Data: Taxpayers missing out on chance to file for free

• February 20, 2025

By Elizabeth Renter, NerdWallet

Free File is a program that allows the majority of taxpayers to file their federal income tax returns for free through participating software companies. But the service remains woefully underused.

Despite 70% of taxpayers qualifying for Free File, less than 1.9% used the service in fiscal year 2023, the most recent year for which this IRS data is available, according to NerdWallet analysis. This marks a shortfall of roughly 101 million income tax filers who may have missed the opportunity to file their federal income tax returns for free that year.

Looking at the past 10 years of IRS data, Free File usage has only dipped below 2% in one year, 2017. On average, 2.3% of filers have used the service each year over the past decade and 2.2% in the previous fiscal year (2022).

Last tax season, the IRS piloted another free tax filing option: Direct File. This year, that program is available in more states and will likely impact Free File usage. For taxpayers, it opens additional opportunities to file a federal tax return at no cost. These two programs and other filing options all feature different qualification standards and potential benefits.

Note: Despite recent confusion surrounding the availability of Direct File, both this and Free File remain online and accepting federal tax filings.

Free File: What you should know

The Free File program is essentially an agreement between the IRS and private tax software companies, known collectively as Free File Inc., formerly known as the Free File Alliance. Companies within this alliance offer taxpayers the opportunity to file their federal returns at no cost if they meet certain requirements. Each year, the income standards are set to ensure that 70% of federal taxpayers qualify for the program.

For the current tax filing season, filers who had an adjusted gross income of $84,000 or less in 2024 qualify for the program. Tax software providers in the program may have additional stipulations, however, and not all offer state income tax return filing. The IRS Free File search tool can help taxpayers determine if they qualify and send them to the appropriate software websites.

Direct File may also be available in your state

The newer IRS Direct File program bypasses the use of private software providers altogether, allowing taxpayers to file their federal returns directly with the government agency. The program is free, but currently only available in 25 states.

The income limits are $200,000 or less for single filers with one employer or $168,600 or less for those with multiple employers. For married couples filing jointly, combined wages must be $250,000 or less, and neither spouse can exceed the single filer thresholds on their own. For those married filing separately, the threshold is $125,000 or less.

Because Direct File doesn’t support itemized deductions and many IRS forms, it is most appropriate for people with simple returns. The service doesn’t support state filing, so it will direct you to your state’s free filing tool once your federal return is complete.

» MORE: Direct File eligibility details

Beware of “free” tax software

No one wants to pay for things they can get for free, but taxpayers should be cautious when looking into various free filing options. Both Free File and Direct File are reputable choices for those who qualify, but some tax software providers offer “free versions” that aren’t necessarily governed by the same rules.

» MORE: Additional free filing options

To ensure you’re taking advantage of the official programs, access them through IRS.gov. And if you don’t qualify for Free File or Direct File, read carefully about what’s included in the tax software program you sign up to use. Some additional costs may be warranted — such as those for certain forms — whereas others are entirely optional, such as audit protection or access to a tax professional.

Elizabeth Renter writes for NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @elizabethrenter.

The article Data: Taxpayers Missing Out on Chance to File for Free originally appeared on NerdWallet.

​ Orange County Register 

The 45 companies on the MAGA anti-DEI hit list

• February 20, 2025

By Jeff Green, Bloomberg News

For President Donald Trump’s operatives seeking corporate targets to investigate for “illegal DEI,” conservative activists have already done the legwork and drawn up a list.

From Amazon.com Inc. to Yum! Brands Inc., 45 companies with a combined market value of almost $10 trillion have been attacked for their DEI efforts in the past three years by groups led by Stephen Miller, now the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, and anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum. Corporate lawyers and advisers are now poring over the list for clues as to which companies may eventually end up being investigated by the government.

Corporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, many of which were implemented less than five years ago when companies rushed to address historic inequities after the murder of George Floyd by a White police officer, are now in sharp focus as the new administration moves to dismantle DEI. The Justice Department, which is preparing a report by March 1 identifying steps to deter the use of “discriminatory” DEI programs in the private sector, has even threatened criminal investigations.

The department didn’t respond to requests for comment on its plans. One of Trump’s initial orders regarding DEI asked agency heads to identify up to nine companies or other entitities that might be practicing “illegal DEI.” The order stated that DEI policies aimed at boosting underrepresented groups can violate federal civil-rights laws.

‘Target-rich’

Companies spotlighted in recent lawsuits and complaints are a good indication of “who they’re going to go after,” said Michael Elkins, who represents businesses on employment law issues as founder and partner at MLE Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “They have a blueprint.”

Miller and Blum’s groups highlighted what they described as “unlawful” practices at the 45 companies, including hiring based on gender or race, scholarships based on race, and funding for startups owned by underrepresented groups.

“This is a target-rich environment,” said Blum, whose lawsuits helped convince the U.S. Supreme Court to end affirmative action in college admissions in 2023 and supercharged right-leaning groups’ assault on DEI in corporate America. Companies are exposing themselves to risk by keeping their DEI programs, he said.

Blum wouldn’t discuss whether he had direct conversations with administration officials, but said companies should be “mindful” of this government and end practices that are “actionable in court, and unpopular and polarizing.” He is pursuing companies including American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co., and last month won a settlement with McDonald’s Corp.

Lawsuits, complaints

Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck said he’s in touch with administration officials and plans to “report any evidence of illegal discrimination against any race or sex we find.” Starbuck, who wouldn’t give details about his contact with the government, has claimed credit for DEI rollbacks at more than 15 companies, including Walmart Inc., the world’s biggest retailer.

Miller’s group, America First Legal, has been the most active in its pursuit of company DEI programs that it says discriminates against White men. AFL has filed more than half a dozen lawsuits and more than 30 requests for federal or state investigations of companies.

It says that race, sex and national origin aren’t supposed to be “a motivating factor in employment practice,” according to Reed Rubinstein, senior vice president at America First Legal. The Trump administration used similar language in a Feb. 5 memo clarifying instructions to agency heads on how to identify prohibited DEI.

Most of AFL’s complaints against DEI practices at companies such as Walt Disney Co., Nike Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. were sent to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws. The companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

DEI retreat

Already, consulting firms Accenture Plc, Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. and Deloitte have abandoned their diversity goals, citing Trump’s executive order banning diversity efforts at federal contractors. Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc., both government contractors, said they’re preparing to comply with the order.

Companies should be wary of making dramatic changes in DEI policy, even if they have been called out in the past, said Aaron Goldstein, an employment law partner at Dorsey & Whitney’s Seattle office. He said he has clients who have been attacked by conservative groups, but wouldn’t comment on whether they are on AFL’s list.

The Trump administration will likely go after companies that are high profile and have made strong statements in support of DEI in the past, he said. The best a company can do is examine both external and internal communications — and be prepared.

“If you go running from DEI in a very public way, after having embraced it over the last three years, you might be hit by traffic going both ways,” Goldstein said. “The worst thing that can happen to a company is: You’re still on that list, but you’ve lost all your good faith and credibility with folks on the other side of these issues.”

Companies with outstanding lawsuits

• Ally Financial Inc.
• Amazon.com Inc.
• American Airlines Group Inc.
• Bally’s Corp.
• Expedia Group Inc.
• International Business Machines Corp.
• Meta Platforms Inc.
• Paramount Global (multiple)
• Progressive Corp
• Southwest Airlines Co.
• Target Corp.

Source: America First Legal, American Alliance for Equal Rights

Companies with federal or state complaints made

• Alaska Air Group Inc.
• Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV
• BlackRock Inc.
• Crowdstrike Holdings Inc.
• Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc.
• Hasbro Inc.
• Hershey Co
• Hy-Vee Inc.
• Kellanova
• Kontoor Brands Inc.
• Lyft Inc.
• Macy’s Inc.
• Major League Baseball
• Mars Inc.
• Mattel Inc.
• McDonald’s Corp.
• Microsoft Corp. (Activision)
• Morgan Stanley
• Nascar
• National Football League
• Nike Inc.
• Nordstrom Inc.
• PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
• Salesforce Inc.
• Sanofi SA
• Shake Shack Inc.
• Smithfield Foods Inc.
• Starbucks Corp.
• Twilio Inc.
• Tyson Foods Inc.
• Unilever PLC
• Walt Disney Co
• Williams-Sonoma Inc.
• Yum! Brands Inc.

Source: America First Legal

(With assistance from Gerson Freitas Jr., Jaewon Kang, Brody Ford, Sabah Meddings, Mary Schlangenstein, Deena Shanker, Matt Day, Silla Brush, Andrew Martin, Natalie Lung, Jeannette Neumann, Thomas Buckley and Alexandre Rajbhandari.)

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Experts give up hope for 157 false killer whales stranded on a beach in Australia’s Tasmania state

• February 20, 2025

By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Marine experts have given up hope of rescuing more than 150 false killer whales that stranded on a remote beach on Australia’s island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday.

Experts including veterinarians were at the scene near the Arthur River on Tasmania’s northwestern coast where 157 whales were discovered on an exposed surf beach on Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said.

Unfavorable ocean and weather conditions, which prevented the whales from being rescued on Wednesday, were forecast to persist for days, incident controller Shelley Graham said.

“We have been out in the water this morning and have relocated and attempted to refloat two whales but didn’t have success as the ocean conditions weren’t allowing the animals to get past the break. The animals are continuously restranding,” Graham said in a statement.

Marine biologist Kris Carlyon said the survivors would be euthanized.

“The longer these animals are out stranded, the longer they are suffering. All alternative options have been unsuccessful,” Carlyon said.

The department said there were 136 survivors on Wednesday morning but that assessment was revised down to 90 within a few hours.

The inaccessibility of the beach, ocean conditions and challenges to getting specialist equipment to the remote area complicated the response.

The young whales weighed as little as 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), while the adults weighed 3 metric tons (3.3 U.S. tons). Despite their name, false killer whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family.

Department liaison officer Brendon Clark said the stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania in since 1974. That was a pod of more than 160 whales that landed on a beach near Stanley on the northwest coast. Strandings in Tasmania are usually pilot whales.

Clark declined to speculate on why the latest pod might have stranded. Carcasses of dead whales would be examined for clues, he said.

A helicopter reconnaissance on Tuesday afternoon determined that there were no other whales within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the stranded pod, he said.

Some could have been stranded for as long as 48 hours by early Wednesday.

Arthur River resident Jocelyn Flint said her son had discovered the stranded whales around midnight while fishing for shark.

She said she had gone to the scene in the dark hours of the morning and returned after dawn but the whales were too big to be refloated.

“The water was surging right up and they were thrashing. They’re just dying, they’ve sunk down in the sand,” Flint said Wednesday morning. “I think it’s too late.

“There are little babies. Up one end, there’s a lot of big ones. It’s sad,” she added.

In 2022, 230 pilot whales stranded further south on the west coast at Macquarie Harbor.

The largest mass stranding in Australian history occurred in the same harbor in 2020 when 470 long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars. Most of the beached whales died on both occasions.

The reasons for the beachings are unclear. Reasons could include disorientation caused by loud noises, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County Water District’s $10,000 party proposal tabled, may be scaled back

• February 20, 2025

One might be forgiven for confusing the board meeting room for an elementary school playground: “I support first responders.” “Well, I support first responders more!”

On Wednesday evening, the Orange County Water District’s governing board spent more than a half-hour debating whether to spend up to $10,000 on a “First Responder Appreciation Luncheon to express our gratitude and strengthen relationships.”

But, as manager of the groundwater basin, OCWD doesn’t directly supply or work with first responders.

And over the past 10 or 15 years, there have been just nine or 10 incidents requiring first responder intervention. None resulted in arrests, and there’s a security wall around OCWD’s campus with its own 24-hour security at the gate.

“I’ll be the first to say I support first responders 100%,” said Stephen Sheldon, representing Irvine, Newport Beach and Tustin. But in the current political environment — where arguably critical government functions are labeled wasteful — “I feel this expense is not appropriate,” he said. “We can find other ways to do this.”

Board member Fred Jung, the mayor of Fullerton, agreed, noting that OCWD could buy folks steak and a bottle of wine for what they’d be spending. “I don’t find the expense consistent with what we’re trying to do here,” said Jung, adding that he supported first responders but felt OCWD should be respectful of ratepayers and taxpayers as well.

“Do you really support first responders? Do you really?” asked Valerie Amezcua, Santa Ana’s mayor. “We are all running out. They are running in.”

Sheldon shot back with, essentially, don’t judge my heart and one can’t buy one’s way into heaven. Just because you spend money doesn’t mean you support first responders, he said.

Cathy Green, representing Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley, who modeled the luncheon idea after a similar event at Moulton Niguel Water District, said there was nothing nefarious about it and that many first responders are simply unfamiliar with OCWD’s campus. There are many chemicals there and staffers might have to guide police and/or firefighters to the site of an emergency. The luncheon would serve the dual purpose of showing appreciation to staffers and familiarizing emergency workers with the campus.

It might be worth noting here that the district was founded 92 years ago, in 1933. Anyway, in the end — after noting that they spent more time discussing a $10,000 allocation than the many millions of dollars worth of projects on the consent calendar — the board decided to table the luncheon proposal while staffers consider scaling back the expense and (perhaps) breadth of the event. They might focus on Fountain Valley first responders, who’d be most likely to be first on the scene of an emergency.

OCWD supplies water to 19 cities and special districts in north and central O.C., including Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Westminster. A particularly snarky reader wondered if first responders should actually be feting OCWD — after all, we live in a semi-desert and they all drink water, don’t they?

​ Orange County Register 

LAFC acquires Turkish midfielder Cengiz Ünder

• February 20, 2025

Los Angeles Football Club supporters could see something this year that they have not since Steve Cherundolo took over as head coach prior to the 2022 season.

Two days before kicking off the 2025 Major League Soccer schedule at home against Minnesota United, LAFC announced the acquisition of Turkish forward Cengiz Ünder on loan from Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe.

Ünder joins Denis Bouanga and Olivier Giroud as the club’s Designated Players — each of whom have salaries higher than the league’s maximum salary budget charge. Not since 2021, when Carlos Vela, Diego Rossi and Brian Rodriguez were under contract, has LAFC featured a trio of DP attackers.

“I look forward to playing in front of the Los Angeles fans and representing the inclusive culture of the club,” Ünder said in a statement on Thursday. “I know that L.A. is home to many ethnicities and that LAFC has a multicultural fan base, including many Armenians. I am a professional who enjoys the game of football and believes in its unifying power; I have played in England, Italy and France and have shared my joys and sorrows with teammates, fans, and other community members of many different ethnicities, which I will continue to do in L.A. I know that our fans are aware of the unifying power of sports, and I hope we can embrace each other.”

Ünder was named the Turkish Footballer of the Year in 2018. The 27-year-old right winger has 66 goals and 46 assists as a professional. For the Turkish national team, Ünder scored 16 times and added 10 assists in 51 caps.

Beginning his career with Turkey’s Altinordu in 2014, Ünder went on to play for AS Roma, Leicester City and Olympique de Marseille before moving to Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of 15 million euros. He made 42 appearances for Fenerbahçe including 20 starts, recording nine goals and three assists with the Turkish side.

“Cengiz is a top-quality player with experience at the highest levels of international competition,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said in a statement announcing the loan. “He has proven himself in some of the best leagues in the world and his attacking abilities will contribute to our success in 2025.”

Expiring on June 30, the loan includes a purchase option that gives LAFC room to maneuver as it seeks to sign French star Antoine Griezmann during the secondary transfer window (July 24-Aug. 21).

​ Orange County Register 

Trump team plans deep cuts at office that funds recovery from major disasters, including wildfires

• February 20, 2025

The Trump administration plans to all but eliminate the office that oversees America’s recovery from the largest disasters, raising questions about how the United States will rebuild from hurricanes, wildfires and other calamities made worse by climate change.

The Office of Community Planning and Development, part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, pays to rebuild homes and other recovery efforts after the country’s worst disasters, such as Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Hurricane Milton in Florida.

The administration plans to cut the staff in that office by 84%, according to a document obtained by The New York Times. The number of workers would be cut to 150, from 936 when President Donald Trump took office last month.

Those cuts could slow the distribution of recovery money to North Carolina and other recent disasters, depending how quickly they happen.

“HUD is carrying out President Trump’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to serve the American people at the highest standard,” a spokesperson for the department, Kasey Lovett, said in an initial statement.

In an additional statement, Lovett wrote: “Disaster recovery efforts are a top priority and will not be impacted. HUD’s mission to serve all communities — especially following tragedies — remains unchanged.”

The primary responsibility for rebuilding communities after major disasters falls to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which helps state and local governments pay to repair or rebuild damaged roads, bridges, schools, water treatment plants and other public infrastructure. The agency also provides money to help repair damaged homes.

But some disasters are so big that they exceed FEMA’s funding, or the damage doesn’t fit neatly within FEMA’s programs. When that happens, Congress can choose to provide additional help, through a program at HUD called the Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery.

That extra help from Congress can involve far greater sums than what FEMA can provide. In 2006, for example, Congress provided almost $17 billion to rebuild the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. After Hurricane Sandy, Congress gave HUD more than $15 billion to help rebuild the Northeast.

As disasters have grown more frequent and severe, HUD’s disaster recovery program has become central to the country’s strategy for coping with climate change. During the 1990s, Congress typically gave the program a few hundred million dollars a year. Over the past decade, by contrast, Congress has often provided billions or even tens of billions annually.

HUD’s disaster recovery money also comes with fewer strings attached. The money is largely used to rebuild homes that were either uninsured or underinsured, which FEMA does not pay for. It also goes toward rebuilding infrastructure that’s not covered by FEMA, like the private roads and bridges that were significantly damaged by Helene in North Carolina.

The money can also be used for job training, to help workers whose employers went out of business after a disaster.

Because state and local officials are often overwhelmed by a disaster, and because the influx of federal funds is large and quick, one of HUD’s main jobs is ensuring the money isn’t lost to waste, fraud or abuse. That includes tasks like helping state and local governments set up systems to avoid paying contractors twice, according to a former official who worked on the program. It can also mean more complicated tasks like coordinating HUD’s grants with other federal disaster programs.

HUD’s community planning and development office was already stretched thin, especially as large-scale disasters have become more frequent. On average, the HUD employees who manage disaster grants are each responsible for overseeing about $1 billion in grants, according to an official who worked in the office.

Deep cuts to staffing levels would make it harder for HUD to prevent fraud, waste and abuse, according to two former officials familiar with the program who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. The cuts are being dictated by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, whose stated goal is to reduce fraud, waste and abuse.

The community planning and development office is responsible for managing other spending programs beyond disaster recovery. Those include paying for infrastructure upgrades like sewers and sidewalks, affordable housing projects and programs like Meals on Wheels.

​ Orange County Register 

In the Trump administration, nearly every major department is an immigration agency

• February 20, 2025

By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Drug Enforcement Administration agents touting immigration arrests, IRS agents poring over documents, the military escorting deportation flights. As the Trump administration works on the president’s pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out mass deportations, the flurry of activity has stretched across the federal government — well beyond the Department of Homeland Security, the traditional home to most immigration and border security functions.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping promises have translated into a whole-of-government approach for immigration enforcement. In other words, nearly every major Cabinet agency is an immigration agency in Trump’s government.

The departments of State, Defense and Justice have made immigration a clear priority in their work and public messaging. Parts of the departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services have been involved. And the reach and focus on immigration are only expected to grow, with the Republican president late Wednesday signing an executive order aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the U.S. illegally.

“The breadth of what is happening in these first couple of weeks is much wider than we saw during the first Trump administration,” said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute.

Here’s a look at how immigration enforcement is playing out across the federal government.

Immigration as a State Department priority

Trump has promised “mass deportations,” which means not only arresting as many people in the U.S. illegally as possible but also figuring out how to remove them from the country.

That’s where the State Department comes in.

Marco Rubio’s first international trip as secretary of state was to Central America, and he came away with deals for Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador to accept deportees from other nations. That helps officials address a key barrier: Many countries don’t take back their citizens when deported.

Other issues were part of Rubio’s trip — Chinese influence on the Panama Canal, for example — but migration was at the top of his agenda.

Tom Warrick, a former top DHS counterterrorism official who’s now at the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank, said that wasn’t always the case.

“For DHS, for ICE in particular, it’s, ‘What do you need foreign countries to do? OK. State Department, it’s now your requirement to go out and make that your top priority,’” he said.

Trump’s pick for Rubio’s deputy, Christopher Landau, was ambassador to Mexico from 2019 to 2021 and played a key role in implementing the Remain in Mexico policy, and, like Rubio, speaks fluent Spanish.

That’s another sign of immigration’s importance, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for less immigration.

“Just the fact that the two of them are the No. 1 and 2 people in the State Department suggests the administration’s refocus on our own backyard,” Krikorian said. “And immigration control is a big part of that.”

And from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, 600 agents were deputized Tuesday by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to assist in “arresting and deporting” people in the country illegally.

A ramped-up military role

The Defense Department has played a border security role since the administration of George W. Bush, with active-duty and National Guard troops sent to the U.S.-Mexico border to back up Border Patrol agents.

But this administration has taken early high-profile steps that go further.

The Pentagon has beefed up the number of troops at the border and promised more. Instead of relying solely on Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights, Air Force planes have been used to carry out 26 deportation flights — a rare step.

In his first trip as secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth visited troops on the border and said all department assets were on the table to assist. That includes Guantanamo Bay, where officials have sent 13 deportation flights of migrants they call “the worst of the worst” — though they’ve given little information about their identities or any crimes.

The administration’s Jan. 20 executive orders outline other possible changes for the Defense Department.

Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border indicates he may redirect money for border wall construction, something he did during his first term. And he gave Hegseth and Noem 90 days for recommendations on what’s needed to take complete control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. That would allow officials to circumvent rules limiting military involvement in civilian law-enforcement duties.

Warrick said the general public has largely been OK with the Pentagon taking part “behind the scenes,” but that might change if the role becomes more visible.

“There’s a very clear line that exists in the mind of the American people who do not want to see uniformed military people arresting migrants, especially in their homes and and schools and houses of worship,” Warrick said.

Justice Department and ‘sanctuary cities’

A few days after being sworn into office, Attorney General Pam Bondi took aim at what the administration considers a key impediment: cities and states that don’t work with immigration enforcement to identify and deport people in the country illegally. These are often called sanctuary cities.

Bondi announced a lawsuit targeting New York’s attorney general and governor over a state law allowing people who might not be in the U.S. legally to get driver’s licenses. Days earlier, another Justice Department lawsuit targeted Chicago and Illinois, alleging that their “sanctuary” laws ” thwart federal efforts.

“This is a new DOJ,” said Bondi, appearing with Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter Kayla was killed in 2022 by a man who entered the U.S. illegally from El Salvador.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Drug Enforcement Administration have taken part in high-profile ICE operations to find and arrest migrants in the country illegally.

Putzel-Kavanaugh said those agencies used to play roles in line with their priorities, such as pursuing a drug charge. Now, it’s a “much more highly publicized and much more singularly focused agenda for the DOJ,” she said.

The administration also has tapped the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons to hold detained migrants, beefing up Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention capacity.

Other departments are involved, too

Even the Internal Revenue Service has been brought in as part of immigration enforcement — Noem asked the arm of the Treasury Department to help target employers engaged in unlawful hiring practices and to monitor immigrants in the country illegally.

And the administration this week suspended a program run out of the Department of Health and Human Services that provides legal services to migrant children traveling alone.

What might be next?

Krikorian said he’s looking for the Department of Labor to take on a greater role, especially as worksite enforcement becomes a bigger administration strategy.

And for the Education Department, with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency accessing federal student loan data that includes their parents’ citizenship status, student advocates worry the administration will use that information to identify people in the country illegally.

In the executive order signed Wednesday, Trump seeks to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens,” but it wasn’t clear which benefits would be targeted. People in the country illegally generally do not qualify except for emergency medical care. Children are entitled to a free K-12 public education regardless of immigration status under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling.

The order directs all departments and agencies to identify federal benefit spending that is inconsistent with a 1996 welfare law that denies most public benefits to people in the country illegally.

Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein, Collin Binkley and Michael Sisak contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

How a haunting scream in the night helped inspire ‘The Department’

• February 20, 2025

Jacqueline Faber was a young girl when she had an experience that she would revisit while writing her debut novel, “The Department.”

The author was 7 years old when she went with her family to visit her mother’s childhood home in Salinas, California. She was sharing a bedroom with other family members when she heard something frightening.

“I remember waking up — I am a really bad sleeper — and I was awake, lying there,” Faber says. “I remember hearing a woman scream, and I looked around the room and no one stirred, no one moved. I remember thinking, ‘If she screams again, I’m going to wake somebody up.’ But she didn’t scream again, and I didn’t wake anyone up.”

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The experience stayed with her. Later, she would become interested in the 1964 Kitty Genovese case, in which a woman was murdered outside of her New York apartment. At the time, the New York Times reported that 37 people witnessed the attack, but none of them called for help — reporting that has since been debunked.

Kitty Genovese was on Faber’s mind when she wrote “The Department.” The novel follows Neil Weber, a philosophy professor at a Southern university who becomes obsessed with the disappearance of a student, Lucia Vanotti. The book switches perspectives between Neil and Lucia, both of whom are haunted by their own traumatic pasts. 

The academic setting was a natural for Faber, who earned a PhD in comparative literature from Emory University, and who taught in the Expository Writing Program at New York University, before becoming a full-time writer.

Faber talked about “The Department” via Zoom from her home in Los Angeles. This conversation has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Q. You left the world of academia to write full time. How did you make that decision?

Before you get on the PhD track, there’s this narrative in academia where they’re trying to dissuade you. They’re like, “If you can do anything else, don’t do this.” It’s like you have to choose this life of struggle. I remember when I chose to get my PhD, even at that point I was like, “I don’t know if academia is where I belong ultimately, but I am going to get paid to read and write and learn how to think better than I already think.” 

I got a grant to finish my dissertation in Berlin. I was so immersed in the work, but some part of me was putting feelers out into the world: What else might there be for me? At the same time, I’m watching all of these absolutely brilliant colleagues of mine go on the job market and not get jobs. Then I met this woman there who was a writer who worked for an innovation consultancy group, and she brought me on to some of their projects. I honestly believe if I had met anybody else out the gate, I might’ve just tried to stay in academia. But because she told me, “You can do this,” it made me feel like my instinct for storytelling and my love of language could have different homes. I wasn’t even thinking about becoming a novelist. I just thought, “I like words, I like stories. Where will this take me?”

Q. How did the initial inspiration for this story, which is set in the academic world, come to you?

I had this very strong visual image of Lucia’s face on a missing person poster. I felt almost haunted by it. I didn’t know anything about her or the story. I just was like, “Who is this girl, and why does she keep surfacing in my mind?” Initially, I thought I would just write about it from Neil’s perspective. He’s this guy who’s down on his luck; his whole life is sort of imploding, and how does this girl give him a reason for being? As I was writing him, and he was trying to investigate her life, her own voice was intruding in my mind, and then it became really clear that I needed to write her perspective as well. 

The first thing that interested me about academia [as a setting] is that college is this space with such a unique dynamic, where you have these young people coming, and they’re away from their parents usually for the first time. So they have no parental figures, and their professors become both stand-ins for that sort of authority, but also they’re exposing them to these new ideas. It feels like this radical place where boundaries are really complicated. 

Q. And Neil’s such a messy character; his life is basically in shambles. 

I love Neil. He is challenging; he is messy in so many ways. He is messy in his inability to leave the woman who has left him. He is messy in the way he’s constantly fudging these boundaries. He’ll lie to people even as he’s like, “I want to do the right thing, and therefore I can justify this lie that I’ve been called upon by the provost to conduct my own investigation here.”

But his swings and his obsessions were fun. Lucia was hard. They were both hard in certain ways; they both feel so real to me, and I feel such deep empathy towards both of them, and I wanted to be respectful of both of them. I have a deep belief about human beings, that we are very complex, contradictory things that move through the world, and we don’t hold one belief. We can hold conflicting beliefs all the time, and we can behave in ways that run counter to the way that we’d imagined we’d behave. That feels really interesting to me. That’s what I’m chasing.

​ Orange County Register