, the senators demanded that VA Secretary Collins deny and sever Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or other government system with information about veterans, and to delete any veterans’ information in their possession.

“Among many tasks, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is entrusted with safeguarding the private and sensitive information of millions of veterans…Veterans risked their lives to defend our country, and they deserve better than to have an unelected billionaire reviewing their medical records, targeting the benefits they have earned, or using their private information for personal gain,” the senators wrote.

“Our nation’s veterans have entrusted their health records, including genetic samples, disability data, bank information, and other private information, to the VA. The Department also stores sensitive veteran casework, files of whistleblowers who have come forward with concerns about waste, fraud, and abuse, and sensitive investigative files with veteran and federal employee information,” the senators continued.

“Meanwhile, the President has given unfettered access to federal databases and systems to Mr. Musk, an unelected citizen, and a team of colleagues with no formal documented employment agreement with the U.S. government. It is a group of private citizens with no experience in the federal government, who lack proper approval from legal and agency authorities, lack the appropriate security clearances, and lack the requisite background investigations or ethical conflict requirements. We are outraged these unelected, unvetted, and unaccountable individuals now have access to sensitive information that has been heavily secured for decades and by administrations of both parties,” the senators stated.

There are millions of veterans’ medical records stored in VA’s computer systems. These confidential records include veterans’ prescriptions, diagnoses, and procedures they have undergone. Access to these medical records could give Musk and DOGE the ability to identify veterans who have received abortions or abortion counseling in the past. The Million Veteran Program, which manages the genomic data of its more than one million veteran participants for authorized research programs, also stores its data in VA data systems. In addition, the U.S. Treasury’s payment system stores private information of veterans, surviving spouses, and their families, including their monthly disability compensation amount, home address, and bank account numbers.

“During your confirmation process, you claimed you would be focused on rooting out corruption and ensuring accountability at the VA, and committed to following the laws passed by Congress. We now call on you to respond quickly and comprehensively to these privacy violations by revoking DOGE’s access to VA systems and insisting they permanently remove all VA data collected from their files,” the senators concluded.

The letter was led by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Alongside Heinrich and Luján, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.).

The full text of the letter is here and below.

Dear Secretary Collins,

Among many tasks, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is entrusted with safeguarding the private and sensitive information of millions of veterans. Today, we call on you to immediately secure any personal and related information regarding veterans provided by VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and associates under the auspices of the “Department of Government Efficiency” established under Executive Order 14158. Further, we call on you to deny and sever their access to any VA or other government system that includes information about veterans, and to require them to immediately and permanently delete any information in their possession. Veterans risked their lives to defend our country, and they deserve better than to have an unelected billionaire reviewing their medical records, targeting the benefits they have earned, or using their private information for personal gain.

Our nation’s veterans have entrusted their health records, including genetic samples, disability data, bank information, and other private information, to VA. The Department also stores sensitive veteran casework, files of whistleblowers who have come forward with concerns about waste, fraud, and abuse, and sensitive investigative files with veteran and federal employee information. Veterans and VA employees entrusted the Department with this information with the understanding that it would be kept private and only used to help deliver the highest quality of services to veterans, their families, and survivors.

Meanwhile, the President has given unfettered access to federal databases and systems to Mr. Musk, an unelected citizen, and a team of colleagues with no formal documented employment agreement with the U.S. government. It is a group of private citizens with no experience in the federal government, who lack proper approval from legal and agency authorities, lack the appropriate security clearances, and lack the requisite background investigations or ethical conflict requirements. We are outraged these unelected, unvetted, and unaccountable individuals now have access to sensitive information that has been heavily secured for decades and by Administrations of both parties.

These actions are in direct violation of federal laws meant to protect our national security and the privacy of our citizens’ personal information. This includes information on Social Security payments, Medicare, Medicaid, student loans, veterans’ disability compensation payments, GI Bill payments, federal civil servants’ personnel records, and much more. With every hour, we see DOGE further expand its efforts to create a massive private database of previously guarded data outside the federal government’s cyber and legal protections. It is an abhorrent and illegal overreach of executive powers, which conflicts with various federal statutes, including the Federal Information Security Modernization Act, the Privacy Act, the E-Government Act of 2002, and likely several other cyber and national security laws.

During your confirmation process, you claimed you would be focused on rooting out corruption and ensuring accountability at VA, and committed to following the laws passed by Congress. We now call on you to respond quickly and comprehensively to these privacy violations by revoking DOGE’s access to VA systems and insisting they permanently remove all VA data collected from their files.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Heinrich, Luján, Colleagues Call on Trump Administration to End Harmful Freeze on Health Communications and Funding

US Senate News:

Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján

Senators emphasize the damage Trump’s freeze on funding has already inflicted on patient care and public health oversight

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined 34 Senate Democrats to call on Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Dorothy Fink to end the unprecedented freeze on all external communications and funding at HHS.

This freeze has disrupted clinical trials and prevented HHS operating divisions, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from communicating with patient groups and scientific advisory committees without a plan for restoration. The directive prohibits agencies from issuing vital public health advisories, publishing scientific reports, updating websites, announcing regulatory decisions, and distributing federal grants. CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), considered the nation’s premier publication for disseminating public health updates, is delayed for the first time in over 60 years. This political interference is a threat to public health.

“We write to express our deep concern over the administration’s recent decision to freeze external communications and suspend federal health funding at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),” wrote the senators. “The abrupt order has already disrupted patient care, public health oversight, halted medical research funding, and obstructed critical regulatory processes.”

“This political interference in public health agencies is unprecedented and unacceptable. … The American people depend on HHS agencies to provide accurate, real-time information about disease outbreaks, medical research, and regulatory decisions. We urge you to immediately reverse this harmful decision,” the senators continued.

The letter was led by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Alongside Heinrich and Luján, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass,), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Acting Secretary Fink:

We write to express our deep concern over the Administration’s recent decision to freeze external communications and suspend federal health funding at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The abrupt order has already disrupted patient care, public health oversight, halted medical research funding, and obstructed critical regulatory processes.

On January 22, all 13 HHS operating divisions – including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were told to immediately “pause” all external communications and grant disbursements until at least February 1, with no clear plan for restoration. This directive prohibits agencies from issuing public health advisories, publishing scientific reports, updating websites, announcing regulatory decisions, or conducting outreach to patient groups – unless such activity is explicitly approved by politically appointed leadership.

With the Administration’s own deadline having passed, it remains unclear when these restrictions will be lifted. While limited exceptions exist for critical health, safety, or national security concerns, the freeze has already severely impeded essential public health and biomedical research functions.

The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the nation’s premier publication for disseminating public health updates, was abruptly delayed for the first time in over 60 years, limiting reporting on the H5N1 bird flu outbreak and other emerging infectious disease threats. The MMWR often includes clinical recommendations for doctors, such as guidance on how to treat diseases that are currently circulating in the United States – and delaying the MMWR means that doctors may not have all the latest information they need to keep their patients healthy.

At the NIH, new clinical trials have been delayed and external peer-review grant processes have faced disruptions. NIH study sections – which legally must review grant applications before funding can be disbursed – were initially canceled, creating uncertainty about when federal research funds will be awarded. Despite efforts by the Administration to provide clarity, it remains unclear whether the full peer-review process has resumed and how long grant funding decisions will continue to be delayed. This uncertainty has placed billions in federal research funds in limbo, directly threatening ongoing medical studies and academic research programs.

The freeze has also blocked NIH from engaging with patient groups on ways to recruit participants into ongoing clinical trials. This means that patients with rare diseases, cancer, and other serious conditions who rely on clinical trials for treatments may be prevented from enrolling, directly jeopardizing their access to life-saving care.

This political interference in public health agencies is unprecedented and unacceptable. While it is not unusual for a new administration to conduct brief reviews of existing programs, no past transition has implemented a blanket freeze of this magnitude.

Accordingly, we request an immediate and detailed response to the following questions by Monday, February 10:

Provide a full accounting of all scientific reports, disease surveillance updates, grant decisions, public health advisories, events, calls, research reviews, reports, issue briefs, inspections, surveys, and postings that have been postponed or cancelled since noon on January 20.

Which of the postponed or cancelled items will be rescheduled or published, and by what date?

Has the pause affected communications between HHS and other federal Departments or state agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture. If so, in what capacity?

Can you confirm that all external communications, including those listed above in your answer to the first question, have already resumed or will resume by February 10? If not, please provide a detailed explanation for any continued delay.

Has the communications and funding freeze affected the department’s ability to respond promptly to public health threats and ongoing outbreaks? If so, in what ways?

Given that we are at the height of virus season, how has this pause affected the department’s ability to fulfill its core mission of protecting public health?

The American people depend on HHS agencies to provide accurate, real-time information about disease outbreaks, medical research, and regulatory decisions. We urge you to immediately reverse this harmful decision.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this request. We look forward to your response and to working with the Department to protect public health and ensure Americans can get the care they need.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Global forum suggests fresh ideas for 21st century UN peacekeeping

Source: United Nations 4

7 February 2025 Peace and Security

UN peacekeeping must be fit for purpose as the nature of conflict evolves in the 21st century along with new weapons technology, more than 60 nations heard this week at a global forum on the future of peace operations, taking place in Indonesia.

“Our thinking should be grounded by the fact that we have more conflicts today than at any time since World War Two and by the evolving nature of conflict,” said Catherine Pollard, UN Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, in her opening remarks to the two-day meeting held 4 and 5 February.

“We are seeing an increase in conflicts within and between States,” she warned. “The drivers of these conflicts are not limited by borders. Transnational organized crime, the exploitation of natural resources, non-State armed groups and terrorism overlap in many of these contexts.

“Technology is helping to solve and exacerbate conflict, including through misinformation and disinformation.”

UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti

An unmanned aerial vehicle or drone is prepared for flight in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (file)

‘Blue Helmets’ need 21st century tools

Delegates offered up some recommendations to give UN peacekeepers better tools they need to face multiple challenges.

These include the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by peacekeepers for situational awareness and self-defence, streamlined decision-making mechanisms, more informal briefings to the Security Council and strengthened training in urban warfare.

In preparation for a ministerial meeting on UN peacekeeping in Germany in May, civilian, military and police experts came together at the Peacekeeping Training Centre of the Indonesian Armed Forces to help deliver on the vision of the UN Secretary-General to make peacekeeping “fit for the needs of the 21st century”.

Today’s challenges require adapting the UN’s approach to peacekeeping and the way peacekeeping operations are put in place, panelists said.

Defensive drones

Such adaptation includes authorizing the use of new technologies some of which are already used by adversaries, such as UAVs that carry weapons.

Colonel Ismael Andrés, Deputy Director of Uruguay’s National System of Peacekeeping Operations, recalled that major UN missions operating today were initially authorised to only use UAVs for surveillance and intelligence gathering. That must change, her argued.

“We need to get Security Council authorisation for the use of drones for self-defence as well,” he added, emphasising new threats to peacekeeping linked to UAVs.

Shamala Kandiah Thompson, executive director of Security Council Report, an independent think tank, said regular briefings to the Security Council on the challenges faced by operational missions and the availability of peacekeeping models – a sort of menu of options to fit different situations – could speed up decision making and make peacekeeping more effective.

“There are undoubtedly geopolitical tensions that influence decision making in the Security Council, but more informal briefings and engagement could help the Council response better to realities on the ground,” she said.

Cost-effective solutions

The UN’s peacekeeping missions combine unique capabilities and capacities honed through decades of lessons learned from UN operations around the globe.

Over their long history, UN peacekeeping missions have created space for political dialogue between parties to a conflict, facilitated and acted as guarantors of peace agreements, fostered regional stability by containing the spread of violence, protected civilians, built sustainable institutions of rule of law and worked with host countries to help rebuild governance structures.

“Many studies have shown that UN peacekeeping is a very cost-effective tool to stop armed conflicts and maintain peace, particularly when complex, multidimensional missions are involved,” said El-Ghassim Wane, lead author of a study on the future of peacekeeping, commissioned by the UN Department of Peace Operations.

“As a case in point, see what happened in countries like Haiti and Sudan after the pull out of UN peacekeeping forces.”

Sharing ideas and adapting new models

The global forum, co-hosted by the governments of Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States, aimed to bring together Member States and other stakeholders in advance of the ministerial meeting in Germany to share ideas and propose courses of action for adapting new models, structures, processes and responsibilities.

The gathering also aimed to identify resources and Member State capabilities to ensure that UN peacekeeping can respond to evolving multidimensional challenges and remain fit for purpose.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: IMF Executive Board Holds Informal Briefing on Venezuela

Source: International Monetary Fund

February 7, 2025

Washington, DC: In line with the standard procedures for members whose Article IV consultations with the IMF are extensively delayed, on February 7, 2025, the Executive Board was briefed by staff on recent economic developments in Venezuela. Informal sessions to brief the Executive Board based on publicly available information are routinely held, approximately every 12 months, for members whose Article IV consultations are delayed by more than 18 months. The Article IV consultation with Venezuela is delayed by 217 months as of January 31, 2025.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Julie Ziegler

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

MIL OSI Economics –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI NGOs: El Salvador: Ratification of the constitutional reform deepens the risk of human rights abuses

Source: Amnesty International –

The consolidation in El Salvador of a form of executive power without checks and balances is advancing rapidly. Ratification of the amendment of Article 248 of the country’s Constitution on 29 January 2025 constitutes a serious threat to the protection of human rights by drastically reducing space for debate and civic engagement in decisions of fundamental importance for the country. In this regard, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, stated:

“Ratification of this constitutional reform poses a worrying risk of further erosion of human rights in El Salvador. By removing the requirement for constitutional amendments to be approved by two separate legislative assemblies, the ruling party guarantees a fast-track path to constitutional change without due deliberation processes or public participation. In a context where the independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial have been systematically eroded, this measure could pave the way for the implementation of reforms that further undermine the human rights of the population.”

“Ratification of this constitutional reform poses a worrying risk of further erosion of human rights in El Salvador. (…) In a context where the independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial have been systematically eroded, this measure could pave the way for the implementation of reforms that further undermine the human rights of the population”

-Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International

From May 2021, with its absolute control over the legislative branch of government, the ruling party has pushed through legal reforms that have weakened access to justice, removed accountability mechanisms and suspended human rights for over 1000 days, such as the right to a fair trial and other guarantees of due process, under a state of emergency that included disproportionate measures and a series of criminal reforms that have resulted in the arbitrary detention of more than 84 000 persons.

The removal of the requirement of two legislatures to reform the Constitution excludes the population from key processes in the formulation of the country’s legal framework and other measures that affect them. This amendment opens the way for future reforms that could continue to violate human rights and facilitates structural changes that could perpetuate impunity.

“Constitutional reform must be based on broad consensus and guarantee control mechanisms that allow the people to exercise their right to meaningful participation in public affairs. This reform creates the conditions for future amendments to respond only to the interests of those in power, without a rigorous and broad debate and without any consideration for the rights of the population,” added Piquer.

“Constitutional reform must be based on broad consensus and guarantee control mechanisms that allow the people to exercise their right to meaningful participation in public affairs. This reform creates the conditions for future amendments to respond only to the interests of those in power, without a rigorous and broad debate and without any consideration for the rights of the population”

-Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International

In view of this scenario, it is crucial that the international community continues to monitor the situation in El Salvador and demands that the Salvadoran state refrain from taking any measures that could jeopardize the human rights of the population or undermine the institutions that are responsible for guaranteeing and protecting these rights.

See also: El Salvador: Constitution “à la carte” could deepen human rights crisis in coming years.

MIL OSI NGO –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Latest news – D-BR Delegation meeting of 6 February 2025 – Delegation for relations with the Federative Republic of Brazil
Source: European Parliament

The next meeting of the Delegation for relations with the Federative Republic of Brazil (D-BR) took place:

Thursday 6 February 2025, 15.00-17.00, Room SPAAK 4B1

The main points of the agenda were:
- Exchange of views on artificial intelligence regulations and digital diplomacy in the European Union and in Brazil;
- Exchange of views on the situation of the bilateral relations between the European Union and Brazil;
MIL OSI Europe News –
February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: High Commissioner for Human Rights: Civilians in the East Democratic Republic of the Congo are Trapped in a Spiral of Violence in this Crushing Conflict

Source: United Nations – Geneva

Human Rights Council Opens Special Session on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its thirty-seventh special session on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said since the beginning of the year, the M23 armed group, supported by the Rwanda Defence Forces, had intensified its offensive in the provinces of North and South Kivu. If nothing was done, the worst may be yet to come for the people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also beyond the country’s borders. Once again, civilians were trapped in a spiral of violence in this crushing conflict. Since 26 January, nearly 3,000 people had lost their lives and 2,880 had been wounded. Sexual violence had been an appalling feature of this conflict for a long time and was likely to worsen in the current circumstances.  The fighting had exacerbated a chronic humanitarian crisis, which was the upshot of persistent human rights violations.

Mr. Türk called on all parties to lay down their weapons and resume dialogue within the framework of the Luanda and Nairobi processes. In the meantime, all parties to the conflict must respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The M23, Rwandan forces and all those supporting them must facilitate access to humanitarian aid.  Air, land and lake routes must be reopened to establish humanitarian corridors and guarantee the safety of humanitarian actors. In these circumstances, it was crucial to establish the facts and bring the perpetrators to justice. An independent and impartial investigation must be opened up into human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law, committed by all parties

Surya Deva, Chair of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures, said the intensification of hostilities, particularly in North Kivu, following the renewed offensive by the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group, had led to widespread violence, forced displacement and serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The scale and severity of the violence had reached unprecedented levels. The humanitarian consequences were devastating. Mr. Deva called for all parties to the conflict to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law; for the immediate cessation of attacks against civilians; for the protection of civilian infrastructure; and for unimpeded access for humanitarian actors to deliver assistance to those in need.

Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chief of the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), said this conflict had continued for 30 years, and the population continued to live in fear. The attacks and pillaging against the United Nations and the Blue Helmets were condemned. It was urgent to restore peace and allow for a lasting rebuilding of the region. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda must pursue diplomatic negotiations, particularly in the context of the Luanda process. Unless compelling measures were taken to cease the escalation of violence, there would be grave consequences. Ms. Keita hoped the session would pave the way to an end to the conflict and inclusive and sustainable development.

Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Minister of Communication and Media of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking as a country concerned, expressed deep gratitude to the Human Rights Council for holding the Special Session, a response to the urgent situation and massive human rights violations and attacks on civilians in North and South Kivu. Acts of unacceptable brutality compounded by unspeakable brutalities, like attacks against civilians, forced displacement, murders, rape, forced conscription of children and others were the responsibility of Rwanda as it supported its proxies. Peacekeeping forces, as well as humanitarian facilities, had been targeted, undermining their ability to protect civilians. The Democratic Republic of the Congo called for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to investigate the human rights violations in the country, establish the truth as to who was responsible, and issue recommendations for holding them to account.

James Ngango, Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations Office at Geneva, speaking as a country concerned, said the current session was called for at a time when the situation was evolving rapidly. A chance should be given to regional initiatives to bear fruit before taking up the situation in the United Nations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had unilaterally decided to expel the East African Community Force, a peacekeeping force, replacing it with the Southern African Development Community Mission with an offensive mandate. The current situation was due to imposing a military solution to a political problem. Rwanda opposed the attempts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at portraying Rwanda as being responsible for the instability in that country, as this was a well-known deflection tactic used to escape being accountable for the atrocities Kinshasa and its allied armed forces were perpetrating against its own citizens. Rwanda would respond appropriately to the actions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Speaking in the discussion, some speakers said they were deeply concerned about the escalating violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and urged the M23 to stop its advance and withdraw immediately. Alarm was expressed about reports of widespread violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law by multiple actors, including sexual and gender-based violence, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and extrajudicial executions. Innocent civilians, including women and children, were enduring extreme suffering due to widespread violence, displacement, and deprivation of essential services such as food, water, and healthcare. Many speakers spoke in support of the establishment of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law.

Speaking in the discussion were Sweden on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries, European Union, Morocco, Kenya, France, North Macedonia, Spain, Ghana, Germany, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Belgium, Costa Rica, Burundi, Japan, Brazil, Republic of Korea, China, Ethiopia, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Algeria, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Malawi, Bolivia, Colombia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Ireland, Russian Federation, Republic of Moldova, United Kingdom, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Italy, Holy See, Austria, Ukraine, Cameroon, Uruguay, Uganda, Canada, Australia, Paraguay, Türkiye, Guatemala, Zambia, Pakistan, India, Mauritania, Angola, Malta, Peru, Zimbabwe, Timor-Leste, Slovenia, Tanzania, and South Sudan.

Also speaking were Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights Leagues, World Organization against Torture, Rencontre Africaine pour la defense des droits de l’homme, Interfaith International, Centre du Commerce International pour le Développement, Amnesty International, International Bar Association, International Federation of ACAT (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture), International Catholic Child Bureau, International Human Rights Council, and TRIAL International.

The session was called for by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was supported by 27 Member States of the Council and 21 Observer States.

The next meeting of the special session of the Human Rights Council will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, 7 February, when it will conclude the session after adopting a resolution on the situation of human rights in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Keynote Statements

VOLKER TÜRK, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said his Office had long been sounding the alarm about this crisis, and he was deeply disturbed to see the violence escalate once again. Since the beginning of the year, the M23 armed group, supported by the Rwanda Defence Forces, had intensified its offensive in the provinces of North and South Kivu. If nothing was done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also beyond the country’s borders. There had been attacks by the M23 and their allies, with heavy weapons used in populated areas, and intense fighting against the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and their allies. This raised serious concern in terms of respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.

Once again, civilians were trapped in a spiral of violence in this crushing conflict. Since 26 January, nearly 3,000 people had lost their lives and 2,880 had been wounded. Sexual violence had been an appalling feature of this conflict for a long time and was likely to worsen in the current circumstances. According to judicial authorities, during the prison break from Muzenze Prison in Goma on 27 January, at least 165 female prisoners were raped. Most of them were subsequently killed in a fire, the circumstances of which remain unclear. The High Commissioner said his team was also currently verifying multiple allegations of rape, gang rape and sexual slavery throughout the conflict zones. Hundreds of human rights defenders, journalists and members of civil society had reported that they had been threatened or were being pursued by the M23 and Rwandan forces.

Mr. Türk was also very concerned about the proliferation of weapons and the high risk of forced recruitment and conscription of children. The fighting had exacerbated a chronic humanitarian crisis, which was the upshot of persistent human rights violations. More than 500,000 people had been displaced since the beginning of January, in addition to the more than 6.4 million already displaced. The risk of violence escalating throughout the sub-region had never been higher. All those with influence over the parties involved, be they States or non-state actors, must step up their efforts to avert a conflagration and to support peace processes.

Mr. Türk called on all parties to lay down their weapons and resume dialogue within the framework of the Luanda and Nairobi processes. In the meantime, all parties to the conflict must respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The M23, Rwandan forces and all those supporting them must facilitate access to humanitarian aid. Air, land and lake routes must be reopened to establish humanitarian corridors and guarantee the safety of humanitarian actors.

In these circumstances, it was crucial to establish the facts and bring the perpetrators to justice. An independent and impartial investigation must be opened up into human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law, committed by all parties. The military path was not the answer to the roots of this conflict. States must ensure that any support, financial or otherwise, did not fuel serious human rights violations. All those with influence must act urgently to put an end to this tragic situation.

SURYA DEVA, Chair of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures, said the intensification of hostilities, particularly in North Kivu, following the renewed offensive by the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group, had led to widespread violence, forced displacement, and serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The scale and severity of the violence had reached unprecedented levels. The humanitarian consequences were devastating, as those displaced often found themselves with no access to shelter, water, sanitation, food, medical care or education. Women and children were particularly at risk, facing heightened exposure to gender-based violence and trafficking for purposes of sexual slavery. There was also concern for the devastating impact on children, who were at serious risk of all six grave violations against children in armed conflict.

Mr. Deva called for all parties to the conflict to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law; for the immediate cessation of attacks against civilians; for the protection of civilian infrastructure; and for unimpeded access for humanitarian actors to deliver assistance to those in need. All parties involved in the conflict should refrain from supporting or using mercenary-related actors, as they would prolong the conflict.

The international community had a moral and legal obligation to act decisively. Member States should increase humanitarian funding to ensure the continued provision of essential services and assistance to displaced populations. Coordinated diplomatic efforts must be intensified to support peace negotiations and to hold accountable those responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

The international community should step up efforts to support humanitarian operations, ensuring that adequate resources were allocated to assist displaced populations and those affected by violence. Women should be fully included in conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts. There must be independent investigations into all reported human rights violations, including attacks on civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, and other abuses perpetrated during the conflict.

BINTOU KEITA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chief of the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), said this conflict had continued for 30 years, and the population continued to live in fear. The attacks and pillaging against the United Nations and the Blue Helmets were condemned. Since the beginning of the year, an unprecedented advance of the M23 and the Rwandan forces had been seen, preceded by violent clashes between the two sides, injuring thousands, and with alarming mid- and long-term consequences. The risks of gender-based violence and violence against children were of great concern. Violations and abuse of human rights had increased, and the humanitarian situation declined. Agricultural and mining activities were paralysed.

Fighting impunity against the serious crimes committed could be impeded due to the damage done to the judicial forces in Goma. It was urgent to restore peace and allow for a lasting rebuilding of the region. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda must pursue diplomatic negotiations, particularly in the context of the Luanda process. Unless compelling measures were taken to cease the escalation of violence, there would be grave consequences.

The clashes in densely settled areas, including Goma, had had devastating consequences on the human population, with an increase in crime and violence. Civil society actors and human rights defenders were a major population at risk. The suspension of social networks was an infringement of the right to information. In a region with a sensitive history, ethnically motivated attacks remained a serious concern. The humanitarian situation in Goma was catastrophic. The international community must advocate for humanitarian access to Goma immediately. Ms. Keita hoped the session would pave the way to an end to the conflict and inclusive and sustainable development.

Statements by Countries Concerned

PATRICK MUYAYA KATEMBWE, Minister of Communication and Media of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking as a country concerned, expressed deep gratitude to the Human Rights Council for holding the special session, a response to the urgent situation and massive human rights violations and attacks on civilians in North and South Kivu, the result of attacks and offenses by the Rwandan Defence Forces and their M23 and AFC proxies. Indiscriminate attacks had deliberately targeted the vulnerable, a flagrant violation of international obligations. Areas of shelter had been turned into military targets, imperilling the lives of thousands of innocent people.

Acts of unacceptable brutality compounded by unspeakable brutalities, like attacks against civilians, forced displacement, murders, rape, forced conscription of children and others were the responsibility of Rwanda as it supported its proxies. Peacekeeping forces, as well as humanitarian facilities, had been targeted, undermining their ability to protect civilians. The Democratic Republic of the Congo called for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to investigate the human rights violations in the country, establish the truth as to who was responsible, and issue recommendations for holding them to account.

It was vital to strengthen early-warning mechanisms and prevent further escalations of violence. There must be immediate and unfettered humanitarian access to evacuate the injured and reduce the risk of the spread of epidemics. The Council must hold Rwanda accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was vital that international pressure be applied to Rwanda so that it ceased to support the armed groups and withdrew from Congolese territory.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo remained ready to work with all regional and international actors to put a stop to this crisis and an end to the suffering in the east of the country, calling on Rwanda to act responsibly and take immediate measures to cease supporting armed groups.

JAMES NGANGO, Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations Office at Geneva, speaking as a country concerned, said the current session was called for at a time when the situation was evolving rapidly. A chance should be given to regional initiatives to bear fruit before taking up the situation in the United Nations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had unilaterally decided to expel the East African Community Force, a peacekeeping force, replacing it with the Southern African Development Community Mission with an offensive mandate. The current situation was due to imposing a military solution to a political problem. This was due to the preservation of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda that had perpetrated genocide in Rwanda and then fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they continued to spread their genocidal ideology, and also to the marginalisation of the Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese communities, particularly Tutsi, by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There had been no condemnation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo leadership. There was no special session of the Human Rights Council when a Special Rapporteur had warned about war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo previously. Rwanda opposed the attempts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at portraying Rwanda as being responsible for the instability in that country, as this was a well-known deflection tactic used to escape being accountable for the atrocities Kinshasa and its allied armed forces were perpetrating against its own citizens. Rwanda would respond appropriately to the actions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Discussion

Some speakers said they were deeply concerned about the escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and urged the M23 to stop its advance and withdraw immediately. Rwanda must cease its support for the M23 and withdraw its armed forces. Rwanda’s military presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was strongly condemned as a clear violation of international law, the United Nations Charter, and the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Alarm was expressed about reports of wide-spread violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law by multiple actors, including sexual and gender-based violence, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and extrajudicial executions. Innocent civilians, including women and children, were enduring extreme suffering due to widespread violence, displacement, and deprivation of essential services such as food, water, and healthcare. Reports of explosive weapons used in populated areas and attacks on internally displaced person sites were particularly alarming.

Some speakers said all sides must prioritise the protection of civilians, ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and fully respect their obligations under international law, including human rights law and international humanitarian law. For decades, the area had witnessed instability and conflict, for a range of causes. Reports of grave human rights violations, including summary executions, demanded immediate attention. The attacks on peacekeepers constituted violations of international law. The Rwandan Government must respect the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which latter must cease cooperation with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

All parties must reopen negotiations, respect international law, and honour their commitments made under the Nairobi and Luanda process, committing fully to the peace process. All allegations of human rights violations and abuses must be investigated, and perpetrators held accountable for their crimes. An independent fact-finding mission must be established to investigate all accounts. Acts of violence targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure were condemned, and must come to an end.

The role of the Blue Helmets was essential, speakers said, and they must be protected, with several speakers expressing condolences to the families of those Blue Helmets who paid the ultimate price in defence of the fundamental rights of the Congolese people. The United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) must ensure the protection of civilians, and a speaker called for its mandate to be supported and renewed further. The international community must strengthen its support for peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance. A sustainable solution demanded coordinated efforts, including dialogue, reconciliation, and development initiatives that fostered stability and social cohesion.

A number of speakers said this was a critical juncture in the region, with a potential for over-spill in the region as a whole. Dialogue and cooperation must be encouraged and supported, including through the Luanda and Nairobi processes. The deliberations in the Council must not undermine these, and instead support a return to peace, with the discussions aimed at building consensus and agreement. Political fragmentation must be addressed in Rwanda, with an end put to public negative ethnic discourse, and the international community must work together to build a just and peaceful world. The Council must address the challenges under its mandate. Members of the Council must work to ensure that there was no further deterioration of the situation.

The M23 must immediately withdraw from the territories under its control, a speaker said, and there must be a return to the negotiating table: all efforts must be made to put an end to the humanitarian disaster. All those involved in the conflict must put an end to human rights violations and protect the rights and lives of civilians. The population was exhausted from the decades of suffering. Rwanda must withdraw its support for the M23, which must immediately cease its attacks and withdraw.

Some speakers said the sovereignty and territoriality of the Democratic Republic of the Congo must be protected and supported, and many speakers supported this, urging all sides to respect it and for the international community to support it. All armed groups must lay down their weapons and withdraw from the sovereign territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and respect the United Nations Charter, engage in dialogue, and work towards re-establishing peace and stability in the country. There was a risk of this igniting the Great Lakes region, a speaker said, supporting the peaceful coexistence of nations.

Many speakers spoke in support of the establishment of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law committed in North and South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as stipulated in the proposed resolution. The humanitarian community must rally support to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population, in particular women and children. The fact-finding mission must be fully funded and staffed appropriately, a speaker urged. Given the sheer scale of human suffering, the Council could not afford to turn a blind eye to the earnest appeal of the country concerned to ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes were held accountable.

Profound alarm was expressed with regard to the increasing risk of violence against women and girls and the recruitment of children into the conflict. It was imperative that those responsible for human rights violations and atrocities were brought to justice. There was no military solution to the crisis, and only a political, negotiated solution could bring an end to the situation. Those who put their economic interests above human dignity must cease to do so. Peace and security must be brought to the region.

At this critical juncture, all parties must exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and prioritise dialogue to prevent further loss of life, uphold international humanitarian law and human rights, ensure the protection of civilians, and safeguard fundamental freedoms. It was vital to ensure immediate and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population.

It was crucial that the Human Rights Council provided necessary support for thorough investigations into grave human rights violations and abuses, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice and ensuring comprehensive accountability. A sustained and inclusive dialogue was crucial to achieving a long-term and peaceful resolution to the crisis. Diplomatic negotiations were, a speaker said, the only way to resolve the situation. All parties must respect international humanitarian law, and must support the mediation efforts made both internationally and regionally. A political solution must be found that respected the independence and territoriality of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The need for the Council to make efforts to alleviate the sufferings of victims of human rights violations and abuses was crucial, and all parties involved must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. There must be an immediate end to hostilities and a permanent solution found through peaceful means and inclusive dialogue among all parties concerned, and speakers pointed out the need for “African solutions to African problems”, supporting the Luanda and Nairobi processes. African regional solutions were fully supported by several speakers, who spoke of the efforts of the Southern African Development Community Mission.

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

HRC25.002E

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall in USTR Nominee Hearing: How Can We Build on President Trump’s Trade Success?

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. participated in the nomination hearing for President Trump’s U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Nominee, Jamieson Greer, in the Senate Finance Committee this week.
Senator Marshall questioned Mr. Greer on President Trump’s history of tariffs and trade, and how he will properly utilize United States trade relations to prioritize American interests.
Jamieson Greer has a storied career dedicated to the military, trade, and international relations. He also served in Kansas as an officer in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps and was deployed to Iraq as Chief of Military Justice. He worked in private firms focusing on trade law and international trade. As Chief of Staff to the previous USTR, Robert Lighthizer, he has the experience and the record of playing a pivotal role in President Trump’s successful trade negotiations across the world.
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You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full line of questioning.
Highlights from Mr. Greer’s nomination hearing include:
On Joe Biden’s vs. President Trump’s history of fair, reciprocal trade agreements:
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D.: “…Under President Trump, he gave us [the United States-Mexico-Canada] Agreement. He gave us South Korea to improve Japanese trade agreement, so important to American beef and China Phase One. Mr. Greer, what trade agreements were accomplished under Joe Biden?”
Mr. Jamieson Greer, Nominee, U.S. Trade Representative: “Senator, I’m not aware of any.”
Senator Marshall: “Okay, I want to compare and contrast a little bit here more. Let’s talk about Mexico. I think it’s one of the simpler ones to understand…Under Joe Biden, Mexico undermined American farms. He harmed commerce. He bullied U.S. companies. He shut down the GMO corn exports, forcing a huge dispute. Mexico hampered U.S. energy protection under Joe Biden, and Mexico seized a U.S. mining company operation near Cozumel. What can you do? What can we do to reverse this behavior?”
Mr. Greer: “…any trade agreement we have is only as valuable as the enforcement behind it. And so my view is, all these issues you talked about with Mexico, whether it be energy or corn, et cetera, we need to enforce that. I know that, you know, there’s a case that was done on the corn issue. I’m going to enforce that. I know that there were consultations open on energy. We’re going to we’re going to bring that up with the Mexicans as well. Listen, good fences make good neighbors. If we want to have good, ongoing trade relations with folks, we have to hold them accountable.”
On leveling the global trade playing field for American biofuels:
Senator Marshall: “Let’s talk about biofuels for a second. I’ve never seen such an uneven playing field for American biofuels. The U.S. is subject to 18% tariffs going into Brazil with biofuels, yet Brazil enjoys virtually free access to the U.S., and in many cases, thanks to some scientific voodoo, they’re actually giving Brazil a preference over American biofuels as well.”
“The EU continues to be protectionist against us, ethanol. Chinese used cooking oil exports. You’re familiar with how they’re abusing that. You would think that if we’re going to give tax credits, we would make sure they’re not going to benefit foreign entities, especially those who wish to harm us. What can you do to help the biofuels industry and try to level that playing field?”
Mr. Greer: “Well, Senator, this is the specific kind of unfairness that drives me crazy. And it’s not just me. The President himself, he sees these kinds of unfairnesses and the unlevel playing field. And it’s so it’s so obvious, it’s so blatant. It’s gone for so long. You know, again, in the first instance, you can certainly go to somebody like the Brazilians and say, you need to fix this, but it has to be followed up with or else, right? I mean, that’s a little crude, but we need to have leverage, and if we need to gain leverage by taking investigatory actions or other actions, we’ll do that. It would be much better to do this on a negotiating basis, but we’ll do whatever we need to do to try to fix the situation.”
On ensuring Chinese compliance with President Trump’s Phase One trade deal:
Senator Marshall: “Let’s talk about China for a second…How can we build on President Trump’s success under Phase One with China?”
Mr. Greer: “We need to start by reviewing it and actually assessing whether or not the Chinese have complied with it, or to what degree. In fact, the President has already directed the office of the USTR to do this…We want to be able to very clearly see where they did or did not comply. And then from there you move to dispute settlement, and you move to enforcement if you need to. And again, hopefully, this is an area where countries will understand the unfairness and change because they know that President Trump is serious about this, that I’m serious about this. If they don’t, then you move for that last part of enforcement.”
On utilizing tariffs as a tool to advance American interests:
Senator Marshall: “…You know, under President Trump, he used tariffs, but we saw minimal inflation – so at the end of the day, those tariffs were not passed on to Americans in the big picture… the big picture is for one reason or another, those tariffs were used properly, and we were able to not pass that on to American consumers. Mr. Greer, is there a way to do that going forward as well, to effectively use, these tariffs as a weapon, as a tool?”Mr. Greer: “I agree 100% with that. What we learned from the first term is that President Trump and his economic team are very good at managing the economy. And we saw real median household income go up by $7,000 over three years before the pandemic hit – and this was at a time when we were imposing tariffs in a way we hadn’t done in many years. And when we look at inflation under the Biden administration that happened in 2022, it wasn’t about tariffs. It was about health care and housing and food, things we don’t import from China, right? So we know that we can manage this. We know we have a strong economic team, and if I’m confirmed, I expect to be able to take strong trade action while helping ensure that the economy is growing for average Americans.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Luján, Agriculture Committee Democrats Demand Answers for Funding Freeze

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and all Committee Democrats in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) demanding answers and clarity following the Trump Administration’s funding freeze.
The Senators wrote to USDA Acting Secretary Gary Washington: “Over the past week, farmers, ranchers, schools, and state governments have contacted our offices in search of clarity on programs, websites, offices, and activities impacted by these orders. Conflicting information from the administration has added to the uncertainty, costing those who depend on the Department time and money. The farmers, rural families, and businesses that depend on the Department need certainty to plan ahead for this growing season.”
The Senators requested “a description of the actions the Department has taken broken down by program, office, and activity, including listing any activities with paused or terminated disbursements or obligations, as well as the legal basis for pausing or terminating any funding that has been appropriated by Congress.”
Senators Luján and Klobuchar were joined by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tina Smith (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).
The full letter is available here and below:
Dear Acting Secretary Washington, 
We write to seek clarity and raise concerns regarding the impact of recent Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda on the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  
Over the past week, farmers, ranchers, schools, and state governments have contacted our offices in search of clarity on programs, websites, offices, and activities impacted by these orders. Conflicting information from the administration has added to the uncertainty, costing those who depend on the Department time and money. The farmers, rural families, and businesses that depend on the Department need certainty to plan ahead for this growing season.
Has the Department paused or terminated any payments, or taken any other actions to carry out any Executive Orders or Presidential Memoranda issued on or after January 20, 2025? If so, please provide a description of the actions the Department has taken broken down by program, office, and activity, including listing any activities with paused or terminated disbursements or obligations, as well as the legal basis for pausing or terminating any funding that has been appropriated by Congress.
In addition, please provide a timeline of when recipients of paused or terminated disbursements can expect to hear from the Department about the status of their funding.
Please respond to this letter by Close of Business on Friday, February 7. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. 

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Ecuadorian Man Charged with Being in the United States Illegally After Having Been Previously Removed by Immigration Officials

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Burlington, Vermont – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that during an arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle on February 5, 2025, Alex Patin-Patin, 28, of Ecuador, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with being unlawfully present in the United States after having been previously removed by immigration officials. At a detention hearing held on February 6, 2025, Judge Doyle ordered that Patin-Patin be detained during the pendency of this matter.

According to court records, Patin-Patin unlawfully entered the United States in or around February 2022, and was then removed from the United States by federal authorities in or around July 2022. It is unknown where or when Patin-Patin re-entered the United States, but in April 2024 Patin-Patin was arrested in South Burlington, Vermont, and charged by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office with, among other charges, aggravated domestic assault. Because Patin-Patin had not obtained permission to re-enter the United States, his presence in the country was in violation of U.S. law.

The federal grand jury returned the indictment charging Patin-Patin with this offense in October 2024 and at that time a federal warrant for his arrest was issued. Court records indicate that Patin-Patin’s arrest earlier this week followed surveillance indicating he had been living at an address other than that required by conditions imposed on him by the Vermont Superior Court in connection with his state domestic assault prosecution.

The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that Patin-Patin is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Patin-Patin faces up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 if convicted. The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.

Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement/ Enforcement and Removal Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Marshals Service.

The prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Lasher and Michelle Arra. Patin-Patin is represented by the Office of the Federal Public Defender.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Former Postal Employee Guilty of Delay of Election Mail

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On February 5, 2025, a federal jury convicted María De Lourdes Martínez-Garriga, a former United States Postal Service City Carrier, for unlawfully delaying and not delivering four pieces of election mail.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on August 5, 11 and 15, 2022, Martínez-Garriga, 34, a then City Carrier assigned to the 65th Infantry Postal Office in San Juan, Puerto Rico unlawfully delayed four certified mail envelopes containing ballots for the 2022 Special Election for the District of San Juan. All affected voters confirmed, and four of them testified at trial, that despite having requested early vote ballots from the Puerto Rico Elections Commission they never received the Election Mail envelopes.

“Our democracy depends on the right of eligible voters to cast a ballot and to have that ballot counted. If voters do not receive their ballots, they cannot execute one of our fundamental rights as United States citizens — the right to vote,” said United States Attorney Muldrow. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office along with our law enforcement partners will continue to protect this fundamental pillar of our society.”

“Placing mail into the hands of the Postal Service is an act of public trust all postal employees must uphold,” said Tammy Hull, Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service. “Ms. Martínez violated that trust by delaying the delivery of election mail. Through our investigation USPS OIG special agents brought her to justice and she has been convicted of her crimes by a jury.”

“The FBI is committed to protecting the integrity of our democratic processes, including ensuring that every voter’s voice is heard. Any attempt to interfere with election mail is a violation of public trust and a threat to the foundation of our democracy,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office. “This case is the result of our unwavering dedication to holding accountable those who undermine the electoral system.”

Three other former U.S. Postal Service employees were charged in separate indictments, and they are all pending trial. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) is investigating the case with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), consistent with the mission to ensure efficiency, accountability, and integrity in the U.S. Postal Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Colón and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tania Salas-De Jesús from the USPS-OIG are prosecuting the case.

###

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. NAVY LEADERS OBSERVE JOINT TASK FORCE SOUTHERN GUARD OPERATIONS

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba –

(Feb 6, 2025) – Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, and Rear Adm. John Hewitt, Commander, Navy Region Southeast, visited Joint Task Force Southern Guard onboard Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB) February 5 and 6, as the Joint Task Force prepares to receive illegal aliens from the United States. Sardiello and Hewitt accompanied Adm. Alvin Holsey, Commander, U.S. Southern Command, during the visit.

At the direction of the President to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. military service members are supporting Illegal Aliens holding operations led by DHS at NGSB. U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) has set up Joint Task Force Southern Guard at the Naval Station to execute the directive.

“The Naval Station is fully committed to ensuring we have the infrastructure and resources in place to support this vital mission,” said Capt. Michael Stephen, Commander, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. “From the moment we received the mission, our team has worked with urgency, executing contingency plans, and rapidly strengthening our capabilities.

“The level of teamwork—both within the base and across the joint force—has been outstanding,” said Stephen “Everyone is engaged, working together seamlessly to tackle challenges and ensure we’re ready for what’s ahead. The progress we’ve made in such a short time is a testament to their dedication and professionalism,” he said.

As the United States’ oldest overseas military installation, established in 1903, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is in the USSOUTHCOM Area of Responsibility. U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet serves as USSOUTHCOM’s maritime component commander and therefore has responsibilities in contingency plans involving the naval station. U.S. Navy Region Southeast manages and oversees shore installation support for the naval station as it does for a total of 18 Navy bases in the Southeast region.

“We are very proud of our Sailors, Marines and civilians who have responded to this contingency plan at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, which is a critical forward-operating base that enables the United States to maintain a persistent presence in the Caribbean,” said Rear Adm. Sardiello. “This mission exemplifies how we integrate and deploy all-domain combat power to respond to crises, maintain regional security, and protect U.S. interests.”

Military service members and contractors have provided the manpower and organization to accommodate thousands’ illegal aliens. Additional phases of expansion will follow to meet the President’s directive to host up to 30,000 illegal aliens. This work includes the construction of large, secure tent facilities to house illegal aliens, the installation of high-security fencing and barriers to protect all personnel, and a huge increase in providing essential services, including food, medical care, and housing, to all DOD and DHS personnel. The Navy is also delivering comprehensive logistical support, ensuring the infrastructure and resources needed to sustain operations are in place.

Naval Station Guantanamo Bay ensures the freedom of action in the maritime domain and contributes to enhancing U.S. alliances and partnerships throughout the region. By executing this critical role in the enforcement of national immigration policies, the station continues to be an integral asset in supporting the defense and security objectives of the United States.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: New Kensington Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Charges in Connection with Transnational Criminal Operation

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A resident of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court on February 6, 2025, to charges of violating federal narcotics and money laundering laws, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

James Pinkston, 35, pleaded guilty to Counts One, Three, and Four of the Second Superseding Indictment before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan.

In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, from in and around August 2021 to in and around June 2023, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Pinkston conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine. Pinkston was intercepted on a federal wiretap obtaining quantities of the drugs that he distributed to others. Similarly, in and around March 2023, Pinkston possessed with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing cocaine. Further, from in and around April 2022 to in and around March 2023, Pinkston conspired to commit money laundering by using a payments app to receive and initiate payments for drug transactions.

Pinkston was one of 35 individuals indicted by a federal grand jury in Johnstown in December 2023 on narcotics, conspiracy, and money laundering charges for their participation in a violent transnational drug and money laundering operation. The Second Superseding Indictment alleges that the operation imported from Mexico millions of fentanyl pills, kilograms of fentanyl powder, hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, and dozens of kilograms of cocaine that then were distributed and sold throughout the United States (read the news release regarding the Second Superseding Indictment here). Pinkston served as the western Pennsylvania connection to the Phoenix, Arizona, drug trafficking organization responsible for importing the drugs from Mexico.

Judge Ranjan scheduled sentencing for May 28, 2025. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $10 million, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Arnold P. Bernard Jr. is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Laurel Highlands Resident Agency and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Pinkston. Additional agencies participating in this investigation include the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, and other local law enforcement agencies.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE Homeland Security Investigations supports seizure of Venezuelan aircraft involved in violations of US export control and sanctions laws

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations played a key role, alongside the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and other partners, in an announcement Feb. 6 by the Justice Department that Dominican Republic authorities, working in coordination with U.S. federal law enforcement and based on violations of U.S. export control and sanctions laws, seized a Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft used by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the sanctioned Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company.

“This seizure demonstrates HSI’s unwavering commitment to enforcing U.S. export control and sanctions laws around the globe,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Santo Domingo Country Attaché Edwin F. Lopez. “By working closely with our partners in the Dominican Republic and across the U.S. government, we successfully prevented the violation of U.S. laws designed to protect national security and foreign policy interests. HSI will continue to collaborate with domestic and international law enforcement partners to ensure accountability and uphold the rule of law.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security Miami Field Office is investigating the case with assistance from ICE HSI Santo Domingo.

The Justice Department previously announced in September 2024 the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft in the Dominican Republic that was owned and operated for the benefit of Nicolás Maduro Moros and persons affiliated with him in Venezuela.

“The seizure of the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft provides yet another example of this office’s commitment to enforcing America’s export control laws against Venezuelan-owned PdVSA and other sanctioned entities,” said Southern District of Florida U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Byrne. “Asset forfeiture is a powerful law enforcement tool, which we will continue to use aggressively to deter, disrupt, and otherwise combat criminal activity.”

“The use of American-made parts to service and maintain aircraft operated by sanctioned entities like PdVSA is intolerable,” said Devin DeBacker, head of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department, along with its federal law enforcement partners, will continue to safeguard our national security by identifying, disrupting, and dismantling schemes aimed at procuring American goods in violation of our sanctions and export control laws.”

“Today’s announcement — the seizure of a sanctioned aircraft used by the Maduro regime — clearly shows that sanctions and export control laws have teeth,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Kevin J. Kurland of the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security. “BIS will continue to aggressively investigate and hold accountable those who violate our regulations.”

According to the U.S. investigation, in July 2017, PdVSA purchased the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft from the United States and exported it to Venezuela, where it was registered under tail number YV-3360. Following the imposition of sanctions on PdVSA and identification of the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft as blocked property of PdVSA, the aircraft was serviced and maintained on multiple occasions using parts from the United States. The servicing

included a brake assembly, electronic flight displays, and flight management computers — all in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws.

President Trump issued Executive Order 13884 in August 2019, which, among other things, prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with persons who have acted or purported to act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of PdVSA. Pursuant to the EO, on Jan. 21, 2020, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified 15 aircraft as blocked property under U.S. law, which generally prohibits transactions by U.S. persons within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in blocked property.

According to a public statement issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, since at least January 2019, the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft has transported Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, who is also sanctioned by the U.S. government, to an Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in the United Arab Emirates and has been used to transport senior members of the Maduro regime in a continuation of the regime’s misappropriation of PdVSA assets.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and ICE HSI El Dorado Task Force Miami provided significant assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jorge Delgado and Joshua Paster for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are handling the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan D. Stratton and Ajay J. Alexander for the Southern District of Florida also assisted.

The burden to prove forfeitability in a forfeiture proceeding is upon the government.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE Boston arrests illegal Dominican drug dealer charged with assault, battery with dangerous weapon

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

BOSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended an illegally present Dominican national convicted of heroin distribution crimes, who is currently charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and shoplifting crimes when ICE officers arrested Santor Aibar, 56, in East Boston Jan. 22.

“Santos Aibar is exactly the kind of alien offender who needs to be removed from the streets of Massachusetts,” said ICE Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “He has already been convicted of peddling poison to our neighborhoods, and he currently stands accused of assaulting a resident with a box cutter. ICE Boston will not tolerate such threats to the people of our New England communities. We stand committed to our mission of arresting and removing such egregious alien threats.”

Aibar illegally entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location, and without being admitted, inspected, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

The West Roxbury District Court in Massachusetts convicted Aibar Sept. 29, 2008, for distribution of of heroin and sentenced him to one year in prison.

ICE officers arrested Aibar at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston July 2, 2010, and served him with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge.

The immigration judge ordered Aibar removed from the U.S. on Sept. 30, 2010, and ICE removed Aibar to the Dominican Republic Nov. 17, 2010.

Aibar illegally re-entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown location, and without being admitted, inspected, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

ICE encountered Aibar Feb. 28, 2023, following his arrest by local authorities, and issued an immigration detainer against Aibar with the Boston Police Department.

ICE determined that the state of Massachusetts released Aibar on Feb. 25, 2024, without honoring the immigration detainer.

The South Boston District Court arraigned Aibar Sept. 03, 2024, for the offenses of assault with dangerous weapon and shoplifting.

Aibar remains in custody following his apprehension by ICE.

Members of the public with information can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X at @EROBoston.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: February 7th, 2025 Heinrich, Luján Join Colleagues in Calling for Quick Implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and 25 of their colleagues in calling for the immediate implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act to provide full Social Security benefits for millions of public servants impacted by Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The Social Security Fairness Act, which Heinrich and Luján cosponsored, fully repeals the two unfair Social Security provisions WEP and GPO, was signed into law on January 5, 2024 after Heinrich and Luján voted to advance legislation on the Senate floor.

“The Social Security Fairness Act restores full Social Security benefits for the millions of teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public servants who are unfairly penalized by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO),” wrote the senators.

“The Social Security Administration’s website currently states, ‘SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits’ owed under the Social Security Fairness Act. We call for the immediate implementation of this legislation to provide prompt relief to the millions of Americans impacted by WEP and GPO,” continued the senators.

Heinrich, Luján, and Cassidy were joined by U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Read the full letter here or below:

Dear Acting Commissioner King,

We write to you concerning the implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act (Public Law No: 118-273). This legislation passed Congress on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis on December 21st, 2024 and was signed into law on January 5th, 2025. The Social Security Fairness Act restores full Social Security benefits for the millions of teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public servants who are unfairly penalized by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).

The Social Security Administration’s website currently states, “SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits” owed under the Social Security Fairness Act. We call for the immediate implementation of this legislation to provide prompt relief to the millions of Americans impacted by WEP and GPO. In the interim, we request monthly updates and briefings regarding the status of the Social Security Administration’s progress towards implementing the Social Security Fairness Act.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter. We look forward to your response.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: February 7th, 2025 Heinrich HALT All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act Passes U.S. House of Representatives

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

Heinrich introduced the legislation last week to permanently place fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, help law enforcement combat fentanyl trafficking, and advance scientific and medical research

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced that his Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I drugs, under the Controlled Substances Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives. This permanent scheduling will give law enforcement the tools they need to keep extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets and ensure scientists can research and better understand these substances.

Last week, Heinrich, with U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), introduced the HALT Fentanyl Act in the Senate. The bill now awaits Senate passage, before heading to the President’s desk.

“I’m pleased that my HALT Fentanyl Act is one step closer to becoming law,” said Heinrich. “I urge my Senate colleagues to swiftly bring the legislation to the floor for passage. It is urgently needed to help our law enforcement personnel crack down on illegal trafficking, get deadly fentanyl out of our communities, and save lives.”

The HALT Fentanyl Act is endorsed by the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents, the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the National Alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies, the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors Association, the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, and the National District Attorneys Association, as well as state and local law enforcement across New Mexico.

“Fentanyl has negatively impacted the city of Las Cruces in significant ways. In the past five years, we have experienced a substantial increase in crime, homelessness, and quality of life issues. I firmly believe fentanyl has been the biggest driver of these issues. It is time to take meaningful action to reverse the harm caused by this illicit substance,” said Jeremy Story, Chief of the Las Cruces Police Department.

“Like any illegal substance, whether it be opioids or fentanyl use, there are no easy or quick solutions and often combatting their abuse requires a multi-layered approach. The HALT Fentanyl Act is just that, which is why I fully support it. We may be inclined to not concern ourselves with research, for example, but those trafficking in this market do concern themselves with research. Let us endorse this bigger picture approach to help combat fentanyl use in our country,” said Kim Stewart, Doña Ana County Sheriff.

“The HALT Fentanyl Act is another tool to go after transnational gangs and help make our community safer. Legislation is key for law enforcement to do their job,” said John Allen, Bernalillo County Sheriff.

Background:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were 107,543 overdose deaths in the United States in 2023. Fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances accounted for nearly 75,000 of those deaths. Since 1999, the overdose crisis has increasingly been characterized by deaths involving these illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl-related substances (FRS), which are commonly sold through illicit drug markets for their fentanyl-like effect, and are often mixed with heroin or other drugs, such as cocaine, or pressed in to counterfeit prescription pills. During this same period, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased 103-fold. By comparison, overdose deaths involving heroin and prescription opioids increased 2.5-fold and 4.1-fold, respectively.

Traffickers are continually altering the chemical structure of fentanyl to evade regulation and prosecution, sometimes with tragic results. Since 2013, China has been the principal source of fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and the precursor chemicals from which they are produced. Chinese product is commonly shipped to Mexico and smuggled into the U.S’s illicit drug market. Traffickers have favored fentanyl-related substances to skirt around committing the crime of trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. In 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized nearly 12,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl, including fentanyl powder and more than 78 million pills laced with illicit fentanyl. The 2023 seizures were equivalent to more than 388.8 million lethal doses of fentanyl.

In 2018, as an initial response to this unprecedented crisis, the DEA issued a temporary scheduling order that placed FRS in Schedule I, under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), after classifying it as an imminent hazard to public safety. Previously, Congress has only closed this loophole temporarily by designating fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs. Congress has extended the FRS temporary scheduling order several times, most recently on December 21, 2024, with a measure that expires on March 31, 2025.

Heinrich’s HALT Fentanyl Act would finally make permanent the scheduling of illicitly produced fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs and streamline the regulatory process for scientists seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to research Schedule I substances.

Clear and Enforceable Criminal Penalties for Fentanyl Trafficking:

A permanent scheduling of FRS is necessary to make penalties for criminals clear and enforceable under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), reducing the supply and availability of illicitly manufactured FRS. The HALT Fentanyl Act places the strongest controls and penalties on FRS, which have no accepted medical use and a high abuse potential.

Specifically, the HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently impose the following quantity-based federal trafficking penalties on FRS:

Mandatory minimum penalties: 5 years for 10 grams or more (10 years for second offense); and 10 years for 100 grams or more (20 years for second offense).

Discretionary maximum penalties: 40 years for 10 grams or more (life for second offense); and life for 100 grams or more.

Expanded Scientific and Medical Research

More closely aligning the research and registration process for schedule I substances, including FRS, with Schedule II substances will facilitate increased FRS research. By accommodating more medical research into fentanyl-related substances, the bill would establish a new, streamlined registration process for research funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or under an Investigative New Drug (IND) exemption from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Specifically, the HALT Fentanyl Act will enhance our understanding of these illicitly manufactured substances by:

Allowing researchers in the same institution to participate in multiple scientific studies.

Permitting researchers with ongoing studies to examine newly added schedule I substances.

Allowing researchers to manufacture small quantities of FRS without a separate registration.

Full text of the HALT Fentanyl Act can be found here.

A section-by-section summary of the HALT Fentanyl Act can be found here.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Sentenced To Federal Prison For Illegal Reentry Into The United States

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Ocala, Florida – United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Ignacio Juan-Velazquez (34, Mexico) to one year in federal prison for illegal re-entry into the United States. Juan-Velazquez previously pled guilty on November 13, 2024.

According to court documents, Juan-Velazquez is a citizen of Mexico. He previously has been deported from the United States on four occasions between 2012-2017 and never has obtained permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to apply for readmission to the United States. On September 24, 2024, U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered Juan-Velazquez at a rest area on Interstate 75 in Sumter County, Florida. Juan Velasquez presented the agents with his Mexican voter card as identification. He then admitted that he was illegally in the country.

This case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Newton Man Arrested for Abusive Sexual Contact of Minor Aboard Flight to Boston

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

BOSTON – A Newton man has been arrested and charged for allegedly making repeated sexual contact with a 17-year-old female passenger (minor victim) seated directly in front of him onboard a flight from Puerto Rico to Boston in August 2024.

Jonathan Alan Lefman, 46, is charged with one count of abusive sexual contact while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. Lefman was arrested today and will make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston at 2:30 p.m. today.

According to the charging documents, on Aug. 30, 2024, Lefman was a passenger onboard a JetBlue flight flying from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Boston with his wife and four children. On multiple occasions during the flight and while on the ground waiting to deplane in Boston, Lefman allegedly engaged in abusive sexual contact with the minor victim. Specifically, it is alleged that Lefman intentionally worked his hand in between and through the area between the back and bottom of the seat directly in front of him, where the minor victim was seated, and touched the minor victim’s buttocks without her permission. On at least one occasion when he did so, the minor victim saw his reflection leaning between the seats in the seatback monitor in front of her. On the last occasion when he allegedly touched or attempted to touch her buttocks, the minor victim was able to use her cell phone camera to take a video of Lefman’s fingers protruding between the back and bottom of the minor victim’s seat. According to court documents, after she exited the aircraft, while still on the jet bridge, the minor victim took a video of Lefman as he got off the aircraft.

It is alleged that, after deplaning, the minor victim’s adult female family member who had been traveling in a different row reported Lefman’s alleged conduct to a JetBlue supervisor and confronted Lefman, showing the video of his fingers to support her statement.

The charge of abusive sexual contact while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by Boston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna J. Nuzum of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Arrested For Illegal Reentry

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Ocala, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return by a grand jury of an indictment charging Luis Marcos Hernandez-Granillo (42, Mexico) with illegal reentry by a previously deported alien. If convicted, Hernandez-Granillo faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison.

According to court documents, Hernandez-Granillo is a citizen and national of Mexico. He was previously removed from the United States on July 26, 2018, and August 28, 2024. Afterward, Hernandez-Granillo was found voluntarily back in the United States on January 29, 2025, when he was arrested in Marion County on a local warrant. Hernandez-Granillo has not received the consent of the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to apply for readmission to the United States.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE arrests alien deported 3 times, with violent criminal history, in Houston

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

HOUSTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 3-time previously deported criminal alien Feb. 5 wanted in Harris County, Texas, for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

David Gonzalez-Martinez, a 52-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, was arrested during routine daily operations in Houston and booked into the Harris County Jail. Following his arrest, ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the jail requesting to be notified in the event Gonzalez is going to be released back into the community.

“Immigration detainers are one of the most indispensable resources in the ICE officer’s toolbox,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford. “They enable our officers to take direct custody of criminal aliens in the safe confines of the jail, which enhances the safety of everyone involved, and helps to eliminate unnecessary spending that would otherwise be required to go out and search for them in the community.”

Gonzalez has illegally entered the U.S. at least four times and was previously removed to Mexico by U.S. immigration officials in Sept. 2001, July 2008, and April 2015. While in the U.S. illegally, he has been convicted of several criminal offenses to include voluntarily manslaughter, aggravated assault with a weapon, possession of marijuana, and illegal re-entry.

“Violent criminal aliens like this individual who violate our nation’s system of laws with impunity are a direct threat to the safety of our communities,” said Bradford. “That danger is not lost on our officers who live and raise families in the Houston area. As a result, they are out in the field every day putting their lives on the line to track down dangerous criminal aliens and restore law and order in our communities.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Three Men Believed to be Part of South American Theft Group Indicted for Federal Crimes Related to Burglary of NFL Player’s Cincinnati Home

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

CINCINNATI – A federal grand jury in Cincinnati has charged defendants believed to be operating as part of a South American Theft Group with transporting stolen goods interstate and falsifying records in a federal investigation. The three men allegedly committed the Dec. 9, 2024, burglary at the home of a local NFL player.

A federal complaint was filed on Feb. 3 and the indictment was returned today, charging Jordan Francisco Quiroga Sanchez, 22, Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales, 23, and Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello, 38, all of Chile.

“Our investigation remains ongoing as these individuals seem to be the alleged tip of the iceberg of South American Theft Groups committing crimes throughout our district and elsewhere,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “We owe it to the victims, whether they are or are not professional athletes, to follow the evidence into these alleged criminal networks and hold the law-breakers accountable. I cannot thank our law enforcement partners enough for their commitment to working together to track down these perpetrators. Today is a day that law enforcement scored and spiked the ball.”

“South American Theft Groups have been a major concern in the Cincinnati area,” said FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola. “We appreciate the partnerships of all the agencies involved in the Southwest Ohio South American Theft Group Task Force for their hard work on this investigation.”

“The Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission was created for – and excels at – these types of complex, multi-jurisdictional cases,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “I’m proud of the work done so far, and look forward to more results as our task force continues its work.”

According to charging documents, law enforcement responded to the NFL player’s home around 8:14pm on Dec. 9, 2024, in reference to a reported burglary. An associate of the homeowner had been dropped off at the residence shortly after 8pm and discovered rooms were unusually messy and a primary bedroom window on the back side of the home had been broken.

It is believed the burglary likely occurred between 6pm and 8pm. The homeowner was away from his residence playing in an NFL game in Dallas. During a security detail shift change at the home at approximately 6pm, security personnel walked the perimeter of the house and no windows appeared to be broken at that time.

Continued investigation at the Cincinnati home led investigators to discover a trail camera image of a man carrying luggage and walking through the wooded area behind the home.

Law enforcement tracked the subjects in various states following the burglary, and subsequently located the vehicle at the La Quinta hotel on University Boulevard in Fairborn. The Ohio State Highway Patrol later stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation.

Phone analysis shows Cabello allegedly deleted photographs of the stolen goods and the back of the victim’s home during the traffic stop with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, thus falsifying records in a federal investigation. Additional cell phone analysis revealed other photos of the defendants in southeast Florida days after the burglary with luxury luggage and wearing the stolen jewelry.

Also in the car with the defendants were punch tools to break glass, as well as an old Louisiana State University shirt and a Cincinnati Bengals hat believed to be taken from the victim’s home.

The men were taken into local custody at the time of the traffic stop.

Interstate transportation of stolen property is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Falsification of records in a federal investigation carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The three men were previously charged locally and those state charges remain pending.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission’s Southwest Ohio Burglary Task Force; Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey; Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Charles A. Jones; Clark County Sheriff Christopher D. Clark; and Angie M. Salazar, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Detroit; announced the charges.

Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Springer is representing the United States in this case.

Charging documents merely contain allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

# # #

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy, Daines, Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Unleash American Energy, Hold Lease Sales in Gulf

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), and 10 Republican colleagues reintroduced the Supporting Made in America Energy Act to make sure the United States maintains and grows its energy independence. It requires the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to hold four onshore oil and gas lease sales in the top oil and gas producing states, and also requires two annual offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of America and six sales over a ten-year period in Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
“Louisiana fuels the world,” said Dr. Cassidy. “When we unleash American energy, we are supporting our allies, keeping Louisianans employed, and strengthening our economy. This bill will help us do that.”
“Now that we have a President who supports our energy industry instead of pushing a radical environmental agenda, it’s time to get to work on real change to unleash American energy and ensure that we remain dominant on the world stage. These bills will have a huge impact on creating Montana jobs, boosting our economy and protecting our national security, and I’ll work with my colleagues every step of the way to get them over the finish line,” said Senator Daines.
Cassidy and Daines were joined by U.S. Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jim Risch (R-ID), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Curtis (R-UT), John Barrasso (R-WY), and John Hoeven (R-ND) in introducing the legislation.
Background
In January, Cassidy led his colleagues in introducing the Offshore Energy Security Act of 2025. The legislation requires the DOI to hold two offshore oil and gas lease sales per year for 10 years.
During the last administration, Cassidy released a landmark energy policy outline in response to President Biden’s assault on domestic energy. The outline details how we can successfully reset U.S. energy policy, including Cassidy’s plan for an Energy Operation Warp Speed to cut permitting red tape and unleash domestic energy and manufacturing.
He also pushed back on disastrous proposals from the Biden administration to limit development in the Outer Continental Shelf by introducing the WHALE Act.
Under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) and the Louisiana State Constitution, revenues from offshore leasing are dedicated to coastal restoration. 2024 was the first year without an offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since 1965.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE Boston arrests illegal fugitive wanted for armed robbery in Brazil

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

EVERETT, Mass. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended an illegally present Brazilian fugitive wanted for armed robbery in his home country when officers arrested the 38-year-old alien in Everett Jan. 22.

“This Brazilian fugitive is facing significant charges in his home country, so he attempted to flee justice by coming here,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “Every day he was hiding out in Massachusetts, he posed a significant threat to our residents. ICE Boston will not allow New England to become a safe haven for the world’s criminal elements. We will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious alien threats.”

U.S. Border Patrol apprehended the Brazilian alien Oct. 15, 2020, after he illegally entered the United States. The Border Patrol issued him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. The Brazilian alien was returned to Mexico Oct. 16, 2020.

The Border Patrol arrested the Brazilian national after he illegally entered the U.S. a second time April 2, 2021. An immigration judge ordered the alien released on bond Sept. 27, 2021.

Authorities in Brazil, issued an arrest warrant for the Brazilian fugitive May 20, 2024, for armed robbery, an offense carrying a possible 16-year prison penalty.

The Brazilian fugitive remains in ICE custody following his arrest.

Members of the public with information can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ERO Boston’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X at @EROBoston.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: FBI Announces Nationwide Crackdown on South American Theft Groups

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Through the coordinated efforts of the FBI Cincinnati, Newark and New York field offices, the FBI arrested Dimitriy “Russo” Nezhinskiy, owner and manager of Big Apple General Buyers, and Juan Villar, an employee, in Manhattan’s Diamond District. They are accused in the Eastern District of New York of running the largest east coast “fence”, which is a hub to resell stolen goods. Additionally, a federal grand jury in Cincinnati indicted three defendants believed to be operating as part of the organized group and charged them with transporting stolen goods interstate and falsifying records in a federal investigation. The three men allegedly committed a burglary at the home of an NFL player last year.

In addition to high-end residential burglaries, SATGs are known to target traveling jewelry salesmen as they transport their inventory from location to location. They usually use facilitators, known as “fences,” to liquidate stolen merchandise. A fence is an individual or business who knowingly purchases stolen property and then resells it to others. In some scenarios, they send the stolen goods to Chile or Colombia. This week, a Chilean man, believed to be part of the South American Theft Group, was also charged for his involvement in a conspiracy to break into a jewelry store in New Jersey and then cross state lines with the stolen property.

Crimes committed by South American Theft Groups can victimize anyone, not just professional athletes. The FBI has an initiative targeting SATGs, which involves individuals from Chile and other South American countries exploiting illegal entry or tourist visas to travel in and out of the U.S. to facilitate theft and transportation of stolen goods internationally. This initiative dedicates resources through various active investigations and major theft task forces, which include our state and local partners, throughout the country and shares intelligence with law enforcement partners around the world.

You can visit tips.fbi.gov to report suspected South American Theft Group activity to the Bureau. Tips may be submitted anonymously.

MIL Security OSI –

February 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Kugler, Entrepreneurship and Aggregate Productivity

Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve

Thank you, Jon, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.1 It is such a pleasure to be back in Miami, a city I have seen grow and become ever more dynamic over the decades, as I have come many times to visit my large extended family here ever since the 1980s.
As I discussed in my final speech of 2024, two positive supply shocks have significantly benefited the U.S. economy over the past two years and have also affected the conduct of monetary policy.2
The first of these has been the surge in population over the past few years that has helped bring labor supply into balance with labor demand and, thus, also helped move inflation toward the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) 2 percent goal. The other positive supply shock, which I outlined in my remarks in December, has been a step-up in aggregate productivity growth since 2020, which is an increase in the amount of economic output, across the economy, per hour worked or some other unit of labor. Although productivity growth, measured quarterly, can be quite volatile, over the past five years this acceleration is quite evident. While productivity grew by about 1.5 percent a year from 2005 to 2019, starting in 2020 it has grown about 2 percent a year. This difference may not look dramatic, but because of compounding year-over-year, the consequences of an additional 1/2 percentage point in growth over the past five years are significant for workers and the U.S. economy. When workers are more productive, it effectively means that businesses can produce more without needing to add workers, and that they can pay workers more without needing to raise prices. When they are more productive, it can also serve as an incentive for businesses to expand. Across the economy, higher productivity growth means that real wages and living standards for workers can rise faster without putting upward pressure on inflation.
And that is exactly what has been happening recently, a period when inflation has been falling while the economy is expanding. While fast growth in wages was one of the factors driving inflation in 2021 and 2022, most likely some of that increase was due to productivity growth and, hence, was not inflationary. If productivity continues to grow at an accelerated pace, it would support the FOMC’s efforts to keep unemployment low and return inflation to a sustained level of 2 percent. For that reason, I would like to spend the balance of my remarks exploring some of the possible reasons why productivity has accelerated, and the prospects that this fortunate development will continue.
Numerous factors affect aggregate productivity, and several may have driven the increase in productivity growth in the U.S. since the pandemic, in contrast to the subdued productivity growth experienced by other advanced economies around the world.
One such factor may have been a result of the enormous movement of workers caused by the pandemic. It began with the dramatic loss of 22 million jobs in the spring of 2020, the reemployment of many of those workers and the continued mobility as people quit jobs, switched occupations and careers, and relocated in response to the enormous changes in work and home life brought about by the pandemic. In finding new jobs, in what became a very tight labor market, workers had the opportunity to find better matches for their skills and, to some extent, work that they were motivated to carry out and which made them more productive. One indication that this was probably a significant factor in the U.S. is that other advanced economies where there was less worker movement have experienced lower rates of productivity growth.3 Economic data and research suggest that periods of strong job re-allocation are accompanied or followed by higher productivity growth.4
The tightness of the labor market since 2021 has also likely led firms to invest to a greater extent in labor-saving as well as labor-enhancing technologies, which, of course, is traditionally one of the major sources of productivity gains. For example, many retail businesses seemed to have installed more self-checkout machines after the onset of the pandemic, allowing employers to substitute capital for workers when workers could not come to work in person and when there were severe shortages. More generally, digital technology allowed employees to continue working from home during the period of the pandemic and beyond, saving commuting time and making employees potentially more productive.5
To the extent that these factors are boosting productivity growth, they are by their nature one-off developments that eventually will fade. A notable exception may turn out to be productivity improvements from investments in artificial intelligence (AI). AI investment by businesses has stepped up in the past two years, and it appears to be accelerating.6 The advent of the internet and related innovations boosted productivity growth for about 10 years starting in the mid-1990s, and the benefits of AI could potentially be that revolutionary and persistent.
In addition to being temporary, the factors that I have outlined that could be boosting productivity, job re-allocation, and technological investments are themselves hard to measure across the economy. And so are their effects on productivity as well. But there is another important factor that is likely to be driving productivity higher whose effects may well persist, and that is the surge in new business formation experienced since 2019. As I will explain, new businesses are associated with higher rates of overall productivity growth, and that may be particularly true for some of the sectors in which these businesses were created.
Applications for new business tax identification numbers jumped shortly after the pandemic began and have remained elevated since then.7 In 2024, the pace of applications that are likely to result in employer business formation was about 30 percent above its 2019 pace. This surge is largely unique to the U.S. In the euro zone, for example, business registrations have been relatively flat. This may help explain why labor productivity growth in Europe has been well below that of the U.S. in recent years.8
The surge in applications in early 2020 was an early signal of an acceleration in the creation of job-creating new firms.9 The latest data available indicate that new firms created 1.9 million jobs in 2023, 14 percent higher than the total for 2019.10
A couple of aspects of this surge in business entry in the U.S. are noteworthy. First, the surge was particularly noticeable in high-tech industries that, historically, are important for overall innovation and productivity growth.11 Second, while the pace of business applications has cooled somewhat over the past year, it still remains elevated and well above pre-pandemic norms. It is, in fact, proving somewhat more persistent than some expected.
For these reasons, the surge in new business formation is highly relevant to our discussion about productivity. There is a large body of research that finds that new firms are key contributors to innovation and growth in aggregate productivity.12 This might seem surprising and counterintuitive, since it is well known that many new firms fail in their first year or two. But in the commotion of competition that these many new businesses face, there are always businesses that persist and keep their lights on, and those often do so because they are innovative and more productive. New businesses are the essence of the competition that drives market-based economies, and it is not surprising that they would be an important source of new products or processes for doing business—and a source of growth.13
Of course, not every new firm has to innovate and grow to make important economic contributions. Every entrepreneur contributes even if they just create a job for themselves and their family members. But those new firms that do innovate and grow are critical for improvements in overall productivity over time.
As I noted before, since the surge in entrepreneurship after the onset of the pandemic featured an increase in high-tech businesses as well, the productivity implications could be significant. Indeed, the last period of strong productivity growth in the U.S., which ran from the late 1990s into the early 2000s, was preceded by a surge of new business creation in high-tech industries, including those industries that more recently have been associated with AI-related developments.14 So this is one source of my optimism about continued robust productivity growth in the U.S.
But it is not only the innovations produced directly by new businesses that are important, since by any measure these new firms are a small share of total businesses. New businesses also help drive innovation by existing firms. As they scramble for funding, customers, and human capital, new businesses will increase competition with existing ones, forcing them to innovate as well so they can succeed. This is surely also driving the recent acceleration in productivity growth.
Many predicted that the surge in new business creation would disappear as effects of the pandemic have faded, but this has not really happened. It is possible that the surge in entry will recede and that its productivity effects will likewise be temporary. On the other hand, the productivity gains from a surge in entry could last for some time, since these highly productive young firms have been found to grow rapidly for several years, contributing to aggregate productivity growth along the way. Time will tell, but for now, it seems likely that this is a factor supporting productivity growth at a higher-than-historical rate.
I will confess to you all that it is not a coincidence that I have come to Miami to highlight the role of entrepreneurship in innovation and productivity growth. Miami and the Miami metropolitan area is an extraordinarily entrepreneurial area, a place with high rates of new business creation, and it is likely an important source of the recent productivity surge.
Out of more than 900 U.S. cities for which we have data, Miami’s post-pandemic new firm entry rate ranked 8th in the nation.15 And Miami is not alone in Florida; 5 of the top 20 cities for pandemic-era business formation are here in your state.16 Miami specifically, and Florida generally, has been a key part of the U.S. entrepreneurship story for some time. During the decade before the pandemic, Miami ranked 5th out of more than 900 U.S. cities for firm entry rates, and Florida featured 8 of the top 20 U.S. cities.17
Miami is special in this regard. I wonder what is in the water here to produce such a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture. Perhaps it is the extent of sunshine, which has long been associated with optimism. Perhaps it is the friendly economic climate—in my own academic research, I have found that policies that facilitate business entry and support worker or job re-allocation are indeed helpful for dynamism and productivity.18 But an interesting question for me as the first Hispanic at the Board of Governors since its creation is whether the large Hispanic population in Florida is also a factor behind the impressive pace of business dynamism that I have just described.
More than 25 percent of Florida’s population is Hispanic, compared with around 20 percent for the United States as a whole.19 Nationwide, recent data indicate that Latinos account for a dominant—and rapidly growing—share of new entrepreneurship in the U.S., with a particular increase since the pandemic.20 Of course, many of these Latino entrepreneurs are also immigrants, another group with a well-known proclivity for entrepreneurship.21 There are immigrants in Miami from the Caribbean and all over the world who contribute to the entrepreneurial culture of this city, and it is surely this culture, as much as the efforts of any nationality or group, that is the real engine of the dynamism here. I applaud you all for fostering that culture here in Florida, which is such an important contributor to the economic growth of our nation. More entrepreneurs means more productivity, which is crucial to U.S. prosperity.
Let me conclude with an outline of my views on the outlook for the U.S. economy and the FOMC’s efforts to return inflation to our 2 percent goal while maintaining a strong labor market.
The U.S. economy remains on a firm footing.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at a solid pace. The Bureau for Economic Analysis estimates that real GDP grew 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, and private domestic final purchases, which is the best indicator for GDP one quarter ahead, grew a solid 3.2 percent. Therefore, I anticipate solid GDP growth also in the first quarter of this year. In addition, earlier today the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers created 143,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate edged down to 4 percent, consistent with a healthy labor market that is neither weakening nor showing signs of overheating.
Inflation has fallen significantly since its peak in the middle of 2022, and in September the FOMC judged that it was time to begin reducing our policy interest rate from levels intended to strongly restrict aggregate demand and put downward pressure on inflation. We reduced our policy rate 100 basis points through December, but the recent progress on inflation has been slow and uneven, and inflation remains elevated. There is also considerable uncertainty about the economic effects of proposals of new policies. Going forward, in considering the appropriate federal funds rate, we will watch these developments closely and continue to carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you today.

1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text
2. See Adriana D. Kugler (2024), “A Year in Review: A Tale of Two Supply Shocks,” speech delivered at the Detroit Economic Club, Detroit, Michigan, December 3. Return to text
3. See Joaquin García-Cabo, Anna Lipińska, and Gaston Navarro (2023), “Sectoral Shocks, Reallocation, and Labor Market Policies,” European Economic Review, vol. 156 (July), 104494. Return to text
4. See, for example, Lucia Foster, John Haltiwanger, and C.J. Krizan (2001), “Aggregate Productivity Growth: Lessons from Microeconomic Evidence,” in Charles R. Hulten, Edwin R. Dean, and Michael J. Harper, eds., New Developments in Productivity Analysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), pp. 303–63; and John Haltiwanger, Henry Hyatt, Erika McEntarfer, and Matthew Staiger (2025), “Cyclical Worker Flows: Cleansing vs. Sullying,” Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 55 (January), 101252. Return to text
5. See Myrto Oikonomou, Nicola Pierri, and Yannick Timmer (2023), “IT Shields: Technology Adoption and Economic Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Labour Economics, vol. 81 (April), 102330. Return to text
6. Estimates of current AI usage by firms vary widely, but uptake appears to be significant and rising. See Leland Crane, Michael Green, and Paul Soto (2025), “Measuring AI Uptake in the Workplace,” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 5). Return to text
7. These data, which track applications to the Internal Revenue Service for new Employer Identification Numbers, are available from the Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics. I focus specifically on “high-propensity applications,” which are those applications deemed by the Census Bureau to be particularly likely to result in the creation of new firms with formal employees. Return to text
8. See Francois de Soyres, Joaquin Garcia-Cabo Herrero, Nils Goernemann, Sharon Jeon, Grace Lofstrom, and Dylan Moore (2024), “Why Is the U.S. GDP Recovering Faster Than Other Advanced Economies?” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, May 17). Return to text
9. For extensive documentation and analysis of the pandemic business entry patterns, see Ryan A. Decker and John Haltiwanger (2024), “Surging Business Formation in the Pandemic: Causes and Consequences?” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Fall, pp. 249–302; and Ryan Decker and John Haltiwanger (2024), “Surging Business Formation in the Pandemic: A Brief Update,” working paper. Return to text
10. Data on employment among firms with age zero from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Business Employment Dynamics. These are annual data with a March reference period. Return to text
11. For documentation of the pandemic high-tech entry surge, see Ryan Decker and John Haltiwanger (2024), “High Tech Business Entry in the Pandemic Era,” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, April 19). For the role of high-tech industries in aggregate productivity growth, see John G. Fernald (2015), “Productivity and Potential Output before, during, and after the Great Recession,” NBER Macroeconomics Annual, vol. 29, pp. 1–51. Return to text
12. The relevant literature is vast. For example, see Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger, Adriana Kugler, and Maurice Kugler (2004), “The Effects of Structural Reforms on Productivity and Profitability Enhancing Reallocation: Evidence from Colombia,” Journal of Development Economics, vol. 75 (December), pp. 333–71; Titan Alon, David Berger, Robert Dent, and Benjamin Pugsley (2018), “Older and Slower: The Startup Deficit’s Lasting Effects on Productivity Growth,” Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 93 (January), pp. 68–85; and Ryan Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron Jarmin, and Javier Miranda (2014), “The Role of Entrepreneurship in US Job Creation and Economic Dynamism,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 28 (Summer), pp. 3–24. Return to text
13. See Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit, Harun Alp, Nicholas Bloom, and William Kerr (2018), “Innovation, Reallocation, and Growth,” American Economic Review, vol. 108 (November), pp. 3450–91; and Vincent Sterk, Petr Sedlacek, and Benjamin Pugsley (2021), “The Nature of Firm Growth,” American Economic Review, vol. 111 (February), pp. 547–79. Return to text
14. See Lucia Foster, Cheryl Grim, John C. Haltiwanger, and Zoltan Wolf (2021), “Innovation, Productivity Dispersion, and Productivity Growth,” in Carol Corrado, Jonathan Haskel, Javier Miranda, and Daniel Sichel, eds., Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). Return to text
15. Entry rates are measured as new firms as a share of all firms for 2021–22 (average) from the Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics; the Census Bureau data report entry rates for core-based statistical areas. Return to text
16. The 5 Florida cities in the top 20 are Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin. Return to text
17. I measure the pre-pandemic decade using average firm entry rates for 2010–19. The 8 Florida cities in the top 20 are Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Wildwood-The Villages, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Naples-Marco Island, North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, and Jacksonville. Return to text
18. See, for example, David Autor, William Kerr, and Adriana Kugler (2007), “Do Employment Protections Reduce Productivity? Evidence from U.S. States,” Economic Journal, vol. 117 (June), pp. F189–F217; and Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger, Adriana Kugler, and Maurice Kugler (2004), “The Effects of Structural Reforms on Productivity and Profitability Enhancing Reallocation: Evidence from Colombia,” Journal of Development Economics, vol. 75 (December), pp. 333–71. Return to text
19. Data from the 2023 American Community Survey. Return to text
20. Analysis by Robert Fairlie using Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey data reported in Ruth Simon (2024), “Latinos Are Starting U.S. Businesses at a Torrid Pace,” Wall Street Journal, March 26. Return to text
21. See Sari Pekkala Kerr and William Kerr (2020), “Immigrant Entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the Survey of Business Owners 2007 & 2012,” Research Policy, vol. 49 (April), 103918. Return to text

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