President Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly carried out one of the most successful enforcement operations in the agency’s history, arresting a staggering 1,328 illegal aliens in Virginia and Maryland in just 14 days.

The massive operation targeted communities surrounding Washington, D.C., including sanctuary-style jurisdictions where Democrat officials have restricted cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported that ICE conducted the operation from August 1 through August 14. The sweep, officially named “Operation Safe Community — Washington, D.C.,” resulted in nearly 400 illegal aliens with criminal convictions or pending criminal charges being taken into custody.

Fox News reported that the operation was described by federal sources as one of ICE’s most successful to date.

BREAKING/EXCLUSIVE: DHS tells @FoxNews that ICE has quietly carried out one of its most successful operations in agency history, resulting in the arrests of 1,328 illegal aliens in just a 14-day span in the states of Virginia & Maryland. Nearly 400 of the aliens had criminal… pic.twitter.com/ZCcWuAxxZS

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 24, 2026

Other targets reportedly included illegal aliens accused or convicted of attempted murder, rape, sexual battery, kidnapping, robbery and driving while intoxicated.

ICE did not limit the operation to aliens with criminal records. Agents arrested individuals found to be living in the United States illegally regardless of whether they had previously been convicted of another crime.

FIRST ON FOX: ICE arrests 1,328 illegal immigrants across Virginia and Maryland in a sweeping 14-day enforcement operation in the D.C. region, which federal sources describe as one of the agency’s most successful operations to date.

Nearly 400 of those arrested have criminal… pic.twitter.com/yDfOa41vJ9

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 24, 2026

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised the ICE agents responsible for the historic sweep.

“Over the course of just two weeks in Virginia and Maryland, they arrested sexual assailants, kidnappers, drunk drivers, robbers, and gang members,” Mullin told Fox News.

Mullin blasted sanctuary politicians in Virginia and Maryland for prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens and vowed that the Trump administration would continue removing illegal aliens from American communities.

The scale of the operation offers another devastating indictment of the sanctuary policies embraced by Democrat officials around the nation’s capital.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Virginia Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger used one of her first actions in office to rescind former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order requiring Virginia State Police to participate in the federal 287(g) immigration-enforcement program and assist ICE with detainer requests.

Youngkin’s order had also established a task force of federally deputized state troopers to help identify and apprehend criminal illegal aliens who posed a threat to public safety.

Spanberger dismantled that cooperation immediately after taking office, claiming state and local police should not be required to devote their resources to enforcing federal immigration laws.

The Gateway Pundit also previously reported that Spanberger walked away without answering when confronted by a reporter about whether she would cooperate with DHS and turn violent criminal illegal aliens over to federal authorities.

At the time, DHS said three of the four defendants facing murder trials in Fairfax County that year were illegal aliens. Federal officials also accused Fairfax County of refusing to honor more than 1,150 ICE detainers in recent years.

In May, The Gateway Pundit reported that Mullin said illegal aliens were responsible for roughly half of the murders in Fairfax County and directly blamed sanctuary policies for encouraging additional criminal activity.

Maryland officials have also attempted to hinder immigration enforcement.

In January 2025, The Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson confronted the Biden-era sanctuary resistance during a White House briefing, noting that the Maryland attorney general had issued guidance limiting local police cooperation with ICE.

Despite those political roadblocks, ICE agents moved into the Washington suburbs and arrested more than 1,300 illegal aliens in only two weeks.

The post ICE Quietly Nabs 1,328 Illegal Aliens in Just 14 Days in Democrat Sanctuary Suburbs Around D.C. in One of the Most Successful Operations in Agency History appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

For decades, Sweden was widely associated with liberal immigration policies and an expansive approach to multiculturalism. That model is now being reshaped.

Concerns over integration, segregation, organized crime and social cohesion have helped drive a political shift toward stricter immigration and citizenship rules. Sweden is now demanding more from people seeking citizenship: a longer period of residence, greater economic self-sufficiency, stronger standards of conduct and demonstrated knowledge of Swedish and Swedish society.

The first statistics under the new system show just how dramatically the transition has affected the processing of citizenship cases.

July’s Citizenship Numbers Show a Dramatic Slowdown

According to the Swedish Immigration Agency, 2,825 citizenship cases were decided in July. Just 98 Swedish citizenships were granted. That means grants represented approximately 3.5% of all cases decided that month.

The July figures also come as Sweden faces a substantial backlog: 103,598 citizenship cases were still open at the end of July.

That combination—far fewer grants and more than 100,000 pending cases—illustrates the scale of the administrative transition now underway.

The Immigration Agency itself says the new citizenship rules are affecting the statistics. Many cases now require additional processing connected with the new requirements, including the new knowledge requirements.

Sweden’s New Citizenship Rules

The new rules took effect on June 6, without transitional arrangements. This means that applications still awaiting a decision after June 6 are assessed under the new rules, even if they were submitted before the legislation changed.

The main change is the residency requirement.

Under the previous system, the general rule was five years of habitual residence. The new general requirement is eight years.

There are important exceptions. Nordic citizens can qualify after two years of residence through the application route, while people living with a Swedish citizen can generally qualify after seven years if additional conditions are met.

The new system also strengthens requirements concerning an applicant’s conduct. Debts and criminal convictions can affect when citizenship can be granted, with longer qualifying periods introduced for certain offences. The assessment can also take conduct outside Sweden into account.

Economic Self-Sufficiency Is Now a Requirement

One of the most significant changes is the introduction of a maintenance requirement.

Applicants generally must demonstrate that they can support themselves through their own income. For 2026, the requirement corresponds to at least three income base amounts, or SEK 250,200 per year—approximately SEK 20,850 per month before tax, or about US$26,325 per year (roughly US$2,194 per month) at current exchange rates. The income must generally come from stable employment or self-employment.

Applicants must also not have received Swedish income support for more than a total of six months during the preceding three years. Income from a partner, savings or property does not normally satisfy the requirement.

The underlying principle is straightforward: Swedish citizenship is increasingly being tied not only to years of residence, but also to demonstrable participation and self-sufficiency.

Sweden Is Introducing Citizenship Testing

The reform also introduces a formal knowledge requirement covering Swedish and Swedish society for applicants aged 16 to 66.

The testing system is being introduced in stages. The first citizenship-test component, covering knowledge of Swedish society, was scheduled to begin this month. A separate Swedish-language test is expected at a later stage.

Applicants may also demonstrate their knowledge through qualifying educational records, including certain Swedish school qualifications and approved Swedish-language studies.

In essence, applicants are increasingly expected to demonstrate language ability, knowledge of Swedish society, economic independence and responsible conduct.

Applications Have Already Been Falling

The tightening of the rules comes after several years in which the number of citizenship applications had already been declining.

The agency granted approximately 68,200 citizenships in 2023, 65,600 in 2024 and 38,800 in 2025. The sharp decline in grants in 2025 was partly attributed to additional security measures that increased the amount of processing required for individual cases.

Nordic Neighbors Still Have a Different Route

The new system does not treat every foreign national identically.

Citizens of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway benefit from separate Nordic provisions. A Nordic citizen can apply for Swedish citizenship after two years of residence, and in certain circumstances can use a simplified notification procedure after five years of residence.

Sweden’s citizenship reforms are part of a wider European debate over what citizenship should represent.

For years, the dominant question was often how quickly a long-term resident could acquire citizenship. The emerging question is different: what should an applicant have to demonstrate before becoming a full member of the political community?

Now in Sweden, eight years of residence for most applicants. Stronger conduct requirements. Economic self-sufficiency. Knowledge of Swedish society. And, increasingly, knowledge of the Swedish language.

 Sweden is redefining what it means to become Swedish.

The post Sweden Slams the Door on Citizenship: 96% of July Cases Not Approved as Only 98 Become Swedish Under Tough New Rules appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Note: The information provided here or in any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice. Gateway Pundit benefits from purchases made through our sponsors.

If you carry a balance on a credit card, you already know the math is rigged against you. The average card rate is now above 21%. Meanwhile, the bank holding your savings is probably paying you less than 1%.

They profit from the gap. You pay for it — every single month, right off the top of a fixed income.

Here’s what most people over 55 were never told, because it’s not in the bank’s interest to tell you:

You’re allowed to move your balance to a different card — one that charges 0% interest on it for an introductory period, often 15 to 21 months. 

It’s called a balance transfer, and it’s not a loophole or a gimmick. It’s a standard feature that major card issuers offer to attract new customers with good credit. The banks compete for you. Most people simply never make them do it.

What “0% intro APR” actually means, in plain English 

• You apply for a card that offers a 0% introductory rate on balance transfers.

• Once approved, you move your existing balance onto the new card (usually for a one-time fee of 3–5% of the amount moved).

• For the length of the intro period — the best offers currently run into 2027 and beyond — every dollar you pay goes to the balance itself. Not to interest.

Here’s what that’s worth in real dollars 

The average cardholder over 55 who carries a balance owes roughly $6,800. At 21% interest, that’s about $1,400 a year going to the bank in interest alone — before you’ve paid down a cent of what you actually owe.

Pause that interest for 21 months and put the same monthly payment toward the balance instead, and the typical result is thousands of dollars kept — and a balance that actually shrinks instead of treading water.

Your numbers will differ. The bigger your balance and the higher your rate, the more the pause is worth.

Who this is for — and who it isn’t 

These offers are designed for people with good to excellent credit. If you’ve kept your accounts in good standing over the years — and most people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s have the strongest credit scores of any age group — you’re exactly who the issuers are competing for.

It is not a fit if your credit has taken serious recent damage, or if you’d use the freed-up card to run up new debt.

How to see the current offers 

Card offers change frequently — intro periods, transfer fees, and end dates vary by issuer. The comparison page below is updated with the current leading 0% balance-transfer offers.

On the next page you’ll see the actual card names, the length of each 0% period, the transfer fees, and a secure application for each. Comparing takes about two minutes.

Click Here to See Today’s Top 0% Balance Transfer Cards →

The post Banks Are Charging Retirees 21% Interest – This Card Feature Pauses It to 0% Until 2028 appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

At the same time that the white male is the one demographic that one can openly mock and not be called a racist, the South has long been the butt of jokes for its lack of growth, development, and sophistication.

However, the reality is that Southern states now have the fastest-growing economies and populations and are challenging liberal states like California on multiple developmental metrics.

For the first time in modern record-keeping, six Southern states, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, are contributing more to national GDP than the entire Northeast, according to Bloomberg’s analysis of IRS data. Those six states’ combined share of national GDP reached 23.8 percent by 2022, edging past the Northeast’s 22.4 percent share.

The broader South, defined by the Census Bureau to include 16 states plus D.C., is also growing at a faster rate than the country as a whole.

Its GDP expanded at an average annual rate of 4.3 percent from 2020 to 2024, compared with 3.6 percent for the U.S. economy overall. The South’s share of national GDP climbed from 34 percent in 2019 to 35 percent in 2024, according to Visa’s regional economic analysis.

The shift has been driven by a historic transfer of wealth and people. Bloomberg’s data shows that a flood of transplants steered roughly $100 billion in new income to the Southeast in 2020 and 2021 alone, while the Northeast lost about $60 billion over the same period. The Southeast accounted for more than two-thirds of all U.S. job growth since early 2020.

Census Bureau estimates show the South’s population grew by 6 percent between 2020 and 2025, nearly double the national rate, and was the only region to add population across every age group tracked.

The region has also accounted for most of the nation’s fastest-growing counties every year since 2020.

Nine of the ten fastest-growing metro areas in the country were located in the South in each of the two most recent Census releases, with the sole exception both years being St. George, Utah.

A Brennan Center analysis projects that the South could gain nine congressional seats after the 2030 Census, its largest single-decade gain in history, driven overwhelmingly by Texas and Florida, with Georgia and North Carolina also gaining seats.

Those gains would come chiefly at the expense of California and New York, alongside smaller losses across several Midwestern and Northeastern states.

California has fallen behind on nearly every major indicator of governance under Gavin Newsom, while the South continues to improve. On education specifically, Alabama’s fourth graders now outrank California’s on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with Alabama placing 33rd to 34th nationally in reading and math, while California ranked among the bottom four states in reading, ahead of only West Virginia, New Mexico, and Alaska.

California carries the largest budget deficit in the country, while Southern states dominate business-climate rankings. Florida ranks near the top of the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index, while California ranks 48th out of 50.

Culturally, the region’s rise is visible even where it hasn’t overtaken the old centers of gravity. Georgia has built a substantial film and television production base over the past decade, anchored by studios like Trilith and Tyler Perry Studios.

Los Angeles still leads the nation with an 18.3 percent share of scripted film and TV production, more than Georgia’s 9.8 percent, according to 2024 FilmLA data.

However, LA’s share has fallen from 21.9 percent in 2022, while Georgia has made notable gains over the same period. Atlanta, with a fraction of LA’s size and none of its century of industry infrastructure, now captures more than half of LA’s output share.

Publishing and music tell a similar story of Southern concentration. Nashville has become a center of Christian and inspirational publishing, home to major houses including B&H Publishing Group, a Southern Baptist Convention imprint and one of the largest Christian publishers in the country, alongside Thomas Nelson and LifeWay. Music is a stronger case still.

Nashville’s music industry activity is as much as 30 times greater than the national average and more than 10 times greater than New York or Los Angeles, according to research from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The city’s output extends well beyond country, though country remains its signature. Nashville alone accounts for 50 percent of all U.S. country music publishing revenue. Atlanta has built a separate music economy centered on hip-hop.

The post The Rise of the New South: Economy, Population Growth, and Political Power as Blue States Cede the Top Spots appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

While globalist politicians and open-borders activists continue peddling the fairy tale that mass migration from North Africa is a “humanitarian” success story, cold hard data from Switzerland just dropped a bombshell that exposes the ugly reality.

According to an internal document from the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), over 80 percent of North African asylum seekers (primarily from Maghreb countries: Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) were accused of at least one criminal offense during their asylum process or after a negative decision in 2024.

That’s more than six-and-a-half times the rate of asylum seekers from all other countries combined, where the figure sits at a still-concerning 12.3 percent.

Only about one-fifth of these Maghreb arrivals managed to avoid any criminal accusations while in the country. The vast majority of their asylum claims are rejected—around 99 percent—yet they continue flooding in, clogging the system, and preying on Swiss communities.

Swiss authorities and experts are finally admitting what everyday Europeans have known for years: young men from the Maghreb are massively overrepresented in theft, drug dealing, and other street crimes.

Cantons have sounded the alarm for years. In places like Aargau and Thurgau, vehicle break-ins and thefts have skyrocketed, with North African asylum seekers linked to the majority of solved cases. One Swiss police spokesman noted that some of these “intensive offenders” were caught three times in a single day.

Journalist and Maghreb expert Beat Stauffer tried to soft-pedal the numbers in a recent Swiss public broadcaster interview. He claimed most of these young men don’t arrive with criminal intent. Instead, they know their asylum chances are near zero, so they game the system—filing claims to buy time, hoping to work under the table, make contacts, or find a way to stay in Europe longer.

Strategies for this are openly shared by Maghreb influencers on social media. When legal options dry up, many turn to theft and other crimes. The goal, Stauffer admits: “stay in Europe as long as possible.”

Families back home treat crime as a business venture

Parents increasingly send underage sons because minors get better treatment and more chances to linger. Everyone is expected to send money home fast—or be branded a failure. When deported, many simply try again and again. They have “nothing to lose.”

Switzerland has tried half-measures: a so-called “24-hour asylum procedure” for North Africans introduced in 2024, plans for faster detention of offenders, pre-screening to block hopeless claims, and shorter timelines between rejection and removal. Yet the crime wave continues. Deportations remain difficult—many go underground or resist identification.

This isn’t uniquely Swiss. Across Europe, data repeatedly shows the same pattern: migrants from North Africa and certain Middle Eastern and African countries are dramatically overrepresented in violent crime, theft, sexual assaults, and gang activity. Native populations pay the price in eroded safety, strained welfare systems, and rising public anger that mainstream parties ignore until elections force their hand.

The Swiss numbers shred the preferred narrative. This isn’t “poverty” or “discrimination” driving the crime. These are overwhelmingly young males who know they have almost no legal path to stay, treat asylum as a loophole, and resort to crime when the free ride ends.

Soft policies and endless second chances only incentivize more of the same. While left-leaning media and politicians clutch pearls about “xenophobia,” ordinary citizens in Swiss towns and cities are dealing with the consequences: smashed car windows, stolen goods, and a justice system that struggles to remove people who never should have been allowed in.

Switzerland is waking up

The rest of Europe—like the United States—should take note before the problem becomes irreversible. The data doesn’t care about feelings. 80 percent is not a rounding error. It’s a crime against civilization.

The post BREAKING: 80% of North African Asylum Seekers in Switzerland Accused of Crimes – Elite Media Scrambles to Explain Away the Disaster appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A CDC-linked researcher whose work was repeatedly invoked to shut down questions about vaccines and autism is expected to plead guilty in a massive federal grant-fraud case.

Poul Thorsen, a 65-year-old Danish researcher, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Atlanta on September 1 for a change-of-plea hearing, according to the official court calendar and reporting from Children’s Health Defense.

Poul Thorsen, a researcher whose work was used to reassure millions of parents that vaccines do not cause autism, is expected to plead guilty to fraud on Sept. 1.

Thorsen worked on major studies examining vaccines and autism that were cited by the CDC and became part of the… pic.twitter.com/dtYW048s8I

— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) August 24, 2026

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Kitchens confirmed that prosecutors were finalizing a plea agreement with Thorsen, although he declined to say which charges the disgraced researcher is expected to admit.

Thorsen currently faces two counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering after Germany extradited him to the United States earlier this year.

The original 2011 indictment charged Thorsen with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering.

According to the Justice Department, the CDC awarded more than $11 million to two Danish government agencies between 2000 and 2009 for research that included the relationship between vaccines and autism.

Thorsen, who previously worked as a visiting scientist at the CDC, became responsible for administering the taxpayer-funded research money in 2002.

Federal prosecutors accused Thorsen of stealing more than $1 million from the program by submitting fabricated invoices containing the forged signature of a CDC laboratory official.

Aarhus University allegedly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to accounts at the CDC Federal Credit Union that university officials believed belonged to the federal agency.

The accounts actually belonged to Thorsen.

Prosecutors allege that Thorsen used the stolen research money to purchase an Atlanta home, an Audi, a Honda, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

So much for following “the science.”

Thorsen was indicted in April 2011 but remained outside the United States for nearly 14 years. German authorities finally arrested him in Passau in June 2025 pursuant to an INTERPOL Red Notice.

He was extradited to the United States in May and has remained in federal custody without bail.

HHS Inspector General Special Agent Kelly Blackmon called the alleged theft a “serious breach of law and profound betrayal of public trust.”

Thorsen was a co-author of two highly influential Danish studies that were widely cited by public-health authorities and vaccine advocates.

A 2002 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded that there was “strong evidence against” the theory that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism.

A second study, published in Pediatrics in 2003, concluded that its results did not support a connection between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.

For years, parents who questioned the government’s vaccine narrative were mocked, smeared, censored, and told that the issue had been settled by trustworthy experts.

Now one of the researchers whose name appeared on that influential work is preparing to admit guilt in a scheme involving fabricated documents, forged signatures, and more than $1 million intended for CDC-supported research.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the CDC to investigate a potential connection between vaccines and autism as autism diagnoses continued to skyrocket.

The Gateway Pundit also reported that the estimated prevalence among eight-year-old American children had reached one in 31.

Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order establishing new “Gold Standard” childhood-vaccine recommendations and directing officials to improve vaccine-safety monitoring, transparency, and research.

That transparency is long overdue.

Real science does not demand obedience. It welcomes questions, independent replication, open data, and accountability—especially when millions of American parents are being told to place their children’s health in the government’s hands.

The post Key Researcher Behind CDC’s “Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism” Narrative Expected to Plead Guilty to Stealing Over $1 Million in Federal Grant Money appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.