International
The Parliament of Portugal begins its new legislature with a predominance of right-wing deputies
The Parliament of Portugal began a new legislature on Tuesday after the selections of March 10, with a majority of right-wing deputies, of which 80 are moderates of the winning coalition Democratic Alliance (AD), 50 ultras of the Chega party and 8 of Liberal Initiative (IL).
The deputies arrived early in the morning at the unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Parliament), where they greeted each other and chatted in a relaxed way.
In the seats of the Government sat the appointed Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, leader of AD, and his collaborators, although the political leader has not yet announced his Executive, which will take office on April 2.
In the absence of a president of the chamber, the person in charge of opening the session was the head of the bench of the main formation that makes up the AD, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, who was sitting next to Montenegro.
In a brief speech, Miranda Sarmento welcomed the 230 deputies, “who now begin functions, without forgetting those who served this Assembly and the country in the last legislature, the 15th legislature, and who now do not resume their place as deputies, and thank those who have ceased their functions for the work they carried out in favor of the country and the Portuguese.”
He wished that when this legislature ends, “in September 2028, the country could be better, the country could be more developed, richer, more prosperous and also more just.”
Despite the fact that Miranda Sarmento spoke of the end of the legislature in September 2028, the truth is that there are doubts that Montenegro and its future Government can complete it due to its tight victory against the Socialist Party, which has 78 seats, and its refusal to agree with Chega.
Miranda Sarmento gave way to the deputy who has been in Parliament for the longest time, António Filipe, of the Portuguese Communist Party, to preside over this session, waiting for the candidate proposed by the PSD to be president of the chamber, José Pedro Aguiar Branco, to be voted on Tuesday afternoon.
Filipe rose from his seat to occupy the position of president of Parliament and joked that he would never have imagined when he first entered the assembly at the age of 26 that he would one day be in this situation.
Also elected the two temporary secretaries for this session, Filipe went on to present the first draft resolution of this legislature, supported by all the parliamentary groups, to constitute a provisional commission that verifies the powers of the elected deputies.
After reading the names of the members of that commission, Filipe suspended the session until 3:00 p.m. local time (same time GMT), when the president of the chamber will be voted on.
After the absolute majority of the Socialist Party in the previous legislature, AD has 80 seats (78 of the PSD and 2 of the CDS-PP), followed by the socialists with 78 deputies and the far-right Chega, with 50.
The far-right formation was the party that grew the most in the elections of March 10, more than quadrupling its seats, which went from 12 to 50.
International
ICE set to become America’s largest security force under Trump’s $75B immigration overhaul
President Donald Trump’s “great and beautiful law” is set to transform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into the largest security agency in the country, with a projected budget of $75 billion—a figure that surpasses the military budgets of nearly every country in the world, according to experts.
Under the budget Trump signed on July 4, ICE will receive $45 billion through 2029 to build new detention centers—62% more than the entire federal prison system—which would enable the agency to detain 116,000 people daily, according to analysis by the American Immigration Council (AIC).
An additional $30 billion will fund operations, allowing the hiring of 10,000 new agents to join the existing 20,000, reaching an annual deportation capacity of 1 million people, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The budget also includes $4.1 billion to recruit 3,000 new Border Patrol agents and 3,000 Customs officers, DHS stated.
These allocations will give immigration enforcement more funding than all other U.S. law enforcement agencies combined, including the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Justice, DEA, and ATF, according to a Cato Institutereport.
ICE’s $75 billion budget would also surpass the military budgets of all but five countries: the United States, China, Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia, according to an analysis by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
A “dramatic” and “outrageous” increase
Civil rights organizations have voiced alarm over the sweeping expansion, especially amid growing reports of human rights violations—including the deaths of 11 migrants in ICE custody since the start of the 2025 fiscal year in October, nearly matching the 12 deaths recorded during all of the previous year.
“We find it outrageous to see such a dramatic increase in funding for an agency that has spent the last several months terrorizing communities, families, and neighborhoods across the country,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), during a virtual press call.
Frank Sharry, founder of America’s Voice, a group advocating for immigration reform, described the expansion as “a shocking advance of authoritarianism,” citing incidents in which U.S. citizens have been mistakenly detained by ICE.
“This is empowering an American-style secret police force that could very well go beyond targeting innocent undocumented immigrants to include legal immigrants and U.S. citizens,” Sharry warned.
International
Harvard faces Federal pressure over immigration docs, autonomy dispute intensifies
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered Harvard University on Wednesday to hand over documents related to its foreign students, issuing an administrative subpoena after the university allegedly refused to comply voluntarily.
This move marks a new escalation in the ongoing conflict between Donald Trump’s administration and academic institutions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates under DHS, demanded access to “relevant documents” for “immigration law enforcement purposes since January 1, 2020,” according to an official statement.
“Harvard, like other universities, has allowed foreign students to abuse their visa privileges and promote violence and terrorism on campus,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who added that the university has “repeatedly refused to cooperate” with previous requests.
Harvard is among several universities facing potential loss of federal funding following reports by Trump’s “Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism,” which accused the school of enforcing affirmative action policies and failing to promote what the administration refers to as “diversity of thought.”
Asked about the escalating conflict during a separate meeting on Wednesday, Trump stated, “Harvard has been terrible — completely antisemitic,” but added that he was optimistic the pressure would work and believed that “of course, the government and the university will reach an agreement.”
According to The Harvard Crimson, the university did provide some documentation related to foreign students in April and May, but the government deemed it insufficient and consequently moved to ban its exchange programs and bar international students and scholars.
In June, Harvard sued the Trump administration over this ban. That same month, a federal judge indefinitely blocked the order while litigation continues.
A Harvard spokesperson reaffirmed the university’s commitment to the law but described the DHS demands as “unjustified” and a form of “retaliation” for defending its autonomy against what it considers government overreach — particularly regarding whom private universities may admit, hire, and what they are allowed to teach.
Additionally, Harvard filed another lawsuit in April to reclaim nearly $2 billion in frozen federal funding, which the government has withheld over alleged antisemitic practices.
In its statement on Wednesday, DHS said the administrative subpoena was its “only remaining option” to compel Harvard to comply, and urged other academic institutions facing similar demands to “take note of Harvard’s actions and the consequences.”
International
Mexico launches probe into alleged $25 million bribe to ex-president Peña Nieto
Mexico’s Attorney General announced on Tuesday that an investigation has been opened ex officio into the alleged payment of a multimillion-dollar bribe to former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto by two Israeli businessmen to secure the sale of spyware software.
The Israeli newspaper The Marker reported last Friday that, amid a legal dispute, two businessmen claimed to have handed the former president $25 million in exchange for being awarded contracts to purchase the Pegasus software.
The ex-president (2012-2018) dismissed the allegations as “completely false” in a message on social media platform X.
“We have opened an investigation file,” Attorney General Alejandro Gertz said during the usual press conference held by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“We will request that Israeli authorities share this media-based information so that we can include it in the investigation,” Gertz added.
On Monday, in an interview with Radiofórmula, Peña Nieto reiterated that the accusation is “a completely baseless insinuation.”
The reports link the businessmen to the sale of Pegasus, a spyware associated with espionage scandals in Colombia, Mexico, and other countries.
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