🎧News Brief: Federal Government Cancels More Than $4 Billion in Student Loan Debt; ICE Deports Most Illegal Immigrants in Nearly a Decade; Border Patrol Union Endorses Gabbard for DNI

President Joe Biden speaks about student loan relief at Madison College in Madison, Wis., on April 8, 2024. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.

The federal government makes a critical decision regarding billions of dollars in student loans, the federal agency in charge of immigration shares some startling figures with the American public, and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for a critical Cabinet position receives a crucial endorsement.

Also, the FAA issues a significant notice impacting drone operations in America’s biggest city, and a consequential labor dispute is brewing at our country’s most popular coffee spot—we’ll tell you what it means for your morning pick-me-up.

We have a number of pressing stories to share with you today and the first one comes with a hefty price tag. Before President Joe Biden leaves office next month, he’s erasing billions of dollars of debt for certain groups of people all across the country, and here’s what we know.

Federal Government Cancels More Than $4 Billion in Student Loan Debt

Yesterday, Biden said that the federal government has just canceled over $4 billion in student debt for 55,000 public service workers, including teachers, nurses, service members, and law enforcement officials.

The president went on to say that the public service workers who stand to benefit from this new relief are people who have truly earned it, because they have dedicated their lives to giving back to their communities.

Biden went on to say that since taking office, student debt forgiveness has been a priority for him, saying it ensures higher education is “a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity.”

So you know, the U.S. Department of Education says that this latest debt relief approval brings the total amount of student loan forgiveness for public service workers to almost $180 billion for nearly 5 million Americans.

Additionally, the federal government just approved another $16 billion in relief for nearly 600,000 borrowers who have a total and permanent disability.

You should also know that later in the day, the Department of Education said it was withdrawing efforts to implement two of its previous student loan forgiveness programs. That decision was made as the Biden administration faces a legal battle over a number of the president’s student debt relief efforts.

For the record, both the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal appeals court have recently blocked government plans to forgive student loans, and a number of legal challenges are ongoing. However, with just weeks to go until President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the Biden administration has now focused on canceling loans through pre-existing programs.

We’ll break down for you now a story regarding people who are in this country illegally and what one federal agency is doing to address this very critical issue.

ICE Deports Most Illegal Immigrants in Nearly a Decade

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that during the last fiscal year, it deported more illegal immigrants than it has in almost a decade.

ICE’s annual report was released earlier this week, and it shows that the agency removed just over 270,000 illegal immigrants in the 12 months ending with September. The document also says that they were sent back to nearly 200 different countries.

You should know that these latest figures mark the highest annual number of illegal immigrants removed from the country since President Joe Biden took office. They also eclipse the annual totals of illegal immigrants removed in each of the four years during Trump’s first term as president.

The report also shows that those expelled included nearly 90,000 people with criminal histories, more than 3,500 known or suspected gang members, and over 200 known or suspected terrorists.

The report attributed the increase in deportations to several critical factors, including working successfully with foreign nations, a larger number of charter flights, and expanding an electronic nationality verification program.

It’s also important to point out that an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants arrived in the country under the Biden administration’s border policies.

Moving along, we take a look at the president-elect’s nominee for a critical Cabinet role who has just picked up a significant endorsement, and here’s what we’ve learned.

Border Patrol Union Endorses Gabbard for DNI

A labor union called the National Border Patrol Council has just endorsed former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to become his administration’s director of national intelligence.

The union represents 18,000 Border Patrol agents and support personnel all across the country. Earlier this week, they endorsed Gabbard in a letter addressed to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who’s widely expected to be the next chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The letter said that the union expresses its “complete and total support” for Gabbard’s nomination, that its members “have no doubt” she’s the right person for the job, and that she’ll work tirelessly to keep our nation safe.

The document also pointed to Gabbard’s military service, along with her rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, as a sign of her strong leadership.

The union went on to say that during her time in the military, Gabbard witnessed firsthand “the threats posed by foreign terrorists and those who want to do America harm.” They also said those threats are “more prevalent now than ever,” in large part due to the federal government’s border policies.

Additionally, the endorsement said that the director of national intelligence plays a crucial role in securing the border from those threats, and in order to confront them, the intelligence community needs the kind of strong leadership that Gabbard brings to the table.

However, while many Republicans have expressed support for Gabbard, a number of senators and former government officials have also been skeptical of her nomination. They’re concerned over a trip she made to Syria in 2017, and they question her ability to provide unbiased intelligence to both lawmakers and the president.

We’ll take to the skies for our next story and due to thousands of drone sightings in recent weeks, New York is stepping up and restricting drone operations in certain parts of the state. More now on a story that many people across the country are highly concerned about.

FAA Bans Drones Over Critical Infrastructure in New York

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul now says that drone flights have been banned over “critical infrastructure” throughout her state, amid a growing number of reported sightings across the region by both local officials and concerned residents.

The governor said the decision was made after she spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He told her that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued “temporary flight restrictions” over those areas which began yesterday and will remain in effect for one month.

For the record, Hochul says the action is purely precautionary and that so far, there are no public safety or national security threats to these areas. She also said that earlier this week, the Biden administration sent her a state-of-the-art drone detection system to help deal with the problem.

She also called on Congress to pass legislation that would provide resources to help states and local law enforcement deal with this type of “evolving technology.”

You should know that earlier this week, the FAA placed a similar ban over a number of areas across New Jersey. However, those notices allow exceptions for a number of significant agencies, including law enforcement, firefighters, and the Department of Homeland Security.

By the way, federal officials and the White House have said that the increase in drone sightings does not pose any national security risk, and that they appear to be mostly aircraft, stars, or drones operated by hobbyists. However, several lawmakers say that some of the drones may be linked to foreign adversaries.

Finally today, getting your favorite caffeinated beverage just became more complicated as some workers at the nation’s largest coffee chain have turned off the percolators and hit the picket lines. No amount of cream or sugar will make this story any easier to swallow.

Starbucks Union Goes On Strike in US Cities

Yesterday, more than 10,000 Starbucks baristas walked off the job in a number of major U.S. cities, after contract negotiations fell apart earlier this week.

Starbucks Workers United, the union representing the employees, said that members across more than 500 stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle will continue their strike for five days.

They also say the walkouts will escalate daily, and that they could affect hundreds of additional stores nationwide by Christmas Eve.

So you know, the union has been pushing Starbucks for increased wages, better benefits, additional staffing, and more efficient schedules. Earlier this week, they said that 98 percent of their members had voted to authorize the strike.

For their part, Starbucks says they’re ready to continue negotiations. They also say that a few days ago, union representatives prematurely ended their final bargaining session of the year.

Additionally, before the strike was announced, a spokesperson for Starbucks told The Epoch Times that the company remains committed to reaching a final agreement with the workers, that they’ve made meaningful progress, and that they’ve participated in a number of multi-day bargaining sessions.

By the way, the Starbucks walkout comes just one day after nearly 10,000 members of the Teamsters union began striking at a number of Amazon hubs across the country, and that strike, now in its third day, continues today.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of the Epoch Times News Brief.

To make contact with the News Brief crew, simply reach out—we’re at [email protected]. You can also leave comments for us on the Epoch Times app, which you can download for free on either the App Store or Google Play.

Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand. You can even take us along during your Christmas shopping adventures.

And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Cindy Lou Who, who said:

“No one should be alone on Christmas.”

Cindy Lou Who was a character in the 1966 animated television special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”

We all have a favorite Christmas program, and I was always fond of that one.

By the way, the countdown to Christmas continues, we’re just four days away from the big holiday and what’s on your Christmas list? Let us know at [email protected]

For all of us here at the Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.