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US to close watchdog office for federal immigration detention abuses

2026-05-05T22:50:50.877Z / Reuters

By Kanishka Singh

May 5, 2026 10:50 PM UTC Updated 34 mins ago

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Item 1 of 2 Leqaa Kordia shouts slogans calling for freedom for Palestinians outside City Hall after speaking to the media, following her return home after more than one year in ICE detention in Texas, at City Hall, Paterson, New Jersey, U.S., March 22, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

[1/2]Leqaa Kordia shouts slogans calling for freedom for Palestinians outside City Hall after speaking to the media, following her return home after more than one year in ICE detention in Texas, at City Hall, Paterson, New Jersey, U.S., March 22, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – A U.S. watchdog office for federal detention abuses was being closed, President Donald Trump’s administration said on Tuesday.

Here are ​some details:

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• The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which was gutted ‌last year when Trump targeted oversight offices, is now being closed, the Department of Homeland Security said.
• “DHS did not shut down the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman – Congress ​did. The House passed the DHS appropriations bill without objection, and ​it was signed into law last week,” the DHS said.
• The bill, opens new tab ⁠that ended a long DHS shutdown did not mandate the office’s ​closure, first reported by the HuffPost.
• The office reviewed abuse and misconduct in ​the immigration detention system. Its page on DHS’s website appeared as “Archived Content” on Tuesday.
• Trump has cracked down on immigration.
• Trump says his immigration crackdown aims to improve domestic security ​and curb illegal immigration.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and Trump’s deportation ​drive have been condemned by human-rights advocates.
• Rights groups say such actions violate due process ‌and ⁠free speech and create an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.
• Rights advocates have raised concerns about ICE detention conditions.
• At least 18 deaths have been reported in ICE custody through the first four months of 2026, following 31 ​deaths last year, ​a two-decade high.
• Detention ⁠cases that sparked criticism from rights groups were the one-year detention of Palestinian American woman Leqaa Kordia, who suffered ​a seizure in detention and said she was ​chained during ⁠hospitalization.
• Another such case was the detention of Hayam El Gamal and her five children aged 5 to 18, who each reported health deterioration.
• Kordia, who lost ⁠175 family ​members during Israel’s assault on Gaza, and the ​El Gamal family, have been released.
• The government denies mistreatment, saying detainees are allowed medical care ​and due process.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis

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EEOC sues New York Times, alleging discrimination against White male worker

May 5, 2026 4:49 PM EDT / CBS News

By Megan Cerullo

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting. Read Full Bio

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging the media company violated federal law by failing to consider a White male employee for promotion.

According to the EEOC, the Times did not promote the worker because of his race or gender, which the agency argues violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

“No one is above the law — including ‘elite’ institutions. There is no such thing as ‘reverse discrimination’; all race or sex discrimination is equally unlawful, according to long-established civil rights principles,” EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in a statement.

“Federal law is clear: making hiring or promotion decisions motivated in whole or in part by race or sex violates federal law. There is no diversity exception to this rule,” she added.

“Politically motivated” attack?

Danielle Rhoades Ha, senior vice president of communications at the New York Times, dismissed the EEOC suit.

“The New York Times categorically rejects the politically motivated allegations brought by the Trump administration’s EEOC,” she said in a statement. “Our employment practices are merit-based and focused on recruiting and promoting the best talent in the world. We will defend ourselves vigorously.”

The employee, whom the commission described as a longtime editor at the paper with extensive experience covering the real estate sector, was not selected last year as a finalist to fill an open editorial position, according to the EEOC.

The person hired for the role was an external candidate, the agency said, describing the person as a “White female with little to no experience in real estate journalism, despite such experience being a requirement for the real estate editor position.”

The EEOC suit follows the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in both the public and private sectors.

The commission said earlier this year that it was investigating sports apparel and equipment maker Nike over allegations of discrimination against White workers in hiring, promotion, workplace development and layoffs.

Edited by Alain Sherter

Manhunt for retired special forces soldier accused of shooting wife enters 5th day in Tennessee

May 5, 2026 7:02 PM EDT / CBS News

By Jordan Freiman

An intense manhunt for a retired special forces soldier accused of shooting his wife entered its fifth day Tuesday, as authorities continue to scour a section of northern Tennessee.

Authorities say Craig Berry, who is facing an attempted murder charge, fled into the woods. He is described by the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office as having “extensive training in survival tactics.”

“He is an excellent swimmer and diver, and is in good physical shape,” the sheriff’s office said, and noted he is familiar with the area in which he disappeared.

An image captured by a trail cam that is believed to show Craig Berry on May 1, 2026. Stewart County Sheriff’s Office

The sheriff’s office said Berry is armed and believed to be carrying extra ammunition. He was wearing camouflage clothing when he was spotted on a nearby trail camera several days ago, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said it doesn’t believe Berry has a phone, but investigators also haven’t ruled out the possibility that he has received outside help after the alleged shooting.

An undated photo of Craig Berry, who is wanted on attempted murder charges in the shooting of his wife. Stewart County Sheriff’s Office

The sheriff’s office said it is working with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and plans to conduct a “very detailed search” of an area on the eastern side of Kentucky Lake this week.

Stewart County Sheriff Frankie Gray said finding Berry could be a “lengthy process.”

Berry has been on the run since the early morning hours of May 1, when deputies responded to a report that Berry’s wife had been shot during a domestic dispute. She was hospitalized at the time, and her condition Tuesday was unclear.

Stewart County is located along the border with Kentucky, some 75 miles northeast of Nashville.

FDA authorizes first fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in US amid political pressure

May 5, 2026 11:21 PM UTC / Reuters

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Item 1 of 2 A man uses an e-cigarette on Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

[1/2]A man uses an e-cigarette on Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper Purchase Licensing Rights

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May 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday allowed the marketing of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in a first ​authorization of non-tobacco-flavored vaping products, amid mounting political ‌pressure on the agency.

The authorized pods from Los Angeles-based Glas Inc, a small vape maker that uses technology to age-gate its ​devices, include flavors such as Classic Menthol, Fresh ​Menthol, Gold and Sapphire, the FDA said.

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“The FDA’s rigorous, ⁠scientific review of these products found that the ​applicant sufficiently demonstrated that Glas’s device access restriction technology, combined ​with FDA-required marketing restrictions, is expected to effectively mitigate the ability of youth to use the product,” the regulator said.

Earlier in the ​day, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald ​Trump over the weekend rebuked FDA Commissioner Marty Makary for not ‌moving ⁠quickly enough to approve flavored vapes and nicotine products.

U.S. regulators have avoided granting licenses to vapes, and the FDA has said it would continue to require a heavy ​burden of evidence ​of benefits ⁠to smokers for vape flavors that also have strong appeal to youth, such as ​fruit or candy flavors.

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However, earlier this year, the ​agency tweaked ⁠its strict approach to flavored vapes, a shift that follows intensifying tobacco industry lobbying and political pressure to allow ⁠more ​products to market.

With the latest decision, ​the FDA has now authorized 45 e-cigarette products for sale in the ​U.S.

Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

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Accused correspondents’ dinner shooter Cole Allen charged with assaulting a federal officer

May 5, 2026 / 4:45 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Accused White House Correspondents’ Dinner attacker Cole Allen is now facing charges of assaulting a federal officer.

Allen was formally indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on four charges, including three counts that he was charged with through a criminal complaint last week — attempting to assassinate President Trump and two firearm charges — and a new count of assault on a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon.

Federal prosecutors charged Allen in the hours after the attempted attack at the annual press gala in Washington, D.C., but had not presented the charges to a grand jury to secure an indictment until Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege on April 25, Allen — armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives —attempted to break through a security checkpoint one story above the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where Mr. Trump, top administration officials and members of the press corps were dining.

The indictment also accuses Allen of assaulting a federal officer referred to as V.G. with a shotgun. Law enforcement officials have alleged thatAllen shot at a uniformed Secret Service officer who was hit on his protective vest by buckshot. The officer was not seriously hurt.

Allen, 31, has not yet entered a plea and is set to be arraigned on May 11. Allen’s legal team agreed that he will remain detained as pre-trial proceedings play out.

His case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated to the post by Mr. Trump in 2017.

On Monday, a federal magistrate judge in D.C. criticized Allen’s treatment in the jail where he is being held, saying he was “very troubled” by the conditions he was subjected to. The magistrate, Zia Faruqui, apologized to the suspect for issues in his first week of detention.

Lawyers for Allen said he was placed on suicide watch shortly after arriving at jail last week, meaning he was held in a padded cell with the lights on constantly and no access to a phone or tablet. A day later, he was downgraded to suicide precautions, which still sharply limited his access to a phone and ability to leave his cell, his lawyers said.

On Friday, Allen’s lawyers said he was reassessed and deemed not to be a risk, but was still held in a form of protective custody that resulted in him being held separately.

US adds officer-assault charge against suspect in Trump assassination attempt

May 5, 2026 8:09 PM UTC / Reuters

By Andrew Goudsward

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[1/2]Cole Tomas Allen, a suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner shooting, sits in the courtroom during a hearing after being charged with attempting to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump, in Washington D.C., U.S., April 30, 2026, in this courtroom sketch. … Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

• Federal grand jury returns four-count indictment against Cole Allen, including new assault charge
• Surveillance video shows Allen firing at Secret Service agent, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro says
• Allen subdued before reaching Trump and others,

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department added a charge of assault ‌on a federal officer with a deadly weapon to the case against the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton last month.

The new charge, which formally ​accuses the suspect, Cole Allen, of firing at a U.S. Secret Service agent at a ​security checkpoint, is part of a new four-count indictment returned by a federal ⁠grand jury in Washington. The other three counts are charges Allen previously faced including attempted ​assassination, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and illegal transportation of a firearm and ​ammunition across state lines.

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Prosecutors allege that Allen, 31, of California, was armed with a shotgun and a pistol when he sprinted past security in an attempt to assassinate Trump and other U.S. officials on April 25. Allen has ​not yet entered a plea on the charges.

The indictment follows confusion over whether the suspect shot the ​Secret Service agent as the gunman allegedly ran toward the ballroom, where Trump and senior members of his administration ‌were ⁠dining with roughly 2,500 journalists, politicians and others. Trump administration officials initially said Allen had fired and the agent was spared serious injury by his ballistic vest.

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But the initial set of charges against Allen did not accuse him of shooting the agent, nor was it mentioned in a court document prosecutors ​filed on April 29 ​seeking Allen’s detention.

U.S. Attorney ⁠Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington leading the investigation, released surveillance video on Thursday that she said showed Allen firing the shotgun at ​the agent, who then returned fire. Pirro told CNN in an interview ​on Sunday ⁠that a pellet that came from Allen’s shotgun recovered at the scene was intertwined with fibers from the vest of the agent.

The four-page indictment accuses Allen of using a “deadly and dangerous weapon” to “forcibly assault, intimidate ⁠and interfere” ​with the U.S. Secret Service agent while he was ​engaged in his official responsibilities.

Allen fell down and was subdued by law enforcement before he reached the ballroom, authorities have said. ​No one else was injured.

Reporting by Andrew Goudsward, Editing by Franklin Paul, David Gregorio and Daniel Wallis

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Tom Homan: “Things weren’t perfect” in Minneapolis crackdown, but ICE not backing down on mass deportations

May 5, 2026 / 6:45 PM EDT / CBS News

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Camilo Montoya-Galvez Immigration Correspondent

Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the Immigration Correspondent at CBS News, where his reporting is featured across multiple programs and platforms, including national broadcast shows, CBS News 24/7, CBSNews.com and the organization’s social media accounts.

Phoenix— In an exclusive interview with CBS News, Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar, conceded “things weren’t perfect” during the large-scale immigration enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis but stressed that the administration is not backing down from its mass deportation effort.

“Things weren’t perfect. We addressed it. We fixed it,” Homan said when asked if he believes the administration made mistakes and went too far during the Minneapolis-area crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge.

Homan said he has discussed changes and ways to improve immigration enforcement with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Todd Lyons, the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who is set to leave the agency later this month.

“I’ve had the discussions with Secretary Markwayne Mullin. He agrees. We can have mass deportations, but do it in a smarter way, which we’re doing,” Homan added during an interview in Phoenix on Tuesday during the annual Border Security Expo.

Earlier this year, Mr. Trump charged Homan with winding down the Minneapolis operation after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration agents sparked intense, bipartisan backlash.

Asked whether he believes that the ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents involved in Pretti and Good’s killings should face consequences if any wrongdoing is found, including termination, Homan said, “Yes.”

“If they violated the law, they’ve got to be held responsible,” Homan added. “When they violate policy, you’ve got to be held responsible.”

Homan said he did not want to comment further, since the government investigations into the fatal shootings remain ongoing.

A “smarter approach” to ICE arrests

Homan said the reason the public is now seeing fewer viral videos of ICE agents making arrests is because the agency has prioritized “targeted” operations focused on arresting people who have criminal records, in addition to being in the country illegally.

He noted that, since the Minneapolis operation was scaled back, Border Patrol agents have not been making seemingly random immigration stops at parking lots and public places.

Still, Homan said immigration agents will continue arresting people they find during operations if they are in the country illegally, even if they lack criminal histories and were not the original targets.

“If they’re in the country illegally, they’re not off the table,” Homan said.

In a recent interview, retired Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who led the more sweeping, controversial immigration sweeps in Minneapolis and other major cities, criticized the Trump administration’s “softer approach.” Bovino was relieved of his command following Pretti’s killing and retired from Border Patrol in March.

Homan said he did not agree with Bovino’s characterization of the shift in emphasis, calling it a “smarter approach.”

Bovino also suggested during that recent interview that the Trump administration is backing down from its mass deportation promise. Homan denied that.

“He’s wrong. He’s wrong,” he said. “Numbers prove it. Look at the numbers. Look at the numbers of arrests and removals in the past year, and you give me one year we’ve done more. Never.”

Homan said ICE and CBP have collectively carried out roughly 800,000 deportations since Mr. Trump returned to the White House.

Asked if the American public should expect large-scale, aggressive immigration crackdowns similar to the Minneapolis campaign, Homan said, “No.”

But he said “mass operations” would continue, especially in cities with so-called sanctuary policies that limit local cooperation with ICE.

“We had a historic illegal immigration crisis for four years,” Homan said. “So what’s required now? A historic mass deportation.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/border-czar-tom-homan-trump-administration-isnt-backing-down-mass-deportations/

US FDA blocked publication of COVID, shingles vaccine safety studies

2026-05-05 20:02:12 UTC / Reuters

By Padmanabhan Ananthan

May 5, 2026 8:02 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

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May 5 (Reuters) – Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration blocked the ​publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used ‌vaccines against COVID-19 and shingles, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said.

Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the ​FDA, said the studies were pulled over concerns about their conclusions.

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“The ​studies were withdrawn because the authors drew broad conclusions that ⁠were not supported by the underlying data. The FDA acted to ​protect the integrity of its scientific process and ensure that any work associated ​with the agency meets its high standards,” he said in an email to Reuters.

The withdrawal of these studies is the latest attempt by the health regulator and the administration ​to limit access to vaccines, reflecting broader policy changes under U.S. ​Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a staunch critic of vaccines.

The Trump administration has sharply ‌reduced ⁠funding for vaccine research and raised questions about vaccine safety and effectiveness under the tenure of Kennedy, who has introduced sweeping changes across federal health agencies.

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In August last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ​said it would wind ​down nearly $500 million ⁠in mRNA vaccine development, cancelling 22 federal projects overseen by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a ​government-backed funding body.

Last June, a Centers for Disease Control and ​Prevention ⁠panel backed by Kennedy voted to remove mercury-based preservative thimerosal from flu shots, despite long-standing clinical evidence of its safety.

British drugmaker GSK markets Shingrix, a vaccine for ⁠shingles, ​a painful viral infection that causes blisters and ​rashes, while Pfizer and Moderna are the leading makers of COVID-19 vaccines.

The New York Times ​first reported the move.

Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid

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To avoid risk of mines, Navy directs ships on path farther from Iran in Strait of Hormuz

May 5, 2026 / 6:00 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The U.S. military is directing commercial ships toward a route in the Strait of Hormuz farther from Iran that the Navy has spent weeks clearing. The U.S. warns that transiting the normal route could be “extremely hazardous” because of mines laid in the strait by Iran.

The notice to mariners posted the same day the U.S. began its latest effort, Project Freedom, to reopen at least part of the Strait of Hormuz. As part of the operation, forces under U.S. Central Command will coordinate with commercial ships to guide them through a cleared path in the strait.

At a briefing Tuesday, the Pentagon displayed a graphic saying Iran had laid new mines in the Strait of Hormuz on April 23. In March, CBS News reported there were about a dozen Iranian mines in the strait. That same month, the Pentagon tasked MQ-9 Reaper drones with conducting mine sweeper support throughout the critical waterway.

Cargo ships, including bulk carriers and general cargo vessels, sit at anchor offshore as a small motorboat passes in the foreground, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4 , 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi / AP

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Defense Department’s arm for collecting and analyzing satellite imagery and geospatial data, has also been tapped for mine hunting duties, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News on the condition of anonymity to discuss national security issues.

“It is already well reported that Iran has laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz, though not extensively,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told CBS News when asked how many mines are in the strait.

“We’ve been addressing this matter in past weeks, including by clearing an effective pathway ships can use to safely transit. We will continue to take steps to ensure opportunities remain for ships to complete their journeys safely,” Hawkins said in the statement.

When it was reported in March that Iran had laid mines, President Trump denied the U.S. had any knowledge of it, saying, “we have no reports of them doing so.” The Pentagon also said at the time there was “no clear evidence” that mines had been dropped in the strait, but in recent days, the administration has acknowledged the presence of some mines.

“I don’t know if people appreciate how outrageous this is,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday at a White House briefing. “That any country would try to fire at, to sink commercial vessels or put mines in the water — both of these things are illegal.”

On April 24, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran that laying any more mines would constitute a violation of the ceasefire.

“If there’s attempts to lay – recklessly and irresponsibly – lay more mines, we’re going to deal with that. It’s a violation of the ceasefire,” Hegseth said.

On Tuesday, when asked about the threat of mines, Hegseth said, “If there are mines identified, it would be something that our — some of our units could undertake or the world could undertake. But right now, we know we have a lane of safe passage that commercial shipping can flow through.”

So far, two U.S. commercial ships have left the Persian Gulf since Project Freedom began. That’s a small fraction of the 1,550 commercial vessels Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said have been stuck in the Gulf.

Hegseth said “hundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit,” but neither Hegseth nor Caine set any expectations for how many are expected to cross in the coming days.

They both described Project Freedom as a “defensive operation” that is “temporary in duration,” separate from the bombing campaign, Operation Epic Fury. On Tuesday, Rubio said Epic Fury “is over” and “concluded.”

Iran has said its threat against the strait is a response to the bombing and will continue until the U.S. military ends its blockade on Iranian ports.