27 JAN 26 SITREP

• A man accused of placing a $10,000 bounty on Border Patrol leader Gregory Bovino was found not guilty following a jury trial stemming from the Chicago-area immigration crackdown earlier this year.
• Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, faced 1 count of murder-for-hire, and the jury deliberated for less than 4 hours before returning a not guilty verdict.
• Trial evidence included a Snapchat message sent by Espinoza Martinez stating “2K on info cuando lo agarren. 10k if u take him down” alongside a photograph of Gregory Bovino, with prosecutors arguing the language demonstrated intent and defense attorneys arguing it reflected neighborhood gossip after alcohol consumption.
• Espinoza Martinez was arrested in October during a surge of federal officers targeting crime and illegal immigration, did not testify at trial, told investigators he did not threaten anyone, and DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stated that individuals who threaten law enforcement officials do not belong in the country.

• President Donald Trump announced that the Department of Justice is investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota amid questions surrounding her reported exponential growth in wealth over recent years.
• In a Truth Social post, Trump stated he was sending Tom Homan to Minnesota and asserted that a major investigation was underway into more than $20 billion in alleged welfare fraud in the state, which he said was at least partially responsible for violent organized protests.
• Trump stated that the DOJ and Congress were examining Omar, who he said left Somalia with nothing and is now reportedly worth more than $44 million, adding that the investigation would determine the facts.
• Omar responded publicly by denying the allegations, stating that investigations opened under the Biden administration in 2024 into her campaign finances and interactions with foreign nationals found nothing, and reporting indicated the earlier inquiry had lost momentum before Trump highlighted it publicly.

• A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas, McAllen Division, ordered the revocation of US citizenship for Carlos Noe Gallegos, a naturalized Mexican immigrant, after finding he unlawfully obtained naturalization by concealing a prior child sexual assault and related conviction.
• The court found that Gallegos sexually assaulted a child under the age of 14 before becoming a US citizen, later pleaded guilty years after naturalization during the Obama administration, and was placed on community supervision.
• The government argued, and the court agreed, that Gallegos’s failure to disclose material facts and his underlying conduct warranted denaturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1451 because the offense constituted a crime involving moral turpitude under Texas Penal Code §§ 22.021(b)(1) and 22.011(c)(1).
• Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate stated that denaturalization actions are necessary to protect the integrity of citizenship, and the court concluded Gallegos was not legally eligible to naturalize because his conduct reflected negatively on his moral character, rendering his citizenship illegally procured.