U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct. The agency is proposing to subsidize liability insurance for state and local officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws, according to a planning document published Friday. ICE’s partnerships with local departments have soared since President Donald Trump to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it is temporarily pausing construction of a contentious border construction project in Texas' Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits to do an “on-the-ground evaluation. ”The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say it is marring the area's pristine environment. They argue the region’s rugged and remote terrain as a...

NEW YORK (AP) — U. S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Monday. The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4. 2%, up from 3. 6% the year before. That’s an estimated 155,000 children nationally during the 2025-2026 school year. It’s the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has reached a new record, and the vast are U...